【Major Chemical Equipment】011 – 300,000 cubic meters per day FLNG coiled-tube heat exchanger
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This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2022-3-15 at 21:38. The past decade has been a period of rapid development in China’s chemical industry, with the emergence of many new processes, products, and equipment. China’s chemical processing equipment has also seen significant progress, which has contributed to the swift advancement of the petrochemical industry. Here, we have compiled some of the achievements and breakthroughs made by Chinese equipment manufacturers in terms of larger-scale production and increased use of domestic equipment. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and insights; let’s cheer for Made in China! Give a thumbs up to chemical processing equipment! *********************************** On October 28, 2016, the sub-project on \"Research on Design, Manufacturing, and Inspection Technologies for LNG Coiled Tube Heat Exchangers\" as part of the MIIT’s project \"Development of Large-Scale LNG Coiled Tube Heat Exchangers\", undertaken by Kaifeng Air Separation, passed the review and acceptance. Experts from CNOOC, China Classification Society, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group, China University of Petroleum, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and other institutions attended a presentation by the R&D staff in Kaifeng Air Separation Plant. They reviewed the specialized research reports as well as all technical documents, including the design drawings for the large-scale shell-and-tube heat exchangers intended for FLNG units with an annual production capacity of 3 million tons. They also inspected a prototype of the FLNG shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters per day. After inquiries and discussions, the expert group concluded that the research team had completed all the research tasks specified in the project outline as planned, and unanimously agreed to approve the review and acceptance. Coiled tube heat exchangers are the core equipment in large-scale natural gas liquefaction plants. This project focuses on the reliability of coil heat exchangers used in large LNG facilities (abbreviated as FLNG) installed on offshore oil platforms under shaking conditions. During the implementation of this project, Kaifeng Air Separation Group carried out extensive experimental research and achieved important results in various areas, including pull-out tests on the welding of various aluminum alloy tubes with composite tube sheets, the impact of shaking conditions on the reliability of the connections between the coiled tubes, tube sheets, and central cylinder, the effect of shaking conditions on heat exchange performance, the expansion welding process for aluminum heat exchange tubes and composite tube sheets, the technology for assembling large coiled tube cores with cylinders, and research on distributors for uniform fluid distribution in the shell side. The successful completion of this project demonstrates that we have mastered the core technologies for the design and manufacture of large coil-type heat exchangers used in offshore oil platform FLNG units. This provides us with the necessary technical foundation to break the monopoly held by foreign companies in this field and achieve domestic production of such heat exchangers, thereby accelerating the process of local production of FLNG units in China. During this focused research effort, Kaifeng Air Separation also applied for 2 invention patents and developed a technical standard for coil-type heat exchangers.
【Major Chemical Equipment in a Global Powerhouse】Series Summary Post https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3312079-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Forum Website)
To address the issue of shortages in key components, the project team took the lead in collaborating with domestic material suppliers to develop new ultra-long seamless aluminum-magnesium alloy heat exchange tubes with a length of over 300 meters. These tubes passed the evaluation by the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Standardization Committee and reached international advanced levels. A quality control system for the design, manufacturing, and inspection of LNG/FLNG coil-type heat exchangers was established, along with technical specifications for such heat exchangers; furthermore, dozens of invention patents were filed. The successful completion of the industrial application testing for the coil-type heat exchangers in this project fully demonstrated the reliability of the key technologies involved in the design and manufacture of large-scale domestic LNG/FLNG coil-type heat exchangers. It marked Kaifeng Air Separation’s successful entry into the field of natural gas liquefaction, making it the first company in China to possess both the key technologies and core products related to coil-type and plate-fin heat exchangers in the areas of air separation and LNG/FLNG natural gas liquefaction. This provides strong technical support for breaking foreign technological monopolies and developing natural gas resources in China’s South China Sea, and it holds significant strategic importance for achieving China’s energy development goals related to carbon reduction.
It is understood that large-scale LNG coil heat exchangers are key equipment in global LNG plants and LNG-FPSOs, offering advantages such as high reliability, great production flexibility, and the ability to be scaled up easily. They represent critical equipment in China’s LNG industry chain that requires localization as a matter of urgency. The domestic development and engineering application of LNG coil heat exchangers have been included in the \"Made in China 2025 – Energy Equipment Implementation Plan\" (NDRC Document No. [2016] 1274). Over the past 10 years, relying on various high-level LNG technology projects such as those related to the development of large-scale LNG coil heat exchangers by the **Ministry of Industry and Information Technology**, CNOOC Gas & Power Group and Kaifeng Air Separation Group Co., Ltd. have carried out sustained and effective research on LNG coil heat exchangers. They have overcome a series of challenges related to two-phase flow heat transfer, including inter-stage coupling, inter-layer mass transfer, and phase-change heat transfer. As a result, a comprehensive technical system for the research, design, manufacturing, inspection, installation, and commissioning of large-scale LNG coil heat exchangers suitable for million-ton-class FLNG and LNG plants has been developed, and China’s first LNG coil heat exchanger was successfully created. To meet the technical requirements of natural gas development in the South China Sea, the design and manufacturing standards for the first LNG coil heat exchangers meet offshore production standards, allowing them to be used not only in land-based fixed LNG plants but also in offshore environments subject to motion. To develop coil-type heat exchangers, the project team also designed and developed 3D coil-type heat exchanger design software, specifically incorporating a uniform distribution device and high-efficiency aluminum tubes.
In 2020, Kaifeng Air Separation successfully signed a contract with the Guangdong Petrochemical Branch of China National Petroleum Corporation for tube-wound heat exchangers for POX petroleum coke hydrogenation units. The contract covered 14 large-scale tube-wound heat exchangers, with a total weight of over 1,000 tons. This marked another time when the company set a new record for the largest volume and highest value of tube-wound heat exchanger orders, following a similar large-order deal signed with Lianyungang Shenghong Refining & Chemical Company last year. The signing of this contract demonstrates Kaifeng Air Separation’s core technologies and capabilities in this field; it will undoubtedly boost the company’s economic performance and set a good start for its production and operational activities in 2020.