【Major Equipment in the Chemical Equipment Industry】Ethylene labyrinth compressor for 0.21–1.6 million tons/year polypropylene plant
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The past decade has been a period of rapid development in China’s chemical industry, marked by the emergence of many new processes, products, and equipment. There has also been significant progress in China’s chemical processing equipment, which has contributed to the swift advancement of the petrochemical sector. Here, we have compiled some of the achievements and breakthroughs made by Chinese equipment manufacturers in terms of larger-scale production and greater use of domestic equipment. We invite everyone to share their insights and engage in discussions, to cheer for Made in China and to support the development of chemical processing equipment! *********************************** The ethylene labyrinth compressor project for the 160,000 tons per year polypropylene plant in the integrated magnesium production project of Qinghai Salt Lake Magnesium Co., Ltd., which was undertaken by Tianhua Yuan, completed its design and manufacturing tasks in September 2014 and was delivered to the customer for use. The integrated magnesium metal project is an important initiative launched by Qinghai Salt Lake Magnesium Industry Co., Ltd. under the guiding principle of developing five major industrial sectors: potassium, sodium, magnesium, lithium, and gases. It represents an important effort and step forward in pursuing a circular economy and modern industrialization model for the company, following the commencement of projects such as the million-ton potassium fertilizer project, phases 1 and 2 of the comprehensive utilization project, the 10,000-ton lithium carbonate project, and the ADC foam agent integration project. It is also a highly significant development project in the history of comprehensive utilization of salt lake resources for both Qinghai Province and Qinghai Salt Lake Magnesium Industry Co., Ltd. The 160,000 tons per year polypropylene plant is one of the units in this project; it uses coal as raw material and produces ethylene and propylene through gasification, methanol, and DMTO processes. Ethylene and propylene are then used as raw materials in the polypropylene plant to produce polypropylene, and the ethylene labyrinth compressor is a key equipment in this polypropylene plant. The successful application in this project of the labyrinth compressor, developed and designed by Tianhua Institute and possessing independent intellectual property rights, not only resolved the technical challenge of high inlet pressure but also made it the labyrinth compressor with the highest design pressure in China. Moreover, the entire unit is leak-free, providing a solid foundation for users to produce high-quality polypropylene products.
Labyrinth compressors are widely used in the compression and transportation of various gases in industries such as petrochemicals, oil refining, chemicals, fertilizers, coal-to-gas production, natural gas, **, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, metallurgy, beer and beverages, and bioengineering. Such as: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride gas, air, chlorine, argon, ammonia, chloromethane, ethylene, propylene, methane, ethane, ethylene glycol, tetrafluoroethylene, perfluoropropylene, vinylidene fluoride, natural gas, and various exhaust gases and emission gases.
Labyrinth compressors utilize contactless labyrinth seals, which ensure that the exhaust is oil-free and that no dust or debris is generated within the compressor cylinders. They are also insensitive to impurity particles present in the compressed gas, making them safer and more reliable for use in systems involving flammable, explosive, or toxic gases, special gases, precious gases, and oxygen; as well as in conditions of extremely high or low temperatures, or when compressing absolutely dry gases such as nitrogen. Labyrinth compressors do not suffer from wear of piston rings or support rings; they require low maintenance costs, have a high operational efficiency, need few spare parts, and only a very small number of components require special maintenance ； The vertical structure occupies less space ； The labyrinth piston machine can operate safely beyond the maximum operating temperature permitted for piston rings made of non-metallic materials ； It has undoubtedly improved economic efficiency. There is no mechanical friction within the cylinders of the labyrinth compressor ； When compressing flammable, explosive, toxic, and harmful gases, a fully enclosed, airtight crankcase design can also be employed to ensure the safety of the compressor.
The 【Haichuan Equipment Guessing】 series is being updated continuously in 2022; all Haichuan community members are welcome to participate actively! https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-2079686-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) Summary post on the series 【Major Equipment in the Chemical Equipment Industry】 https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3312079-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) Summary post discussing the components of cracking furnace equipment for 【Ethylene Cracking】 https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3308724-1-1.html (Source: Huahai Chuanliu – Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)
Shanghai Engineering Company has established 11 engineering technology centers focused on areas such as ethylene, styrene, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyolefins, phenol propionate, epoxides, coal chemical industry, biochemical industry and biomass energy, powder and granule transportation, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and large-scale storage and transportation, as well as environmental protection and energy conservation. These centers aim to further strengthen the engineering research and development of core technologies, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and enhance the company’s innovation capabilities. To date, Shanghai Engineering Company has undertaken 11 of the group company’s “Ten Dragon” key project initiatives; 6 of these have been successfully completed, while 5 have made significant progress ； Undertook two **science and technology development projects, one of which won the second prize for **scientific and technological progress ； 270 technology development projects under Sinopec’s Science and Technology Department were undertaken, 200 of which were completed, and 148 technological achievements were successfully put into industrial use. Currently, the company holds 279 valid patents, with 17 technologies registered as proprietary technologies by the group company. The technical achievements of the **key scientific and technological development project “Domestic development of large labyrinth-type centrifugal compressors”**, undertaken by Shanghai Engineering Company, have been successfully applied at Tianjin Petrochemical. “\"Development of a process software knowledge base for intelligent manufacturing of ethylene derivatives and its industrial application,\" which involved the development of steady-state simulation tools for ethylbenzene and styrene production facilities. The development and industrial application of a 200,000 tons per year synthetic gas-to-ethylene glycol production plant have been realized through the commissioning of a demonstration unit at Hubei Fertilizer, demonstrating the company’s technical advantages and development potential in the field of coal chemical engineering. An industrial demonstration plant for producing propylene oxide using the 100,000 tons per year hydrogen peroxide process was built and put into operation at Changling Refining & Chemical Company, enabling Sinopec to become one of the three companies in the world holding patents for this technology. Through industry-university-research cooperation with Shanghai Petrochemical and Zhejiang University, Shanghai Engineering Company has successfully produced \"high-density bimodal polyethylene pipe materials\", helping to improve the efficiency of Shanghai Petrochemical’s existing bimodal polyethylene production facilities. In its traditional business areas, Shanghai Engineering Company focuses on technological upgrades as well as energy conservation and emission reduction. The independently initiated project on \"Upgrading of Petrochemical Wastewater Treatment and Integrated Technologies for Wastewater Reuse\" has passed the evaluation of its achievements, and a series of technologies including the catalytic treatment of wastewater containing phenols and high ammonia levels are currently under development. In the development of large-scale process packages, Shanghai Engineering Company has completed the development of processes such as 300,000 tons per year of slurry-process polyethylene technology, 140,000 tons per year of polypropylene technology, 600,000 tons per year of energy-saving styrene production technology, 100,000 tons per year of propylene oxide production via CHP method, 300,000 tons per year of vinyl acetate production from ethylene, 1 million tons per year of PTA production, 250,000 tons per year of butanone octanol production, 1.8 million tons per year of MTO olefin separation technology, 1.8 million tons per year of propylene production from methanol (MTP), 100,000 tons per year of PX crystallization and separation technology, 50,000 tons per year of ethanol production from cellulose, and 10,000 tons per year of 1,3-propanediol production via biological methods. In terms of the development and engineering of key equipment, Shanghai Engineering Company has achieved localization of core equipment such as large-scale reactors, heat exchangers and towers, oxygen mixers, air compressors, and powder/granule transfer systems, by leveraging projects related to styrene, ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG), pure EO, ethylene glycol production from syngas, PTA, and polyethylene ； The development of large-scale groundwater-sealed cavern storage project technologies meets the construction needs of Zhanjiang and Huangdao.