【Major Industrial Equipment in the Chemical Industry】046 – The World’s Largest Atmospheric Pressure Column of Its Kind
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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 discuss these topics together; let’s cheer for Made in China and support the development of chemical processing equipment! ***********************************
The atmospheric tower has a diameter of 12 meters, a height of 112.56 meters, and a volume of 11,050 cubic meters. Manufactured in accordance with ASME.SECT.VIII standards; the main material used is SA-516Cr70N/ SA-516Cr70N+SB-688/ SA-516Cr70N+SA-240Cr.317L. The total weight of the container is 2,252,000 Kg, and during on-site pressure testing, its weight reaches as much as 13,302,000 Kg. The manufacturing unit overcame challenges such as the large space required for equipment production, the control of welding deformation in large-diameter composite plate sections, and the complexity of installing internal components of the tower. It completed the construction of the world’s largest atmospheric pressure tower in just over 8 months, demonstrating the expertise of Ningbo Tianyi Petrochemical Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in manufacturing extremely large-scale petrochemical pressure vessels.
In April 2018, Ningbo Tianyi Manufacturing Company issued a public tender for the raw materials required for the atmospheric distillation column at the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria. Thanks to its improved corrosion resistance resulting from low sulfur and phosphorus content, enhanced weldability owing to a low carbon equivalent, as well as relevant technical capabilities such as high-temperature tensile testing at 410°C, Baosteel’s SA516 Gr.60 carbon steel plates for medium and low-temperature pressure vessels stand out among competing products from other manufacturers. They are used in the construction of vessel skirts, the main body of pressure vessels, and composite sheets for the main body.
At the beginning of 2018, Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group began to get involved in this project. The marketing center closely monitored the progress of the project, visiting the clients on multiple occasions to conduct repeated discussions on matters such as old and new standards, material grades, technical clarifications, production schedules, and system certification. The stainless steel hot-rolling plant adhered to strict project procedures and key control points, overcame challenges such as tight deadlines, heavy workloads, and high technical requirements, and ultimately completed the production tasks with both quality and quantity ensured.