【Major Chemical Equipment in China】051 – China’s largest 4.2 million tons/year heavy oil catalytic cracking unit: “Two Units””
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This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2022-3-25 at 22:05. The past decade has been a period of rapid development for 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 in turn has contributed to the swift development 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 and support the development of chemical processing equipment! *********************************** On September 10, 2019, the regenerator of the 4.2 million tons per year catalytic cracking unit in the Sinopec Guangzhou Engineering Company’s contracted project was successfully completed, marking the completion of the two key units of China’s largest heavy oil catalytic cracking unit to date – an important milestone in the construction of this project.
On December 26, the 4.2 million tons per year catalytic cracking unit of the Sinochem Refining project, undertaken by Sinopec’s Tenth Construction Company, was celebrated with banners hung high, colorful flags fluttering in the wind, and firecrackers exploding. For this catalytic cracking unit, which currently has the largest design capacity in China, construction and installation have begun on its two key equipment units: the riser reactor-regenerator and the settler. The catalytic cracking unit is the core of petroleum refining operations; the “two reactors” constitute the heart of this unit. With a total weight of 2,492 tons, the regenerator is 47 meters tall and has a maximum diameter of 15.8 meters, weighing 1,817 tons – it is considered a type of pressure vessel ； The settler is 65 meters tall, has a maximum diameter of 9 meters, weighs 675 tons, and is classified as a Class II pressure vessel. “The “two devices” have high technical and quality requirements; the on-site manufacturing space is limited, making construction organization as well as safety and quality management extremely challenging. In response to the design requirements and taking into account the on-site conditions, Shijian Company, drawing on its previous experience in installing catalytic cracking unit components, carefully planned the project and optimized the construction plan on multiple occasions. It was decided to assemble the regenerator in 4 sections on the ground, and the settler in 5 sections. The top head section, cone section, and lower section of the regenerator – which contain many internal components – as well as the top head section and stripping section of the settler, were to be assembled modularly on the ground. Equipment with complex installation requirements, such as cyclones, large-hole distribution plates, main air distribution pipes, and internal lift pipes, was assembled on the ground first before being lifted in sections using modular methods. This approach reduced the workload and difficulty of installation at heights, lowered safety risks and costs, and improved the quality and efficiency of construction. Additionally, for the joint seams of the shells of these components, where a large amount of welding was required, automatic submerged arc welding machines were used to ensure better welding quality and efficiency.
Sinopec Refining’s 4.2 million tons per year heavy oil catalytic cracking unit is a key facility in oil refining. The reactor-regenerator configuration of this unit features parallel high and low sections; the reaction section utilizes the MIP patented process technology developed by the Research Institute of Petrochemical Science, while the regeneration process makes use of China’s own advanced rapid-bed-turbulent-bed series regeneration technology with independent intellectual property rights. With complete domestic production from process technology to core equipment, the operating flexibility of the main equipment is 120%, and its processing capacity can reach 5 million tons per year; it represents an important milestone in the development of larger catalytic cracking units in China.
In-depth on-site manufacturing, sectional lifting!