【Major Equipment in the Chemical Equipment Industry】097 – Domestic Production of Propane Dehydrogenation Reactors

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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! *********************************** Before 2014, reactors for propane dehydrogenation projects in China relied mainly on imports. In 2014, Hebei Haiwei Petrochemical launched a 500,000 tons per year propane dehydrogenation project. Due to the enormous size of the equipment required, it was not possible to import it from abroad owing to transportation constraints; therefore, there was an urgent need for a domestic company to take on the challenge of manufacturing and installing the entire set of equipment on-site. The core equipment for propane dehydrogenation weighs over a thousand tons, or even several thousand tons, with a diameter of more than ten meters and a height of hundreds of meters. To address transportation issues, China State Construction Fifth Continent took the lead in implementing large-scale on-site manufacturing at the Haiwei project in Hebei, pioneering a manufacturing model for large-scale chemical equipment that combines on-site production with factory-based manufacturing, a feature unique to China State Construction. Through a bold exploration and effort, China State Construction Fifth Continent achieved full domestic production of the core equipment for propane dehydrogenation using the LUMMUS process, breaking the foreign monopoly. “On the core equipment of Hebei Haiwei Petrochemical’s propane dehydrogenation project, China State Construction Fifth Continent, in collaboration with the installation company’s petrochemical design institute, carried out the redesign of the core reactor in accordance with national standards, thereby achieving a domestically designed solution. In terms of manufacturing, bold attempts were made to use domestic welding materials as substitutes for imported ones, and the composition of these welding materials was optimized; as a result, domestic welding materials could be used in place of imported ones, thereby overcoming the technical constraints associated with reliance on imported welding materials ； Through research and analysis of welding processes, an innovative surfacing technique for heat-resistant steel flanges was developed, increasing the first-pass welding success rate to 100% ； Bold experiments were undertaken in terms of manufacturing methods. Building on the Qingdao Jinneng 900,000-ton/year propane dehydrogenation project, which was the world’s first of its kind and featured the heaviest single-unit equipment as well as the highest production capacity at that time, research was carried out on manufacturing techniques such as on-site segmented construction of separation towers, segmented heat treatment, and aerial jointing. As a result, it became possible to carry out aerial segmented jointing of large-scale equipment weighing 3,000 tons on site, thus paving the way for the on-site construction of large towers ； …… Through successive technological innovations during the process of localization, the domestic propane dehydrogenation projects developed by China State Construction Fifth Continent have earned an excellent reputation in the industry thanks to their advanced production processes, high product quality, and strong safety standards. As a result, they have been able to successfully undertake one project after another, such as the 600,000-ton-per-year propane dehydrogenation unit as part of the second phase of Dongguan Juzhengyuan’s facility with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons. Currently, the core propane dehydrogenation unit using ZCCG’s LUMMUS process has held the highest market share in China and around the world for three consecutive years. In 2019, its market share in the domestic market was 47.1%, while its market share in the international market was 40.9%, making it the leader in the global market. Among them, the on-site manufacturing capabilities for large-scale towers and reactors are among the best in the country in the field of chemical equipment manufacturing. At the same time, by localizing equipment manufacturing, it has promoted the domestic substitution of special materials such as refractory materials; currently, all materials and manufacturing processes for reactors and separation towers have been localized.