【Major Industrial Equipment in the Chemical Engineering Sector】144 – Polycarbonate Oxide Hermetically Closed Circulating Inert Gas Steam Rotary Drying Unit
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This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2022-5-3 17:49. Happy May Day! Reply reward! ---------------------------------------------- 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! ****************** Entering the site of Jiangsu Nantong Xingchen Synthetic Materials Co., Ltd. (referred to as Nantong Xingchen)’s 30,000-ton/year polyphenylene oxide (PPE) production facility, the rotary dryer for PPE resin vapor pipes, which was designed and manufactured by Tianhua Chemical Machinery and Automation Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. (referred to as Tianhua Institute), is operating smoothly. In August 2020, this large-scale facility was successfully completed and put into operation, enabling Nantong Xingchen to produce high-quality products from a new generation of polyphenylene oxide plants with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons, thus pushing its production capacity to rank second in the world.
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The drying unit in this polyphenylene oxide production system utilizes a closed-loop inert gas steam rotary drying unit, which features high processing capacity, stable operation, low energy consumption, high safety levels, and a high solvent recovery rate; these attributes make it highly suitable for the large-scale continuous production of polyphenylene oxide. The successful completion of the new generation 30,000-ton/year polyphenylene oxide project has enabled Tianhua Research Institute to achieve domestic production of the core equipment in the drying unit of polyphenylene oxide plants. At the same time, it made Nantong Xingchen one of the few manufacturers in the world capable of industrializing two different polyphenylene oxide production processes. To date, the polyphenylene oxide dryers designed and manufactured by Tianhua Institute have been operating smoothly for over half a year, helping Nantong Xingchen to achieve a total production capacity of 50,000 tons per year, placing it among the top in the world. Moreover, the product breakage rate is reduced, and quality stability is improved. The dryer is easy to maintain, has a high output per unit, and exhibits strong adaptability; all its specifications meet the requirements of production. It has completely replaced imported equipment and holds a leading position in the polyphenylene oxide industry. The successful completion of this project not only enabled Tianhua Institute and Nantong Xingchen to gain valuable experience in the development of larger-scale, domestically produced drying equipment for polyphenylene ether (PPE) resins, thereby solving the problem of reliance on imported drying equipment in this industry; it also brought about new advancements in the field of drying for large-scale PPE resin production in China. Furthermore, it set a new example of enterprises within China’s chemical industry working together to overcome challenges.
In 2005, Nantong Xingchen made full use of its strengths in the research, development, and manufacturing of new materials to build China’s first 10,000-ton-per-year industrial production facility for polyphenylene ether in Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province. This facility enabled the domestic production of polyphenylene ether for the first time, breaking through technical barriers and ending China’s long-term reliance on imported polyphenylene ether. Over the years, Nantong Xingchen has accelerated its efforts in the independent research, development, and production of polyphenylene ether, achieving continuous breakthroughs. However, the core equipment of the drying unit in its system has not yet been domestically produced; instead, it relies on a combination of multiple imported American Bepex high-speed rake-type dryers. This imported equipment has many drawbacks in the production process, including the tendency of crystals to break easily, high investment costs, high energy consumption during production, and slow after-sales service. How to find breakthrough points to overcome bottlenecks, improve product quality, reduce equipment investment, accelerate project construction, and break the technological monopoly of foreign equipment? The breakthrough in solving this equipment challenge began with business collaboration among enterprises within China’s chemical industry sector. In 2018, Nantong Xingchen invested in Nantong, Jiangsu, to launch a new generation of polyphenylene oxide production facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons, in order to further expand its production capacity. In the construction of this project, Tianhua Institute and Nantong Xingchen embraced the philosophy of \"science first,\" making full use of synergistic effects. They combined Tianhua Institute’s expertise and technical advantages in drying, reaction, and process separation – particularly in the drying of polyphenylene oxide resins – with Nantong Xingchen’s strengths in research, development, and manufacturing of new materials. Together, they focused their efforts on developing large-scale drying equipment for a polyphenylene oxide production facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons, using cutting-edge domestically developed processes, as part of a national initiative to achieve self-sufficiency in such technologies. The two parties promptly established a working group for the localization of drying equipment, engaging in close communication, sharing resources, and implementing targeted measures. The technicians start with small-scale experiments to gradually understand the drying rates, master the mathematical models related to drying, and determine the type and specifications of the drying equipment. Subsequently, they engage in numerous discussions on aspects such as the production process, operational procedures, and product quality optimization, in order to finally establish the key parameters for large-scale production. During the initial commissioning phase of production, the dryer experienced leakage at the seal. To this end, the technical staff identified the root causes and conducted in-depth analyses; starting with improvements to the equipment’s sealing structure as well as the optimization of process pipelines and operating parameters, the two companies leveraged their respective strengths to complement one another, and ultimately resolved the problem of seal leakage in a relatively short period of time.
Cheer for Made in China, give support to chemical processing equipment