Take a look to see if your company is listed: China Chemical Industry News has released the top 10 news stories in the oil and chemical engineering sector for 2022
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In 2022, the petroleum and chemical industry adhered to the theme of high-quality development, striving for breakthroughs and progress. It achieved notable success in large-scale projects such as offshore oil exploration, the production of fine chemical products, the manufacturing of key chemical reactors, and large-scale integrated refining and chemical processing facilities. Smart Manufacturing Weekly has specially selected the top ten news stories in the field of petroleum and chemical engineering for its readers. Asia’s largest onshore oil production platform comes online In April, Asia’s largest onshore oil production platform – the Platform No. 16 in the Xin215 block of the Jilin Oilfield Branch of PetroChina – was put into operation. The platform has a total of 72 oil and water wells, setting a new record as Asia’s largest onshore oil production platform – a record that was established again following the commissioning in 2015 of another platform in the Jilin Oilfield where 48 oil and water wells were in operation. The traditional well-drilling method involves drilling vertical wells in accordance with the oil production sites, resulting in wells that are scattered and difficult to manage. The Ooi cluster, on the other hand, uses technologies such as directional wells to construct multiple wells together on a single platform, thus truly creating a \"jungle of oil wells\". Platform No. 16 covers an area of only 18,500 square meters, but it controls an underground oil-bearing area of 8 square kilometers; its geological reserves amount to 3 million tons, giving a land-to-control ratio of 1:432. Compared with the conventional distributed single-well approach, the large well cluster platform reduces the area of land that needs to be acquired permanently by 67,900 square meters, enabling a shift from building wells using conventional small platforms to a model that involves intensive drilling and completion operations, factory-based activities, and integrated centralized processing on super-large platforms.
China’s first butadiene-based hexanitrocin project comes online On July 31, China’s first industrial production project for hexanitrocin using the butadiene method – the first phase of the hexanitrocin and related new materials project carried out by Tianchen Qixiang New Materials Co., Ltd. – was officially put into operation in Zibo, Shandong Province. The entire production process was operational, enabling the production of high-quality products. The first phase of this project utilizes technology developed by China Tianchen; using butadiene as the main raw material, it produces 200,000 tons of adiponitrile per year, as well as acrylonitrile, hexamethylenediamine, and salts and pellets of nylon 66. Li Shousheng, president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said at the commissioning ceremony that hexanitronic acid is a key intermediate in the production of nylon 66, and its manufacturing technology has long been monopolized by foreign countries. China Tianchen has broken the monopoly, filled the gaps in key technologies, and created another new frontier for the development of chemical materials in our country. “The breakthrough in the industrialization technology of domestic hexanitrocinene will surely drive the rapid development of China’s nylon 66 industry. ”Bian Shuguang, deputy director of the High-Tech Research and Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that over the next 5 to 10 years, the price of nylon 66 will become more competitive, and its applications in various industries will expand rapidly; the annual market demand is expected to reach 4 million tons. Our country is likely to become the world’s largest market for adiponitrile–nylon 66, and the advantages of a new industrial chain will gradually become apparent.
China’s first PP reactor using the Rums process put into operation In October, the first polypropylene (PP) polymerization reactor based on the Rums process in China, designed and manufactured by Tianhua Research Institute, was successfully put into use in CNOOC Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical Co., Ltd.’s 300,000-ton/year polypropylene production facility. This marked the end of the gap in terms of domestic design and manufacturing of polypropylene reaction equipment. Compared to imported equipment, the cost of a single unit of this reactor can be reduced by over 50%. In March 2020, after conducting various investigations, the experts from CNOOC Daxie Petrochemical decided to entrust Tianhua Institute with the design and manufacture of the polymerization reactor for CNOOC’s 300,000 tons per year polypropylene project. As required by the manufacturing process, the specifications of this polymerization reactor are 4850 millimeters × 10000 millimeters × 72 millimeters, with the thickness of the end cap reaching 130 millimeters. Due to the characteristics of the polymerization reaction, the design pressure for the equipment must reach 4.0 megapascals; at the same time, the gap between the bottom agitator and the container during operation is required to be around 2 millimeters, which makes the design complex and imposes high requirements on processing. In July 2021, after nearly 3 years of effort, Tianhuan People successfully developed China’s first polypropylene polymerization reactor using the Rumus process. This polymerization reactor adheres to domestic regulations in terms of materials and design standards. After a year of installation and commissioning, the 300,000 tons per year polypropylene plant at CNOOC Daxie Petrochemical began producing polypropylene in August 2022 and entered successful operation. The plant runs stably, with all key performance parameters meeting the design requirements.
Asia’s deepest deep-water jacket platform, “Haiji-1”, put into operation On October 3, “Haiji-1”, Asia’s deepest deep-water jacket platform designed and constructed by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, was put into operation. This marks China’s successful development of a new model for oil and gas exploration using deep-water fixed platforms, with its capabilities in designing, constructing, and installing such ultra-large deep-water jacket platforms reaching world-class levels. “Haiji-1 is located in the waters of the Pearl River Delta basin. The platform’s total height is 340.5 meters, and its total weight exceeds 40,000 tons; both these figures set new records for single offshore oil production platforms in China. “Haiji-1 is commissioning 5 production wells at the same time, with an initial daily output of around 2,700 tons. Leveraging the \"Haiji-1\" platform, CNOOC will develop both the Lufeng 15-1 and Lufeng 22-1 oil fields simultaneously, with a total of 14 production wells and 3 water injection wells. Once all of them are in operation, the daily crude oil output at peak times will reach 5,000 tons. The Lufeng 15-1 and Lufeng 22-1 oil fields are 19 kilometers apart and are both marginal fields, lacking the economic viability to be developed independently. “The “Haiji-1” platform utilizes a joint development strategy to share facilities between old and new oil fields, thereby revitalizing two deep-water marginal oil fields at once.
First domestic production line for large-tow carbon fiber put into operation On October 10, the first domestic production line of China’s first 10,000-ton capacity 48k large-tow carbon fiber facility was commissioned at the carbon fiber industry base of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company, and qualified products were produced. Test results show that the product’s performance is on par with similar products abroad, and its quality reaches an internationally advanced level. A few years after breakthroughs were achieved in the key technologies for large-tow carbon fiber production in our country, the essential equipment has also been manufactured domestically, ensuring self-sufficiency and control. Huang Xiangyu, deputy general manager of Shanghai Petrochemical, said that in order to truly possess \"Chinese technology\" in the field of large-tow carbon fiber production, Shanghai Petrochemical has developed specialized production lines tailored for large-tow carbon fiber, covering both equipment and manufacturing processes. For example, oxidation furnaces and carbonization furnaces were designed specifically to meet the requirements of large-tow carbon fiber production. This approach not only enabled the company to master the key core technologies for controlling temperature fields but also incorporated energy-saving designs that facilitate the comprehensive utilization of energy. The 10,000-ton capacity 48k large-tow carbon fiber project at Shanghai Petrochemical utilizes polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based large-tow precursor fibers and carbon fiber technologies developed by Sinopec. The project is carried out in two phases, with completion and operation planned for 2024; by then, it will have an annual production capacity of 24,000 tons of precursor fibers and 12,000 tons of large-tow carbon fiber. The domestic production line for 48k large-tow carbon fiber in this project was completed on August 16, enabling large-scale and high-quality production.
Pilot production of Guangdong Petrochemical’s integrated refining project On October 26, the vacuum distillation unit II of China National Petroleum Corporation’s Guangdong Petrochemical integrated refining project successfully received crude oil, marking the full entry of this project into the phase of pilot production with feedstock input. This project is CNPC’s largest refining and chemical complex in terms of one-time investment. It is the only refining facility in China capable of processing low-quality heavy oil entirely. Compared with refineries of similar scale, it enables an increase in product added value by 25% and a reduction in energy consumption by around 15%. With an annual processing capacity of 20 million tons of crude oil, it can produce 1.2 million tons of ethylene products and 2.6 million tons of aromatic products. The atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit II is the key unit of the Guangdong Petrochemical project, with a designed processing capacity of 10 million tons per year and 8,400 hours of annual operation time. The unit is designed to have a flexibility range of 60% to 110%, and its designed service cycle is four years between major overhauls. This unit employs high-vacuum reduced-pressure deep drawing technology to supply raw materials for downstream units such as continuous reforming, jet fuel hydrogenation, and diesel hydrogenation ； At the same time, narrow-spot technology is employed to optimize the heat exchange network, making full use of the excess heat in the system in order to reduce energy consumption.
China’s first onshore LNG membrane tank project comes online On October 28, the Hua Gang Gas Group’s Hebei Hejian LNG peak-shaving storage facility, the first such onshore LNG membrane tank project in China built with the involvement of Hudong Zhonghua (Shipbuilding) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, was officially completed and put into operation. The Hejian LNG peak-shaving storage facility was constructed by Huagang Gas Group, which belongs to North China Oilfield Company. The total investment in this project was 272 million yuan, and it covers an area of approximately 81.37 mu. A 29,000-cubic-meter LNG membrane-type storage tank along with related facilities were built there; its maximum gasification and supply capacity is 1 million standard cubic meters per day. Upon completion of the project, it will not only further optimize the overall layout of natural gas reserves in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, ensuring a supply of gas for the heating and daily use needs of 800,000 urban residents in Hejian, Renqiu and surrounding areas and helping to maintain a stable gas supply during winter emergencies, but it will also promote the use of large-scale LNG membrane storage tanks in China. It will serve as a model and catalyst for accelerating the localization of membrane tank equipment and materials, as well as for the development of the entire LNG industry chain.
First open-scale million-ton CCUS project launched On November 4, Sinopec signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding with Shell, China Baowu, and BASF in Shanghai. The four parties will jointly build China’s first open-scale million-ton CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project in the East China region. This project enables the carbon sources generated by industrial enterprises along the Yangtze River, including chemical plants, steel mills, power plants, cement factories, etc., to be transported collectively via tankers to carbon dioxide reception stations. From there, the carbon dioxide is delivered through shorter pipelines to storage sites on land or at sea. The project will provide industrial enterprises in the East China region with flexible and effective integrated carbon dioxide reduction solutions, helping to reduce carbon emissions in the existing industries there and to develop low-carbon product supply chains. Ma Yongsheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of Sinopec, said that by working together, the four parties can explore commercial pathways for decarbonization and advance the development of the entire CCUS industry chain, thereby contributing to green development not only in China but also around the world.
China’s largest PEM electrolyzer for hydrogen production put into operation On December 25, China’s largest proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer for hydrogen production – the Sinopec megawatt-class renewable energy-powered hydrogen production demonstration project – was put into operation at the Zhongyuan Oilfield. Liang Jianwei, manager of the Zhongyuan Oil and Gas Processing Technology Service Center, said that this project converts \"green electricity\" into \"green hydrogen,\" with a daily production capacity of 1.12 tons of \"green hydrogen\" having a purity of 99.9995%. The commissioning of this project will provide a replicable model for renewable energy-based hydrogen production and storage, as well as the diversified integration and efficient utilization of hydrogen energy in our country. This project adopts the hydrogen production technology via water electrolysis, which currently offers the best integration with wind and solar power. There is no emission of any pollutants throughout the process, and the equipment can be started and stopped as needed, facilitating the use of renewable \"green\" energy sources such as wind and solar power on-site. At the same time, the project also includes a 3.66-megawatt photovoltaic power plant and a 9-megawatt wind power facility. The two hydrogen production supporting projects generate over 25 million kWh of electricity per year.
The Shenghong Refining and Chemical Integration Project went into full operation. On December 28, the official launch of Shenghong Refining under Dongfang Shenghong, along with the signing ceremonies for Shenghong’s high-end new materials project and the Global Advanced Materials Research Institute, were held in Xuwei New Area, Lianyungang. This marks the completion of the entire process for the largest single-process integrated refining and chemical project in the country, enabling full-scale operation. It is reported that the total investment in the Shenghong refining and chemical integration project is approximately 67.7 billion yuan, with a designed crude oil processing capacity of 16 million tons per year. This project allows for flexible switching of oil types as well as the ratio of oils to chemical products, giving it strong market adaptability. This project set multiple domestic firsts, including the tallest tower of its kind, the heaviest fixed-bed reactor on record, the largest atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, and the largest cracking furnace. Among them, the 16 million tons per year atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, as well as the 4 million tons per year wax oil hydrocracking unit, are the largest of their kind in China ； The 2.8 million tons per year p-xylene plant is the first in China to adopt a two-stage slurry crystallization recovery process, and it is the largest p-xylene plant in the world that uses this two-stage slurry crystallization method ； The project also features the largest continuous reforming unit in China, with a capacity of 9.3 million tons per year, and has achieved complete independence in key technologies.