【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1043–2020: Qingdao Builds the World’s Largest Ethylene Glycol (MEG) Plant Modules

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical technology – praise for China’s prosperity and strength. This is just a starting point; more participation from everyone will make things even more lively. Haichuan becomes even better with you here; we welcome everyone to join in the forum discussions. Be careful with fire as the heat increases in July. ---------------------------------------------- On December 28, 2020, the world’s largest ethylene glycol (MEG) production unit module, built in Qingdao, was loaded onto a ship at Qingdao Wuchuan McDermott Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. and shipped to Texas, United States. The total weight of the device module is nearly 40,000 tons. According to the information provided, the installation work involves 115 sets of equipment in the 3 MEG project modules (PAU01/PAU02/PAU04), totaling 5,616 tons; in addition, there is work related to the installation of pipelines with a length of 22,680 inches in one module (PAU05), as well as the prefabricated installation of 185 tons of pipe supports. The diameter of the MEG project pipelines reaches two meters; after welding, thermal contraction occurs easily, resulting in significant deformation and a skin separation of 4 millimeters, with the weld seam taking on an oval shape. To ensure welding quality and schedule, the workers used jacks inside the pipeline to adjust the weld seams, and grinders were used to polish the inner bevels on the pipe interior. The alignment of the 4 sets of 82-inch weld seams was completed in just 5 days, and they passed the inspection on the first attempt. 　　The equipment installation for the mechanical engineering sector includes 3 compressor units, 4 large-scale tower equipment units, and 653 tons of internal components. Out of the 115 devices, 8 require side installation, making the installation process difficult. The installation requirements for the project’s compressor unit specify that the levelness of the structural base must be within 0.5 millimeters. The levelness of the base is adjusted through on-site machining to ensure that it meets the specified requirements after the compressor unit is installed. 　　The total weight of the 4 large-scale tower units in the MEG project amounts to 2,206 tons, with the heaviest individual unit weighing 826 tons. For the lifting of the 4 towers, the project site personnel and the owner repeatedly reviewed the plan before lifting the equipment, and designed leveling shims for the cutting equipment in advance based on the structural layout. Welding was carried out as soon as everything was ready; the installation of the four towers was completed in just 11 days, four days ahead of schedule, which earned high praise from the client.