Thailand Polypropylene (PP) Project consists of two PP plants. SINOPEC Engineering Incorporation (SEI), as the EPCC contractor, has successfully completed the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the project. This is the first overseas project that SEI is fully responsible for the plant commissioning and start-up. The successful commissioning of the project has won SEI a good international reputation and invaluable commissioning experience, which builds a solid foundation for the expansion of SEI in overseas market. Based on the commissioning practice of the NO.2 PP plant in Thailand, this paper discusses the tasks, organization structure and management experience of commissioning

The application of FHUDS-FZ and FHUDS-SZ combined catalyst in the new 3.0 Mt/a diesel hydrogenation unit at SINOPEC Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company is introduced. The unit takes straight run diesel oil (57.71 percent), FCC diesel oil (24.41 percent) and coker diesel oil (17.88 percent) as the raw material, and this catalyst has relatively high desulfurization and denitrification rate. The test run results show that, when the reactor inlet pressure is 8.7 MPa, the space velocity is 0.8h-1, the average temperature is 355℃ and the hydrogen/oil ratio is 400:1, the sulfur content of the refined diesel oil is less than 8 mg/kg, the cetane number is increased by 4.5, and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are less than 7%，fully meeting the National V emission standards for diesel oil. With high strength, good anti-coking performance and high stability, this combined catalyst can realize long-period operation of the unit

The foundation of storage tank is the basic structure in petrochemical plants. Characterized by huge size and load, storage tank has high requirements for its foundation. Ring wall reinforced concrete foundation is often adopted due to its advantages of great stiffness, high resistance to uneven settlement, less land occupation and good economics. Based on the engineering practice of the foundation of a 20,000 m3 heavy oil storage tank, this paper discusses the differences between SH/T3036-2007 Specification for Design of Steel Storage Tanks Subgrade and Foundation in Petrochemical Industry and GB 50473-2008 Code for Design of Steel Tank Foundation in the calculation conditions, calculation formula and parameter values of foundation as well as their effects on calculation results. CFG pile composite foundation is successfully used for this heavy load storage tank built on soft soil. The project has been running well for many years

The flare system of a new ethanol synthesis project, including pressure relief valves and flare pipe network, is modeled by using Flarenet software, and calculation is carried out respectively according to different discharge scenarios. Based on the calculation result of the Mach number of discharge branch pipes and flare header, the size of pipeline is adjusted and checked, so that the Mach number of all discharge pipes can meet the requirements specified in relevant standards and codes. During the calculation, appropriate size is set for pressure relief valve to meet the relief capacity requirements, and appropriate valve type is selected according to the ratio of total backpressure to set pressure. Using Flarenet software can effectively optimize the pipe size, so as to meet the Mach number requirements of discharge pipes. Also it can accurately calculate the total backpressure of pressure relief valves and has a high value of practical application

To practice the principle of safety and precaution first, the anti-explosion and pressure-relief design of refinery buildings should be performed according to the fire hazard classification of dangerous goods used or produced during production, and relevant national standards and codes should be strictly followed to eliminate the potential safety hazards and ensure the normal operation of the unit. Several explosion-proof and pressure-relief design examples of refinery buildings are introduced including the selection of the main structure of buildings and the calculation of pressure relief area, so as to achieve the safety and rationality of design without waste of engineering material and additional investment

High speed centrifugal pump is accelerated by gear, and there are two ways to increase the speed, i.e. single stage speed increasing and two stage speed increasing. High lift pumping system is needed for coal chemical industry and hydrogenation plant, so the rotary speed of the matching high speed centrifugal pump must be increased accordingly. Due to the high cost and assembly difficulty of two stage speed increasing, single stage speed increasing is selected to improve the efficiency of the pump. This paper mainly introduces the design of high speed centrifugal pump with the highest single stage speed increasing in China

In a comparative study of the process schemes of atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit in a refinery, the effects of two processes, i.e. pumping a portion of the atmospheric residue to downstream unit and pumping the atmospheric residue to vacuum distillation column, on the energy consumption of unit are investigated. The results show that, without considering the effect of diesel fraction entrained by atmospheric residue on the energy consumption of VRDS unit, the process of pumping a portion of atmospheric residue to downstream unit significantly reduces the processing load of vacuum furnace and vacuum distillation column. The heat load of furnace and the consumption of pump are reduced by 3.68 MW and 258.9 kW respectively, and the steam consumption is increased by 3850.1kg/h. The overall energy consumption of the atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit is reduced by 180.5kg/h standard fuel, but the energy consumption of the downstream VRDS unit is increased by 195.2kg/h standard fuel. Therefore, this process is favorable for the energy saving and consumption reduction of atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit. Considering the effect of diesel fraction on the energy consumption of VRDS unit, the energy consumption of the two processes is basically the same in terms of refinery-wide energy consumption

Taking the technological development and engineering application of China’s first localized para-xylene complex as the example, this paper analyzes the coordination between reliability and progressiveness during technological development and engineering application from the perspectives of integrated management, risk management and process management. The technical characteristics, difficulties and innovative management mode of this project are introduced, and some optimization measures are put forward for the research and development and the construction of para-xylene complex in the future

This paper analyzes the defects of main methods for the deep removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from polypropylene in polypropylene industry at present. A method for the deep removal of VOCs from polypropylene particles has been found through a large number of experimental studies. This paper also determines the operating conditions of this method and studies the effect of this method on material properties. Finally, an industrialized process flow and an equipment design scheme are proposed to remove the VOCs from polypropylene particles

Ball deformation and inner and outer raceway wear were found on the rolling bearing of primary input shaft of the melt pump reducer of extrusion granulation production line in a polyolefin plant at SINOPEC Guangzhou Company. This paper analyzes the structure of melt pump reducer, calculates and checks the design service life of the two-stage bearing of primary input shaft, and analyzes the causes of the early failure of bearing from the aspects of bearing installation, lubrication and material. It is concluded that the failure is caused by the material defect of rolling element. By replacing the bearing and increasing the amount of oil injection, the reducer and the bearing have been running well since January 2013, and such failure has not occurred again

To solve the problem of over high saturated vapor pressure of the product from LPG tower in Yakela Gas Gathering Station, this paper analyzes the tower feed, reflux and overhead condensing volume, and optimizes and adjusts the process, operation management and operating methods according to the actual situations. The product quality meets the requirements of relevant standards, and the storage and long-distance transportation safety of the station is improved

This paper introduces the design of steam jacket pipe in sulfur recovery unit. Combined with the experiences in pipeline construction, unit operation and pipe fitting and valve procurement, high-quality pipe fittings are selected according to the features of related components of jacket pipe and the good heat tracing effect of jacket pipe on the premise of strictly following industrial codes. By comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different design ideas, an optimized design scheme is put forward for the flange, cross, jump-over and branch of jacket pipe

In order to solve the problems in the equipment layout and piping design of catalyst preparation unit in polypropylene plant, the equipment layout is optimized from the perspectives of plane and elevation on the premise that relevant Chinese and foreign standards and codes are followed and the operation and maintenance requirements are met, and the design of major pipelines involved is discussed. The design experiences of the project are introduced, and the operation and maintenance requirements in equipment layout and piping design are illustrated in detail

Through an engineering example, the method for calculating the insulation thickness of cryogenic liquid nitrogen pipeline is discussed. The problems in calculating the insulation of cryogenic pipeline by limiting the outer surface temperature, Ts, are analyzed. For different outdoor cryogenic pipelines, appropriate limitations and calculation methods are selected according to different insulation purposes. The method of limiting cold loss and the method of limiting the temperature rise, Δt, of the internal medium should be used respectively for calculating the insulation thickness of cryogenic liquid nitrogen pipelines

As the only heat source of central process facilities, heat medium heater is the critical equipment of crude oil stabilizer and light hydrocarbon recovery unit. It is operated at high temperature during normal operation. To avoid the over high stress of metal pipes connected with the heat medium heater or the leakage of nozzle flanges to ensure the safety of the pipeline and the heat medium heater connected, the piping layout shall meet corresponding safety evaluation conditions. This paper introduces the on-site optimization scheme of the inlet and outlet piping of heat medium heater in an overseas project, and carries out the stress analysis of pipelines in different cases. By setting the guide, limit and spring hanger, the primary and secondary stresses are within the allowable range

The explosion hazard of ammonia (mol.10%~30%) tank is analyzed based on the volume concentration of ammonia in gaseous mixture above the liquid. The results show that the volume concentration of ammonia in gaseous mixture might be between the upper explosion limit and the lower explosion limit at ambient temperature, forming explosive mixture. Ammonia tank shall be designed according to Class B fire and explosion hazard. Considering intrinsic safety, nitrogen sealing measures should be taken to prevent the formation of materials with combustion and explosion hazards

This paper introduces the design principle, process, implementation and matters needing attention of the field control cabinet in petrochemical plant, which adopts positive pressure ventilation mode. For cabinets in hazardous areas, the explosion-proof requirements must be met. In order to achieve power supply before commissioning or startup, some practical suggestions are put forward, and the importance of the design of power supply system for cabinet is emphasized