Domestic ethylene technology to achieve "version 2.0" upgrade

"My family is in Aksu, I was admitted to the Bayin Technical College in Korla City, my family is all farmers, I became a worker, and the family is very happy
.
It's not far from home and it's easy to get home, it's a 5-hour train ride
.
In Korla, Xinjiang, in July, the smile on the face of young Maria Muguli was as bright
as a flower.

Maria Muguli is a storage and transporter
in the Tarim ethane to ethylene project of PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company.
The project is one of the first batch of scientific and technological innovation demonstration projects with independent intellectual property rights in China, which has changed the fate of "Maria Muguli people" and is an important milestone
in the development of China's petrochemical industry.

Must have independent large ethylene technology

Over the past few decades, having independent ethylene technology has been the goal
of China's petrochemical industry.

For the general public, ethylene is a technical word
that is not very clear.
This compound composed of 2 carbon atoms and 4 hydrogen atoms is closely related to everyone's daily life, is one of the world's largest production and consumption of organic basic chemical raw materials, known as the "mother of the petrochemical industry"
.

"Ethylene technology and production capacity mark the level
of a country's petrochemicals.
" Zhang Laiyong, chief technical expert of PetroChina's Huanqiu Engineering Co.
, Ltd.
, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter
.

For decades, China's ethylene production technology has been dependent on imports
.
By 2008, China has become the world's second largest consumer of ethylene, but the equivalent self-sufficiency rate is only 38%, and the implementation of localization of ethylene technology cannot be delayed
.

In order to reverse the passive situation that core technologies have been dependent on the introduction, PetroChina has carried out the research and development layout of the whole industrial chain in this blank field, and opened the exploration of
domestic ethylene technology.

In 2008, PetroChina set up a major scientific and technological project of "large-scale ethylene plant industrialization complete sets of technology development", led by Huanqiu Company, with the joint participation of Daqing Petrochemical and Petrochemical Research Institute, to tackle key problems in the localization of ethylene complete sets of technologies and key
equipment.

After nearly 5 years of arduous research, PetroChina has successfully completed the development of China's first set of large-scale ethylene plant complete sets of technologies, forming 5 series of 34 characteristic technologies, 61 patents and 7 proprietary technologies
.

In October 2012, PetroChina Daqing Petrochemical's 600,000 tons/year ethylene plant built using key research technology was successfully started up at one time, one year
earlier than originally planned.
China became the fourth country
in the world to master ethylene technology.
In 2016, the ethylene complete set of technology won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award
.

Make full use of the advantages of upstream and downstream resource integration

At the time when China's large-scale ethylene complete sets of technology localization have achieved a major breakthrough, the global ethylene industry has shown a new development pattern of lightweight and diversified cracking raw materials and large-scale device scale, and the domestic ethylene industry is facing new challenges
.

"We started exploring ethylene production technologies
with higher conversion efficiency and lower costs.
" Zhang Laiyong said
.

Previously, most of the domestic cracking naphtha and other oils to make ethylene, raw material costs are high, directly affecting the production cost of ethylene plants and the market competitiveness
of petrochemical products.
In 2012, for the first time, the world's ethylene production using light hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane exceeded the ethylene production
based on naphtha.

In 2017, PetroChina launched the second phase of large-scale ethylene major scientific and technological projects, and Huanqiu Engineering joined hands with a number of companies to start the centralized development of complete sets of ethane-to-ethylene technology, and deployed the basic research, process technology and engineering work
of the technology.

Two years later, China Petroleum System deployment, innovative layout, to promote the development of natural gas development, ethane recovery, ethylene chemical industry chain coordinated development, Shangmalan Petrochemical Changqing, Dushanzi Petrochemical Tarim two ethane to ethylene national demonstration projects
.

"As a technology provider, engineering design and general contractor, we aim at key technical issues and organize nearly 200 people to focus on key technical issues
.
" Wang Yong, director of the science and technology information department of Huanqiu Engineering, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter
.

"In order to ensure the efficient implementation of major projects, we have established a major special project management office, through integrated organization and implementation, do a good job in R&D, funding, results, incentives and other process management, and effectively ensure that the various R&D task nodes are completed
on schedule.
" Zhang Laiyong added
.

In August 2021, China's first use of independent technology to build the Changqing and Tarim ethane to ethylene projects have been put into production, marking the successful realization of the "2.
0 version" of domestic ethylene technology, China's large-scale ethylene complete sets of technical level reached a new height
.

"PetroChina gives full play to the advantages of upstream and downstream resource integration, using ethane separated from natural gas produced by the two oilfields of Changqing and Tarim as raw materials to achieve the systematic combination
of high-quality raw materials, technology and industrial application.
" Zhang Laiyong said
.

As Dai Houliang, chairman of PetroChina, said, the commissioning of the two sets of ethane-to-ethylene projects is the specific practice
of PetroChina during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period to "make innovation the first driving force, accelerate energy transformation, accelerate the industry to the middle and high end, promote high-quality development, and create new competitive advantages through scientific and technological innovation".

"Fifth-generation" Ethylene Man "Lucky"

From the establishment of the project to the commissioning, it seems that the "million-ton ethane to ethylene complete set of technology - ethane cracking to ethylene national demonstration project" took only 4 years before and after, but behind it is PetroChina's decades-long exploration and research on ethylene technology
.

In September 1977, the State Council approved the introduction of four sets of 300,000 tons/year ethylene plants from abroad, one of which was built in Daqing Petrochemical
.
Subsequently, PetroChina continued to explore, and successively realized the localization of key equipment such as cracking technology, separation technology and cracking furnace, and successfully put into operation, filling the gap
of domestic technology and equipment.

From the introduction to the domestic production, and then to the million-ton level, how difficult this road is, as can be seen from the words of Dr.
Wu Liping, the former deputy chief engineer of Dushanzi Petrochemical Company: "The complexity of ethylene plants is second only to that of nuclear power plants
.
”

As the main developer of the separation technology of ethane-to-ethylene plant, Xin Jiang, senior engineer of the chemical process room of the process department of Huanqiu Engineering Beijing Branch, experienced this difficult journey
.

"If you count according to the process of technology research and development, I am the 'fifth generation' of Universal
Ball Engineering.
" Xin Jiang said
.
In 2007, when Xin Jiang joined Huanqiu Engineering, it coincided with the establishment of PetroChina's "large-scale ethylene plant industrialization complete set of technology development", and he had the honor of participating in it
.

Soon, Xinjiang received a new task - to participate in the second phase of the major project of large ethylene, responsible for the research of
ethylene separation technology from ethane cracking to ethylene.

To find the optimal solution of ethane cracking to ethylene technology, there is no readable data for reference, and you can only rely on stupid methods to cross the river
by feeling the stones.

Once, when the process was set, Xin Jiang found that the operating parameters of a certain equipment had a greater impact on the energy consumption of the entire process, so he selected the two main indicators of "ethylene recovery rate" and "device energy consumption", adjusted the key operating parameters one by one, repeatedly simulated and calculated 5 schemes before and after, and discussed and analyzed with the expert team, and finally determined the operating parameters
of this equipment.

Looking back at the road of scientific research, compared with the hardships paid and countless explorations, Xin Jiang's deepest feeling is "lucky", "caught up with a good opportunity, can be trained and grown in a number of large projects"
.

The same is true for PetroChina
.
"To achieve the core technology in key areas of independent control is not an overnight thing, to have the patience of 'ten years to grind a sword', major scientific and technological projects are an important starting point for PetroChina to promote scientific and technological innovation, but also let us concentrate on tackling key problems, aiming at the goal, and continuous improvement
.
" Zhang Laiyong said
.

Comments Not only should basic research be able to sit on the "cold bench" and withstand loneliness, but also technical research for major national needs
.
From the introduction of the first ethylene production line, to conquering the complete set of process technology of large-scale ethylene plants, and then to the realization of the complete set of technology from million-ton ethane to ethylene, PetroChina has spent nearly 50 years
.
Set up special projects, build teams, gather resources.
.
.
Long-term consistent persistence has finally reaped fruitful results, solved the needs of the country, and also achieved a strong technical "core"
of the enterprise.
The enlightenment of this case is that enterprises, no matter how big or small, should perhaps take a long-term view, balance short-term interests and long-term investment, deeply understand the connotation of innovation, and implement innovation
.