Recently, the reporter learned from the Industry Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission that during the “10th Five-Year Plan†period, a number of major technological equipments with independent intellectual property rights in China had made new breakthroughs. At present, China has successfully completed the task of localizing the first (set) large-scale centrifugal compressor in major technical equipments of many countries, and has the level of antagonism with multinational companies. The large-scale 40,000 to 60,000 class air separation equipment independently developed by China has also been approved by the petrochemical and metallurgical industries. China's air separation equipment manufacturing industry has entered the international advanced ranks. In addition, China has basically mastered the design and manufacturing technology for 300,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 520,000 tons of urea complete sets of equipment. The acquisition of these major technological achievements indicates that the development of China's petrochemical major equipment industry has entered a new era.
Localization continues to increase
With the advancement of international petrochemical process technology and the development of China's petrochemical industry, especially the large-scale petrochemical production, companies have put forward higher requirements for the development of petrochemical equipment. Because petrochemical equipment is mostly used in high temperature, high pressure, flammable, explosive, erodible, and long-term operating conditions, companies have put forward higher requirements for the performance, quality, high-efficiency, energy-saving, and economic safety of petrochemical equipment.
Under the guidance of state policies, China’s major equipment industry has intensified the development of petrochemical equipment, continuously developed the core technologies of petrochemical major equipment, changed imitative development to independent development, and formed a number of equipment and technologies with independent intellectual property rights. In particular, the key equipment in major petrochemical equipment not only reduces the dependence on imports, but also rewrites the history of complete introduction of petrochemical equipment. The reporter learned from the China Petroleum and Petrochemical Equipment Industry Association that the current localization rate of complete sets of refining equipment has reached more than 90%, and the localization rate of ethylene complete sets of equipment has reached about 70%%.
Breakthrough in major equipment technology
Cracking gas compressors, propylene compressors, and ethylene compressors are the "hearts" of ethylene crackers. In the past few years, Shengu Group provided large-scale compressor units for Daqing Petrochemical and Shanghai Petrochemical ethylene plants and operated normally. At the end of 2005, Shengu Group provided large-scale cracking gas compressor units for Maoming Petrochemical's 640,000 t/y ethylene plant. This proves that our country is fully capable of independently designing and manufacturing centrifugal compressors with advanced technology and reliable performance, and supporting an ethylene unit of 700,000 tons/year or more.
Hydrogenation reactors are the equipment with the highest quality requirements, the most complex manufacturing processes and the longest manufacturing processes in refineries. Only a few manufacturers can manufacture them in the international market. Since the 1980s, domestic companies have developed hydrogenation reactors with a capacity of 1,000 tons after more than 20 years of research and development.
Large air separation equipment is a key equipment in chemical fertilizers, petrochemicals, metallurgy, coal chemical and other process equipment. China's Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Fertilizer Renovation Project is based on localization, researches and develops 40,000-class large-scale air separation equipment, and it was successfully started and stabilized in 2005. The main performance parameters and technical indicators of China's 40,000 to 60,000 grade air separation plants are the same as those of foreign countries. Currently, they have been applied to Sinopec Hubei Chemical Fertilizer and Anqing Petrochemical projects. At the end of 2005, Hangzhou Oxygen Group also obtained orders for 2 sets of 60,000 grade air separation plants in Iran. It is understood that the world’s largest air separation plant has reached 100,000 grades.
During the "10th Five-Year Plan" period, China's petrochemical major equipment also made some other breakthroughs. Such as large-scale PTA device mold, titanium tube heat exchanger, rotary dryer; 200,000 tons / year polypropylene plant loop reactor and large labyrinth compressors, 200,000 tons / year polyester plant reactor and so on.
There are also some major equipment being developed, such as 300,000 tons/year polypropylene loop reactor, dryer, 400,000 tons/year PVC plant chlorination reactor and so on. According to incomplete statistics, from the “7th Five-Year Plan†to the “15th Five-Year Planâ€, China has successfully developed and promoted the use of more than 2,000 major petrochemical equipment, which can save 5.2 billion yuan in investment compared to imports during the same period. The achievements in the development of a number of petrochemical major equipment have reached or approached the international advanced level.