Study and Strategy on Expansion of Steam Cracking Unit to 650 kt/a at Yanshan Petrochemical Company

The 30 0kt aethyleneunitisthefirstmajorethyleneunitimportedfromabroad .Thesteamcrackers ,whichwereputonstreamin 1 976 ,werelicensedbyABB LummusofUSAandconstructedbythecontractorToyoEngineeringCompanyofJapan .BeijingYanshanPetrochemicalCompany(BYPC)carriedoutthefirstexpansionandrevampingofthisethyleneunitduringthe 1 992 - 1 994period ,andthecon structionofrevampprojectwascompletedinOctober 1 994 .Thisrevampprojectexpandedethylenecapacityfromtheori ginallevelof30 0kt ato 4 5 0kt awithits…

Study and Strategy on Expansion of Steam Cracking Unit to 650 kt/a at Yanshan Petrochemical Company

After having expanded its capacity from 300 kt/a to 450 kt/a in 1994, the steam cracking unit of Yanshan Petrochemical Company was still experiencing such problems as low feedstock flexibility, high energy consumption and smaller production capacity as compared to other ethylene units constructed in the same time. In order to fully improve technical capability, reduce energy consumption, improve feedstock flexibility and increase production capacity of steam crackers, a lot of technical transform schemes on steam cracking were studied and compared with attention focused on the feasibility, safety, operability of the related revamp schemes, as well as the advanced nature and economical features. The transform scheme decided includes following projects. For the pyrolysis quench compression system, the pyrolysis gasoline fractionation tower is retrofitted on the site, quench water tower, pyrolysis gas compressor and steam turbine are replaced by new ones respectively. For the separation system a low pressure methane removal technology is adopted with the demethanizer tower replaced, coupled with the C 3 catalytic rectification/hydrogenation technology, while the high pressure depropanizer is replaced with addition of a propylene rectification tower. The fractionation flow sheet and equipment are adjusted with addition of a propylene compressor and compressor for binary mixture of methane ethylene cooling agents. The revamped complex has expanded the ethylene capacity to the target of 660 kt/a with the actual capacity reaching 710 kt/a, remarkably reduced the energy consumption, and is capable of using naphtha, light diesel fuel, heavy diesel fuel and the hydrocracked tail oil as the steam cracking feedstock. This project is the first to apply refrigeration by means of a mixed cooling agent and has succeeded in using C\-3 catalytic rectification/hydrogenation technology, which has given an impetus to the progress of steam cracking industry in the world.