By an OGJ Online Correspondent
BEIJING, July 23 -- Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Corp., an affiliate of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), plans to complete a 250,000 b/d expansion to its ethylene capacity by early October.
The 700,000 b/d nameplate capacity will be the highest in China. Work on the expansion began in August 1999.
The company will shut its 450,000 tonne/year cracker in Aug. 3-5 as part of the work.
The shutdown will reduce Yanhua's ethylene production by 5% from last year to 460,000 tonnes this year.
The 3.8 billion yuan expansion involves building two crackers and the revamping of six existing ones. It incorporates technology from ExxonMobil Corp. and ABB Lummus, part of ABB Group.
Japan's Toyo Engineering Corp. is the project designer.
Yanhua's cracker is one of five ethylene crackers that Sinopec plans to expand to 650,000-700,000 b/d from 400,000-500,000.
