Ethylene furnaces delivered for ZPC complex in China

Nov. 12, 2018
Wison Engineering Services Co. Ltd. completed delivery of all nine ethylene-cracking furnaces to be installed as part of the naphtha cracking unit at the first phase of Zhejiang Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s 800,000-b/d integrated refining and petrochemical complex currently under construction in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China.

Robert Brelsford

Downstream Technology Editor

Wison Engineering Services Co. Ltd. (WES) completed delivery of all nine ethylene-cracking furnaces to be installed as part of the naphtha cracking unit at the first phase of Zhejiang Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s (ZPC) 800,000-b/d integrated refining and petrochemical complex currently under construction in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China (OGJ Online, June 5, 2017).

WES—which was responsible for modularized design, construction, and installation of the project—along with affiliate Wison Offshore & Marine delivered the ninth modular ethylene-cracking furnace to the site at the end of October following delivery of the other eight similar furnace modules earlier in the year, the service provider said.

Wison Engineering Services completed delivery of all nine ethylene-cracking furnaces to be installed as part of the naphtha-cracking unit at ZPC’s 800,000-b/d integrated refining and petrochemical complex now under construction. Photo from Wison.

The core equipment of the naphtha cracking unit—which is composed of nine ethylene-cracking furnaces with an output of 200,000 tonnes/year each and will have the largest single-chain ethylene production capacity in China upon startup—is now fully in place.

With a total weight of about 33,000 tonnes, the nine ethylene-cracking furnace modules for Phase 1 of the complex will be able to produce 1.4 million tpy of ethylene.

The first 400,000-b/d phase of ZPC’s complex is due for startup by December, while Phase 2—which will nearly double processing and production capabilities at the site—is scheduled for commissioning during first-quarter 2021 (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2018).

ZPC previously said it would invest about 160 billion yuan to complete both phases of the project.

Saudi Aramco also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with ZPC to acquire ownership interest in the complex (OGJ Online, Oct. 26, 2018).