Recently,Honeywell announced that Shandong Tianhong Chemical has selected Honeywell UOP's C3Oleflex propane dehydrogenation(PDH)technology to produce polymer grade propylene at its plant in Dongying City with an annual output of 250000 tons.Previously,local refineries such as Wantong Petrochemical and Qirun Chemical,also located in Dongying,were also exploring new equipment and technology to upgrade.

China Petroleum Industry Analysis Report 2018-In-depth Market Analysis and Development Prospect Research

Since this year,facing the increasingly serious overcapacity of refined oil products,the rise of large-scale integrated refining and chemical enterprises in the north and south wings,and the rising crude oil prices,Shandong Geotechnical Refinery has been seeking technological breakthroughs.

Loss of advantages of traditional land refining

In the past two years,with the decentralization of"double rights"of imported crude oil,many private refineries represented by Shandong Geotechnical Refinery have been reborn after eliminating backward production capacity,implementing technological transformation and upgrading oil products.According to the data from Shandong Refining and Chemical Association,in 2017,the key local refineries in Shandong Province completed their main business income of 606.67 billion yuan,realized profits and taxes of 41.98 billion yuan and profits of 15.64 billion yuan,which increased by 29.8%,40.7%and 25.6%respectively.

However,after entering 2018,the policy and market environment have changed,such as serious overcapacity,the rapid rise of large-scale integrated refining and chemical enterprises in the north and south wings,rising crude oil prices,the suspension of export quotas for refined oil products by the state,and the adjustment of the policy of collecting consumption tax on refined oil products,all of which have brought great pressure to local refineries.

"The new tax rate and stricter law enforcement will greatly reduce the profits of local refineries,while state-owned refineries obviously have no such concerns."Xu yuan,general manager of Haike Petrochemical,said.

What is more serious is that with the rise of a number of"new refining forces"such as Hengli Petrochemical,Rongsheng Petrochemical,Tongkun Petrochemical and Shenghong Petrochemical,the advantages of Shandong refining enterprises are gradually losing.Industry insiders pointed out that in the next few years,when these projects are put into operation,the traditional refineries with scattered layout,small scale,short industrial chain and low added value will be in a disadvantageous position.

"With the start-up of large refineries such as Zhejiang Petrochemical Company and the impact of the new consumption tax policy on local refineries,the flexibility of Shandong local refineries has been greatly reduced.".New rivals will catch up later,and the industry will inevitably reshuffle.Xu yuan said that this shuffle is not the merger of two companies,but the bankruptcy of enterprises.

Refining enterprises will be born of"transformation"

"With the increasing market demand and the driving force of demand upgrading,the requirements of scale,integration and intensification of the refining industry are getting higher and higher,the pace of technological progress and innovation of the refining industry will be faster and faster,and the market requirements for the innovation ability of enterprises will be higher and higher."Recently,at the 7th Asian Refining and Petrochemical Science and Technology Conference held in Ningbo in 2018,Li Shousheng,president of Sinopec Federation,pointed out that with the upgrading and progress of China's refining technology level,the transformation speed is also accelerating,and the direction of the transformation of the refining industry from resource-based to chemical industry is clearer and the road map is clearer.

Liu Jiayi,Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee,also proposed that the local refining industry should speed up the integration of refining and chemical industry,extend from refining to downstream products,lengthen the industrial chain,and"eat up and squeeze out"crude oil.It is reported that in Dongying City,where local refineries are most concentrated,the local government is taking the opportunity of building a high-end petrochemical industry base in northern Shandong Province to speed up the upgrading and transformation of the refining and chemical industry focusing on new technologies,new equipment and new processes,and at the same time to speed up the construction of key projects such as 2 million tons/year of p-xylene,1.2 million tons/year of ethylene and 1.2 million tons per year of caprolactam.Promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry from fuel type to chemical type.

Faced with the new situation,Tianhong Chemical has vigorously developed methyl methacrylate(MMA),acrylonitrile and other chemical products,and is actively promoting the 450000 tons/year propane dehydrogenation project with an investment of 1.5 billion yuan.

Shandong Mingyu Chemical Co.,Ltd.,which belongs to Wanda Group with Tianhong Chemistry,will actively promote the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project with a total investment of 17.4 billion yuan,which will form a complete industrial chain with Tianhong Chemistry and truly realize the integration of geo refining.Tang Zhao,engineer of Mingyu Chemical Technology Research and Development Department,said that the project was born of"chemistry"and will adopt advanced international technological process and production technology to open up the industrial chain of crude oil refining and high-end chemical industry,and realize the qualitative change from gasoline and diesel straight chain to network industrial chain.Tang Zhao said that at present,the feasibility study report and planning plan of the project have been completed,and the preparatory work for the project is under way,and it is expected that the conditions for starting construction will be met in the second half of 2019.

Technical Breakthrough Becomes the Main Direction of Attack

"Customers,including Tianhong Chemical,need to achieve rapid construction and start-up of propylene plants to accelerate the return on investment."Liu Maoshu,vice president and general manager of UOP China,said.In Honeywell's partnership with Celestica,Honeywell is responsible for providing licensing,process design packages,patented and generic equipment,on-site operator training,start-up and ongoing operational technical services,as well as key catalysts and adsorbents for the project.This is the 32nd set of Oleflex successfully authorized by Honeywell in China?Technology.

Wang Jinxin,sales general manager of UOP China,pointed out that China's refining capacity has exceeded the demand of the refined oil market,while the gap between ethylene and paraxylene and its dependence on foreign countries are relatively high.Select the most effective process technology,catalyst and adsorbent,adopt molecular management,and put the appropriate molecules in the appropriate unit for processing,so as to maximize the benefits.

Source:Guan Yan Tian Xia