On March 25, 2021,

a major project of Jiangsu Province

the Phase II Propane Industry Chain Project of Sailboat Petrochemical

was facing a key node in its construction

The core equipment, the propylene-propane distillation column,

was successfully lifted and installed

All three large columns of the PDH equipment were installed

indicating that the project installation work was already in full swing

and signaling the beginning of the interim delivery counting down stage

The propylene propane distillation column is a part of the core equipment of the propane industry chain project and it is used to separate propylene and propane. The column was manufactured, transported, lifted and installed as a whole. The diameter of the column was 10 meters. Its height was 100.8 meters. The weight of the column was 1,845 tons when it was lifted for installation. In Jiangsu Province, it was the tallest among the columns of the same kind. To ensure that the column will be successfully lifted and installed at the first attempt, the largest domestic 4,000 ton crawler crane was used as the main crane. The successful lift and installation laid a solid foundation for the future progress of the project.

To extend and optimize the industrial structure, cultivate and expand the leading industry and build a new chemical material base with global influence, Sailboat Petrochemical has started the propane industry chain project according to the existing industrial layout advantages. The project construction has been divided into two phases. In Phase I, the main production equipment such as one 0.7 MTPA propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit, one 0.26 MTPA acrylonitrile unit and one 90 KTPA MMA unit, and some supportive facilities are to be built. In Phase II, the main production equipment such as one 0.26 MTPA acrylonitrile unit, one 90 KTPA MMA equipment and one 0.21 MTPA SAR unit, and some supportive facilities are to be built. After completed, the project will have an annual production capacity of 700,000 tons of propylene, 520,000 tons of acrylonitrile and 180,000 tons of MMA. After all the projects are completed and put into operation, the overall acrylonitrile production scale of Sailboat Petrochemical will reach 1.04 million tons per year and the project site will become a world-level acrylonitrile production base.

Acrylonitrile is an important raw material used to develop the new material industry in China. It is mainly used to produce carbon fibers, ABS resin/plastic, nitrile rubber, acrylic fibers, etc. The downstream products are widely used in various fields of the national economy such as aerospace, automobile, machinery, electronic devices, environment protection industry, medicaments and pesticides.

At present, both production and marketing of the acrylonitrile products of Sailboat Petrochemical thrive. The acrylonitrile products have increased the economic benefits of the company. Since the first set of equipment was installed and put into operation in 2016, the acrylonitrile products of Sailboat Petrochemical have been stable and excellent, they have been approved by the market and customers and the products have been sold in Southeast Asia, Europe and America.

After the propane industry chain project is put into operation, the acrylonitrile production process route of Sailboat Petrochemical will be greatly enriched. The new production process route will ensure that sufficient raw materials will be provided for downstream strategic emerging industries “following the chain” such as new energy, new materials, electron chemistry and biotechnology and the new process route will play an important role in accelerating the “double circulation” of the Chinese petrochemical industry and achieving the high-quality development.