Fill in the gaps! China's first Lummus process polypropylene polymerization reactor was put into operation

Recently, the first set of Lummus process polypropylene polymerization reactor designed and manufactured by Tianhua Chemical Machinery and Automation Research and Design Institute Co.
, Ltd.
(hereinafter referred to as Tianhua Institute), a subsidiary of Sinochem, was successfully put into operation
in the 300,000 tons/year polypropylene project of CNOOC Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical Co.
, Ltd.
As the core equipment of the project, at present, the device runs smoothly, the material and design standards meet the relevant regulations, and the key parameters meet the design requirements
.
The successful operation of the plant has filled the gap
in the design and manufacture of polypropylene reaction equipment in China.

The first core equipment: the Lummus process polypropylene polymerization reactor

The Novolen process is one of the most licensed polypropylene technologies in the world in recent years, with low operating costs, high reliability and the widest portfolio of products
。 The process can produce about 60 kinds of polypropylene resin of different categories and different uses, with a product equivalent specification of 90-99%, high crystallinity, good melting point, tensile strength, flexural modulus, impact strength and other properties; The tensile modulus can reach up to 2400 MPa, the maximum rubber content can reach 50%, the material is rigid, more firm and tough; The melt mass flow rate ranges from 0.
3-100 g/10 minutes, with high reliability and guaranteed
quality.
At the same time, the impact copolymerization part of the product produced by this process does not have the problem of swelling or dissolution, and has good quality
.

The advantages of these products are mainly due to the polymerization
reactor, the core equipment of the ROMMUS process.

In a complete Lommus process, two reactors are typically configured and their arrangement in series or parallel can be flexibly adapted to the production needs
.
Among them, a single reactor can produce homopolymer polypropylene, random copolymer polypropylene and ternary copolymer polypropylene products; Two reactors connected in series to produce impact copolymer polypropylene products; When the two reactors are used in parallel, the production capacity of homopolymer can be increased by 70%~100%.

In practical applications: homopolymers are mainly used in containers, fibers, molds, automobiles and other fields; Random copolymers can be used in areas requiring high transparency, such as films, blow molding and injection molding; Ternary copolymers can be widely used in food packaging retort bags, composite films, meltblown cloths, etc
.
Therefore, the performance of the polymerization reactor will directly affect the quality of the final product
.

As an excellent supplier of equipment in the domestic polypropylene industry, Tianhua Institute has profound technical reserves in the design and manufacture of related equipment, and has strong design capabilities and manufacturing strength, which can provide excellent technical services for major domestic polypropylene production enterprises and have been widely recognized
by the industry.
In March 2020, after many investigations, the project team finally decided that Tianhua Institute would complete the design and manufacture
of the polymerization reactor of this 300,000-ton polypropylene project.

However, it is not easy to independently complete the localization design and manufacture of the Lummus process polypropylene polymerization reactor
.

According to the process requirements, the polymerization reactor has a large specification and a head thickness of 130 mm
.
Due to the characteristics of the polymerization reaction, the design pressure reaches 4.
0 MPa, and the gap between the bottom agitator and the vessel during operation is required to be about 2 mm, which is difficult to design, high processing requirements and severe
challenges.

The process from 0 to 1 is more than 100 times of innovation and breakthrough

Based on its own years of research experience in the field of polypropylene reaction, according to the requirements of process patentees and the differences between the standards on which domestic equipment and imported equipment are based, the project team of Tianhua Institute carefully consulted and studied relevant materials at home and abroad, tackled and innovated the process and equipment, and successively solved the problems
of equipment design, material selection, built-in multi-point temperature measurement tube, and manufacturing and processing of tungsten alloy parts.

After nearly 3 years of efforts by Tianhua people, the first domestic Lummus process polypropylene polymerization reactor was finally shipped and delivered
.

The data shows that compared with the introduction of equipment, the single equipment cost of the Rumus process polypropylene polymerization reactor designed and manufactured by Tianhua Institute can be saved by more than
50%.
The smooth operation of the reactor has effectively enhanced the comprehensive ability and core competitiveness of Tianhua Institute in research, design and manufacturing, filled the gap in the design and manufacture of polypropylene reaction equipment in China, and demonstrated that the equipment design and processing capacity of China's petrochemical industry can meet the industry's demand
for large-scale and high-end equipment.

A set of "Tianhua manufacturing" in the field of chemical equipment

In recent years, Tianhua Institute has adhered to the market orientation, based on its own technical advantages, constantly explored and innovated, actively took the initiative, carried out continuous tackling around the localization of chemical equipment, realized the transformation of a number of scientific and technological achievements, and contributed to the chemical industry one by one, a set of "Tianhua made" equipment
.

In the field of petrochemicals, in March 2021, the 2×600000 tons/year ring reactor of the polypropylene plant of China Flexible Packaging Group Fujian Zhongjing Petrochemical Co.
, Ltd.
undertaken by Tianhua Institute was successfully delivered, which weighed 1,720 tons in a single set and was composed of 16 elbows about 55 meters long and 8 large elbows of 180 degrees; In November 2021, the "R&D and Industrial Application of Complex Raw Materials Million Tons of Ethylene Complete Technology" participated by Tianhua Academy won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award;

In the field of lithium batteries, in May 2022, the "iron phosphate flash drying + roasting system" device developed by Tianhua Institute with steam as the heat source was successfully fed and tested in the 40,000 tons/year iron phosphate project of Guizhou Phosphating (Fuquan), which can further help increase the production capacity of lithium battery iron phosphate materials;

In the field of new materials, in July 2022, Tianhuayuan made a key breakthrough in another independent innovative product, and 18 sets of "SAN unit reactor external circulation scraper wall cooler" applied to ABS resin production were successfully started up at one time; In September 2022, the drying and extrusion technology and equipment of Tianhua Institute helped the world's first 10,000-ton PGA degradable material demonstration project of Yulin Chemical of the National Energy Group to be put into operation
smoothly.