Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical's 2.2 Million-Metric-Ton-Per-Year Catalytic Cracking Unit Begins Operations

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--Following the commissioning of the 10 million-metric-ton-per-year atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit on December 5, 2012, Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Company's (Maoming, Guangdong) 2.2 million-metric-ton-per-year new catalytic cracking unit produced its first batch of qualified products on December 12, 2012. This is another key part of Maoming Petrochemical's Oil Quality Upgrade Project that has been put into operation, according to an announcement from China Petrochemical Corporation (Beijing) on December 21.

As reported, the device started up 18 days earlier than previously scheduled and achieved "zero emissions," a key objective. It took only nine hours to complete the entire process to produce quality products. With the commissioning of the device, Maoming Petrochemical will be able to further improve its diesel and gasoline production capacity to meet the social demand for clean, quality products.

The newly commissioned catalytic cracking unit is comprised of a 2.2 million-metric-ton-per-year catalytic cracking device and a 400,000-metric-ton-per-year gas fractionation device. The catalytic cracking device, which is further comprised of two catalytic cracking and product refining parts, is the most important secondary processing device in Maoming Petrochemical's Oil Quality Upgrade Project.

The construction of Maoming Petrochemical's Oil Quality Upgrade Project kicked off on May 10, 2011. On October 30, 2012, the 10 million-metric-ton-per-year atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit achieved intermediate delivery. On December 5, 2012, the same unit was put into operation, making Maoming Petrochemical the third extra-large oil refinery, just after Dalian Petrochemical and Zhenhai refineries, with annual crude oil processing capacity of more than 20 million metric tons per year in China.

As an important subsidiary of Sinopec in South China, Maoming Petrochemical was built in 1955. In 2011, Maoming Petrochemical's crude oil-processing volume and ethylene output reached historic highs of 14.5 million metric tons and 1.08 million metric tons, respectively.

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