Annual production capacity increased to 1.04 million tons! Shenghong Sailbon Petrochemical’s fourth acrylonitrile unit goes into operation

On December 1, the fourth set of 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit of Shenghong Sierbon Petrochemical in the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base in Xuwei New District was put into operation, producing high-grade acrylonitrile. Shenghong’s acrylonitrile production capacity has increased to 1.04 million tons per year, marking the Lianyungang petrochemical industrial base becoming the world’s largest acrylonitrile production base.

It is understood that acrylonitrile is an important raw material for the three major synthetic materials (plastics, synthetic rubber, and synthetic fibers). Its upstream raw materials are propylene and liquid ammonia, and its downstream raw materials are mainly ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin and acrylic fiber. , acrylamide, carbon fiber, etc., are widely used in aerospace, wind power, automobiles, machinery, electronics and other fields. However, our country once needed to import large quantities of this kind of basic material with multiple uses and large quantities. From 2011 to 2013, my country’s annual acrylonitrile imports exceeded 500,000 tons, and the import dependence exceeded 30%.

In order to fill this gap, Shenghong started construction of the first acrylonitrile unit with an annual output of 260,000 tons in Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base in 2013. It was successfully launched in 2015. This 260,000 tons/year unit is the first among private enterprises. The device later set a world record in the acrylonitrile industry – operating continuously for 949 days. After years of cultivation, four sets of devices have been built in the base. “At that time, we were building an alcohol-based polygeneration project. When planning the extension of the methanol-to-olefins industry chain, we focused on national policy guidance, analyzed market development trends, and finally targeted acrylonitrile. The goal was to meet domestic market demand and promote import substitution. “Having experienced the entire development process of Shenghong’s four acrylonitrile units, Song Guojun, deputy general manager of Shenghong Sailbon Petrochemical, still has fresh memories.

Since 2016, domestic production capacity, including Shenghong’s, has been released, my country’s acrylonitrile imports have decreased significantly, and import dependence has also been significantly reduced. In 2016 and 2017, my country’s acrylonitrile imports were 306,100 tons and 270,800 tons respectively, and the import dependence was 13.7% and 12% respectively. While promoting import substitution, Chinese acrylonitrile companies represented by Sheng Hong have also accelerated their participation in the global market and filled gaps in overseas markets.

“After 2016, the downstream applications of acrylonitrile have developed rapidly, and the domestic market demand is strong.” Song Guojun introduced that in 2019, Shenghong’s second 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit was put into operation, leading the industry in production capacity; in 2021, Shenghong’s second Three sets of 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile units were put into operation, and the production capacity increased to 780,000 tons/year, ranking first in China.

More importantly, the construction of the base has completed the localization of the entire carbon fiber industry chain and achieved the localization and resilient connection of the carbon fiber industry chain supply chain. In May 2023, Zhongfu Shenying and Shenghong Petrochemical signed a strategic agreement on raw material cooperation. The two parties will cooperate in all aspects of acrylonitrile supply. Chen Qiufei, the relevant person in charge of Zhongfu Shenying, said, “In fact, Zhongfu Shenying is also the first user of Shenghong’s acrylonitrile products. Shenghong’s first 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit was put into operation, and Zhongfu Shenying started production immediately. Try Shenghong products. Now, a carbon fiber production chain starting from Lianyungang is creating a linkage effect here.”

In recent years, Shenghong Petrochemical has continued to optimize the raw material supply structure and achieve diversified resource guarantees. Bai Wei, President of Shenghong Petrochemical Industry Group, pointed out that Shenghong Petrochemical has built a “1+N” innovative development model of core raw material platform + new energy, new materials and other diversified industrial chains, creating a three-pronged development of “oil, coal and gas” The core raw material platform can provide the optimal combination of raw material sources for the production of acrylonitrile, MMA (methyl methacrylate), photovoltaic grade EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, etc. Specific to acrylonitrile, Bai Wei said that the simultaneous development of three sources of propylene raw materials allows Shenghong Petrochemical to flexibly adjust unit production capacity according to market conditions, achieve complementary advantages, reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Oil head: In December 2022, Shenghong Petrochemical’s 16 million tons/year refining and chemical integration project will be fully put into operation. After nearly a year of operation, this largest single-process refining and chemical project in the country has produced ethylene, propylene, propane, vinyl acetate, etc., which has effectively met the raw material needs of Shenghong’s acrylonitrile and other products.

Coal head: Shenghong Sierbon Petrochemical has the world’s largest monomer-scale alcohol-based polygeneration unit with an annual capacity of 2.4 million tons. It uses methanol as raw material and produces ethylene and propylene through the MTO (methanol to olefins) process.

Gas head: In April 2022, the 700,000-ton/year PDH (propane dehydrogenation) unit of Shenghong Sierpan Petrochemical was successfully commissioned and successfully produced high-quality propylene products. Combined with the MTO unit, Sierbon’s overall propylene production capacity reaches 1.2 million tons/year, which can fully meet the raw material needs of four sets of 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile units.

In Lianyungang Shenghong Petrochemical Industrial Park, the efficient coordination and matching of raw materials and processes have provided strong support for Shenghong to form significant scale advantages and cost advantages in the acrylonitrile field.

With the completion of the million-ton acrylonitrile base, with Shenghong Petrochemical and Zhongfu Shenying as the axis, including a number of downstream application companies, a carbon fiber entire industry chain from raw materials, raw filaments, carbon filaments, composite materials to final products A world-class new materials base is emerging in Lianyungang.