On July 21, 2019 the Changqing ethane-to-ethylene project undertaken by the PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Branch Company passed the experts’ evaluation and review. It is learned that this is China’s first ethane-to-ethylene project with independent intellectual property rights, which has been envisaged in the national program of demonstration engineering units for ethane-based ethylene production. The construction of this unit will be kicked off in the Yuheng Industrial Zone of Shaanxi Province with the mechanical completion to be accomplished by the end of 2020, and the process unit is expected to be started in June 2021.

The total investment in this project amounts to 10.397 billion RMB for producing 400 kt/a of HDPE and 400 kt/a of LLDPE using the proprietary technology of the CNPC Group, which is proficient in the construction of China’s first 800 kt/a ethane-to-ethylene unit. The 1.05 Mt of ethane feedstock needed annually by this unit will be sourced from the Shanggu Natural Gas Treatment Plant situated in the Yuheng Industrial Zone. The said project can be propitious to enhancement of the utilization value of ethane resource emanating from the natural gas and can remarkably reduce the use of crude oil, as compared with the traditional route for ethylene manufacture via naphtha steam cracking, because this project is characteristic of low production cost, higher economic indices, and use of diversified feedstocks for olefin production to promote the highend development of an energy and chemical industry base in northern Shaanxi. It is told that in comparison with the traditional technology for manufacture of ethylene via naphtha steam cracking the said project features high ethylene yield, low equipment investment, abundant and stable supply of low-cost ethane feedstock, and low production cost, with the energy consumption of this unit reduced by more than 30% as compared to that of the front runner in terms of the highest energy efficiency of the domestic petrochemical route.