Large-scale PTA equipment cannot rely on long-term introduction
Driven by strong market demand and high profit margins, China's polyester industry has experienced significant growth in recent years. State-owned, private, and foreign-invested enterprises have poured substantial capital into building polyester production facilities across the country. The total production capacity of polyester in China increased from 2.528 million tons at the end of 1996 to 11.8 million tons by the end of 2003, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 24.6%. By 2004, the country’s polyester production capacity had reached 16 million tons.
This rapid expansion has led to a critical shortage of PTA (purified terephthalic acid), the main raw material for polyester. Domestic supply has struggled to meet demand, resulting in large-scale imports. In fact, import volumes account for about 50% of the domestic market. It is projected that by 2006, China’s PTA production capacity will rise to 6.9 million tons, surpassing 7.6 million tons in 2007, and reaching approximately 8 million tons by 2010.
The growing demand for PTA has attracted significant investment in the sector. Currently, numerous PTA projects are either under construction or in the planning stage. Locations include Yizheng in Jiangsu, Luoyang in Henan, Jinan in Shandong, Zigong in Sichuan, Liaoyang in Liaoning, Shaoxing in Jiangsu, Nanjing Yangtze, Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu, Zhuhai in Guangdong, Shishi in Fujian, Ningbo in Zhejiang, and others. The scale of these projects has expanded from earlier capacities of 200,000 to 450,000 tons per year to current designs of 600,000 to 1 million tons annually.
A typical PTA plant consists of over 350 major production units, including 2 reactors, 8 distillation towers, 90 heat exchangers, 67 storage vessels, 15 compressors and fans, 91 pumps, 13 silos, 44 special machines, and 29 transmission devices. Key equipment includes oxidation reactors, air compressors, rotary dryers, crystallizers, vacuum filters, hydrogen compressors, and titanium heat exchangers. Due to the corrosive nature of the materials involved—such as acetic acid and bromide—most equipment must be made from low-carbon stainless steel or titanium.
In the early 1990s, several 200,000-ton-per-year PTA units were built domestically, such as those in Liaoyang, Tianjin, Luoyang, Yizheng, and Shanghai. At that time, due to limited domestic expertise, most processes and equipment were imported. After more than a decade of operation, many of these plants are now undergoing upgrades and expansions. Over time, China has gained deeper knowledge of PTA technology and begun to develop equipment locally. For example, domestic manufacturers have successfully produced rotary dryers, titanium heat exchangers, and pressure centrifuges for PTA units in Yizheng Chemical Fiber, Yangzi Petrochemical, and Liaoyang Chemical Fiber.
In 2000, Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. approved the construction of a 450,000-ton-per-year PTA plant, which was the largest of its kind globally at the time. The localization office of Sinopec Group conducted feasibility studies for this project, and domestic machinery manufacturers developed plans for local production. However, since the process technology was still imported, most of the rotating and titanium equipment was also sourced from abroad, with only basic carbon steel or stainless steel equipment produced domestically.
Recently, Yizheng Chemical Fiber Company received approval to build a 1-million-ton-per-year PTA project. To reduce long-term reliance on imported equipment, the government has decided to use this project as a platform for developing key domestic PTA equipment and achieving full localization. Over the past five years, the technical capabilities and equipment manufacturing capacity of Chinese companies have significantly improved. The engineering design for the Yizheng project is being handled by Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Co., Ltd., providing favorable conditions for localization efforts.
Currently, the project is still in the preparation phase, and the exact technical specifications of the equipment have not been finalized. Therefore, it is difficult to provide precise opinions on the degree of localization. However, by referring to the major equipment parameters of the 1-million-ton PTA plant and analyzing the development of the domestic equipment manufacturing industry, a preliminary feasibility analysis can be conducted.
Changzhou Golden Oak Rubber Plastic Polymer Co.,Ltd , https://www.czjnsatee.com