Tianjin Petrochemical Corp shuts condensate splitter on corrosion

09-Jul-14

Sinopec Corp's Tianjin Petrochemical Corp has shut a condensate splitter for an indefinite period after a connected pipeline was found corroded during a safety inspection, as per company source in Reuters. The 1.2 million tpa ( 30,000 barrels per day) facility was taken offline in April after Sinopec conducted a company-wide inspection of pipelines following a deadly explosion in Qingdao late last year. It may take a year or two to build another one, and there is no other pipeline available to replace it, the source added. The Tianjin plant, near Beijing, operates a total of 1.2 million-tpy ethylene capacity and a 250,000-bpd refinery. After the shutdown, Sinopec Tianjin has switched to using more domestically produced naphtha, as well as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to make ethylene. It previously imported condensate from suppliers such as Australia and Iran.