The role of petrochemicals

1. Petrochemical is a major supplier of energy

Petrochemicals mainly refer to petrol, kerosene, diesel oil, heavy oil, and natural gas produced by petroleum refining and are currently the main suppliers of major energy sources. In 1995, China produced 80 million tons of fuel oil. At present, the world’s oil and natural gas consumption accounts for about 60% of the total energy consumption; China’s consumption of coal is less than 20% due to its large use of coal. The energy provided by petrochemicals is mainly used as fuel for automobiles, tractors, aircraft, ships, and boilers, and is used in small quantities as a civilian fuel. Energy is a factor that restricts the development of China’s national economy. Petrochemicals consume about 8.5% of total energy and should continue to reduce energy consumption.

2. Petrochemicals is one of the pillars of the material industry

Metals, inorganic non-metallic materials and polymer synthetic materials are called three major materials. The world's petrochemical industry currently supplies about 145 million tons of polymer synthetic materials. In 1996, China exceeded 8 million tons. In addition to synthetic materials, petrochemicals also provide the vast majority of organic chemical raw materials. Within the scope of the chemical industry, in addition to chemical products provided by chemical minerals, petrochemical production of raw materials, in all sectors.

3. Petrochemical promotes the development of agriculture

Agriculture is the basic industry of our national economy. The nitrogen fertilizer provided by the petrochemical industry accounts for 80% of the total amount of chemical fertilizers. The popularization and use of agricultural plastic films, together with the rational use of pesticides and various types of fuel required for agricultural machinery, form the main force supporting the agriculture in the petrochemical industry.

4. All industrial sectors can not be separated from petrochemical products

The development of modern transportation industry is closely related to fuel supply. It is no exaggeration to say that without fuel, there is no modern transportation industry. Metal processing, all kinds of machinery without exception, all kinds of lubrication materials and other supporting materials, consume a lot of petrochemical products. Lubricant production around the world is about 20 million tons, and China is about 1.8 million tons. Building materials industry is a new area of petrochemical products, such as plastic materials, doors and windows, flooring materials, and coatings are called chemical building materials. Light industry and textile industry are traditional users of petrochemical products. The development and promotion of new materials, new processes, and new products all have petrochemical products. At present, the rapidly developing electronics industry and many high-tech industries have made new demands on petrochemical products, especially fine chemical products produced from petrochemical products, which is a tremendous boost to the development of the petrochemical industry.

5. The construction and development of the petrochemical industry cannot be separated from the support of all walks of life

Domestic and foreign petrochemical companies are all focused on building a number of production facilities to form a large petrochemical industrial zone. In the region, the refinery is a “tap” that provides cracking materials for petrochemical plants, such as light oil and diesel, and produces petrochemical products; cracking plants produce basic petrochemical feedstocks such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, xylene, etc.; Raw materials are mainly series production equipments for producing synthetic materials and organic raw materials, and their products and raw materials have a certain ratio. If it is required to produce 300,000 tons of ethylene per year, roughly calculated, it will need to crack 1.2 million tons of raw materials, corresponding to refinery processing capacity of about 2.5 million tons, and it can support the production of synthetic materials and basic organic materials 80 to 900,000 tons. It can thus be seen that the construction of a petrochemical industrial park requires a large amount of funds and the site selection is appropriate. Not only must it ensure the transportation of raw materials and products, but it must also have sufficient electricity, water supply and other ancillary infrastructure facilities. Each production facility requires a large number of standard, qualitative machinery, equipment, instruments, piping, and non-specific equipment. The manufacture of machinery and equipment involves many varieties of materials and requirements are different. Some key equipments exceed 50 meters at high speed and weigh hundreds of tons each; some require heat resistance at 1000 degrees Celsius, and some require resistance to cold at -150 degrees Celsius. Some key equipment needs to be purchased in the international market. All of these require the support of metallurgical, electric power, machinery, instrumentation, construction, and environmental protection industries. The petrochemical industry is a technology-intensive industry. The determination of production methods and production processes, selection of key equipment, selection, and manufacturing of a range of technologies require proprietary or unique technical standards, such as the introduction of foreign patents or technical fees. Therefore, only the basic disciplines, especially organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, catalysis, chemical engineering, electronic computers, automation, etc., should be strengthened, and the training of relevant professional and technical personnel should be strengthened so that they can master and adopt advanced scientific research results. With related engineering technologies, the petrochemical industry may continue to develop and reach new heights.