Sinopec has launched a baseline assessment of aging facilities in the chemical industry, with plants over 20 years old set to undergo a comprehensive inventory.

Recently, the General Offices of five ministries—the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council—jointly issued the “Notice on Conducting a Baseline Assessment of Aging Equipment in the Petrochemical and Chemical Industries” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), setting forth relevant provisions regarding the baseline assessment of aging production facilities.

To further ascertain the inventory of aging equipment and clarify the relevant work standards, the Notice specifies that the scope of the baseline survey and assessment primarily covers production units in the petrochemical industry whose major equipment and facilities have reached their designed service life or have been in actual operation for more than 20 years as of May 30 of this year. The assessment items include basic information on aging equipment, safety evaluations, and other pertinent assessments.

According to reports, the basic information includes the number of aging petrochemical and chemical facilities in the region, their names and capacities, the enterprises’ pollutant discharge permit numbers, their respective industries, production site locations, whether they are located within officially designated chemical industrial parks, their commissioning dates, and their designed service lifespans.

Safety assessments cover the “two key areas and one major hazard” (key regulated hazardous chemicals, key regulated hazardous chemical processes, and major hazard sources), as well as the safety risks associated with aging equipment and external safety protection distances. For facilities already included in the scope of the Work Plan for the Phasing Out, Retirement, and Renovation of Aging Chemical Facilities, jointly issued in June 2024 by the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, no further safety risk assessments will be conducted. The original plans and requirements for phasing out, retirement, and renovation remain unchanged; however, relevant facility information must still be reported.

Other assessments include: comparing the unit (process technology and equipment) against the requirements of documents such as the “Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)” to determine whether it falls into the淘汰 category; evaluating whether the external environmental protection distance of the unit complies with the standards set forth in normative documents like the “Technical Guidelines for Deriving Hygienic Protection Distances for Unorganized Emissions of Atmospheric Harmful Substances”; assessing compliance of atmospheric and water pollutant emission indicators with national and relevant local emission standards, including the “Emission Standard for Pollutants from the Petrochemical Industry,” the “Emission Standard for Pollutants from the Petroleum Refining Industry,” the “Emission Standard for Pollutants from the Synthetic Resin Industry,” the “Emission Standard for Water Pollutants from the Synthetic Ammonia Industry,” and the “Emission Standard for Atmospheric Pollutants from the Lime and Calcium Carbide Industries”; and, in accordance with the “Benchmark and Baseline Levels of Energy Efficiency in Key Industrial Sectors (2023 Edition),” determining whether the unit’s energy efficiency meets the baseline level. Additionally, the unit’s energy consumption is evaluated against energy‑consumption limit standards, such as the “Energy Consumption Limit per Unit Product for Synthetic Ammonia” and the “Energy Consumption Limits per Unit Product for Calcium Carbide, Vinyl Acetate, Polyvinyl Alcohol, 1,4‑Butanediol, Dicyandiamide, and Cyanamide.”

The Notice requires all localities, based on the aforementioned assessment results, to submit recommendations regarding whether aging equipment should be upgraded or retrofitted, the proposed methods for such upgrades and retrofits, as well as the planned commencement and completion dates. The provincial-level departments of industry and information technology are to submit the assessment results for aging equipment and their recommendations on upgrading and retrofitting by August 30.

Source: China Chemical Industry News