A New Model Helps Drive a "Triple Jump" in Tapping Potential and Increasing Efficiency

An account of the tailor-made lubrication solution Kunlun Lubricants created for Sichuan Petrochemical
For Sichuan Petrochemical Company, which has been in operation for only three years, tapping potential and increasing efficiency reached 870 million yuan in 2016 – a performance scorecard worthy of praise. At the same time, despite a relatively low crude oil processing load, Sichuan Petrochemical still completed a "triple jump" from its start-up year to a year of profit creation, which is truly impressive.
Progress every year, three big steps in three years. This is Sichuan Petrochemical operating under PetroChina's new system and new model.
If one asks how Sichuan Petrochemical achieved comprehensive profitability in production and operations, in addition to management measures such as optimizing operations and increasing revenue while reducing expenditure, another important means was relying on a new model of overall lubrication management to tap potential and increase efficiency.
Localizing equipment oils
Tapping potential and increasing efficiency is easier said than done. For a refining and chemical enterprise such as Sichuan Petrochemical, which integrates refining, chemicals and aromatics, it is necessary not only to seek benefits from operations and management, but also to tap potential in order to create benefits. To this end, Sichuan Petrochemical formulated a series of targeted measures to tap potential and increase efficiency.
Take the lubrication of production equipment as an example. Sichuan Petrochemical currently has 20 units and more than 2,000 pieces (sets) of equipment; the equipment is numerous and highly precise, placing very stringent demands on lubricants. For example, for the extrusion and pelletizing unit of the 450,000-tonne polypropylene plant, the equipment manufacturer recommends that the main reduction gearbox of the pelletizing extruder use Castrol Alpha SP 320 gear oil.
"There are only two extrusion and pelletizing units for polypropylene plants in the world, so equipment lubrication is extremely important. At present imported oil is used, and it is expensive." According to Cai Chunxiang, Director of the Inspection and Maintenance Department, during trial operation before feed-in, operators found that the oil produced a large amount of foam during use, affecting normal lubrication.
To solve the foam problem and at the same time reduce oil costs, Sichuan Petrochemical proposed replacing the imported oil with a domestic oil.
This was a bold decision by Sichuan Petrochemical!
Professionals do professional work. To ensure the normal operation of Sichuan Petrochemical's production equipment, PetroChina's lubricant company formulated a meticulous oil plan. Kunlun Lubricants engineer Gao Lei was one of the first Kunlun people to be stationed at Sichuan Petrochemical; he first went to the production unit site to communicate with equipment engineers and other personnel, understand equipment operating conditions, consult equipment maintenance manuals and record equipment models and related lubrication technical parameters.
"Because the main reduction gearbox of the polypropylene pelletizing extruder is special, we found similar equipment at Lanzhou Petrochemical for comparison, and found that the flow rates per minute differed greatly," Gao Lei told reporters. The flow rate of Sichuan Petrochemical's polypropylene extruder is more than three times that of Lanzhou Petrochemical's, reaching 1,600 litres per minute, and the high flow rate and high drop directly caused more foam in the equipment.
Afterwards, technical personnel from the Lanzhou R&D Center visited the site for research several times and searched for equipment lubrication data, striving to fundamentally solve the problem of excessive foam in the gear oil. After nearly a year of technical research and laboratory simulation experiments, the KG320 gear oil formulation was finally improved and optimized, and trial use began in the reduction gearbox of the pelletizing extruder.
After circulating operation and observation, the foam thickness produced during use by the newly improved Kunlun KG320 was markedly lower than that of Castrol Alpha SP 320 gear oil. Subsequently, newly formulated antifoaming agent was also added to Kunlun KG320, and sample analysis data showed that the foaming tendency had improved considerably.
Sampling and testing by the equipment supplier on site showed that the bubble content in the oil was about 7.5%, within the normal range.
Gao Lei said: "Since the main reduction gearbox of the polypropylene pelletizing extruder was switched to the newly improved Kunlun KG320, the equipment has run smoothly and the problem of excessive foam has basically been solved. By the end of 2016, Sichuan Petrochemical had saved more than 300,000 yuan in procurement costs."
Tailor-made service standards
Sichuan Petrochemical is one of the earlier refining and chemical enterprises to replace imported oil with domestic oil.
Since signing the "Overall Lubricant Service Agreement" with PetroChina's lubricant company and establishing the Sichuan Petrochemical lubricant station, with the lubricant company's Southwest Sales team specifically responsible for product supply guarantee, technical service and training for Sichuan Petrochemical's lubricants, 43 of the oils in use at Sichuan Petrochemical are Kunlun brands, replacing 29 kinds of imported oils and accounting for more than 90% of total oil usage, saving a great deal in production costs.
Moreover, Sichuan Petrochemical also granted engineers of PetroChina's lubricant company a veto over lubricant filling, making them the last line of defence for lubricant use.
In addition, engineers of PetroChina's lubricant company completed the compilation of data on more than 13,000 lubrication points in the plant area, compiling statistics on 12 items including equipment tag number, name, specification and model, number of units, lubrication location, number of lubrication points, lubrication method, previously used oil, recommended Kunlun product and oil change interval, producing a detailed equipment lubrication ledger and writing the "Sichuan Petrochemical Equipment Lubrication Management Manual", which covers equipment lubrication processes, basic lubrication knowledge and precautions for oil use, and comprises 446 pages, 325 images and more than 200,000 words.
At the same time, engineers of PetroChina's lubricant company also designed a quadruplicate form for collecting lubricant products, requiring confirmation by three parties – the production department, the maintenance unit and the lubricant station – and marked on it the unit name, user unit, oil name, quantity and location of use, so as to avoid collecting the wrong oil.
It can be said that PetroChina's lubricant company created a "nanny-style" service standard tailored for Sichuan Petrochemical and promoted the concepts of professional lubrication, overall lubrication and rational lubrication, which won high recognition from Sichuan Petrochemical. Cai Chunxiang said: "With its professional technology and dedicated spirit, Kunlun Lubricants provides Sichuan Petrochemical with round-the-clock quality service, which gives us confidence, saves us trouble and puts us at ease!"
Yuan Quan, former Director of the Machinery and Equipment Division of Sichuan Petrochemical Company, said: "We chose the Kunlun brand because we come from the same roots. We believe that PetroChina's lubricant company will safeguard oil use for Sichuan Petrochemical. Facts have proved that the new model of overall lubrication management launched by both sides has jointly created a model of lubrication management for refining and chemical enterprises."