PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Tarim 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project achieved successful first-time start-up.

On July 16, PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company's Tarim 1.2 million tons/year Phase II ethylene and supporting green low-carbon demonstration project successfully achieved a one-time start-up.

The commissioning of the project marks the official completion of China's only 3-million-ton-level ethylene industrial base in the central and western regions,which will reshape the domestic ethylene regional supply pattern and address the shortage of petrochemical raw material supply in the west.

The project is located in the Shangku Industrial Park, Korla City, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The park is the only park dominated by energy-intensive petrochemical industries among the first batch of national-level zero-carbon parks.As a key project in the national petrochemical industry planning layout, the project has a total investment of 25.656 billion yuan and covers an area of 309.599 hectares.Construction started in May 2024, intermediate completion was achieved in May 2026, and the main construction was completed in 22 months, meeting the target for commissioning and production on schedule.

In terms of capacity,the core of the project is the construction of a 1.2 million tons/year ethylene unit, along with the simultaneous construction of multiple downstream chemical units. It primarily produces polyolefin new materials and basic organic chemical raw materials such as high-density polyethylene, full-density polyethylene, polypropylene, EVA, cis-polybutadiene rubber, benzene, and toluene.

With the commissioning of the Phase II ethylene unit, Dushanzi Petrochemical's total ethylene capacity has exceeded 3 million tons, establishing the first and only 3-million-ton-level ethylene production base in the central and western regions.

For a long time, domestic ethylene capacity has been highly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas, while the supply of olefin raw materials in the west has been relatively weak. The commissioning of this project can effectively optimize the spatial layout of the national petrochemical industry and enhance the security and resilience of the energy and chemical industry chain and supply chain.

Green and low-carbon features are the highlights of this project.

The project has built the world's first demonstration base for carbon emission recycling in ethylene cracking furnaces, innovatively implementing a route for carbon dioxide capture and resource utilization from cracking flue gas. It can achieve a carbon reduction of 1.37 million tons per year, creating a replicable industrial model for the low-carbon and zero-carbon transition of large-scale petrochemical parks. The project deeply leverages the advantages of ethane and light hydrocarbon resources in the Tarim Basin, continuously promotes electrification transformation and green power consumption, and creates a new green petrochemical model of "in-situ resource conversion and carbon resource recycling."

The project features a high level of equipment localization, with an overall equipment localization rate reaching 99%, and multiple large-scale compression and extrusion granulation equipment achieving localization breakthroughs. Relying on the carrier of the Shangku National Zero-Carbon Park, the project coordinates production operations with low-carbon development and explores a path for the synergistic development of energy-intensive petrochemical industries and zero-carbon parks.

Industry analysis indicates that after the full operation of the Tarim Phase II ethylene project, it will significantly increase the self-sufficiency capacity of high-end polyolefins and synthetic rubber in the Northwest region, drive the agglomeration and development of upstream and downstream new material industries in Southern Xinjiang, assist Xinjiang in building a national highland for deep processing of oil and gas resources, and rely on the locational advantages of the west to radiate to the Central Asian market, unleashing the potential for the conversion of western oil and gas resources.