Renovation work to expand the production capability at the petrochemical complex began in March this year. The Model 21000 arrived on site in May after traveling 700 km (435 miles) from its base at the Sinopec #10 yard in Shandong to the refinery south of the Chinese capital. Since arriving on the job, the crane has served as the central lifting apparatus for all major material handling.
Sinopec made use of Manitowoc’s capacity-enhancing MAX-ER attachment for the cracking unit lift, boosting the crane’s maximum capacity to 907t (1000 USt). Main boom on the lift was 54m (177 ft). The whole process, from picking the vessel to final positioning, took less than 30 minutes.
Ma Zengtao, manager of Sinopec’s crane fleet, said he was impressed with the ease of operation and extra capability the MAX-ER attachment offers.
“The lift went ahead without a single glitch,” he said. “The Model 21000 worked so effortlessly it made lifting the cracking unit look easy and gave us great confidence. We invited senior management from refineries around China to see this lift and it was certainly a credit to Manitowoc and the ingenuity of its engineers. The MAX-ER attracted a great deal of interest and has proven a worthwhile investment on top of the Model 21000.”
The hydrogenation cracking unit, which measures 4.6 m (15 ft) in diameter and 35 m (115 ft) tall, processes industrial oil, turning it into gasoline and kerosene. It is capable of a throughput of some 10 million t (11 million USt) of fuel per year and its installation is the single most important element of the reconstruction work.
