On the afternoon of October 22, 2026, the sky in Yulin, northern Shaanxi was already cool. At the construction site of Qingshui Industrial Park in Yushen Industrial Zone, a 3600 ton crawler crane extends its long arm and the main hook slowly descends. At 17:08, with a command from the on-site commander, the upper section of the 950 ton tower fell steadily and completed precise docking with the already positioned lower section in the air. The whistle sounded in the installation area, and a steel giant tower with a total height of 112 meters stood tall on the Loess Plateau.

The aerial relay of a tower

This tower is the core equipment of the olefin separation unit of Shaanxi Coal Yulin Chemical Olefin Project, the 2 # propylene distillation tower, and also the largest and most difficult oversized equipment in the entire project: with a total height of 112 meters, a diameter of about 8.9 meters, a net weight of 1809 tons, and a total lifting weight of 1980 tons. Faced with the pain points of difficult overall transportation of oversized and oversized equipment, large amount of high-altitude operations, and complex cross process, the project team did not use hard lifting, but instead dismantled the solution - segmented prefabrication, ground integration, overall lifting, and aerial assembly. The lower section weighs 1030 tons and the upper section weighs 950 tons. The two tower sections are lifted smoothly and accurately in place in sequence, with unified command and step-by-step confirmation throughout the lifting process. With the completion of this crane, the installation of the olefin separation equipment has been fully completed, and the project has fully entered the pipeline construction phase.

Move the process to the ground

The giant tower can ascend smoothly, and most of the effort is put into the ground. The Engineering Management Department, Olefin Project Department, and the supervision, design, manufacturing, and construction units have repeatedly coordinated to optimize construction logic, innovate construction processes, and concentrate on completing pre construction processes such as segmented prefabrication of large items, on-site transportation, anti-corrosion and insulation of tower bodies, and dense welding of large-diameter attached tower pipelines. The operations are carried out on the ground as much as possible, reducing the duration of high-altitude operations and avoiding cross risk. At the lifting site, a warning area is designated, work permits are implemented, and risk disclosure is refined. Technical personnel verify lifting parameters in real time, monitor tower posture, review group benchmarks, and strictly implement special grade operation control. Due to the combination of strong winds and low temperatures in the northern Shaanxi region, the pipeline structure in the operation area is dense, and safety control and technical coordination are extremely difficult, ultimately achieving zero error positioning. After production, this tower will undertake the precise distillation and separation of propane and propylene, ensuring the production of high-purity polymer grade propylene at the top of the tower, with an annual production capacity of 473000 tons of qualified polymer grade propylene.

The change in the value of a piece of coal

When a tower is in place, it affects an industrial chain. Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical's 15 million tons/year coal quality clean and efficient conversion demonstration project for olefins, aromatics, and deep processing, with coal quality utilization technology as the core, explores a new path for the coupled development of coal based olefins and aromatics through the systematic integration of coal pyrolysis, coal/semi coke gasification, and downstream deep processing technology. The total investment of Phase II Phase I project is about 62 billion yuan, which is the largest investment scale among the single projects approved by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment since its establishment. It mainly constructs 5.6 million tons/year coal to methanol, 1.48 million tons/year methanol to olefin and downstream deep processing units, producing a series of products such as polyethylene, polypropylene, EVA, SAP, etc. After the completion of the project, it will produce four categories of high value-added products: high-performance materials, battery electrolyte solvents, degradable materials, and special oil products. It is expected to convert nearly 30 million tons of coal annually and provide more than 7000 job opportunities.keywords:New energy information network

From mining and selling coal to extracting and refining it, coal is no longer just a fuel sold by tons, but has become a high-end chemical raw material measured by grams. At present, construction in the fourth quarter is in full swing, with over 10000 builders rushing to ensure safety, quality, and progress during the window period, striving towards the goal of comprehensive completion and production by 2027. The precise positioning of this giant tower has not only won the initiative for winter construction and milestone goals, but also added a heavy foundation for ensuring national energy security, leading the green transformation of the coal chemical industry, and helping Yulin build a world-class high-end energy and chemical base.Editor/Yang Meiling