China based Sinopec has started to work on upgradation of its 270,000 b/d Beijing Yanshan refinery to produce cleaner fuels. The refinery, Sinopec's only plant in the Beijing municipality, will build a new 2mn t/yr solvent deasphalting unit, a 2.6mn t/yr fixed-bed hydrogenation unit, a 65,000 t/yr sulphur recovery unit, a partial oxidation unit and an air separation unit.
PetroChina last month brought on stream a 900,000 t/yr diesel hydro upgrading unit at its 320,000 b/d Lanzhou refinery in Gansu. It plans to increase jet fuel yield at the refinery to 32,000 b/d (1.5mn t/yr) from 23,000 b/d previously and raise petrochemical yield to 2mn t/yr, without providing a previous capacity number. Lanzhou is connected to the province's Zhongchuan international airport via a 64.7km pipeline. The airport started building a new terminal last September.
