The first homemade polypropylene extruder with a yearly capacity of 350,000 metric tons underwent a successful trial operation at the Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical project on June 9, making a breakthrough in key technologies of China's large extrusion granulation system.

The extruder was designed and manufactured by Dalian Rubber & Plastics Machinery Co Ltd with the cooperation of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Sinopec Engineering Incorporation, as well as the Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical project. It is the first large twin screw extruder with independent intellectual property rights in China.

It took 19 months from the approval of the extruder project to the leave-factory check and acceptance, five months shorter than the imported extruder with the same output capacity, saving about 20 million yuan ($2.83 million) in costs.

The extruder can extrude polypropylene powder into granules for sale, increasing the product profit by about 2,000 yuan per ton.

The Zhanjiang-based Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical project is currently the largest joint venture refining and petrochemical project in China. It was invested in by Sinopec Group and Kuwait National Petroleum Co, with a total investment of more than 40 billion yuan.

The Zhongke Refinery and Petrochemical project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]