Fushun Petrochemical: A Lean Maintenance Initiative Boosting Both Green Performance and Efficiency
2026-08-27
At 10:20 AM on August 27, 2025, the steam turbine upper casing of the ethylene cracked-gas compressor unit was smoothly lowered onto a transport vehicle. This marked the official start of the disassembly and overhaul of the cracked-gas compressor unit at the Olefins Plant—the largest compressor unit at Fushun Petrochemical—representing a pivotal phase in the company's 2025 major overhaul. Scheduled to last over 60 days through mid-to-late October, this major overhaul encompasses 51 processing units, 28 auxiliary units, and 5 utility system operational areas across nine branch plants and departments. Guided by the objectives of safety, green operations, quality, efficiency, compliance, and lean management, the company began meticulous preparations two years in advance, comprehensively addressing the five key elements: personnel, machinery, materials, methods, and the environment. A distinctive feature of this overhaul is the integration of maintenance with capital projects; 41 capital expenditure projects are being executed concurrently, laying a solid foundation for the enterprise's future stable production and high-quality development.During the lunch break on September 1, Fan Fuquan, a shift supervisor at the No. 2 Oil Plant’s coking workshop, opened a cartoon-style safety advisory on confined spaces shared by a colleague. "It’s clearly illustrated; you can grasp the risks inside a sealed tank at a glance!" The vivid imagery helped him instantly memorize the key risk factors associated with working in confined environments—demonstrating how this major overhaul, grounded in safety and green principles, is effectively taking hold through such practical details. Safety is the top priority. Green maintenance is not an optional choice but a mandatory requirement. Fushun Petrochemical underscored this "red line" during the major overhaul mobilization meeting held in July. Given the overhaul's characteristics—involving numerous points, a wide scope, and an extensive operational chain—the company established a "four-level, seven-party" supervision network, embedding safety management throughout the entire process of shutdown, maintenance, and restart. During the plant shutdown phase, the company strictly enforced requirements for thorough purging and displacement as well as effective energy isolation. It conducted interface acceptance and handover inspections for all 51 units across nine plants, placing special emphasis on enhanced controls for critical initial operations—specifically the first instance of hot work, the first opening of equipment or pipelines, and the first entry into towers, tanks, or vessels—to completely eliminate violations of regulations, rules, and safety procedures. To monitor on-site safety in real time, the company established a "public exposure board" to strictly penalize violations and implemented a contractor "blacklist" system, ensuring immediate expulsion from the site upon the discovery of serious infractions. Managing a peak workforce of over 20,000 people, the company designated management zones led by "area supervisors" and deployed dedicated safety monitors to ensure a "safety sentry" was present at every work location. Fushun Petrochemical adopted strict standards to ensure "no oil spills on the ground, no gas venting to the atmosphere, no noise disturbance to residents, and no indiscriminate disposal of waste residue." Regarding environmental risk control, the company identified risks throughout the entire process of startup, shutdown, and maintenance; strictly adhered to industrial pollutant emission standards; and ensured that all "three wastes" (wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste) were fully collected and treated to meet discharge standards. In terms of civilized construction practices, the company implemented management protocols requiring "three no-drops" (no materials, debris, or liquids dropped on the ground), "three-line" alignment, "three-clean" standards (clean site, clean equipment, clean materials), and "three-standardization" measures, ensuring that surplus materials and industrial waste were cleared immediately upon generation. Environmental protection equipment—such as oil-absorbent mats and explosion-proof vacuum cleaners—was kept fully stocked at the maintenance site to ensure a rapid response to any sudden environmental issues."The heat exchanger core replacement, which originally required 15 days, was completed in just 10 days—and it passed quality inspection ahead of schedule!" On August 20, Yu Zhengchang, a process engineer at the Olefins Plant's low-density polyethylene unit, noted this in the maintenance log. This efficiency gain stems from the deep implementation of the company's "high-quality, high-efficiency" maintenance strategy. Guided by the philosophy that "doing it right the first time creates value," the company has leveraged technical innovation and resource coordination to simultaneously boost maintenance quality and progress. Regarding quality control, Fushun Petrochemical established a "full lifecycle traceability" system. For critical equipment—such as the cracking gas compressor in the ethylene unit—the company implemented a lifelong quality accountability system; every process step is documented with visual records and the signatures of responsible personnel, resulting in a total of 326 quality control dossiers. During the maintenance of the molecular sieve unit at the No. 3 Oil Refinery, the technical team innovatively combined laser thickness measurement with endoscopic inspection to precisely locate corrosion points on tube bundles, raising the heat exchanger maintenance "first-pass yield" from 95% to 99.2%. Simultaneously, the company strictly adhered to the principle of "performing necessary repairs without over-servicing, and ensuring repairs are done right without omissions." It managed the completion of 13,400 specific maintenance tasks, achieving a 100% acceptance rate for key projects to date. Conducting major maintenance and project construction concurrently was a distinctive feature—and a major challenge—of this year's overhaul. Achieving a "dual guarantee" of quality and efficiency across these two fronts posed a difficult problem for the enterprise. During the overhaul, the debottlenecking project for the Olefins Plant's 800,000-ton ethylene unit also accelerated rapidly. The project involved the modification and upgrade of 120 pieces of static equipment and 31 pieces of rotating equipment. Participating units innovatively adopted a "parallel and cross-construction" model, advancing pipeline welding and instrument commissioning alongside equipment installation, thereby effectively shortening the project schedule. Notably, the replacement of the ethylene compressor coupling was a critical milestone for the project; the construction team devised a tailored "one-machine, one-strategy" plan and mobilized specialized tools and key technical personnel, completing the disassembly, installation, and commissioning of the coupling in just 48 hours—shaving 12 hours off the scheduled duration. To date, 43.26% of the overall project has been completed, with full-scale production expected to commence in 2026, providing robust support for the company's "Six Million-Ton" development initiative."The price comparison records and approval processes for this maintenance material procurement contract are clearly traceable, and every expense item corresponds to a specific maintenance task," remarked a staff member from the company's discipline inspection commission's special supervision team at the washing and chemical plant's maintenance site. To mitigate integrity risks, the company has established a full-chain control mechanism comprising "pre-event reminders, in-process supervision, and post-event audits." It implements "checklist-based management" and "transparent tendering" for all maintenance projects; all maintenance costs are subject to monitoring, and any expenditure exceeding the budget requires a special explanatory statement. Compliance is not merely a procedural requirement; it should become a conscious habit for all personnel involved in maintenance work. At the maintenance site of the No. 1 Oil Plant, a "Letter of Commitment to Integrity in Maintenance" is prominently displayed. "We sign 'Integrity Cooperation Agreements' with participating contractors, explicitly mandating 'Five Prohibitions': no accepting banquets, no accepting gifts, no unauthorized subcontracting, no back-room dealings, and no illicit transfer of benefits. Together, we aim to build a business relationship that is 'close yet proper, and clean yet productive,'" Wang Jinsong, a staff member responsible for supervising Party conduct at the No. 1 Oil Plant, told the reporter. Lean management is further reflected in every step taken to "scrutinize details and cut costs." Fushun Petrochemical Construction Company has achieved cost reductions and efficiency gains through "lean cost control." Before maintenance begins, the company conducts "precise calculations" regarding construction machinery and personnel allocation, deploying equipment such as cranes and welding machines based on the specific needs of each unit to prevent resource idleness. During construction, it promotes a "refurbish and reuse" mechanism—repairing and repurposing discarded valves and pipelines—resulting in cumulative material cost savings of over 800,000 yuan. The company has also innovatively adopted a "digital maintenance platform" to track project progress and cost consumption in real-time, dynamically adjust resource allocation, and achieve a seamless integration of "lean maintenance" with "cost reduction and efficiency enhancement."
