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Hothot Refinery | Credit: Sina Finance (Aug 31, 2023)

Hohhot Petrochemical Branch Company is located in Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and covers an area of 3,000 mu (200 ha). It is the only refining and chemical enterprise of CNPC within the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The company was originally named Hohhot Refinery and was once subordinate to the Huabei Petroleum Administration Bureau and Huabei Oilfield Company. It was one of the national “Eighth Five-Year Plan” key projects and, together with the Erlian Oilfield development and the Asai crude oil pipeline, was known as one of Inner Mongolia’s three major petroleum projects.

Preparations for the facility began in 1988; ground was broken on 29 July 1990, and the plant was successfully commissioned in a single start-up on 29 September 1992. After CNPC’s restructuring, the enterprise was placed under the direct management of PetroChina Company Limited on 1 July 2000 and was officially renamed “PetroChina Company Limited Hohhot Petrochemical Branch.”

On 28 October 2012, the 5‑million‑ton‑per‑year refinery expansion and upgrading project was fully completed and successfully started up in one go. With a total investment of 7.137 billion yuan, the project built 11 refining units and supporting systems—including a 5 Mt/a atmospheric distillation unit, a 2.8 Mt/a catalytic cracking unit, a 1.4 Mt/a diesel hydro‑dewaxing unit, a 0.3 Mt/a kerosene hydrotreating unit, a 0.9 Mt/a diesel hydro‑upgrading unit, a 0.6 Mt/a continuous reforming unit, a 0.5 Mt/a gas fractionation unit, a 0.1 Mt/a benzene extraction unit, a 0.005 Mt/a sulfur recovery unit, an 0.08 Mt/a MTBE unit, and a hydrogen purification unit of 30,000 standard cubic metres per hour—plus one 150,000 t/a polypropylene chemical unit.

In line with national fuel quality upgrade requirements, the company invested 410 million yuan to construct and commission a gasoline quality upgrading project, including a 1.2 Mt/a gasoline hydro‑desulfurization unit, a 0.3 Mt/a light gasoline etherification unit, and a 12,000 standard cubic metres per hour hydrogen purification unit. At present, all motor gasoline and diesel produced by the company meet China VI standards, and environmental emissions comply with regulatory requirements.

References

1. Hohhot Petrochemical. China National Petroleum Corporation
2. Sep 14, 2020. China National Petroleum Corporation Hohhot Petrochemical Branch. China University of Petroleum
3. Oct 5, 2022. China National Petroleum Corporation Hohhot Petrochemical Branch Exclusive Online Recruitment Presentation. School of Energy and Environment (SEE), Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology