The Sinopec Henan facility is the largest refined oil supply base and chemical materials production base in Henan Province | Source: sohu.com (Jan 9, 2025)
The Luoyang Petrochemical facility was approved under the State's 5th Five-Year Plan as a 5 million t/y refinery, with construction beginning in 1978 and first commercial operations in 1984. Over successive investment phases, it evolved into the only 10 million tonne-level integrated refining and chemical complex in Central China and the leading petroleum and petrochemical project in Henan Province.
Refinery Structural Adjustment Project
The Refinery Structural Adjustment Project (炼油结构调整项目) expanded the site's crude processing capacity from 8 million t/y to 10 million t/y by constructing and revamping a series of units around a Residue Hydrotreating + Hydrocracking (渣油加氢+加氢裂化) configuration. The project simultaneously upgraded all fuel product qualities to the National VI (GB VI) standard (equivalent to Euro VI) and restructured the unit slate toward higher-value, lower-sulphur output. All newly built and revamped units under the project exclusively employed Sinopec proprietary technologies, developed and licensed by Sinopec RIPP and Sinopec Luoyang Engineering (LPEC). Total investment amounted to approximately ¥4.5 billion (RMB). The completed project also served as a direct prerequisite for the subsequent Million-Tonne Ethylene Project, providing the refinery-derived feedstocks required for the steam cracker.
Project Timeline:
| Milestone |
Date |
| Feasibility study approval |
March 2008 |
| EIA approval |
December 2014 |
| Construction commencement |
~2019–2020 |
| Intermediate handover (中交) |
Mid-2024 |
| Formal completion / acceptance |
2024 |
Refining Complex
Following the Refinery Structural Adjustment Project, the refinery structure is as described in the following table:
| Unit |
Capacity |
Technology / Licensor |
Atmospheric &
Vacuum Distillation |
10,000 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Crude Oil Flash Vaporization |
1,500 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Heavy Oil Catalytic Cracking (×2) |
1,400 kt/y each |
Sinopec RIPP
(DCC / MIP technology) |
Residue
Hydrotreating |
2,600 kt/y |
Sinopec proprietary
(SLHT / RHT) |
| Continuous Catalytic Reforming |
1,200 kt/y |
Sinopec
(ultra-low pressure CCR) |
| Wax Oil Hydrofining |
2,200 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Diesel Hydrofining |
2,600 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Jet Fuel Hydrofining |
600 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Catalytic Diesel Hydrofining |
800 kt/y |
Sinopec |
Solvent De-
asphalting (SDA) |
800 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Delayed Coking |
1,400 kt/y |
Sinopec LPEC
(closed decoking technology) |
| Gas Fractionation |
650 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Hydrogen Generation |
40,000 m³/h |
Sinopec |
| Sulphur Recovery |
100 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Alkylation |
— |
Sinopec LPEC (new-type sulphuric acid alkylation process) |
Chemical & Chemical Fiber Complex
The original chemical fiber chain was based on an aromatics-PX-PTA-PET-fiber integration. As of the 2019 state assessment, the original chemical block comprised: 260 kt/y aromatics extraction, 245 kt/y PX (later described as 215 kt/y before Refinery Structural Adjustment), 325 kt/y PTA, 200 kt/y PET, 100 kt/y filament yarn, and 250 kt/y polyester staple fiber.
| Unit |
Capacity |
Technology / Licensor |
| Aromatics Extraction |
260 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Ethylbenzene |
120 kt/y |
— |
| Paraxylene (PX) |
240 kt/y |
Sinopec |
| Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) |
325 kt/y |
Sinopec / ICI/Invista legacy process |
| Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) |
400 kt/y |
— |
| Filament Yarn |
100 kt/y |
— |
| Polyester Staple Fiber |
250 kt/y |
— |
| BOPP Film |
20 kt/y |
— |
Polypropylene Units
1# PP Unit — 80 kt/y
- Designer: TPL S.p.A. (Italy)
- Process licensor: Mitsui Chemicals (Japan) — HYPOL process (liquid-phase + gas-phase combination, TK high-efficiency catalyst system; consistent with HYPOL I generation given commissioning era)
- Applications: Homopolymer pipes, BOPP films, transparent sheet/plate
2# PP Unit — 180 kt/y
- Process: Sinopec domestically developed 2nd-generation loop-reactor polypropylene process
- Catalyst: Sinopec proprietary catalyst system
- Commissioned: January 2013
- Extrusion system: Pure additive addition system (flexible grade switching, stable product quality)
- Applications: Homopolymer pipes, BOPP films, high-crystallisation injection moulding, sheets, laminates
References
- Sinopec Corp. — Refineries & Petrochemicals: SINOPEC Luoyang Company (last retrieved May 2026)
- Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Co., Ltd. (LPEC) — Company Profile (last retrieved May 2026)
- Tencent Cloud / Industry News — The Luoyang Petrochemical Refinery Structural Adjustment Project is progressing smoothly overall (Nov 5, 2019)
- Industrial Info Resources — Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical Begins Refinery Expansion in China's Henan Province (Jul 9, 2019)
- Sohu News — Sinopec Luoyang Branch will make a major appearance at AllinPlas2024 Zhengzhou Plastic Expo (Mar 27, 2024)
- Process Industry — 1 million tons of ethylene + 800,000 tons of PX + 1.2 million tons of PTA industrial chain project! Luoyang Petrochemical transformation in progress (May 15, 2019)
- Sinopec Engineering (Group) — About Us >> Subisdiaries: Sinopec Luoyang (Guangzhou) Engineering Co., Ltd.
