In another milestone for ECI Group’s technology, the first two hyper compressors have been delivered to our licensee’s site in China. The Burckhardt Compression K8 and K4 Hyper Compressors are both high-pressure reciprocating compressors, capable of compressing ethylene with a discharge pressure of up to 3,500 bara (or 50,000 psia).

Burckhardt Compression is the market leader in providing hyper compressors for the production of high-pressure polyethylene, manufacturing compressors with a range of frame sizes and progressively larger cylinder diameters, capable of covering the increasing demand for higher capacities and product mixes in today’s LDPE and Copolymer plants. The K8, in particular, enables the flexibility for the wide range of capacities and products offered in ECI Group’s HPPE technology licensing portfolio.

The hyper compressors will be installed on two lines capable of producing 50,000 tonnes per year of Ethylene Butyl Acrylate (EBA) and 100,000 tonnes per year of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) respectively, as part of our client’s refining and petrochemical integrated project, a mega complex located in the Province of Jiangsu. 

Shipped from Burckhardt Compression’s manufacturing facility in Winterthur, Switzerland, the delivery process for these large equipment items involved road transport from Winterthur to Basel, a barge to Antwerp, and then sea transport to the end user’s loading facility in China. At each step of the process, Burckhardt Compression oversaw the work carried out by specialist freight handling companies to ensure that compressors were handled with the utmost care and that the precision engineered components were protected whilst in transit.

The delivery of these compressors marks a major milestone in the construction of the two copolymer lines. Installation is now progressing well.

ECI Group provided the technology license and core engineering for these two lines and will provide additional support during commissioning, start-up, and production of the new high-pressure polyethylene plants. We are proud to have partnered with Burckhardt Compression to deliver these key equipment items and look forward to seeing the hyper compressors installed and the plant up and running.