ZapSibNeftekhim  is a Tobolsk enterprise of SIBUR, the largest petrochemical complex in Russia, with a total capacity of 2.5 million tons of basic polymers per year (1.5 million tons of polyethylene and 1 million tons of polypropylene).

In October 2013, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first polymer production facility in Tobolsk with a capacity of 500 thousand tons of polypropylene per year was launched. At that time, it was the largest investment project in the Russian petrochemical industry.

In 2014, SIBUR began preparing the site for the construction of an even larger production facility, the ZapSibNeftekhim complex. The first pile in the foundation of the complex was driven on February 17, 2015. At the peak of work, about 28 thousand people were involved in the construction site.

In the spring of 2019, the main construction work at the site was completed. Commissioning of process equipment began, and then the enterprise reached its design capacity. In December 2020, the previously operating (SIBUR Tobolsk) and new production facilities (ZapSibNeftekhim) were merged into one legal entity — ZapSibNeftekhim.

Today, ZapSibNeftekhim is more than 10 main and service production facilities created in different eras and with different specializations. The enterprise is conventionally divided into the Southern site (historical contour) and Northern (new plants). The total area of ​​the plant is 2,000 hectares (it can accommodate 3,333 football fields), of which 460 hectares are occupied by the new part.

The heart of the Southern site is the Central Gas Fractionation Unit. A wide fraction of light hydrocarbons is supplied here from gas processing plants via a product pipeline for rectification (gas separation). Propane, butane, isobutane, etc. are separated from it. At various installations, the substances are purified from impurities and moisture, after which they are sent to other production facilities to obtain olefins and polyolefins, and in a liquefied state they are sent to storage parks for further shipment to end consumers by rail. "Yuzhnaya" specializes in the production of monomers. The youngest plant of ZSNKh, the MAN plant, is also located here; today it is the only producer of maleic anhydride in Russia.

The heart of the "Severnaya" site is the "Pyrolysis" production facility with a capacity of 1.5 million tons of ethylene, 500 thousand tons of propylene, and 240 thousand tons of high-margin by-products per year (butadiene, butene-1, MTBE, pyrogasoline).

A pyrolysis plant of such capacity is currently the only one in Russia and is in the top 5 in the world.

The "heart" of the plant is one of the world's largest pyrolysis gas compressors with a capacity of 82 MW — 111,500 horsepower, which is comparable in power to 111 Formula 1 racing cars.

Pyrolysis furnaces are the main equipment where the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbon raw materials into components occurs. This process occurs at a temperature of 850 degrees Celsius, which is almost twice as hot as the surface of Venus. ZapSibNeftekhim has nine pyrolysis furnaces (eight working and one reserve). The height of each is 60 meters. Weight — 2,600 tons.

The pyrolysis gas obtained in the pyrolysis furnaces enters the rectification columns, where the final separation of target products — ethylene and propylene — occurs, and then the feedstock is fed to the production of polyethylene and polypropylene. Each column for obtaining commercial propylene is 106 m high, 6.5 m in diameter, and weighs 917 tons (which is twice as long and eight times heavier than a Boeing 787). The column for obtaining commercial ethylene is 64 m high, has an internal diameter of 6.5 m, and weighs 501.4 tons.

ZapSibNeftekhim's polyethylene production facility can produce up to 1.5 million tons of polyethylene per year. There are four polymerization process lines (two for producing high-density polyethylene and two for producing low-density polyethylene). There are also five extrusion lines, four of which are designed to produce white granules, and the fifth is for producing PE100 pipe grade with the addition of carbon black.

The polyethylene production facility includes one of the tallest extrusion buildings in the world — 110 meters. This is like a 37-story residential building.

In 2023, construction of a new SIBUR polypropylene plant, DGP-2 (a new complex for the production of propylene by dehydrogenation of propane and propylene derivatives), began in the Tyumen Region. The first pile was driven in August 2023, and in April 2024, piling work is already nearing completion. As in other petrochemical production facilities of ZapSibNeftekhim, DGP-2 will use advanced technologies: a closed water circulation system, modern dust and gas collection equipment, and for the first time in Tobolsk, a closed-type flare will be used.

The construction of DGP-2 will last until 2026, and the launch of production is expected in 2027, which will contribute to increasing Russia's role in global polypropylene production: the country will enter the top five largest producers. The commissioning of the new enterprise will help stimulate domestic production of finished polymer products and the development of non-raw material exports, expand the range of polypropylene grades and replace the import of large-tonnage polymers.

With the introduction of DGP-2, Russia will enter the TOP-5 global producers of polypropylene!

Contact us to find out about current job openings on the project!