Steam Cracker Construction Site Introduces Core Device Cracking Heater... Ethylene Production Facility
EPC Process Progress Reaches 40%... Smooth Sailing Toward Mechanical Completion in June 2026
S-OIL (CEO: Anwar Al Hizazi) announced that the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) work for installing large-scale equipment and facilities at the Shahin Project construction site, the largest investment in the history of the domestic petrochemical industry amounting to KRW 9.258 trillion, is in full swing.
S-OIL Shahin project construction site in Onsan National Industrial Complex, Ulsan. The cracking heater (facility on the right), a key equipment for ethylene production, has been introduced, and full-scale equipment construction work is underway.
The overall EPC progress rate at the Shahin Project construction site located in the Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulsan has reached 40%, steadily advancing toward the mechanical completion target set for June 2026.
At the construction site, the land preparation work that began in 2023 has been completed, and 8 out of the total 10 ultra-large cracking heaters have already been installed.
The cracking heater is a core device of the steam cracker, which thermally decomposes raw materials such as naphtha and LPG to produce petrochemical products like ethylene and propylene. Each unit is an ultra-large heavy object measuring approximately 10 meters in width, 40 meters in length, and weighing 3,200 tons.
An S-OIL official explained, “The modules were manufactured in a modular form by a domestic plant company located in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do, and transported by sea. Once the installation of all modules is completed, the 10 facilities, reaching a height of 67 meters, will present a magnificent grandeur.”
According to S-OIL, the Shahin Project is constructing a steam cracker, TC2C facility, and storage facilities on approximately 480,000 square meters of land adjacent to the S-OIL Ulsan Complex within the Onsan National Industrial Complex. Additionally, a polymer plant is being built on about 400,000 square meters of land in the Dangwol area to produce high value-added polymer products using ethylene produced from the steam cracker as raw material.
Examining the core facilities and competitiveness of the Shahin Project, the TC2C (Thermal Crude to Chemical) technology, a new technology that produces petrochemical products directly from crude oil, is a proprietary technology of the parent company Saudi Aramco and is expected to be commercially operated for the first time in the world through the Shahin Project.
TC2C is an optimized process to increase the production of petrochemical raw materials such as naphtha and is expected to enable the production of petrochemical products with lower carbon intensity compared to traditional petrochemical industries.
The steam cracker of the Shahin Project is the world's largest single facility steam cracker with an annual ethylene production capacity of 1.8 million tons. It plans to secure competitive energy efficiency by introducing self-power generation through a high-efficiency gas turbine generator and a high-temperature waste heat recovery system.
Moreover, the polymer plant will build the largest automated warehouse in Korea to establish an efficient logistics system.
A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official leading the EPC consortium for the Shahin Project stated, “We are mobilizing the experience and know-how of domestic EPC companies to construct a high-quality plant for the Shahin Project, which is the largest in the history of Korea’s petrochemical industry.” He added, “We take great pride in being able to carry out this historic project that will significantly contribute to the national economy through job creation during the construction period until 2026 and the production inducement effect on local companies after completion.”
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