PetroChina Ningxia Yinchuan Refinery

PetroChina Ningxia Yinchuan Refinery is a refinery in China with a reported capacity of 100,000 BBL per day. It processes crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through distillation, cracking and reforming. It is operated by PetroChina Co Ltd. By capacity it ranks #66 of 148 oil refineries tracked in China. It emits about 957,605 tonnes of CO₂e per year (Climate TRACE) — roughly the tailpipe emissions of 223,218 cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is about 13% above the median refinery.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3143849.

Im Kontext: wie sich diese Anlage vergleicht

Bei 100,000 BBL per day ist PetroChina Ningxia Yinchuan Refinery etwa um dem Medianwert von refinery in China (95,000 BBL per day). Sein CO₂ pro Kapazitätseinheit liegt ungefähr 16% über dem Medianwert von refinery. Untersektor: oil-and-gas-refining. Als refinery benötigt es intensive Prozesswärme (typischerweise 200–600°C) für seinen Kernbetrieb — Wärme, die durch Dampfkessel, Öfen oder direkte Verbrennung geliefert werden muss, und Verluste durch ungedämmte Behälter und Rohrleitungen stellen verschwendeten Brennstoff dar. Modulare abnehmbare Dämmung kann diese Verluste um 80–96% senken, Oberflächen auf ≤45°C kühlen, mit Amortisationszeiten oft unter 2 Jahren. Raffinerien wärmen auf, fraktionieren und chemisch transformieren Rohöl durch energieintensive Destillation und Cracken in Brennstoffe und petrochemische Rohstoffe — extrem anspruchsvoll für Dampfzeugung und Wärmenutzung.

Vergleich von Kapazität und CO₂-Intensität berechnet aus Climate TRACE Industrieanlagendaten; Sektorrolle basierend auf Ingenieurreferenz.

What 957,605 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's reported annual CO₂e in the everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in China

Reported capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by PetroChina Co Ltd. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

PetroChina Ningxia Yinchuan Refinery sits in a cold desert climate zone (Köppen BWk), at 38.5°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

How it compares & nearby sites

The #66 largest of 148 oil refineries in China by reported capacity.

Nearby industrial sites

• Ningxia Saima Cement Co Ltd Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 3,086,132 t CO₂
• Ningxia Baota Refinery · Refinery · 824,718 t CO₂
• Ningxia Yinghai Tianchen Building Materials Co. Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 738,870 t CO₂
• Inner Mongolia Songta Cement Co. Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 384,246 t CO₂
• CHN-Yinchuan_methanol · Chemical Plant · 15,325,877 t CO₂
• Shizuishan (Pingluo) Ammonia · Chemical Plant · 367,193 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 38.48076, 106.05986. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

A refinery like this runs hot equipment that sheds heat continuously: crude & vacuum distillation columns, fired heaters, heat exchangers, steam lines, valves & flanges (surface/process temperatures around 150–550 °C). These surfaces lose energy to the air year-round; removable modular insulation cuts that loss, brings outer surfaces to ≤45 °C, and unclips for inspection.

Indicative recoverable energy

On an already-insulated site (pipes & valves in cladding / jackets), closing the remaining gaps, flanges and damaged sections and switching to removable covers indicatively recovers about 43,000 MWh/yr (≈ 8,600 t CO₂/yr) — scaled to this site's reported CO₂ within its sector. Bare or damaged surfaces recover several times more.

See Inzonex insulation → Estimate your site →

Indicative, not a measurement. Conservative floor for an already-insulated plant; a TIPCHECK on-site audit gives a measured figure. Industry context: EiiF TIPCHECK — industrial insulation can save ~14 Mtoe/yr in EU, payback typically <2 years.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Bare hot surfaces here exceed the touch-safe limit (EN ISO 13732-1); insulation to ≤45 °C is a worker-safety and compliance win. And before electrification, fuel-switching or CCS, eliminating surface heat loss is the cheapest, fastest, lowest-risk step — audit the bare spots first, rip-and-replace later.

External climate finance your country can access

Domestic energy-efficiency grants are limited here; industrial decarbonisation is mainly funded externally:

• Japan JCM (Joint Crediting Mechanism) — Japan co-finances diffusion of decarbonising tech incl. INDUSTRIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY in partner countries, in exchange for carbon credits. Channels: MOEJ model projects, ADB trust funds, NEDO demonstrations.
• UK International Climate Finance (ICF / ODA) — ~GBP 6bn ODA over 3 yrs; industrial-decarbonisation flows via Climate Investment Funds (CIF) - Clean Technology Fund.
• Green Climate Fund (GCF) + ADB / World Bank / UNIDO — Concessional finance & grants for industrial energy efficiency. E.g. GCF $200M ADB-led India Green Finance Facility; World Bank FP071 'Scaling Up Energy Efficiency for Industrial Enterprises in Vietnam'; ASEAN ACGF energy-efficiency revolving funds incl. SMEs.

CBAM. Exporters of cement, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — cutting embedded emissions (efficiency + insulation) lowers the levy.

Routed via national development banks / accredited entities — not a direct factory grant. Verified 2026.

Frequently asked questions