On September 19, 2026, an ethylene fractionator was installed in its design position at the construction site of the future polyethylene plant. The column is 101.8 metres high and 7.5 metres in diameter. Fully assembled, it weighs more than 1,800 tonnes. The equipment was manufactured in Kazakhstan at the AtyrauNefteMash plant.
The column is one of the key elements of the pyrolysis unit and is designed to separate ethylene, the main feedstock for polyethylene production.
To carry out this complex engineering operation, a crawler crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 4,000 tonnes – one of the largest cranes of its class in the world – was assembled at the construction site.
The installation of the column took approximately five hours and was carried out in several stages using the main crawler crane and an auxiliary crane with a lifting capacity of 1,700 tonnes. At the first stage, the column was lifted approximately three metres off the ground while remaining in a horizontal position. After the necessary preparation and inspection procedures were completed, the equipment was raised from the horizontal to the vertical position, placed on its foundation and secured in its design position.
The 4,000-tonne crawler crane will subsequently be used to install another oversized piece of equipment for the pyrolysis unit – a quench tower weighing approximately 700 tonnes, standing more than 50 metres high and measuring around 10 metres in diameter. This equipment is also being manufactured at the AtyrauNefteMash plant.
The project to build a polyethylene plant with an annual production capacity of 1.25 million tonnes in the Atyrau Region is being implemented in accordance with the instruction of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to develop Kazakhstan’s petrochemical cluster. It is one of the country’s largest manufacturing projects.
The overall project progress currently stands at 38.5%, compared with the planned 30%. Around 5,000 people and more than 500 units of specialised equipment have been mobilised at the construction site. Work continues across the pyrolysis, polymerisation and offsites and utilities facilities, including the construction of buildings and structures, installation of utility networks and installation of process equipment.
