\"China Coal Chemical Industry\" selects the top 10 news stories in China’s coal chemical industry for 2016

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\"China Coal Chemical Industry\" selects the top 10 news stories in China’s coal chemical industry for 2016 Author/Source: Date: 2017-01-19 Clicks: 18 Recently, the magazine \"China Coal Chemical Industry\" identified the top 10 news stories related to China’s coal chemical industry for the year 2016. News events that have attracted significant attention within the industry, such as the commissioning of a coal-to-oil plant with an annual production capacity of 4 million tons**, the release of guidelines for the development of coal chemical industries by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, and the issuance of guidelines for the petrochemical industry by the State Council, were included. As the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the economic trend in 2016 remained weak; oil and coal prices were both low, environmental protection requirements became stricter, and the coal chemical industry faced unprecedented difficulties. Yet even against such background, the coal chemical industry remains active, attracting widespread attention in terms of policies, projects, and technology, demonstrating its tenacious spirit of exploration that refuses to give up or stop in the face of difficulties. Among the top ten news stories selected, there were both the introduction of industrial plans and adjustments to coal chemical industry policies by relevant **departments ； There have been successes in major demonstration projects, as well as breakthroughs in core technologies. What attracted even more widespread attention was that **the leaders showed unprecedented concern and support for coal chemical projects; they not only visited the demonstration projects in person but also sent congratulatory messages as soon as the projects began operating successfully—this news was voted as the top of the top 10 news stories. Industry insiders have commented that the top 10 news stories in coal chemical industry selected this year carry a strong guiding role. Those who participated in the selection of the top 10 news stories in China’s coal chemical industry in 2016 included leaders from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, renowned experts in the field, executives of coal chemical enterprises, as well as editorial board members of this magazine. Top 10 News Stories in China’s Coal Chemical Industry in 2016: 1. Commissioning of a 4 million tons per year coal-to-oil plant **Congratulations. On December 28, 2016, the Shenhua Ningmei Group’s demonstration project for coal indirect liquefaction with a capacity of 4 million tons per year – the world’s largest of its kind – was officially put into operation. The designed capacity of this project is an annual production of 4.05 million tons of synthetic oil products. This project is the largest coal-to-oil project in the world to date in terms of total investment and scale of facilities, with an estimated investment of 55 billion yuan; it was built through 39 months of intensive effort. This project undertook **37 major tasks related to the localization of technologies, equipment, and materials; the localization rate for this project exceeded 98%, breaking the foreign technological monopoly, with many indicators reaching world-leading levels. The designed capacity of this project is an annual production of 4.05 million tons of synthetic oil products. Of this, 2.73 million tons are blended diesel, 980,000 tons are naphtha, and 340,000 tons are liquefied gas; as by-products, there is 200,000 tons of sulfur, 75,000 tons of mixed alcohols, and 107,000 tons of sulfuric acid. The estimated investment amount is 55 billion yuan, with an annual conversion of 20.46 million tons of coal. ****I have been very concerned about this project. On July 19, 2016, **** visited the project to gain a detailed understanding of its construction progress. After the project was officially put into operation, **** issued further important directives. ****It is pointed out that the completion and operation of this major project are of great significance for enhancing China’s capacity to ensure energy security, promoting the clean and efficient use of coal, and fostering development in ethnic minority areas. It represents a valuable exploration of an energy development approach that is secure, efficient, clean, and low-carbon, and it is an important achievement of the strategy of innovation-driven development. II. China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation releases guidelines for the development of coal chemical industry. In April 2016, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation issued the \"Guidelines for the Development of Modern Coal Chemical Industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period\". The Guidelines cover an introduction to the current development status of the coal chemical industry, an analysis of the industry’s development environment, the development goals for the coal chemical industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the main tasks, as well as recommendations for the industry’s development. Regarding the optimization of industrial layout, the Guidelines suggest adhering to the basic principles of being close to raw materials, close to markets, and located within chemical industrial parks. In line with the requirements of acting according to one’s capabilities, environmental conditions, and the carrying capacity of the environment, an approach that emphasizes industrial park development, larger-scale facilities, flexible production methods, and diversified products should be adopted. This will help ensure that the development of modern coal chemistry is kept under reasonable control in terms of overall volume, while also resulting in a more rational layout. Large-scale coal chemical industry bases will be established in regions such as Yimin in eastern Mongolia, Dalu in western Mongolia, Zhundong in Xinjiang, Ili in Xinjiang, northern Shaanxi, Ningdong-Shanghaimiao, Yunnan-Guizhou, and the Lianghuai area in Anhui, thereby creating an industrial structure that complements the petrochemical industry in the east. The Guidelines state that over the next 5 years, the production capacity for coal-to-oil will reach 12 million tons per year, coal-to-natural gas at 20 billion cubic meters per year, coal-to-olefins at 16 million tons per year, coal-to-aromatics at 1 million tons per year, and coal-to-ethylene glycol at 6–8 million tons per year. In terms of energy conservation and emission reduction goals, by 2020, the modern coal chemical industry is expected to achieve a 10% reduction in water consumption per unit of industrial output value, a 5% improvement in energy efficiency, and a 5% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to 2015 levels. III. The State Council issues guidelines for the petrochemical industry On July 23, 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the \"Guidelines on Adjusting the structure of the petrochemical industry, promoting transformation, and enhancing efficiency.\" The Guidelines state that it is necessary to take into account factors such as resource supply, environmental capacity, security guarantees, and industrial infrastructure in order to optimize the layout of the petrochemical industry. The development of the seven major petrochemical industrial bases along the coast should be carried out in an orderly manner, with new projects in oil refining, ethylene production, and aromatics being introduced to these industrial bases step by step. Strengthen the planning and construction of chemical industrial parks, carry out pilot projects for smart chemical parks, and conduct comprehensive evaluations and information disclosure in accordance with the law. In areas of the central and western regions that meet the resource and environmental requirements, the modern coal chemical industry should be developed in an orderly manner in conjunction with the development of large-scale coal bases. IV. The first demonstration project for the comprehensive utilization of naphtha was approved for evaluation. On June 16, 2016, the demonstration project for the comprehensive utilization of naphtha operated by Yanchang China Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical Co., Ltd. in Jingbian, Shaanxi Province (referred to as the Jingbian project) passed the expert evaluation in Beijing. The integrated optimization and development of coal, oil, and gas comprehensive utilization process technologies for the Jingbian project, as well as the industrial application achievements related to them, were evaluated by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and found to be at an internationally leading level in terms of overall technology. The Jingbian project is the world’s first large-scale industrial demonstration project for the comprehensive utilization of gas oil. By using dry gas produced as a by-product of coal, natural gas, and residue oil cracking as raw materials, a complementarity between hydrocarbons is achieved. As a result, the carbon monoxide conversion rate is 60% lower compared to processes based solely on coal chemistry, and the scale of low-temperature methanol washing is reduced by 66%. This not only significantly cuts down on project investment, the consumption in water-gas shift units, and the energy required to supplement carbon monoxide after methane oxidation, but also results in only 1.246 tons of coal or 905.6 cubic meters of natural gas (including dry gas from residue oil catalytic cracking) being needed to produce 1 ton of methanol. Moreover, the reduced energy consumption per unit of product, especially the reduced use of coal, leads to a significant decrease in the generation and emission of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. V. Successful development of a syngas-steam co-generation gasifier On April 1, 2016, the syngas-steam co-generation gasifier, developed jointly by the Shanxi Clean Energy Research Institute of Tsinghua University, Shanxi Yangmei Fengxi Fertilizer (Group) Co., Ltd., and Shanxi Yangmei Chemical Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd., was successfully ignited for the first time, fed with materials, and started producing gas at the Linyi branch of Shanxi Yangmei Fengxi. The successful deployment of this technology achieved two world firsts: firstly, it was the first time that a combination of water-coal slurry + water wall + radial steam generator was used, and industrialization of this combination was successfully accomplished. Secondly, for the first time, the original gasification furnace (slurry coal + refractory bricks + quenching process) was directly upgraded through modifications into a more efficient and reliable co-generation furnace (slurry coal + water-cooled walls + radiant steam generator + quenching process), setting a precedent for the transformation of new coal gasification technologies. VI. The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a new version of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law. On September 1, 2016, the revised new version of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law came into effect. Among these, the most direct impact on the coal chemical industry is that environmental impact assessment approval is no longer a prerequisite for project approval. Prior to the amendment, Article 25 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law stipulated that if the environmental impact assessment document for a construction project had not been reviewed by the authorities designated by law or had not been approved following such review, the authorities responsible for approving the project must not grant approval for its construction, and the construction entity must not commence work on it. After the modification, it reads as follows: If the environmental impact assessment document for a construction project has not been reviewed by the competent approval authority in accordance with the law, or has not been approved following such review, the construction unit shall not commence construction. In other words, the administrative approval for the environmental impact assessment used to take precedence over the approval of other reports or project approvals, serving as a prerequisite for those. If the environmental impact assessment is not approved, then the approval of other reports cannot be obtained either. It is a series connection one after another. In the future, once this prerequisite is removed, it will create room for different departments to handle procedures in parallel, thus establishing a parallel processing approach. This changes the situation in which the first review stage holds absolute dominance in environmental impact assessments. VII. Delegation of approval authority for coal-based olefins and methanol projects On December 12, 2016, with the approval of the **Prime Minister, the State Council issued the \"Catalogue of Investment Projects Subject to Approval (2016 Edition)\” (hereinafter referred to as the \"Catalogue\”). This revision of the Catalogue is the third amendment made by the State Council, following two revisions in 2013 and 2014. The “Catalog” proposes that new oil refining, coal-to-olefins, coal-to-methanol and other projects to be included in the plan be approved at the provincial **or local** level. Regarding the coal chemical industry, the Catalogue states: “New coal-based olefin projects and new coal-based p-xylene (PX) projects shall be approved by provincial authorities in accordance with the relevant plans that have been authorized.” The construction of new coal-to-methanol projects with an annual production capacity of over 1 million tons is approved by the provincial authorities. Construction of the remaining projects is prohibited. ” VIII. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issues the \"Development Plan for the Petrochemical and Chemical Industries\" On September 29, 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology formulated and released the \"Development Plan for the Petrochemical and Chemical Industries (2016–2020)\". The Plan states that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, significant progress will be made in the structural adjustment, transformation, and upgrading of the petrochemical and chemical industries; their quality and efficiency will be markedly improved, thus taking solid steps toward becoming a leading country in these industries. The Plan also sets out a series of development goals: in terms of structural adjustment, the problem of overcapacity in traditional chemical products will be effectively alleviated; the capacity to supply basic raw materials such as olefins and aromatics, as well as new chemical materials, will be significantly improved. A number of large-scale enterprise groups with international competitiveness, world-class chemical industrial parks, and new types of industrial demonstration bases centered on the petrochemical industry will be established ； In terms of the goal of innovation-driven development, R&D investment accounts for 1.2% of the industry’s total revenue from core business activities ； In terms of green development goals, by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP decreased by 23%; energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per 10,000 yuan of GDP dropped by 18%. The total emissions of chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen were reduced by 10%, while total emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were cut by 15%. Emissions of volatile organic compounds in key industries were reduced by more than 30%. IX. The Ministry of Environmental Protection approved 7 new coal chemical projects in one year. On December 6, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for Xinjiang Yili Xintian Coal Chemical Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 2 billion cubic meters per year of coal-based natural gas was approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. This is the 7th new coal chemical project approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2016. The environmental impact assessments for the remaining 6 coal chemical projects that were approved, along with the specific dates of approval, are as follows: On July 8, 2016, the environmental impact report for Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal-to-Oil Co., Ltd.’s 2 million tons per year coal indirect liquefaction demonstration project was approved ； On July 8, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for a joint venture project between China Power Investment Corporation and Total France to produce 800,000 tons of coal-based polyolefins per year was approved ； On April 25, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for Inner Mongolia Beikong Jingtai Energy Development Co., Ltd.’s coal-to-natural gas project with an annual production capacity of 4 billion cubic meters was approved ； On April 25, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for Xinjiang Su New Energy and Feng Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 4 billion standard cubic meters of coal-based natural gas per year was approved ； On March 4, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for the integrated demonstration project of clean utilization of high-sulfur coal for oil production, power generation, and heating by Shanxi Lu’an Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. was approved ； On March 4, 2016, the environmental impact assessment report for CNOOC’s demonstration project on the clean utilization of low-metamorphic bituminous coal in Datong, Shanxi (CNOOC’s 4 billion cubic meter coal-to-gas project) was approved. In 2015, none of the environmental impact assessments for new coal chemical projects were approved. X. China’s largest coal-based olefins project begins producing products. On October 18, 2016, the Ordos Coal Deep Processing Demonstration Project operated by Inner Mongolia Zhongtian Hechuang Energy Co., Ltd. completed all the necessary processing steps, resulting in the production of high-quality polyethylene and polypropylene. This marks the commissioning of the largest and most technologically advanced coal-to-olefins project in the country to date. The total investment in Zhongtian Hechuang Ordos Coal Chemical Project is approximately 60 billion yuan. The main construction components include a coal mine with an annual production capacity of 25 million tons (including a coal preparation plant), a methanol production facility with a capacity of 3.6 million tons, a project for producing 1.37 million tons of olefins along with its supporting thermal power facilities, water pipelines, and a dedicated railway line. This project utilizes the methanol-to-low-carbon olefins technology developed through a collaboration between Sinopec Refining & Chemical Engineering Group and Sinopec Corporation; it is also the largest coal-to-olefins project in the world at present. In May 2014, the construction of this project officially began. On April 28, 2016, the methanol synthesis unit was successfully handed over. In August 2016, the 3.6 million tons per year methanol synthesis unit of this project began preparations for commissioning trials. http://www.nmtech.com.cn/*nwen_mhg_xx.asp?id=182545