Key points of the 12th Five-Year Plan for the soda ash industry

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According to the “12th Five-Year Development Plan for the Soda Ash Industry” released by the Business Society on July 10, it is projected that by 2015, soda ash will be produced using the ammonia-soda process. The overall energy consumption for producing light soda ash is expected to be 400 kg of standard coal per ton or less; ammonia consumption should not exceed 4.5 kg per ton; salt consumption must be no higher than 1,500 kg per ton; and the recycling rate of fresh water is anticipated to exceed 95%. The energy conservation and consumption reduction targets for 2015 have been met; now, the entire industry must further reduce consumption and costs, promote energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, improve product quality, and enhance the market competitiveness of soda ash. 　　Shangpu Consulting’s chemical industry analyst believes that China will continue to widely promote automated control within the industry, optimize operating indicators, and facilitate the extensive application of DCS in medium- and large-sized enterprises in the soda ash industry, thereby reducing the number of work areas, minimizing the number of work points, and curbing fluctuations in indicators. Among these efforts, to support the Energy Management Center project led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, training on automation has been organized this year for the chief engineers of various enterprises. This enables those in charge of technology within these companies to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of automation and recognize its benefits. 　　During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the industry will encourage the adoption of advanced automated control technologies and large-scale, energy-efficient equipment in soda ash production. It will also promote the secondary filtration technology for sodium bicarbonate and belt-type soda filters, thereby enabling more effective and refined multi-stage utilization of steam. The ammonia-soda process promotes dry lime-addition technology and vacuum distillation technology, as well as the use of waste residues for flue gas desulfurization and other comprehensive utilization technologies for waste residues. 　　According to the “Research Report on China’s Alkali Products Market from 2010 to 2013” released by Shangpu Consulting, the soda ash industry faces certain difficulties in promoting energy conservation and consumption reduction. For example, waste liquid and waste residue have always been at the core of environmental protection issues in ammonia-soda production. In the ammonia-soda process for producing soda ash, approximately 10 cubic meters of waste liquid is discharged per ton of soda ash produced; this includes about 300–350 kilograms of solid residue. Due to the large volume generated, it is difficult to achieve substantial comprehensive utilization; this is also a problem plaguing the global soda ash industry. Similarly, compared to enterprises in the central and eastern regions, enterprises in the northwest, Inner Mongolia, and other areas still have a significant gap in terms of energy conservation and consumption reduction; their efforts in energy saving and emission reduction are insufficient. These will all be the key focuses of the work under the 12th Five-Year Plan.