China’s first industrial demonstration plant for ammonia synthesis using ruthenium-based catalysts at low temperature and pressure has completed a 72-hour calibration test!

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New breakthrough in polymeric environmental protection material technology! China’s first industrial demonstration plant for ammonia synthesis using ruthenium-based catalysts at low temperature and pressure has completed a 72-hour calibration test! Author/Source: Date: 2018-03-08 Clicks: 17 On March 7, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation organized experts to conduct a 72-hour calibration test on China’s first industrial demonstration plant for the low-temperature, low-pressure synthesis of ammonia using iron-ruthenium catalysis on a scale of 10,000 tons per year. The expert team consisted of 8 specialists, including Shu Xingtian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Yang Chao, a Changjiang Scholar and researcher at the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Men Cungui, a professor-level engineer at the China Petroleum Consulting Center. The device was jointly developed by Sanju Environmental Protection (300072) and Fuzhou University, with construction entrusted to Jiangsu Heyou Chemical Co., Ltd. By employing the iron-ruthenium cascade catalysis system, the reaction pressure and temperature for ammonia synthesis can be significantly reduced, enabling a high ammonia yield even under conditions of a low hydrogen-to-nitrogen ratio. Experts in evaluation and calibration believe that this significant breakthrough achieved by China in the industrial application of ruthenium-based catalysts has broken the foreign technological monopoly, providing important technical support for the transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of China’s ammonia synthesis industry. Shu Xingtian, head of the calibration expert group and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gave high praise to the calibration results. He said, “Synthetic ammonia is a chemical that is crucial for the national economy and people’s livelihoods, and it forms the basis for ensuring **food security**.” The traditional ammonia synthesis industry uses iron-based catalysts, which result in high reaction pressures, high temperatures, high energy consumption, and low efficiency. The R&D team formed by Sanju Environmental Protection and Fuzhou University has made breakthroughs in high-activity, high-stability ruthenium-based catalysts as well as iron-ruthenium cascade catalysis technologies, which will enable leapfrog progress in China’s synthetic ammonia industry technology. ” 　Men Cungui, a professor-level senior engineer at the China Petroleum Consulting Center, said that currently, only KBR in the United States possesses the technology for the industrial application of ruthenium-based catalysts. China’s breakthroughs in ruthenium-based catalysts have broken the foreign technological monopoly that has persisted for nearly 30 years, providing critical technical support for the transformation and upgrading of China’s ammonia synthesis industry. Jiang Lilong, director of the Fujian Sanjufuda Fertilizer Catalysis and Purification Technology Research Center and general manager of Fujian Sanjufuda Fertilizer Catalyst **Engineering Research Center Co., Ltd., introduced the research and development progress related to this project as well as its practical value: It took more than 20 years of hard work by two generations of researchers before this technology was finally developed successfully. Through the deep integration of industry, academia, and research, Heyou Chemical has achieved its first industrial demonstration on a scale of 10,000 tons, showing great potential in terms of cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and emission reduction. Taking an annual production volume of 180,000 tons of synthetic ammonia as an example, this approach will enable the company to save over 30 million yuan in energy costs each year, increase production capacity by more than 33.6%, and generate an additional output value of over 100 million yuan. China’s existing 55 million tons of synthetic ammonia production capacity will also undergo comprehensive technical upgrades and renovations. 　Jiang Yanru, head of the Science and Technology Awards Division of the Department of Science, Technology and Equipment at the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, highly praised the practical value and significance of this technological breakthrough for the advancement of technology in the synthetic ammonia industry. She expressed her appreciation for the hard work carried out by the group of academicians and experts over the two days, as well as for their scientific, rigorous, and careful approach. She also commended Sanmu Environmental Protection for its years of dedication to the research and development of new basic materials! She said that the Petrochemical Federation will continue to pay attention to and support the large-scale industrial application of this new technology. The \"13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Nitrogen Fertilizers\" issued by the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association specifies that by 2020, China’s total production capacity for nitrogen fertilizers should be kept at 61 million tons (in terms of pure content), with the capacity utilization rate rising to over 80% ； Vigorously develop efficient, environmentally friendly, and high-efficiency new nitrogen fertilizers, and establish a number of ammonia synthesis production enterprises that reach world-class standards ； The energy consumption levels of all ammonia synthesis enterprises meet the requirements set out in the \"Limits on Energy Consumption per Unit of Ammonia Produced\" standards. This new technological breakthrough by Sanju Environmental Protection will play a significant role in promoting the upgrading and transformation of China’s nitrogen fertilizer industry, as well as in reducing energy consumption and waste. 　Introduction to the R&D team: The Fuzhou University Engineering Research Center for Fertilizer Catalysts (hereinafter referred to as the Center) was approved for establishment by the former Planning Commission in 1996, and passed the inspection by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2000. The center is the only **-level innovation platform in China’s fertilizer catalyst industry, established by Academician Wei Kemei. The center has forged a deep integration of industry, academia, and research with Beijing Sanju Environmental Protection New Materials Co., Ltd., and together they have established Fujian Sanju Fuda Fertilizer Catalyst **Engineering Research Center Co., Ltd. The current director of the center is Researcher Jiang Lilong, who is the head of the innovation team in the key field of \"Fertilizer Catalysis\" under the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as a leading talent in scientific and technological innovation under the \"Ten Thousand Talents Program\". 　Over the course of more than forty years, spanning three generations and passing from academicians to Academician Wei Kemei and then to the current Fertilizer Catalysis Innovation Team, the center has consistently focused on research and development in synthetic ammonia catalysts and their practical application. To date, it has developed fourteen fertilizer catalysts across four series, which have been put into industrial use. Five of these catalysts have won **Invention Awards or Science and Technology Progress Awards, with numerous other achievements receiving provincial and ministerial-level science and technology progress awards. The aforementioned technology has been transferred to over a dozen catalyst manufacturers in six provinces and municipalities across the country for production and dissemination, yielding significant economic, social, and environmental benefits.