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Shandong Jinmei Mingshengda Chemical Co., Ltd.: Building, Extending, and Strengthening Industrial Chains – Moving out of cities into industrial parks to create “three islands and one circle”, thereby fostering new drivers for industrial development. Author/Source: Tai’an Daily, Date: 2020-06-26, Clicks: 164. The development of an industry relies on key enterprises for support, and the progress and upgrading of industrial parks depend even more on these enterprises’ efforts to build, extend, and strengthen industrial chains. In the Ningyang Economic Development Zone, the \"Moving out of the city and into the industrial park, equivalent substitution, adjustment of raw material pathways, and energy-saving technological upgrades\" project carried out by Shandong Jinmei Mingshengda Chemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Mingshengda Ningyang project) is under accelerated construction. This company, whose main products are synthetic ammonia and urea, will focus on building a \"gasification island,\" a \"power island,\" and an \"environmental protection island.\" By leveraging the advantages of advanced clean gasification technology, it aims to create a green, efficient, and high-quality industrial ecosystem. At the same time, it will supply by-products such as hydrogen and steam to other enterprises within the industrial park, providing a foundation for the development of a biocatalytic circular economy park. This effort will also contribute to Ningyang County’s strategy of attracting investment by developing industrial chains, thereby generating new momentum for the growth of the local industry. Serving as the core for energy output in the park, it contributes to the circular economy industrial chain. Upon visiting the construction site of Shandong Jinmei Mingshengda Chemical Co., Ltd., located in the Ningyang Economic Development Zone, reporters observed that the entire park was bustling with activity. The construction of a massive urea granulation tower was nearing completion, while work on high-temperature and high-pressure fluidized bed boilers, total ammonia plants, and urea production facilities was also underway. " In accordance with the overall requirements of Ningyang County, after thorough investigation, the company decided on the project of ’moving out of the city and into industrial parks, achieving equivalent substitution, adjusting the raw material supply chain, and implementing energy-saving technological upgrades’. Relying on the dedicated railway for coal transportation between Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan, as well as Ningyang’s proximity to biotechnology and chemical industry hubs, and using coal from Jincheng in Shanxi and Yulin in Shaanxi as raw materials, this project aims to create a model for circular economy practices. " Zhang Lei, Party Committee Secretary and General Manager of the Mingshengda Ningyang Project, told reporters that as a small nitrogen fertilizer plant established in the 1960s, Shandong Jinmei Mingshengda Chemical Co., Ltd. has gone through various stages of development, including a technical transformation from ammonium bicarbonate to urea production, a capacity expansion to produce 180,000 tons of urea annually, the establishment of supporting ammonia synthesis and methanol co-production facilities, as well as the development of a project aimed at producing 5,000 tons of rubber anti-aging agents. However, due to inherent limitations and decades of development, the enterprise has become an “in-city factory,” with extremely limited room for growth. At the same time, the existing Ningyang Mingshengda Company has long been included in the list of outdated production capacities to be phased out due to issues such as aging equipment, backward manufacturing processes, and its location in an urban area. As **policies related to safety, environmental protection, and energy conservation become more stringent, companies will face greater pressures to survive, and they must move from urban areas to industrial parks as soon as possible. Based on this, the \"Move out of cities and into industrial parks, achieve equivalent substitution, adjust raw material pathways, and implement energy-saving technological upgrades\" project was located in the Biochemical High-Tech Industrial Park of Ningyang Economic Development Zone. " This industrial park is the first of its kind in the province to integrate petrochemical, coal chemical, and chlor-alkali industries, featuring a combination of organic and inorganic sectors. As a core enterprise in the circular economy industrial chain of the park, we will also serve as a link connecting other enterprises within the park. " In the central control room, Zhang Lei introduced to the journalists the DCS centralized control system, SIS safety interlock system, MES scheduling control system, GDS gas alarm system that are under construction and testing, as well as the monitoring system and fire alarm system. He also explained how these systems enable one-click startup of equipment and one-click implementation of safety interlocks. Zhang Lei told reporters that once the project is operational, it will be able to supply other enterprises in the park with products such as electricity, steam, liquid ammonia, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, sulfur, and carbon dioxide. It will also be responsible for providing heating for the enterprises in the park as well as for urban residents. By generating economic benefits for these enterprises, it plays a key role as the energy supply hub for the entire park, helping to strengthen and improve the circular economy ecosystem there. Effective resources are utilized to the fullest extent, achieving zero wastewater discharge and turning slag into building materials. The Ningyang Economic Development Zone serves as the \"main hub\" for the economic development of Ningyang, as well as a \"model area\" for industrial transformation. The establishment of the Mingshengdading Ningyang project is based on the strategic guiding principle of \"expanding scale, conserving resources, enhancing advantages, and strengthening foundations.\" It aims to create a green, efficient, and high-end \"industrial ecosystem\" centered around \"gasification function islands,\" \"power function islands,\" and \"environmental protection function islands,\" that is, the \"three islands and one circle\" industrial park. This approach is intended to stimulate the development momentum of the entire park and drive the leapfrogged growth of the Ningyang Economic Development Zone. The so-called \"gasification function island\" utilizes the advanced domestic U.S. GE new gasification technology to produce syngas, thereby laying the foundation for establishing a multi-end industrial chain. Industrial gases such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and nitrogen can be supplied to enterprises within the park, enabling integrated multi-product production in the park ； The “Power Function Island” relies on three 300-ton coal powder boiler units; in addition to meeting the needs of the enterprise itself, it can supply 4 million tons of high-quality steam per year to the industrial park. The steam produced can be used to power large-scale equipment, as well as to provide heating for the enterprises in the park and the residents living in the surrounding area. It should be noted that hydrogen and nitrogen are both by-products generated by certain enterprises, as well as raw materials for the production of various chemical products. Once the Mingshengdading Yangyang project is put into operation, it will be able to produce 15,000 tons of hydrogen, 50 million cubic meters of carbon monoxide, and 400,000 tons of synthetic ammonia per year. These materials serve as raw inputs for other chemical enterprises in the industrial park, laying the foundation for the transformation and upgrading of the enterprises there. " Our synthetic ammonia, hydrogen, and other products can be supplied continuously to other chemical enterprises as raw materials for production, and they can also lay a solid foundation for attracting investments to the industrial chains within the Ningyang Economic Development Zone in the future. " Zhang Lei told reporters that the by-products of one enterprise enable the production processes of enterprises within the entire industrial park to be closely linked, with strong connections between upstream and downstream operations. This is the layout approach adopted for the Mingshengda Ningyang project, and it will play a crucial role in accelerating the transition to new forms of energy and driving the development of Ningyang’s biotechnology and chemical high-tech industrial park. In addition to the “Vaporization Function Island” and the “Power Function Island,” the “Environmental Protection Function Island” created as part of this project aims to establish a new model for green and environmentally friendly waste treatment within the park, using advanced technology to ensure the harmless treatment of highly polluted organic wastewater in the area. It also employs technologies such as biochemical treatment, evaporation crystallization, and reclaimed water reuse to achieve zero discharge of production wastewater. At the same time, the project also utilizes boiler flue gas dust removal, desulfurization, and SCR denitration systems to ensure that the exhaust gases meet ultra-low emission standards. Additionally, the project recovers excess carbon dioxide to produce food-grade carbon dioxide, and utilizes gasification and boiler slag to manufacture new building materials. " Through a new environmental protection treatment approach, we make full use of all available resources, converting them into usable forms; by treating hazardous waste, we achieve complete green transformation of solid and hazardous waste within the industrial park. " Zhang Lei told reporters that in the near future, through the implementation of this project, it will be possible to achieve green, low-carbon, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and circular development for both enterprises and industrial parks. Seizing technological and market advantages to move toward digital factories – new drivers of growth are emerging, and a bright future is clearly in sight. Walking around the park, the introduction and application of international cutting-edge technologies can be seen everywhere. In the smart finished goods warehouse under construction, the reporter observed that intelligent automatic packaging and stacking systems as well as inventory management systems were in full operation. " The replacement of outdated technologies brings us improvements in production capacity and efficiency. " Zhang Lei pointed to the intelligent finished goods warehouse and said that in an era of rapid advancement in information technology, the warehousing industry is also moving toward intelligence. In line with companies’ goals of building digital factories, the company has implemented this intelligent finished goods warehouse, which enables intelligent control over the inbound and outbound operations of finished goods. This not only helps reduce labor costs but also improves the efficiency of warehouse management. " In the past, in warehouse loading and unloading operations, 100 workers could only handle 700 tons of goods per day through manual palletizing. In contrast, the intelligent finished goods warehouse requires just 20 workers to process over 2,000 tons daily. This significantly reduces the labor demand while also making palletizing more precise. " Zhang Lei told reporters that the Mingshengda Ningyang project followed the principles set by the group company – safety and reliability, intelligence and automation, as well as feasible economic benefits. Through repeated inspections and evaluations by the information center and the staff working on the Ningyang project, the technical approach for using intelligent, automated forklifts in storage systems was determined, and an innovative design was developed for switching between the inventory area and the loading area. Currently, the project has entered the implementation phase. Based on the actual conditions of the warehouse, the implementation plan calls for the construction of a two-story open-type multi-level warehouse. This will enable centralized and three-dimensional storage of goods, thereby making the most efficient use of the warehouse space. It also resolves the issue of limited warehouse area despite high production volumes. Furthermore, in emergencies or special situations, manual handling can be carried out in this open-style multi-level warehouse. Meanwhile, the project utilizes AGVs—Automated Guided Vehicles—as transportation equipment. These can replace traditional material handling equipment such as manual forklifts, enabling fully unmanned operations. " During goods intake and output, the warehouse is divided into a northern and southern section; the intake area and the loading area switch roles with each other. The intake area for driverless forklifts and the loading area for manual forklifts do not interfere with one another. This not only reduces the number of driverless forklifts and lowers project investment costs, but also avoids the risk of reduced efficiency due to vehicle congestion. " Zhang Lei explained that the intelligent finished goods warehouse will completely transform on-site management practices through more efficient and secure operations. The standardization and systematization of warehouse storage locations and product information lay the foundation for a standardized information system for the finished goods warehouse, thereby helping the project progress toward becoming a digital factory. The innovations in various cutting-edge technologies reflect Mingshengda’s Ningyang project’s determination to maintain a high standard, accelerate its transformation and upgrading process, and seize a competitive advantage in both technology and the market. By implementing the strategy of moving industries out of urban areas and into industrial parks, with the land in old factory areas being used for commercial and residential development, it will undoubtedly improve the living conditions of city residents and enhance the quality of the city. At the same time, it will bring greater economic benefits to enterprises, laying the foundation for multi-product production within these parks and for the development of a circular economy. It also helps to build momentum for the revitalization of the industry.