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Author/Source of the first prize for advances in automation technology in Eastern Furnace extraction: China Chemical Industry News. Date: July 13, 2018. Clicks: 32. On July 5, the 2017 awards for scientific and technological achievements in the petroleum and chemical automation sector in China were announced, with the industrial demonstration project for single-nozzle cold-wall coal gasification winning the first prize for scientific and technological progress. This project was carried out jointly by Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co., Ltd., Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., and East China University of Science and Technology. The award-winning single-nozzle cold-wall coal gasification technology (referred to as SE-Oriental furnace coal gasification technology) employs a dry coal powder pressurized gasification with quenching process. Its core technology is the single-nozzle water-cooled wall gasifier, and it features high operational reliability, long continuous operation periods, wide adaptability to different types of coal, advanced gasification performance metrics, and low operating costs. As one of the important approaches for the efficient and clean utilization of coal, gasification technology has seen rapid development in recent years. Developing a coal gasification technology with low investment and high reliability is key to a gasification technology suitable for China’s national conditions. Based on this, Sinopec and East China University of Science and Technology collaborated to develop the SE-Dongfang furnace powder gasification technology. To accelerate industrial application, Sinopec has decided to build an industrial demonstration plant at Yangzi Petrochemical with a coal feeding capacity of 1,000 tons per day per furnace. Construction of this demonstration facility began in June 2012, and it started producing qualified products in January 2014; in October of the same year, a 100% load performance test and calibration of the entire facility were carried out. The evaluations show that the device operates stably, with all technical parameters meeting the design requirements; in some cases, these parameters even exceed the expected values. Specifically, the specific coal consumption is around 569 kg/kNm3 (CO+H2), the specific oxygen consumption is about 331 Nm3/kNm3 (CO+H2), the effective gas content is 89%, the carbon conversion rate is 98.3%, and the ash-to-solid ratio ranges from 4:6 to 3:7 kg/kg. These figures place this technology at the international leading level among similar gasification processes for pulverized coal. According to Kang Wanzhong, the lead researcher of the project and deputy general manager of Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co., Ltd., the SE-Dongfang furnace powder gasification technology is a set of powder gasification technologies owned by Sinopec with independent intellectual property rights. It features five key innovations: first, a composite SE-Dongfang furnace powder gasification burner that integrates ignition, startup, and gasification functions was successfully developed, enabling uniform distribution of coal powder within the burner’s pipelines as well as good dispersion and mixing upon entry into the gasification furnace. It also facilitates smooth transition between ignition, startup, and feeding processes, as well as operation using a single coal supply line. Second, a SE single-nozzle water-cooled wall gasifier was developed that facilitates slag formation on the water-cooled wall and slag discharge from the gasifier grate. The water wall design innovatively eliminates the flow-limiting orifice plates in the water walls; it makes use of various structural design techniques for the water walls, which significantly simplifies the structure, reduces power costs, and improves reliability. Thirdly, a specialized SE-Eastern gasification process flow has been designed, including a burner system, a coal supply system, an oxygen supply system, a gasifier system, a syngas washing system, a slag removal system, an ash water treatment system, and a gasification safety purging system. Fourth, it features an intelligent gasification operation control and safety interlock system. The automatic control of ignition, startup, and coal feeding in the gasifier allows for one-button ignition and coal feeding once the optimization parameters for startup have been set. An effective and reliable safety interlock system ensures the safety of the system; it has been utilized in industrial applications for the high-pressure supply of CO2 and dense-phase transport in the SE-Eastern furnace, and a control mode for switching between N2 and CO2 has been established. Fifth, the SE-East furnace uses CO2 as the coal transport gas. To meet the requirements for CO2 delivery volume, the low-temperature methanol washing unit optimizes the flashing pressure by properly configuring the CO2 low-pressure flashing system, thereby increasing CO2 production. The CO conversion and acidic gas removal processes utilize the proprietary technology of Ningbo Engineering Company. By optimizing the process flow, improving the heat exchange network, reducing the number of equipment units, and simplifying the control system, it is possible to save on investment costs. Guo Wenyuan, executive vice dean of Sinopec Ningbo Research Institute, said that based on the operational performance of the Yangzi Petrochemical SE-Oriental furnace demonstration unit, this gasification furnace features high gasification temperature, low raw material consumption, high carbon conversion rate, high efficiency and energy savings, high reliability, stable operation, suitability for low-quality coal with high ash content and high ash fusion point, as well as a low ash/slag ratio. Guo Wenyuan said that this demonstration unit has set multiple records for coal gasification technology in China: the shortest time to produce qualified products (5 days), the shortest time to complete the entire process (10 days), the longest continuous operation time after a single batch of feed is added successfully (11 days and 11 hours), the longest continuous operation time within 3 months from the start of feeding (53 days). Moreover, after being used for 183 days (approximately 4,400 hours) for the first time, the burner remained in good condition, far outperforming other gasification technologies of similar type. Such stable operation is made possible by the strong support of the \"iron triangle\". Sinopec Ningbo Research Institute/Ningbo Engineering Company, East China University of Science and Technology, and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Company have formed a highly mature industry-university-research collaboration platform with complementary strengths. East China University of Science and Technology has nearly 30 years of research experience and technical expertise in fluidized-bed gasification, and possesses a comprehensive database for coal quality analysis as well as specialized methods for studying the compatibility between coal qualities and gasification processes. Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Company possesses extensive experience in engineering design, the capability to integrate coal chemical technology systems, and the ability to optimize projects throughout their entire lifecycle. It also has advantages in providing technical support for improving existing operational facilities. Yanzhi Petrochemical’s first-class production and management concepts, along with its high-quality workforce, ensure the stable operation of the Eastern furnace; the experience gained from its pilot plant can be replicated and applied elsewhere. In June and July 2016, the demonstration unit carried out a trial combustion using Huainan coal; this was the first time in China that Huainan coal, characterized by its high ash melting point and high ash content, was successfully used as a gasification feedstock in an industrial facility. The coal adaptability of the SE-Eastern furnace, particularly its performance for stable operation at high temperatures (1550–1650°C), has been verified. On August 30 of the same year, the second phase of Yangzi Petrochemical’s demonstration plant project was officially launched, with completion expected by the end of 2018; upon completion, the plant will be capable of producing 70,000 standard cubic meters of synthetic gas per year.