Coal chemical parks strive for upgrading to overcome bottlenecks — 2018 Research Report on the Sustainable Development of Chemical Parks (Part 2)

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Source: China Chemical Industry News. Among the 50 parks surveyed, 14 have the coal chemical industry as their main industry, accounting for 28%; another 12 parks are involved in the coal chemical industry as well. These 26 parks are mainly located in 9 provinces, including Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Gansu, with 84% of them situated in the central and western regions. The parks under investigation are primarily focused on the modern coal chemical industry; some traditional coal chemical industries are also gradually shifting towards this modern form. Overall, these industries are characterized by rapid development, large scale, high-level manufacturing facilities, and a gradual expansion into downstream sectors. 　 Adjustment plans aim for improvement; however, research has also revealed that with the rapid development of the coal chemical industry, constraints related to resources and the environment have become apparent. Some parks that underestimated the availability of local resources during the initial planning phase are now facing a situation where no coal is available locally and must be purchased from elsewhere, resulting in the loss of their cost advantages ； At the same time, affected by the total coal consumption quota controls implemented in China in 2015, the coal consumption quotas for coal chemical parks in the central and eastern regions are quite tight. Some coal chemical industrial parks have begun to adjust their industrial plans, shifting from traditional coal chemistry to modern coal chemistry, and moving from large-scale development toward a path of refined upgrading. 　 Overall, as **industrial policies, energy and chemical technologies, and market conditions change, some industrial parks are revising their plans and strategies to develop industries that take advantage of their own strengths and characteristics. 　 Taking the chemical industrial park in Yulin, Shaanxi as an example, most of the local chemical parks have entered a critical phase of transformation and upgrading. On the basis of expanding the scale of industries such as coal-to-oil, coal-to-methanol, coal-to-olefins, and coal-to-aromatics, the next step will focus on developing high-end fine chemicals, new materials, and high-tech industries in conjunction with large-scale chemical projects, thereby pursuing a path of refined development. At present, Yulin is accelerating the integration and optimization of its industrial parks; in principle, no new chemical parks will be established, with each park being planned to develop only 2 to 3 key industries. Among them, Yuheng and Yushen, as the core industrial parks of **-level modern coal chemical industry demonstration bases, have not only established a number of large-scale projects for coal-to-methanol, coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefins, salt chemical production, and the comprehensive utilization of coal, oil, and gas, but they have also planned fine chemical industrial parks to develop a range of terminal products based on coal. 　 According to the integration and optimization plan for the Yulin Industrial Park, Yulin will have 23 parks in total (including 5 \"parks within parks\"), of which 6 are chemical parks; many of these parks have been integrated. The Yuyang High-Tech Zone, Yujia Economic Development Zone, as well as industrial parks in Mizhi, Suide, Zizhou, Wubao, Qingjian, etc., have imposed clear restrictions or bans on the establishment of new chemical projects. 　In addition, specialized coal chemical parks such as Daliu Industrial Park, Hejin Economic Development Zone, Xiaoyi Economic Development Zone, Yima City’s Coal Chemical Industry Cluster, and Chifeng City’s Pilot Zone for the Economic Transformation of Resource-based Cities – as well as chemical parks that are involved in the coal chemical industry – take advantage of their resource advantages to strengthen the modern coal chemical industry, while also actively developing into downstream industries such as fine chemicals and new materials. 　 Flagship projects drive the industry. According to research, modern coal chemical industrial parks in China are developing rapidly; driven by large-scale flagship projects, these parks place greater emphasis on extending the industrial chain and upgrading existing technologies. 　 For example, the Ordos Dali Coal Chemical Industry Base is one of the four modern coal chemical industry demonstration zones planned and established by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It focuses on the development of coal-to-oil, coal-to-gas, coal-to-alcohols and ethers, coal-to-olefins, coal-to-ethylene glycol, as well as other coal chemical and downstream fine chemical industries. To date, a total of 56 industrial projects have been introduced to this park. China’s first coal indirect liquefaction production line (Yitai Phase I, 160,000 tons per year of coal-based synthetic oil project) has been built, as well as the largest methanol production facility in China’s coal chemical industry at present (Jiutai Phase I, 1 million tons per year of methanol and 100,000 tons per year of dimethyl ether project). Additionally, Inner Mongolia’s first large-scale pressure vessel manufacturing project was established (AVIC Liming Jinhua Machinery, 60,000 tons per year of large pressure vessel production project). In 2017, the park achieved an industrial output value of 51.54 billion yuan, and generated fiscal revenue of 688 million yuan. At present, the park is making great efforts to extend its industrial chain. 　 At the same time, the innovation capacity of coal chemical industrial parks is remarkable; the enterprises in the Yulin area possess numerous technologies that are world-first. Through methods such as adopting existing technologies and pursuing independent innovation, these enterprises have made breakthroughs in coal chemical technology, developing core technologies and processes that are at the forefront of the world, thereby laying a foundation for the development of the coal chemical industry. 　 Green development lays a solid foundation. Research shows that at present, these chemical industrial parks focus on conserving coal resources, extending the industrial chains, and increasing the added value of products. They encourage enterprises to carry out technological innovation and upgrades, adopt green and circular development concepts, phase out outdated production capacities, reduce energy consumption and emissions, make full use of available resources, strive to extend the industrial chains within these parks, and boost the added value of products. The goal is to generate the greatest possible value using the least amount of resources, thereby promoting the upgrading of the local chemical industry. 　 At the same time, in order to reduce their reliance on foreign technology, these chemical industrial parks continuously carry out independent innovation and upgrades to their equipment and technologies. They focus on developing downstream products of coal chemistry such as new chemical materials, thereby promoting the diversification of the coal chemistry industry and increasing the added value of their products. 　 The coal chemical parks that have been surveyed so far put considerable effort into environmental protection and safety, especially in terms of wastewater discharge, achieving good results as a result. Among them, Dalu Park invested over 10 million yuan to develop a safety and environmental emergency management platform that covers the entire park, enabling seamless communication between the management committee and the enterprises within the park as well as 24/7 monitoring, **thereby improving the level of safety and environmental management in the park. The Shenmu Jinjie Industrial Park, the Jingbian Energy and Chemical Comprehensive Utilization Industrial Park, and the Yangmei Group Taihua Qingxu New Chemical Materials Park have achieved significant results in the comprehensive and efficient utilization of resources, as well as in achieving \"zero discharge\" of wastewater. 　 It is worth noting, however, that due to rapid development, coal shortages have emerged in some areas, including those rich in coal resources. At the same time, due to the limited range of products developed for downstream markets, the planned downstream products tend to be highly homogeneous, which poses a risk of regional overcapacity; therefore, care must be taken to avoid the risk of overproduction for some popular products in the coming years.