Taixi Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd.’s Taohua Gasification Technology Transformation Project

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Taixi Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd.’s Taohua Gasification Technology Upgrade Project – Author/Source: Coal Chemical Industry 114 Forum; Date: 2021-01-11; Clicks: 12. It was reported recently that the Shanxi Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment has accepted the environmental impact assessment documents for Taixi Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd.’s Taohua Gasification Technology Upgrade Project, which is carried out by Yangquan Coal Group. It is reported that Yangmei Group, in collaboration with GTI and Donghua Technology, is constructing an industrial demonstration unit for R-GAS gasification technology at the reserved land and open spaces within the Qingxu Chemical New Materials Park of Yangmei Group Taiyuan Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd., located in the Qingxu Economic Development Zone in Shanxi. This unit is capable of processing 750 tons of coal per day, with an output of 50,166 Nm3/h of synthetic gas (CO+H2). The utility systems, auxiliary facilities, and service-related infrastructure are all based on those of the existing plant; no new structures need to be built. There is a guaranteed supply of water, as well as reliable supplies of raw materials and electricity. The design pressure for the R-GAS gasification technology is 8.3 MPa. A special distributor is used for feeding coal powder into the gasifier, ensuring even distribution of both coal powder and oxygen; this helps to create a piston-flow pattern within the gasifier, thereby significantly improving its gasification efficiency, with a conversion rate of over 99% ； Slag discharge is in liquid form ； The cooling of the syngas is carried out using a special quenching method that reduces the syngas temperature from 1650–1370°C to 371°C in an instant. Subsequently, a Venturi tube and a scrubber tower are used to further purify the crude syngas, reducing its dust content to 1 mg/Nm3 before it is sent to downstream purification units. As a large state-owned enterprise, Yangmei Group has numerous subsidiaries. It operates over 300 gasifiers in its production processes, utilizing a variety of coal gasification technologies. However, for the gasification of locally available coal types with high ash content and high ash fusion point, a suitable coal gasification technology has not yet been found. Considering the characteristics of the local coal and the long-term development of the enterprise, there is an urgent need to develop a coal gasification technology that is adaptable to various types of coal, highly efficient, and more energy-saving and environmentally friendly. The R-GAS gasification technology owned by the Gas Technology Institute in the United States is capable of gasifying coal of various grades (from anthracite to lignite), petroleum coke, and biomass mixtures. It features high carbon conversion efficiency and low emissions of waste substances. It has already gone through stages such as risk reduction tests, operations of testing facilities for feeding systems and pumps at EERC, and operations of GTI’s test plant, and now possesses the technical capabilities necessary to build industrial demonstration units. The R-GAS gasification technology can use low-cost coals with high ash content and high sulfur content, petroleum coke, lignite, and other \"low-value\" hydrocarbons as raw materials. Its flame temperature of 2760°C and gasification temperature of 1800°C enable better adaptation to the ash melting point, reactivity, thermal stability, cohesion, slagging tendency, and ash content of these raw materials, thus facilitating the comprehensive utilization of low-quality coal. Compared to gasifiers of the same scale, the volume of the gasifier itself is only 10% of that of other types of gasifiers, **which reduces equipment costs, space requirements, and transportation expenses. Construction of this project began in September 2018; the civil work was completed in May 2019, and the installation of process pipelines and equipment was finished in December 2019. Process and equipment commissioning was carried out during that period, and all work has now been completed. It is reported that on April 26, 2018, the Qingxu County Bureau of Economy and Information Technology filed records for this project under document number Qing Jing Xin Government Affairs No. 9. On April 20, 2020, the Qingxu County Administrative Approval and Service Administration approved the extension of the filing period for this project in its document numbered Qing Shen Guan Tou Zi Han 9, with the construction scope remaining unchanged. The predecessor of Yangmei Group was Yangquan Mining Bureau. It is one of the five major coal groups in Shanxi Province, and it was **one of the 13 coal production bases designated for development in the early stages; it is also the largest producer of anthracite in the country. Currently, the group has 502 subsidiaries and branches, including four listed companies namely Yangquan Coal Industry, Yangmei Chemical Industry, Shanxi Sanwei, and Taihua Co., with total assets of 215 billion yuan. It ranks 90th among China’s top 500 enterprises, 7th among China’s top 100 coal enterprises, and 374th among the world’s top 500 enterprises. In 2016, the group’s sales revenue reached 179.4 billion yuan, tax and profit earnings amounted to 5 billion yuan, and coal production was 70.86 million tons.