Commercial operation of China’s first 1,000-ton pressurized circulating fluidized bed gasification unit

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China’s first commercial-scale thousand-ton pressurized circulating fluidized bed gasification unit in operation Author/Source: China News Network Date: 2021-03-01 Clicks: 36 Xinhua Net, Lanzhou, February 26 (Reporters Wei Jianjun, Li Yalong) “Previously, such gasification units could process around 20 tons of coal per day; now they can handle several hundred to a thousand tons of coal per day.” ”Fan Fei, deputy chief engineer at Lanzhou Lanshi Energy Equipment Engineering Research Institute, said that China’s first thousand-ton-class low-rank coal circulating fluidized bed pressurized gasification demonstration project has entered large-scale commercial operation. The resulting useful gas is currently primarily used in the petrochemical industry for hydrogen production; in terms of industrial gas, it can replace natural gas and help prevent gas shortages. Reportedly, the project is located in Hexibao Town, Jinchang City. Lanzhou Petroleum & Chemical Machinery Co., Ltd. dispatched its core personnel to work together with the Institute of Thermal Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences; despite numerous challenges, they successfully completed the construction and commissioning. By making use of low-grade coal resources with low calorific value and adopting China’s leading pressurized gasification technology using circulating fluidized beds, it will play a positive role in utilizing local low-grade coal as well as promoting local technological advancement and economic development. In 2013, Lansi Group increased its investment in technological innovation to drive the transformation and upgrading of the company; it established the Lansi Energy Equipment Engineering Research Institute. Fan Fei, who served as the director of this institute, began to focus on the field of low-cost, pollution-free circulating fluidized bed pressurized gasification technology. To gain an understanding of the technical details of this project and minimize corporate risks, Fan Fei organized a research team to conduct on-site visits and exchanges at various pilot production facilities of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as at major ammonia synthesis enterprises across the country. To ensure the project’s timely completion, Fan Fei traveled back and forth between design institutes, pilot production bases, and the project construction site, taking personal charge of testing, research, development, evaluation, and project construction. As a major scientific research project in Gansu Province for 2017, this project uses ordinary low-grade coal from the northwest as raw material; the products produced will find wide applications in the production of synthetic ammonia feed gas and as industrial fuel gases. The circulating fluidized bed gasification technology makes the gasification process more environmentally friendly, significantly reducing the renovation and operating costs for small and medium-sized ammonia synthesis enterprises, thereby bringing substantial economic and social benefits. In April 2018, when the project was nearly ready for commissioning, a highly critical issue arose. The investment required for a thousand-ton-class circulating fluidized bed gasification plant is substantial, making it very difficult to manage the project; therefore, it was urgent to establish a company to handle the commissioning process and the operation of the plant. With the support of the group and the research institute, Jinchang Gasification Technology Co., Ltd. was established under the leadership of Fan Fei. On November 6, 2019, the 1,000-ton-scale circulating fluidized bed pressurized gasification demonstration project carried out by Lansi Jinhua successfully completed the entire process; it was connected to the semi-water gas system of downstream users, and qualified liquid ammonia was produced, thereby enabling the use of circulating fluidized bed gasification technology to replace traditional fixed-bed gas production methods. Lanshi Group, in collaboration with the Institute of Thermal Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, carried out experimental studies on pressurized gasification. The group also implemented an EPC approach to build this project and completed the pilot tests swiftly. The test results showed that all performance indicators were superior to those predicted by the theoretical designs. Moreover, this technology offers advantages such as lower equipment investment, fewer requirements regarding coal quality, and a significantly lower cost per unit of gas produced compared to existing technologies both domestically and internationally; all its technical parameters are at the international advanced level. Fan Fei said that the implementation of this technology can not only facilitate the clean and efficient utilization of low-grade coal in China to produce high-quality clean gas, but also significantly improve the energy efficiency of the system, reduce water consumption and wastewater discharge, offering clear environmental benefits. This project will also reshape the approaches to producing gas, oil, and new chemical materials from coal, and it will play a significant role in promoting the adjustment of China’s energy structure and ensuring energy security. At the same time, this technology became the first industrial-scale project in which the gasification upgrade of small nitrogen fertilizer plants in China’s ammonia synthesis industry was successfully implemented, marking its potential for wide-scale industrial application in areas such as the renovation of fixed-bed ammonia synthesis gas sources, large-scale industrial gas production, and industrial hydrogen production. Fan Fei said that once this project is put into commercial operation, it will improve the efficient utilization of low-quality coal as a whole, replace the fixed-bed reactors used by small nitrogen fertilizer manufacturers, reduce energy consumption associated with emissions, and enhance the efficiency of these enterprises. With coal inside the gasifier, it is necessary for them to keep making adjustments in order to achieve more efficient gasification, meet the required gasification standards, and produce more useful gas. In the future, the team will continue to gain experience through this project, with the aim of spreading this technology across the country.