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Successful trial run of Lu’an Chemical Group’s gasifier using solely Lu’an coal! Author/Source: Lu’an Chemical Industry Date: 2022-01-27 Clicks: 2 At the beginning of January, after five months of continuous efforts, Lu’an Chemical Industry Group overcame various difficulties and broke with industry standards by successfully operating a gasifier powered entirely by Lu’an coal. This gasifier has been running steadily for 55 days now, resulting in a significant reduction in coal costs. This represents a crucial step toward helping the coal-based clean energy company overcome its financial difficulties; it is a milestone achievement that lays a solid foundation for the company to turn things around. As is well known, the core of coal gasification enterprises is coal. Since the beginning of this year, the unit price of imported coal (Shaanxi coal) has been on the rise, leading to continuously increasing costs for coal used in gasification. This has become the biggest obstacle preventing the company from reducing costs and improving efficiency. How to reduce coal consumption costs while ensuring the stable operation of the gasification furnace, in order to address the issues that constrain Luanan’s coal costs. Coal-based clean energy companies have proposed their own solution: localizing the raw coal supply, developing new fluxes through independent research, and ultimately achieving combustion using only Luanan coal. Success has never been easy; from the initial stages of testing the project, the company adhered to a market-oriented approach. Especially this year, it has actively embraced a culture centered on cost optimization, guided by lean thinking, and made continuous efforts to reduce coal consumption costs. Through trials ranging from a ratio of \"123\" to \"321\", it ultimately succeeded in using Lu’an coal as the sole fuel source. “\"1\" refers to coal consisting of blast furnace coal plus gangue from the Shenmu area; this type of coal was used from the time of commissioning in 2017 through 2019 and again in 2021. The advantage of this coal type is that it enables an increase in the silica-alumina ratio of Lu’an injection coal by adding gangue from the Shenmu area, resulting in stable operation; however, its economic efficiency is poor, with high costs per ton of coal. “\"2\" refers to binary coal, which is a mixture of Lu’an coal and coal from the Shenmu area in a 5:5 ratio. From the trial operation of a single furnace in September 2019 to July 12, 2021, when all four gasification furnaces began using binary coal, the cost per ton of coal was reduced by approximately 270 yuan compared to using single-component coal. “3” refers to ternary coal, which is Lu’an coal + high-sulfur coal + Shaanxi (Inner Mongolia) coal. A successful trial burn was carried out in August 2021, utilizing low-cost, high-sulfur coal to further reduce coal costs. Later, due to fluctuations in coal market prices, the cost of binary coal became lower than that of ternary coal, so the choice shifted to binary coal. “2” refers to the new binary coal after optimization of the composition. Starting in September 2021, efforts were made to optimize the ratio of Luan mixed coal and Shenmu binary coal, which are the main coal types used. By November, the ratio between these two types of coal was adjusted from 5:5 to 7:3, thereby further reducing the cost of coal usage. “1” refers to Lüzhu coal. That is, a new type of coal formula consisting of Lu’an coal + new types of additives. Starting from the trial operation of the first furnace on November 2, and up to December 9, all four gasification furnaces were operating using Lu’an coal, allowing for combustion of solely this coal type; as a result, the cost per ton of coal was reduced by 248 yuan compared to when two types of coal were used. From “123” to “321”, every attempt is a game of strategy. Through years of relentless effort and more than 200 tests, from the successful trial operation of the first furnace to all 4 gasification furnaces using Lu’an coal, the G4 furnace, which has been in operation the longest, has now run for over 55 days, while the combined operation of all 4 furnaces has lasted for over 17 days. The system is currently operating steadily, thus completely resolving the issue of Lu’an coal not being able to be used independently as a single fuel source. “In the past, the Shell gasifiers commonly used in this industry followed fixed rules regarding the silicon-aluminum ratio. Lu’an coal is characterized by a low silicon-aluminum ratio and a high ash fusion point; as a result, traditional industry practices held that coal with such properties could not be used alone in Shell gasifiers. ”Huyan Junjing told the reporter. Faced with difficulties, the project team led by Zhang Guohua from the Clean Energy Laboratory, with technical experts such as Hu Yanjunjing and Liu Ligang as key members, did not back down. Driven by a spirit of taking on challenges, daring to assume responsibility, and striving forward, they made a commitment to take on heavy responsibilities and worked day and night without pause. After numerous research sessions and simulation tests, they finally developed a new type of coal formula using Lu’an coal along with novel additives. Through technological innovations in these additives, they broke the rules governing the silicon-aluminum ratio in Shell boilers, thereby achieving a preliminary level of localization of coal for gasification purposes. While addressing the challenge of high ash melting points and low silica-alumina ratios in local coal, the project team also made full use of the advantage of high fixed carbon content in local coal and applied it to oil production needs. “After repeated simulation calculations and the creation of viscosity-temperature curves in the initial stages, as well as actual laboratory measurements of ash fusion points and viscosity-temperature curves, we were finally able to finalize the operating procedures and emergency response measures, ensuring stable operation once local coal is fed into the furnace. The first day of testing local Lu’an coal took place on November 2nd. ”Hu Yanjunjing recalled. During the 10-day trial operation of a single furnace, the project team responsible for burning Luanan coal in the gasifier carried out 24-hour monitoring; after a month of stable operation, Coal-Based Clean Energy Company finally saw signs of success. Behind this are countless days and nights of hard work by everyone at the coal-based clean energy company, as well as an indomitable will that has been tested time and again through setbacks and rejections. Breakthrough is the beginning of success. Under previous understanding, due to its high ash melting point and poor slag fluidity, Luan blended coal was mainly used as thermal coal, and has not been utilized as coal for gasification. The successful tests with coal combined with fluxes indicate that Luan coal can overcome its existing shortcomings after the addition of new additives. This has overturned the standards for coal selection and use in Shell furnace systems, breaking the limitations imposed on coal choices by the 28 companies that use Shell furnaces. Thanks to its high fixed carbon content and high gas production capacity, this coal is suitable for use in all powder gasification furnaces across the country, marking a significant advancement from mixed coal firing to the use of pure Luan coal. The transition from mixing coal with other fuels to using Luanan coal exclusively required not only firm and correct decision-making but also robust specialized management. Since the start of research on blended coal firing on August 4, 2021, Coal-Based Clean Energy Company established a dedicated coal management team. With the Production Technology Department playing a key coordinating role, the Operations Management Department handling supply, the Solid Storage and Transportation Plant responsible for blending, and A Lu Company’s gasification unit serving as the consumption point, an integrated system for coal mining, blending, and utilization was formed. As a result, the maximum daily coal unloading volume increased from 369 trucks to 501 trucks. “‘The constituent departments of ’Tri-Angle Iron’ include the Production Technology Department, which is responsible for overall organization and coordination; the Solid Fuel Storage and Transportation Plant, which is in charge of unloading, distributing, and loading coal; and the Operations Management Department, which is responsible for managing the quality and quantity of the coal that enters the plant. The overall approach to work is centered on the actual production conditions in the solid storage and transportation plant, thereby ensuring the safe and stable operation of the subsequent systems. ”Ren Chao, deputy general manager of production at Coal-Based Clean Energy Company, introduced this to reporters. To ensure the stable operation of the production system during the trial operation with coal blended in the fuel, the Production Technology Department changed its previous approach of classifying coal resources by type. Instead, it adjusted the use of coal based on its ash content, prioritizing coal with an internal ash content of ≤23%, and using fuel coal that met certain criteria as raw material coal, thereby making rational use of coal resources. Once the overall coal selection decision was made, the solid storage and transportation facility began to conduct coal quality analyses on the coal supplies from Gucheng, Yuwu, and Changcun. Through analyses of the coal seams and their ash content, Gucheng coal was ultimately chosen for trial combustion. The Operations Management Department promptly carried out comprehensive coordination to ensure that coal supplies were delivered on time. From coal selection, arrival of coal, blending to furnace feeding management, the \"iron triangle\" demonstrated a high level of coordination, laying a solid foundation for the successful trial firing of local coal. The successful operation of the gasifier using solely Lu’an coal has significantly reduced the coal procurement costs for the Coal-Based Clean Energy Company, enabling it to achieve its goal of reducing losses by 1 billion throughout the year. At the same time, it expanded Lu’an’s mixed coal sales market and created new sources of revenue. It fully implemented a \"cost-conscious\" culture guided by lean thinking, thereby providing additional momentum for the coal-based clean energy company in its efforts to overcome losses and lift itself out of poverty.