An overview of methanol-to-olefins in China

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An Overview of Methanol-to-Olefins in China Author/Source: Date: 2017-08-01 Clicks: 19 The methanol-to-olefins technology is a key component of the coal-to-olefins process, enabling the production of basic organic chemical raw materials from coal or natural gas through methanol. In our country, the coal-based olefin production route serves as an important complement to the traditional method of producing olefins from petroleum, and it is also an effective way to facilitate the expansion of the coal chemical industry into the petrochemical sector. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20170801/1651206068076.jpg Figure 1: The year 2011 marked the beginning of the operation of methanol-to-olefins plants; that year, a total of 1.76 million tons per year of production capacity was brought online by facilities such as Shenhua Baotou, Shenhua Ningmei Phase I, Datang, and Zhongyuan Petrochemical. After that, the market entered a period of slow growth; in 2012 no new facilities were put into operation, and in 2013 only two new facilities were added, namely those owned by Ningbo Heyuan and Nanjing Huisheng. In 2014, there was a dramatic increase in the production of olefins from methanol; a total of 7 production units were put into operation, including those operated by China Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical Co. and Yanchang China Coal Yulin Co., resulting in an overall production capacity of 6.3 million tons – a 137% increase compared to the previous year. After 2015, it entered a period of moderate growth; 14 production units were put into operation one after another. By the end of July 2017, there were 27 methanol-to-olefins manufacturers in China, with a total production capacity of 12.82 million tons. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20170801/1653106079011.jpg Figure 2 As shown in Figure 2, among the 27 methanol-to-olefins plants that are already in operation, 12 of them have facilities for producing the raw material methanol, accounting for 44% of the total. In terms of consumption, the 27 companies together have a total methanol demand capacity of 38.46 million tons, of which 21.22 million tons comes from in-house production, while 17.24 million tons must be purchased externally, accounting for 45% of the total consumption capacity. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20170801/1655446094426.jpg Figure 3 As can be seen from Figure 3, methanol-to-olefins production in China is concentrated in the northwest region, accounting for 58% of the country’s total capacity. Of this, Shaanxi accounts for 2.5 million tons, or 21%; Inner Mongolia accounts for 2.33 million tons, or 19%; Ningxia accounts for 1.6 million tons, or 13%; Xinjiang accounts for 6%, with a production capacity of 680,000 tons. In terms of the number of enterprises, Shandong Province has 8 production units, making it the province with the highest number of such enterprises; however, the scale of each individual unit is relatively small, and its total production capacity ranks only after Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. The facilities that came online recently are mainly located in the East China region; in 2017, two facilities were put into operation – one by Changzhou Fude and the other by Jiangsu Sierbang – both of which are situated in Jiangsu Province. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20170801/1657286104855.jpg Figure 4. In terms of production processes, as shown in Figure 4, methanol-to-olefins production in China relies mainly on MTO technology. Among these, there are 13 plants using DMTO technology, accounting for 48%; 3 plants use Honeywell’s MTO technology, accounting for 11%; and 2 plants use SMTO technology from Sinopec, accounting for 8%. Another 9 chose Luchi’s MTP process, accounting for 33% of the total. Thanks to development in recent years, methanol-to-olefins has now become the largest downstream application for methanol, accounting for over 40% of methanol demand. In 2017, facilities such as Feihong Chemical of Shanxi Coking Coal Group and Yuntianhua are scheduled to come online. Additionally, due to factors such as environmental regulations and overcapacity, the growth rate of production in the traditional downstream sectors for methanol has essentially come to a halt, with some products even facing the risk of decline. As a result, methanol-to-olefins technology will undoubtedly play a dominant role in the methanol consumption market in the future, exerting a significant impact on the structure of this market over time.