Prospects for the Chinese gasification market size 2017-2021

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Prospects for the Chinese coal gasification market 2017–2021 Author/Source: Date: 2017-12-04 Clicks: 9 China’s energy structure, characterized by an abundance of coal but a shortage of oil and gas, has fueled the vigorous development of the coal chemical industry. As the cornerstone of coal chemical industry, China holds the largest coal gasification market in the world. By the end of October 2017, the coal chemical industry in China had over 20 gasification units equipped with patents for gasification technology in operation, resulting in a total syngas production capacity of more than 30 million cubic meters per hour. More than 26 gasification technologies have emerged in China’s gasification market. Among them, domestic coal gasification technologies developed independently, such as multi-nozzle water-coal slurry gasification, space furnace, and Shenning furnace, are seeing rapid growth in application. Data from Yaha Consulting show that as of October 2017, technologies represented by GE, Shell, multi-nozzle gasification, space furnace, Sideng furnace, and Shenning furnace accounted for 80% of the market share in China’s coal gasification sector. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20171204/85922323621.jpg Since the second half of 2015, international oil prices have remained within the range of $40–$60 per barrel. At the same time, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has tightened the approval processes for coal-based chemical projects, putting the industry under pressure both economically and in terms of environmental considerations. Against this backdrop, the pace of coal chemical projects in China has slowed down, but they have not stopped. In the six main areas of coal chemical industry – coal-to-oil, coal-to-methanol/olefins, coal-to-natural gas, coal-to-large-scale synthetic ammonia, coal-to-ethylene glycol, and coal-to-hydrogen – a significant number of projects will still be completed and put into operation between 2017 and 2021. According to Asia Consulting’s \"China Gasification Annual Report 2017\", between 2017 and 2021, China will add a new synthetic gas production capacity of 27.7 million cubic meters per hour (including projects for which gasification technologies have already been contracted). If calculated based on a dry coal powder gasifier with a capacity of 2,000 tons per day, the number of gasifiers required is 236. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20171204/90153241546.jpg It is worth noting that in addition to the large-scale coal chemical projects such as coal-to-olefins, coal-to-oil, and coal-to-gas, which maintain a high demand for syngas, the upgrading of traditional ammonia production plants through gasification, as well as the construction of coal-to-hydrogen facilities as part of refining projects, have also contributed to the growth of the syngas market in recent years. Taking Zhejiang Petrochemical’s 40 million tons per year integrated refining and chemical processing project as an example, it was approved in May 2017; the first phase of the project involves the construction of facilities for refining 20 million tons per year, producing 4 million tons per year of p-xylene, 1.4 million tons per year of ethylene, as well as various downstream chemical processing units. The project includes 6 water-coal slurry gasifiers with a coal feeding capacity of 2,500 tons per day; the syngas production capacity is 680,000 cubic meters per hour, of which 110,000 cubic meters per hour are hydrogen. Launched in 2017, the Hubei Sanning Chemical project aimed at adjusting the raw material structure for ammonia synthesis and producing 600,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol; this project involved phasing out the existing facilities that used bituminous coal as a raw material and relied on atmospheric-pressure batch fixed-bed gasifiers, ammonia synthesis units, and downstream urea production units, without increasing the ammonia synthesis capacity to 520,000 tons per year. A new plant is being built using anthracite from the Zhangjiamao coal mine in Shenmu, Shaanxi, operated by Jinmei Group; pressurized gasification of water-coal slurry is employed, with a syngas production capacity of 350,000 cubic meters per hour. The 2017 China Gasification Technology, Operational Experience and Equipment Forum, organized by Yaha Consulting, will be held in Zhuhai from December 21-22. The conference will invite coal chemical manufacturing enterprises, as well as companies specializing in coal gasification technology, engineering, and equipment, to discuss the prospects for coal chemical projects in China and the future of the coal gasification market. Topics to be covered include the matching of coal gasification technology with downstream products, experience in operating gasification units at high loads over extended periods and aspects related to daily management, advanced equipment and instruments for optimizing the performance of coal gasification processes, environmental protection strategies for coal gasification units and the treatment of waste materials, as well as the development trends of next-generation coal gasification technologies.