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Review of the process package for the pilot plant in the direct synthesis of olefins from syngas / Author/Source: Chemical Industry Network – Coal Chemicals / Date: 2018-03-15 / Views: 15. Recently, a review meeting regarding the process package for the pilot plant in the project for direct synthesis of olefins from syngas (FTO) was held at Donghua Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. This marks an important step in the transition of FTO technology from laboratory results to practical engineering applications. FTO is a patented technology developed through a collaboration between Lu’an Group and the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The establishment of this project in Lu’an represents an important achievement in extending the industrial chain, diversifying the product portfolio, and making greater efforts to move toward differentiation, higher quality, and internationalization. It serves as a key platform for Lu’an Group to implement the 2.0 version of its coal-based fine chemical products. On January 9, 2018, Li Jinping, You Hao, Xiao Yaning, and Liu Junyi, who are in charge of Lu’an Group, held in-depth discussions with Sun Yuhan, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Technology affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Conversion, as well as representatives of relevant partners, on accelerating the implementation of the FTO project, preparing for the establishment of a low-carbon industry research institute, and achieving integration between the two types of industries. The project leader from the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute first gave a detailed presentation on the planning and implementation suggestions for the FTO pilot plant project. Representatives of the participating parties held detailed discussions and reached preliminary agreements regarding EPC cooperation for the FTO project. They reached a high degree of consensus on aspects such as the shareholders’ agreement, shareholder structure, equity proportions, and personnel allocation among the cooperating parties, and also discussed and decided on the specific location for the pilot phase of the project as well as the practical implementation plans. Li Jinping, chairman and party secretary of Lu’an Group, said that the group is making every effort to advance an integrated value chain that combines industry, academia, research, and application. It is striving to establish a high-end, open innovation framework featuring \"one center, seven platforms, and five bases\" in order to create new drivers for high-level development. The FTO project holds great significance for the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements; he hopes that all parties involved in this project will work together, act swiftly, commit themselves fully, and pool their efforts to pioneer a new type of high-end modern coal chemical industry in China, thus leaving a significant mark in the history of China’s coal chemical sector. FTO technology: On October 6, 2016, the journal Nature published reports on the significant progress made by a research team jointly formed by the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and ShanghaiTech University in the direct conversion of syngas into olefins. By adopting a novel catalyst active site structure, this study achieved the high-selective direct synthesis of olefins from syngas under mild conditions. The direct production of olefins from syngas employs the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) route. The coal-based syngas FT synthesis oil production process has been put into industrial use in China, but when FT synthesis is used for the production of olefins, challenges such as improving olefin selectivity and effectively controlling the product distribution arise. Since FT synthesis of olefins is a highly exothermic reaction, it can easily lead to local overheating, thereby promoting methanation and carbon deposition and reducing the overall olefin yield. Furthermore, during the FT synthesis process, olefins, as intermediate products, are highly prone to undergoing secondary hydrogenation reactions to convert into saturated alkanes. The Low-Carbon Conversion Laboratory at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has creatively developed a new catalyst. It was found that under mild reaction conditions (250°C and 1–5 standard atmospheres), this catalyst enables the high-selective direct synthesis of olefins from syngas; the selectivity for methane can be as low as 5%, the selectivity for low-carbon olefins can reach 60%, while the overall selectivity for olefins is over 80%. The olefin/alkane ratio can be as high as 30 or more, and the selectivity for products in the C2–C15 range is over 90%.