Statistics and Technical Comparative Analysis of Proposed Coal-to-Olefins Projects

Thread Content

Statistics and Technical Comparative Analysis of Proposed Coal-to-Olefins Projects Author/Source: Huahua Network Coal Chemicals (Author: Wang Shoujian, Chief Engineer of China National Chemical Engineering Corporation) Date: 2018-03-15 Clicks: 19 Progress of the Coal-to-Olefins Industry (including Methanol-to-Olefins). As of June 2017, there were 11 coal-to-olefins projects in operation in China, with a total production capacity of 7.27 million tons per year. Among them, there are 9 CTO projects, with a total production capacity of 5.81 million tons per year ； There are 2 CTP projects, with a total production capacity of 1.46 million tons per year. Among the coal-to-olefins projects that are already in operation, the largest CTO plant is Zhongtian Hecreate Energy Co., Ltd. The largest CTP plant is Shenhua Ningmei. The status of coal-to-olefins production projects is shown in Table 1. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/1553265720658.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/155495724978.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/1554345727481.jpg Based on the operational performance of the projects that are already in use, aside from the Datang Duolun CTP project, whose load level remains around 80% on a continuous basis, the remaining projects operate at full capacity and have achieved good economic results. Since 2015, international crude oil prices have declined, and the prices of domestic olefin products have dropped as well, though the extent of this decline has been less than that of oil prices. Coal-based olefin projects have managed to withstand the impact of low oil prices. There are currently 5 coal-to-olefins projects under construction in China, which are expected to come online between 2017 and 2018, with a combined production capacity of 3.2 million tons per year. In addition, the Ordos 800,000 t/a coal-to-olefins project, a collaboration between China Power Investment and Total, has seen extensive preliminary work carried out over many years; however, due to changes in China Power Investment’s core business activities and Total’s withdrawal from the project, it was transferred to Yankuang Group Company at the end of 2016. The preliminary work for the second phase of Shenhua Baotou coal-to-olefins project has begun. The status of the proposed coal-to-olefins projects is shown in Table 2. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/1555485734884.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/1556355739597.jpg The industrial layout proposed in the \"Plan for the Innovative Development of the Modern Coal Chemical Industry\" is as follows: four modern coal chemical industry demonstration zones are to be established in Ordos in Inner Mongolia, Yulin in Shaanxi, Ningdong in Ningxia, and Zhundong in Xinjiang. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the total amount of coal converted in each of these zones is to be kept within 20 million tons (excluding coal-based fuels such as coal-to-oil and coal-to-gas). It is expected that these four demonstration areas will focus on coal-based olefin projects. Progress of methanol-to-olefins projects: As of June 2017, there were 16 methanol-to-olefins projects in operation in China, with a total production capacity of 5.5 million tons per year. Among them, there are 9 MTO projects, with a total production capacity of 4.7 million tons per year ； There are 7 MTP projects, with a total production capacity of 800,000 t/a. Among the operational methanol-to-olefins projects, the largest MTO plant is Shenghong Group-Jiangsu Sierbang Petrochemical Co., Ltd., with a production capacity of 1.2 million tons per year. The scale of MTP plants is mostly 100,000 t/a or 200,000 t/a, which is relatively small. The status of the methanol-to-olefins production project is shown in Table 3. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/155865748680.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/1559175755722.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/160275762770.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/160595765964.jpg Selection of key technologies for coal-based olefin production. The production process for coal-based olefins involves gasifying coal to produce methanol, converting methanol into olefins, and then further processing these olefins. The typical coal-to-olefins production process is shown in Figure 1. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/161585771844.jpg Typical coal-to-olefins plants include process units such as gasification, purification, methanol synthesis, methanol-to-olefins conversion, olefin separation, and advanced olefin processing, as well as utility systems and auxiliary facilities. The process flow of a typical coal-to-olefins project is shown in Figure 2. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/162535777382.jpg Regarding coal-to-methanol technology. The production technology for methanol from coal is already mature, and coal-to-olefins plants primarily utilize large-scale methanol technologies, that is, the scaling up of methanol synthesis units. Domestic coal-to-olefins plants typically have methanol production facilities with a capacity of 1.8 million tons per year; they usually use two synthesis towers, each with a capacity of 900,000 tons per year. Domestic technology is not sufficient for this purpose, so it is necessary to rely on foreign technology. On methanol-to-olefins technology. The methanol-to-olefins technology is the most core technology for coal-to-olefins production. Foreign technologies mainly include UOP’s MTO+OCP technology and Lurgi’s MTP technology ； In China, the main technologies include DMTO from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, SMTO from Sinopec, and FMTP from Tsinghua University; the first four of these technologies have been successfully industrialized. The DMTO technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has been widely applied, boasting the largest operational capacity and the most projects under construction ； Next is UOP’s MTO+OCP technology, followed by Lurgi’s MTP technology. Sinopec SMTO technology is adopted. On the deep processing of olefins. Most coal-to-olefins projects in the country use olefin polymerization technology to produce polyolefin plastic products, while a few projects produce products such as ethylene oxide to serve as inputs for other units within the same plant. The selection of key technologies for typical coal-to-olefins projects is shown in Table 4. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/164245786448.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180315/164595789996.jpg In the methanol-to-olefins project, the technologies used for this process are mainly the DMTO technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the technology provided by UOP. The MTP technology used in methanol-to-propylene projects is mostly domestically replicated and independently designed.