Coal-to-oil: Writing a legend of \"Made in Ningxia\"

Thread Content

This post was last edited by liaifeng on 2018-9-1 at 18:14. The coal-to-oil project writes a legend of \"Made in Ningxia\" 2017-05-02 06:29:00 Source: Xinxi News Agency. Site of the Ningdong coal-to-oil project. 　　China’s coal chemical industry has developed rapidly, but it lacks strong support from \"Made in China\" products; in the past, it relied on imports for core technologies and high-end equipment, paying high costs as a result. Today, the world’s largest coal-to-oil project of its kind, with a capacity of 4 million tons per year, belongs to Shenhua Ningmei Group and is located in Yinchuan. The degree of domestic production in this project exceeds 98.5%, thereby breaking the technical monopoly held by foreign companies. Of the two production lines, one has been put into operation, generating an output value of 15 million yuan per day, while the other line is also in the stage of installation and testing. 　　A modification fee of 200 million yuan led to the emergence of the \"Shenning Furnace\". On September 23 last year, Shenhua Ningmei secured a major contract from the American company Peak Group – the two parties signed a license agreement for the \"Shenning Furnace\" gasification technology, marking the first time that two Chinese-made \"Shenning Furnaces\" were exported to the international market. At that time, the 4 million-ton coal-to-oil project had not yet been put into operation. Looking back now, Huang Bin, the chief engineer of Shenhua Ningmei Coal-to-Oil Branch, still finds it hard to believe. He even joked with the reporters that the \"Shenning furnace\" was actually developed \"under necessity\" as part of the company’s operational needs. 　　In fact, the gasification unit is the core equipment in coal-to-oil projects, and this technology has long been monopolized by foreign countries. In 2012, Shenhua Ningmei partnered with Siemens on a joint venture basis, with the latter holding complete technical advantages. During regular use, due to numerous issues that arose, Shenhua Ningmei proposed specific technical modifications to address them. I don’t want to; both the questions raised and the proposed modifications were rejected by Siemens. After negotiations, Siemens finally stated that it was willing to make the necessary modifications, but then proposed a \"exorbitant\" fee of 27 million euros for those changes, which is equivalent to over 200 million yuan. 　　“Logically, I’m paying for your expertise, so you should provide me with the best quality work. Our reasonable requests were initially rejected by them; although they eventually agreed to make changes, they charged 200 million yuan for those adjustments. ”Huang Bin said that the total cost of the process packages used by the enterprise amounts to 300 million yuan, yet the other party quoted 200 million yuan just for the modification costs, which is truly unacceptable. 　　Ultimately, Shenhua Ningmei terminated its partnership with Siemens. At the same time, they firm up a belief: they must make use of their own technology. Through efforts, in November 2014, the \"Shenning Furnace,\" independently developed by Shenhua Ningmei, was created. It overcomes the drawback of Siemens’ gasification technology, which can only process high-quality coal, by enabling the use of various types of coal; it thus provides a way for the clean utilization of low-quality coal and solves this technical challenge. 　　Thus, this key technology for core equipment, which is at the international leading level, has embarked on a remarkable turnaround from technology import to technology export. 　　Build a large-scale platform for “Made in China” – Without investing in large-scale coal chemical industries, coal cannot be transformed into green clean energy. ”Huang Bin explained that the company had been in talks with South Africa’s Sasol Company for 10 years regarding the introduction of coal-to-oil technology, but the latter put forward harsh conditions such as long-term ownership of coal mine resources, which made them realize that this path was not viable. 　　During its implementation, Shenhua Ningmei Group’s 4 million-ton coal-to-oil project served as a \"**model laboratory**, working together with a number of domestic enterprises to accomplish 37 major tasks related to the localization of technologies, equipment, and materials. The 37 domesticization projects include the most critical ones such as Zhongke Quancheng’s complete set of technologies for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and oil processing, dry powder gasification technology with a daily coal input of 2,200 tons, and large-scale air separation systems capable of producing 100,000 standard cubic meters of output per day… A number of domestic companies have managed to stand out in competition with European and American manufacturing giants, achieving technological breakthroughs. 　　Suzhou Antewee Valve Company, which was established just 7 years ago, developed the world’s first double-disc valve to meet the specific requirements of dry coal powder systems; its service life is more than twice that of German-made products. 　　The steel used in the Fischer-Tropsch reactor, the key component in coal-to-oil production, requires high standards; no material of such high quality exists worldwide. Japanese steel companies requested that the technical specifications be reduced during the bidding process, but the product developed by Wuyang Steel Plant of Hebei Iron and Steel Group surpassed those of foreign steel manufacturers. 　　A group of domestic enterprises have grown together through joint efforts to overcome challenges; they compete on equal terms with companies such as Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Shell, breaking the \"superstition\" surrounding imported technology and equipment and enabling \"Made in China\" to stand tall with pride. 　　Throughout the entire process, every device, every valve, and every instrument can be domestically produced. The localization rate of the Shenhua Ningmei coal-to-oil project reaches 98.5%; for the remaining 1.5%, Shenhua Ningmei has also established an experimental platform, and systematic verification shows that localization is fully achievable. 　　Since the commissioning of the coal-to-oil project last year, overall, some imported special valves still have quality issues. For example, a relief valve imported from the United States broke after just one use; after being returned, it was processed and manufactured by a company in China. Huang Bin said, “Products made in China are not inferior to those from foreign countries; with effort, they can be made even better, and at lower prices as well.” ”　　The prospects for coal-to-oil derivatives are endless. Although coal-to-oil projects have been successfully put into operation, they still face market challenges ahead. As a key member of the R&D team for coal-to-oil projects, Huang Bin said that relying solely on the sale of oil products is not sufficient; they have already begun to consider the development of derivatives derived from coal-to-oil processes. 　　“Enterprises should pursue the path of fine chemicals and produce daily chemical products. ”Huang Bin admitted that, in fact, industry insiders are all aware that daily chemicals made from high-quality oil are very popular in the market. Currently, coal-to-oil projects are widely used in the production of cosmetics, including lubricants, liquid waxes, and white oils. These products are closely linked to people's daily lives. For example, liquid wax is used in the production of laundry powder and liquid detergents. Currently, lubricants for vehicles are of type II and III; high-quality lubricants of type IV or higher, produced from coal-derived oil, can handle extreme temperatures ranging from -50 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius. According to Huang Bin’s conservative estimates, from January of this year to the present, the daily output value of coal-to-oil projects has been at least 15 million yuan. The types of coal-to-oil products also evolved from the initial three products, namely diesel and naphtha, to four new products including white oil over time. “In the future, hundreds of new products could be introduced, which would truly increase the added value of coal-to-oil production. ”　　Huang Bin is confident about the development of coal-to-oil derived products, not only due to the innovative advantages of coal-to-oil projects but also because of strong support from Ningxia’s plans for the development of the coal chemical industry. The \"13th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Development and the Integration of Industry and Information Technology in Ningxia\" clearly states that, by leveraging platforms such as the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, efforts should be made to advance the construction of demonstration projects for modern coal chemical processes such as coal-to-olefins, coal-to-oil, coal-to-ethylene glycol, coal-to-aromatics, and coal-to-natural gas. Attention should be paid to promoting integrated production, enhancing segmentation in both product markets and production technologies, and extending the industrial chain of modern coal chemistry. Promote the adoption of advanced industrial technologies such as clean and efficient coal utilization, vigorously develop a circular economy, and drive the modern coal chemical industry toward greener, larger-scale, more refined, and more concentrated operations. By 2020, the production capacity of modern coal chemical industry is expected to reach 20 million tons, with an output value of over 100 billion yuan and an added value of around 23.5 billion yuan. A large-scale modern coal chemical complex in Ningdong with a production capacity of 10 million tons will be established, turning it into a **-level modern coal chemical hub.