The viability of coal-to-oil lies in the derivative product chain

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This post was last edited by liaifeng on 2018-9-1 at 11:26. The viability of coal-to-oil production lies in its derivative product chain. Author/Source: China Chemical Industry News. Sun Qiwen, Director of the Key Laboratory for Coal Liquefaction and Coal Chemistry. Date: 2017-08-07. Views: 20. With international oil prices remaining low and related taxes staying high, the coal-to-oil industry faces a critical question: Does coal-to-oil production still have any viability? 　　In fact, as China’s coal-to-oil industry has developed to date, thanks to continuous advancements in scientific and technological research as well as improvements in demonstration projects, some of the issues that were once in doubt have now been satisfactorily addressed. For example, in terms of energy efficiency, we can already conclude that the energy yield of coal-to-oil production is higher than that of thermal power plants ； In terms of water usage, we have managed to use around 6 tons of water per ton of product produced, with a reuse rate of over 98%, which is more water-efficient than that of typical industrial projects ； In terms of environmental protection, thanks to technological advancements, coal-to-oil projects can achieve near-zero wastewater emissions; dust, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides can all be effectively treated, and the carbon dioxide emitted in concentrated amounts can also be captured and utilized ； In terms of cost control, the costs of coal-to-oil projects are also continuously decreasing through the optimization of plant operation and management efficiency. At the same time, since most coal-to-oil projects were built during a period when environmental protection and energy-saving regulations became stricter, these projects were constructed to high standards from the outset, with energy efficiency and environmental performance requirements meeting high benchmarks. 　　Regarding the economic viability of such projects, based on international experience and the practices of demonstration projects in China, developing high-value-added downstream derivative product chains to achieve refined, differentiated, and high-end development is what gives coal-to-oil projects their sustainability. 　　South African Sasol is one of the earliest companies in the world to develop coal-to-oil technology, and it represents the highest standard in the global coal-to-oil industry. Their coal-to-oil plants produce 60% oil products and 40% chemicals, with the profits from chemicals accounting for 70%. They now have over 130 products, and they continue to develop new product varieties based on market demand. 　　To achieve further development of downstream derivatives, it is very important to select an appropriate process route. There are two processes for producing oil from coal: direct coal liquefaction and indirect coal liquefaction. Among them, the main products of direct coal liquefaction are gasoline, diesel, and naphtha ； Indirect coal liquefaction can be divided into two processes: low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The products of low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis are mainly diesel, with the rest being naphtha, liquefied gas, high-quality paraffin, etc. High-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis enables the production of large quantities of oils, as well as significant amounts of alkenes and oxygen-containing compounds; these can be used to synthesize a variety of high-value chemicals such as surfactants, polyolefins, rubber fillers, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, and acids. Therefore, of Sasol’s 7.6 million tons per year coal-to-oil production capacity, the capacity from the high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process amounts to 7 million tons per year. 　　Coal-to-oil should not stop at oil. Compared to oil refining, the advantage of coal-to-oil conversion lies not only in the ability to produce cleaner and higher-quality oils, but also in the availability of olefins, which are very valuable raw materials in the chemical industry chain; based on these olefins, hundreds of chemical products can be developed. At the current stage, the combination of low-temperature and high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis processes enables the production of clean, high-quality oils while also generating high-value chemical products, thereby demonstrating excellent profitability. 　　In our country, breakthroughs have also been achieved in the high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process. In June this year, the country’s first industrial test facility for high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was put under construction at Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical Co., Ltd., using the high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process technology owned by Shanghai Yankuang Energy Technology R&D Co., Ltd. Future Energy Company is currently planning the follow-up phase of the first phase of its coal indirect liquefaction demonstration project, with a production capacity of 4 million tons per year. This project will utilize a combination of high-temperature and low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis methods. It is planned to produce 9 types of oils, 12 types of chemicals, and 7 types of oxygenated compounds, thereby offering a wider range of products and extending the industrial chain further downstream. 　　China’s resource profile, characterized by abundant coal, scarce oil, and limited gas, dictates that we must make good use of coal. In the future, as high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technology continues to advance and coal-to-oil plants become larger in scale, such projects will be able to produce over a hundred different chemical products. This will enable them to achieve larger scale, greater integration, higher levels of precision, and the production of higher-quality products, thus demonstrating strong viability. 　　Of course, we also hope to **reduce the tax burden on coal-to-oil projects that are still in the demonstration phase, thereby giving them the opportunity to make technological advancements, improve their engineering capabilities, and gain experience, so that the coal-to-oil industry can mature as soon as possible and become an important part of the energy and chemical industry landscape**.