In 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved three major coal chemical projects, and VOCs control became an important indicator

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The last edit to this post was made by liaifeng on 2018-8-9 at 08:55. In 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved three coal chemical projects, and VOCs control became an important criterion. Author/Source: Date: 2017-12-05. Clicks: 6. China’s energy structure, characterized by an abundance of coal but a shortage of oil and gas, along with the urgent need for cleaner utilization of coal, has driven the rapid development of modern coal chemistry. Modern coal chemical processes such as synthetic natural gas (SNG), coal-to-oil (CTL), coal-to-olefins (CTO), and coal-to-ethylene glycol (CTMEG) have achieved significant progress in terms of industrial scale and technical equipment. At the same time, China’s modern coal chemical industry is also facing dual pressures from economic and environmental aspects. On the one hand, since the **crude oil prices plummeted in the second half of 2014, they have remained low, resulting in a significant reduction in the profit margins for the modern coal chemical industry** ； On the other hand, against the backdrop of China’s efforts to strengthen the control of air, water, and soil pollution, modern coal chemical industry faces significant environmental protection challenges in terms of pollution prevention and control. Nevertheless, in 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the environmental impact assessment reports for three major modern coal chemical projects: Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Guizhou) Co., Ltd.’s 600,000 tons per year polyolefin project, Qinghai Mining Group Co., Ltd.’s 600,000 tons per year olefin project, and Yitai Yili Energy Co., Ltd.’s 1 million tons per year coal-to-oil demonstration project. On February 15, 2017, the website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection published the approval decision regarding the environmental impact assessment report for Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Guizhou) Co., Ltd.’s 600,000-ton-per-year polyolefin production project (Document No. Huan Shen 22). Using local anthracite from Guizhou as raw material, this project employs coal gasification technology and S-MTO technology to produce olefins. The construction scope includes the establishment of a 1.8 million tons per year methanol plant, a 1.8 million tons per year methanol-to-olefins plant, 300,000 tons per year linear low-density polyethylene production facilities, and 300,000 tons per year polypropylene production facilities, along with the associated utility systems and auxiliary facilities. On March 1, 2016, the **Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a notice titled \"Notice on Refusing to Approve the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Guizhou) Co., Ltd.’s 600,000 tons per year polyolefin project.\" This notice identified one of the problems with the project and its environmental impact assessment report: the targets and sources for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were not clearly defined, and no alternative reduction plans were specified, which did not comply with the requirements set out in the \"Interim Measures for the Review and Management of Total Emission Targets for Major Pollutants in Construction Projects.\" On November 1, 2016, the Ministry of Environmental Protection once again accepted the environmental impact assessment for this project, and reviewed the relevant assessment document on December 14, 2016. The environmental impact assessment report states that the total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, and smoke and dust from the project shall not exceed 128.8 tons per year, 261.12 tons per year, 400.623 tons per year, and 43.39 tons per year respectively; the total amount of VOCs can be met through emission reductions achieved by Sinopec Guizhou Oil & Gas Company through oil and gas recovery measures. On May 31, 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the environmental impact assessment report for Qinghai Mining Group Co., Ltd.’s 600,000 tons per year olefins project (Document No. Huan Shen 64). This project utilizes coal resources from the surrounding area, and employs technologies such as pressurized coal gasification and methanol-to-olefins to produce 600,000 tons per year of products like ethylene and polypropylene, as well as by-products such as sulfur, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and butene. The main components of the project include 10 units such as air separation, pulverized coal gasification, shift reaction, low-temperature methanol washing, methanol synthesis, methanol to olefins (MTO), olefin conversion, polypropylene production, MTBE/butene-1 production, and sulfur recovery. Complementary facilities include thermal power stations, circulating water systems and other auxiliary projects, storage and transportation facilities such as coal silos and chemical storage tanks, as well as environmental protection systems for wastewater treatment and reuse. The approval issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection specifies that one of the key tasks in the construction and operational management of such projects is to strictly implement various measures for air pollution control, ensuring that emissions of various air pollutants as well as the installation of exhaust stacks meet or exceed the relevant national and local standard requirements ； Strengthen control measures for VOCs, malodorous gases, and toxic and hazardous gases; ensure proper leak detection and repair, oil and gas recovery from storage and transportation systems, sealed wastewater treatment, and waste gas treatment, in order to effectively control uncontrolled emissions ； The total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, and smoke and dust should not exceed 339 tons per year, 665 tons per year, 189 tons per year, and 1045 tons per year, respectively ； Complete various air pollutant reduction projects in Golmud to ensure that, prior to the commissioning of these projects, the total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and VOCs are reduced by at least 7,729 tons per year, 4,367 tons per year, 2,733 tons per year, and 1,478 tons per year respectively ； Qinghai Mining is required to work together with the Korla Industrial Park Management Committee to establish an environmental monitoring system for the industrial park, one that includes monitoring of characteristic pollutants such as non-methane hydrocarbons, VOCs, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and benzene derivatives, as well as conventional pollutants. On September 27, 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the environmental impact assessment report for Yitai Ili Energy Co., Ltd.’s 1 million tons per year coal-to-oil demonstration project (Document No. Huan Shen 151). This project utilizes local coal resources and employs technologies such as water-coal slurry gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to produce 1 million tons per year of petroleum products and other chemicals. The main facilities include production units such as air separation, coal gasification, purification, oil synthesis, exhaust gas hydrogen production, and oil processing. Supporting facilities include thermal power stations, water treatment plants, circulating water systems and other auxiliary projects; storage and transportation facilities such as coal silos and storage tanks; as well as environmental protection systems for wastewater treatment and reuse. The main products of the project are Euro V diesel, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas, as well as by-products such as light alcohols, heavy alcohols, and sulfur. The approval issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection specifies that one of the key tasks in the construction and operational management of such projects is to strictly implement various measures for air pollution control, ensuring that emissions of various air pollutants as well as the installation of exhaust stacks meet or exceed the relevant national and local standard requirements ； Strengthen control measures for VOCs, malodorous gases, and toxic and hazardous gases; ensure proper leak detection and repair, oil and gas recovery from storage and transportation systems, sealed wastewater treatment, and waste gas treatment, in order to effectively control uncontrolled emissions ； The total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, and smoke and dust shall not exceed 835 tons per year, 740.7 tons per year, 115.2 tons per year, and 451.3 tons per year, respectively.