Transformation and Upgrading of Modern Coal Chemical Industry: The Rise of “High-Performance” Intelligent Factories in the Heart of Maowusu Region

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Transformation and Upgrading of Modern Coal Chemical Industry: A “high-tech” intelligent factory emerging in the depths of the Mu Us Desert. Author/Source: Huahua Network – Coal Chemical Industry. Date: June 19, 2019. Clicks: 33. The Mu Us Desert is a place where miracles happen and surprises are discovered. Over more than half a century, through the relentless efforts of generations of desert control workers, an amazing green miracle has been created. In the Wushenzhao Industrial Park, which adheres to the principle of \"giving priority to ecology and pursuing green development,\" a state-of-the-art intelligent coal chemical factory – Inner Mongolia Zhongmei Mengda New Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. – is leveraging green principles to create innovations that contribute to high-quality development. Night view of the Zhongmei Mengda Company’s factory complex – An initial experience of a smart factory. Inner Mongolia Zhongmei Mengda New Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. (referred to as Zhongmei Mengda Company) is a secondary subsidiary of the China National Coal Group. It is responsible for managing the key project invested in by the group in the Ordos region: a polyolefin production facility with a capacity of 600,000 tons, with a total investment of 10.6 billion yuan. Entering the 197-hectare factory complex, the most immediate impressions are cleanliness and quietness. There is no dust floating in the air, no unpleasant odor of chemicals, and no leaks from the production equipment. Upon entering the factory for the first time, the reporter experienced a \"factory with no people, no odor, and no noise\" – a \"three-no\" factory. To laypeople, it is impossible to perceive its “intelligence” solely through the senses; therefore, the reporter followed Li Junjie, the Party secretary and executive director of China Coal Mengda Company, on a journey to explore it from the surface to the core. Intelligent manufacturing is highly precise and efficient. Just as humans rely on their senses to perceive things, intelligent factories possess this capability as well. From the design stage onward, China Coal Mengda incorporated \"intelligent elements\" into the four-tier system of basic processes, intelligent equipment, intelligent production, and intelligent management, thereby creating a super sensing system that covers the entire process without any blind spots. Li Junjie pointed to the various sensors installed on the equipment and machines in the workshop and explained, \"In addition to the sensors that are visible, we also utilize many advanced monitoring technologies from the military industry, such as high-performance fiber optic sensing technology to monitor changes in the vibration frequency of the equipment.\" ； Thermal imaging technology is used to monitor phenomena such as localized overheating of equipment and pipelines, wall thinning, and internal leaks in tube bundles ； Furthermore, by applying large-scale unit condition monitoring technology and remote diagnostic services, the equipment management as well as inspection and maintenance of 14 large-scale units have been digitized. ” Human-computer interaction in the enterprise exhibition hall: At present, the company has established an advanced automated control system that covers the entire factory; advanced control methods are employed in the main production units, with the automation rate of such controls and the rate of automatic data collection for production process parameters both exceeding 96%. The ubiquitous intelligent devices and various sensing devices act as the \"eyes, nose, ears, and hands\" of a factory, collecting data on temperature, pressure, flow rate, sound, gas concentration, and other related changes in real time, with sensitivity and precision. The advantages of this approach over traditional manual inspections are self-evident. “The “human-free factory” is just one aspect of the smart factory. At the packaging, storage, and transportation center of China Coal Mengda, the entire process from packaging the products to storing them and then loading them onto vehicles for shipment is carried out by automatic packaging machines, sorters, stackers, and conveyors. Only a few workers are needed to perform simple equipment checks and verifications; everything else is handled by intelligent devices. In December 2017, the intelligent upgrade of the weighing systems for raw material methanol and liquid products was completed, transforming the previously complicated weighing processes into ones that are more efficient, simple, and convenient. This eliminated the drawbacks and unsafe practices associated with manual operation, improved measurement accuracy, and saved 6 to 7 hours per day. The product packaging process is automated; a \"central brain\" drives high-quality development. The data collected by the \"sensory system\" is transmitted through the company’s own cloud data centers and 4G dedicated networks, which function as the \"nervous system,\" enabling efficient and seamless flow of information. This information is ultimately integrated into the \"brain\" of the smart factory – the central control room. The emergency command platform, which has undergone intelligent upgrades, allows one to have a complete overview of the operations in various sections of the factory by standing infront of a large electronic screen in the central control room. The staff taking over opens the shift handover module in the operation area; with just a click of the mouse, they can learn about the production status of the previous shift and that of the current shift. The central control room monitors production operations in real time. Moreover, it incorporates a collaboration platform centered around a 3D visualized factory model, gradually creating a \"twin factory\" that closely resembles the actual factory. “The “twin factory” is a replica of the actual factory; by starting with a virtual version, it is possible to conduct virtual “simulations” of products, manufacturing processes, and even the entire factory, thereby identifying the optimal solutions and providing intelligent support for production management. ““The super senses” collect data, the “nervous system” exchanges information, the “central brain” integrates and analyzes it, and visual technologies are used for inference and prediction to enable scientific decision-making and lean management. Thanks to this, since it began operations in April 2016, China Coal Mengda Company has maintained a solid track record of operation characterized by safety, stability, long operational cycles, and high load levels. In 2018, the average load of the DMTO unit was close to 110%, enabling the methanol consumption to be kept at around 3.0, which is among the best levels in the industry; this alone generated savings of over 100 million yuan per year. As a rising player, China Coal Mengda Company started by building intelligent factories to high standards, thus overtaking its competitors and continuously creating surprises through intelligent manufacturing on the path to high-quality development. In 2018, the Zhongmei Mengda Coal Chemical Industry Intelligent Factory pilot project was the only one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s coal chemical industry to be approved as a **MIIT ‘Pilot Project for Intelligent Manufacturing in 2018’; it was also selected as a pilot project for intelligent manufacturing within the autonomous region. Li Junjie said, “We will continue to be guided by the ‘Made in China 2025’ development strategy, promote the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, and use intelligent development to drive high-quality growth, thereby contributing to the transformation and upgrading of the modern coal chemical industry.” ”