Progress of Xinjiang Zhongtai’s 4 million tons per year oil-coal co-processing project

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Progress of Xinjiang Zhongtai’s 4 million tons per year oil-coal co-processing project Author/Source: Huahua Network – Coal Chemicals Date: February 3, 2020 Clicks: 21 On January 18, a consultation meeting for expert advice on the core technologies related to Xinjiang Zhongtai (Group) Co., Ltd.’s integrated project for the annual processing of 4 million tons of heavy oil and coal in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (referred to as the “oil-coal co-processing project”) was held in Beijing. The meeting aimed to create favorable conditions for the swift implementation of this project and its construction. **Zhang Jiming, Assistant to the General Manager of the Energy Group; Zhang Chuanjiang, Chairman of China Shenhua Coal-to-Oil Company; Xu Zhengang, the leading scientist at China National Coal Technology and Engineering Group (an expert in the Expert Database of the Ministry of Science and Technology), Shi Shidong, a special advisor at the Coal Research Institute of China National Coal Technology and Engineering Group; Xian Zhi, member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Korla City; Li Liangfu, member of the Party Committee of Zhongtai Group; Zhao Yonglu, Technical Director of Zhongtai Group; as well as relevant officials from Zhongtai Group’s Department of Scientific and Technological Development, Innovation Technology Center, and Innovation Technology Research Institute attended the meeting. Lu Zhengping, chairman of Zhongtai Petrochemical, presided over the meeting. Zhongtai Group currently has a PTA production facility with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons. To meet the raw material needs of this facility, it plans to take advantage of the abundant oil and coal resources in the Xinjiang region by investing in an integrated project for the deep processing of heavy oil and coal, namely an \"oil-coal co-processing project\". Although Xinjiang is a major oil-producing region in China, the oil there is mostly heavy oil, which is difficult to process. The 4 million tons per year integrated oil-coal co-processing project of Zhongtai Group focuses on addressing this issue. Oil-coal co-processing will help overcome the technical challenges related to the clean and efficient conversion of coal in the coal chemical industry, as well as the transformation of heavy (low-quality) oils into lighter forms in the petrochemical industry. It holds great significance for driving a revolution in energy technology, promoting the upgrading and transformation of the refining and petrochemical industries, establishing an important demonstration base for strategic emerging industries in Xinjiang’s petroleum and chemical sector, and ensuring **energy strategic security. Zhongtai Group is making every effort to advance tasks such as pilot testing of the project, preparation of the project feasibility study report, as well as environmental and safety assessments for the project. Li Liangfu, deputy general manager of Zhongtai Group, said that the co-processing project of oil and coal has achieved breakthroughs in key energy technologies. This is of great strategic significance for leading an **energy technology revolution, promoting the upgrading and transformation of the refining and petrochemical industries, establishing an important demonstration base for strategic emerging petrochemical industries in Xinjiang, ensuring **energy strategic security, and achieving breakthrough changes such as turning fuels into raw materials, raw materials into materials, and coal fields into oil fields. It is hoped that the experts will consider the matter from the perspective of providing intellectual support to Xinjiang, fully utilize their expertise as think tanks, and conduct rigorous scrutiny and comprehensive evaluation of the phase-specific BSU test data. At the same time, we hope to take this opportunity to jointly establish a platform for technical cooperation and friendly exchanges, thereby providing intellectual support for the development of Zhongtai Group. Lu Zhengping gave a brief introduction to the background of the oil-coal co-processing project. At the meeting, a representative from Shenhua Shanghai Research Institute presented the results of the phase-based BSU tests, summarizing and explaining the test procedures, plans, conditions, data, as well as the issues encountered during the tests. A representative from Sinopec Engineering Construction Company presented the overall plant process plan preliminarily drafted based on the test data. After careful listening, examination, and discussion, the experts present concluded that the oil-coal co-processing project meets the strategic needs in the field of energy, aligns with the requirements for the transformation and upgrading of Xinjiang’s chemical industry, and is in line with the industrial chain layout of Xinjiang Zhongtai Group. It holds great significance for driving the revolution in energy technology, promoting the upgrading of the chemical industry, and establishing Xinjiang as a model base for the new chemical industry. It is also recommended that oil-coal co-processing projects accelerate the integration of domestic and international technical resources, strengthen basic research, optimize process flows, and establish technical consortia. After the meeting, the Oil and Coal Co-processing Project Department coordinated with departments such as the Technology Development Department, Innovation Technology Center, and Innovation Research Institute of Zhongtai Group to carefully review the experts’ suggestions, implement them one by one, and make progress on each item, thereby creating favorable conditions for the construction of the oil and coal co-processing project and facilitating its early implementation. The integrated project in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, operated by Xinjiang Zhongtai (Group) Co., Ltd., for the annual production of 4 million tons of heavy oil and the deep processing of coal, is located within the Korla Petroleum and Petrochemical Industrial Park in that prefecture; the total investment in this project amounts to approximately 19.912 billion yuan. The project uses heavy oil and coal as raw materials, and employs co-processing technology of oil and coal to produce clean gasoline, diesel, p-xylene, benzene, propane, butane, and other products. The production facilities include systems for processing raw coal, raw oil, slurry-bed hydrogenation, hydrocracking, aromatic compound processing (including pre-hydrogenation, continuous reforming, aromatic extraction, disproportionation and alkylation, isomerization, and xylene distillation), isomerization, coal-to-hydrogen production (including gasification, shift reaction, acid gas removal, and PSA hydrogen purification), PSA hydrogen purification, light hydrocarbon recovery, gas separation, and sulfur recovery processes (including solvent regeneration, acidic water stripping, phenol recovery, and sulfur recovery), as well as systems for shaping oil residues and air separation ； The supporting storage and transportation facilities include coal unloading and storage facilities, tank areas (raw material tank areas, intermediate tank areas, product tank areas, acid and alkali tank areas), vehicle loading and unloading facilities, train loading and unloading facilities, oil and gas recovery facilities, plant-wide warehouses, hazardous chemicals warehouses, and temporary storage areas for hazardous waste. The utility systems comprise water supply and drainage systems (water supply pump stations, circulating water plants, sewage treatment plants, rainwater collection tanks, emergency storage tanks, etc.), power supply systems (main substation, regional and unit substations), heating systems (chemical water treatment stations, condensate water stations, etc.), telecommunications and fire alarm systems, and gas supply systems (air compressor stations). The auxiliary facilities include flare systems, central control rooms, central laboratories, environmental monitoring stations, fire and gas protection stations, maintenance centers, administrative office buildings, canteens, and bathrooms. At the same time, this project plans to rely on the off-site railways and roads constructed as part of the park infrastructure, the park’s thermal power plant, the off-site water supply and drainage facilities, the park’s landfill for general solid waste, and the facilities for the disposal of hazardous waste within the park.