Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemicals: The first coal chemical enterprise in Xinjiang to pass the environmental protection completion inspection

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Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical: The first coal chemical enterprise in Xinjiang to pass environmental protection completion inspections. Author/Source: Sinochem News Network. Date: May 26, 2020. Clicks: 2. Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical Company is the first coal chemical enterprise developed in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as part of Yankuang Group’s response to the call for the development of the western region, with the aim of establishing a base there. Since entering Xinjiang in April 2009, it has been operating in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains for ten years. As early as the beginning of the construction of the 600,000-ton per year alcohol-ammonia co-production project, Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical Company relied heavily on the technological innovation platforms owned by Yankuang Group, such as the **Key Laboratory for Coal Liquefaction and Coal Chemicals** and the **Engineering Research Center for Water-Coal Slurry Gasification and Coal Chemicals**, in terms of technology and processes. The company applied three **\"863\" project achievements** for which Yankuang Group holds independent intellectual property rights, seven technologies that have won various awards, five technologies recognized with provincial (ministerial) levels of science and technology advancement awards, as well as five world-class processing techniques in this facility. It also invested around 500 million yuan in building relatively complete facilities for pollution control and emergency treatment, reflecting an integration of modern coal chemical technologies that are characterized by advanced technology, low carbon emissions, and energy efficiency. It is the first coal chemical enterprise in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to pass the environmental protection inspection upon completion. In recent years, Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical Company has achieved successive successes in maintaining and increasing production levels, boosting both volume and efficiency, driving innovation for better results, and turning losses into profits. While it does not dare to be complacent in the slightest, it holds great confidence. Faced with the challenging conditions in the chemical industry, they strengthened the sense of ownership among all employees and business entities both in terms of mindset and systems. In particular, more than 50 detailed control measures were implemented in areas such as production operations and energy conservation, which enabled frequent updates to production records and extended operation cycles. This further reinforced the stability, safety, efficiency, and optimal performance of the dual-furnace dual-system setup. In terms of optimizing system operation, in order to enhance the flexibility of the equipment, they brought together their key technical expertise and, without any existing templates or experience from other manufacturers to draw on, relied on their own efforts to explore practical solutions. They conducted repeated studies on three aspects: the control of the temperature in the methanol shift reactor, the adjustment of the washing volume and cooling capacity in the low-temperature methanol washing system, and the adjustment of the amount of carbon dioxide supplied from outside. Finally, in May 2019, they succeeded in making it possible for a single gasification reactor to operate simultaneously with three systems for producing ammonia, methanol, and urea, thereby completely transforming the original operating mode of the system. This innovative mode of operation not only **increases the flexibility in adjusting the production system, but also reduces the time required to get the system up and running to a minimum. It lowers production costs, saving nearly 12 million yuan in operational expenses each year. Additionally, it serves as a model for companies of similar type to streamline the system’s operational processes during the initial startup phase, identify system issues, and test the performance of various devices. At the same time, their online furnace switching operations without any fluctuations have become increasingly proficient, setting a record of completing two consecutive online furnace switches and replacing four burners in one gasification furnace within 27 hours. Furthermore, although the continuous burning of flares in chemical plants is necessary for the proper operation of the system equipment, the company failed to take into account the significant waste of exhaust gases that occurs as a result. In terms of the comprehensive recycling of waste gases, technical personnel were organized to recover the production waste gases that were previously released through flaring and reuse them in boilers, thereby achieving the goals of turning waste into resources, saving energy and reducing coal consumption, as well as improving quality and efficiency. Historically, it has been achieved that no other gases burn during the torch’s venting, aside from the flame itself. An average annual savings of about 15,000 tons of coal is achieved, resulting in direct economic benefits of around 2 million yuan. Furthermore, located in Xinjiang, it suffers from a shortage of water resources, while coal chemical industry is a major water consumer. As the first coal chemical project built and developed by Yankuang Group in Xinjiang, the company takes it as its responsibility to save water and reduce emissions while improving the efficiency of water utilization, and continues to carry out systematic optimizations and technological upgrades. In 2019, water consumption was reduced by about 500,000 cubic meters compared to the same period the previous year, resulting in cost savings of around 1.8 million yuan – achieving significant results. At the same time, the “smokeless chimney” has also become a highlight in the region’s promotional efforts; this environmental and energy-saving feature was extensively covered by the Xinjiang Daily under the headline “The Outstanding Blue of Yankuang”. In terms of innovation, ensuring the stability of raw coal is precisely the ‘pioneering battle’ that Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical Company needs to win in its efforts to increase profits and efficiency. Although Xinjiang boasts unique coal resources, its coal deposits formed relatively late and most of the mines are surface mines; once the quality of the coal changes, the issue is not whether it can be used or not, but rather that the operations must be halted immediately. To overcome this challenge, they traveled 60,000 miles over three years – a distance equivalent to 7 rounds around the equator – leaving traces of their search for coal in the mountains and deserts. They visited mine after mine for research, testing, and analysis, exploring 7 mining areas and more than 30 mining sites across a region of 800,000 square kilometers. Since it takes 4 to 5 days to analyze a set of data, and in order to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the tests, they purchased specialized visco-temperature curve testers. The girls in the coal quality analysis team also adopted a intense working schedule of \"5+2\" and round-the-clock testing. Especially when working in the mines during the cold winters in Xinjiang, not only are the roads difficult to navigate, but they also have to endure extreme cold temperatures of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, staying at the mines for over half a month at a time. Sometimes, there was no place to stay in the coal mines, and out of sheer exhaustion they could only take a short nap in the cars; the intense cold was something they would never forget for the rest of their lives. After more than 230 analyses of viscosity-temperature curves, and after repeatedly comparing the large volume of data gathered from previous tests, as well as conducting repeated evaluations of various parameters and economic considerations, they tested as many as 110 different coal mixtures in order to identify the optimal proportions. Eventually, they managed to figure out the underlying patterns and gained a thorough understanding of the coal quality in the surrounding area. They succeeded in developing 7 new sources of coal and established 10 mining sites that could supply coal, creating a system that allowed for both backup and active coal supplies. This approach helped to overcome the constraint posed by relying on a single source of coal, thereby eliminating the problem of having to wait for coal to be available for use in the gasification furnaces. By adhering to the principle that \"stability in coal production ensures stability in gasification, and stability in gasification ensures stability across the entire plant,\" production operations were enabled to shift from intermittent operation to continuous operation for more than 324 days, thus fulfilling this long-held goal.