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Sanyu Environmental Protection’s integrated ammonia synthesis technology based on \"iron-ruthenium relay catalysis\" won the first prize for scientific and technological advancement in 2020 from the Petrochemical Federation. Author/Source: Sanyu Environmental Protection; Date: 2021-01-05; Clicks: 18. On December 24, 2020, the National Petroleum and Chemical Industry Science and Technology Innovation Conference was held in Hangzhou. The technology for safe, efficient, and low-energy ammonia synthesis based on ‘iron-ruthenium relay catalysis’, developed jointly by Sanju Environmental Protection, Fuzhou University and other institutions, won the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress in 2020 from the Petrochemical Industry Federation. Image: In 2020, the Science and Technology Awards of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation recognized 37 scientific and technological achievements with awards for technical inventions; among these, there was 1 grand prize, 14 first prizes, 8 second prizes, and 14 third prizes. 197 scientific and technological achievements were awarded prizes for scientific and technological progress, including 37 first-prize awards, 61 second-prize awards, and 99 third-prize awards. 2 Zhao Yongho Science and Technology Innovation Awards, 17 Awards for Outstanding Contributions in Youth Science and Technology, 3 Innovation Team Awards, 9 Gold Awards and 44 Excellence Awards in patents for the petroleum and chemical industry, 15 enterprises recognized as models in intellectual property management, and 270 outstanding workers. Li Shousheng, President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, Li Bin, Vice President, Academician Chen Fen'er from Fudan University, Academician Zheng Yuguo from Zhejiang University of Technology, Academician Tu Shandong from East China University of Science and Technology, as well as Hu Qianlin, Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and Deputy Secretary-General, jointly presented awards to the award-winning representatives. The ammonia synthesis industry is a major energy consumer in the chemical sector, with energy costs constituting an important part of its production expenses. The ammonia synthesis industry urgently needs to reduce energy consumption and emissions as well as address excess production capacity. It is estimated that about 3% of the world’s energy consumption is used for synthetic ammonia. Energy conservation and consumption reduction have become one of the main trends in the development of ammonia synthesis technology. At present, China’s annual ammonia production amounts to 56 million tons, and traditional iron-based catalysts along with high-temperature and high-pressure reaction processes and equipment are still being used. A joint technical effort was undertaken to address the issue of high energy consumption in ammonia synthesis under high temperature and pressure conditions. By using a new generation of ruthenium-based ammonia synthesis catalysts, the technology of \"iron-ruthenium sequential catalysis\" was employed to significantly reduce the pressure and temperature during the ammonia synthesis process as well as to improve reaction efficiency, thereby effectively cutting energy and material consumption. This approach exhibits strong innovation in terms of technology and competitive advantages in the market. On May 31, 2020, this technology passed the evaluation meeting for scientific and technological achievements held by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. The evaluation experts unanimously agreed that this achievement is generally at the international advanced level; in particular, the technology for preparing high-performance ruthenium-based ammonia synthesis catalysts, as well as the ammonia synthesis process using coal as a raw material via \"iron-ruthenium sequential catalysis,\" are at the international leading level. “The \"iron-ruthenium catalytic relay\" ammonia synthesis technology has achieved multiple key technological breakthroughs: it introduced a new process for the efficient preparation of graphitized carbon carriers, a new type of high-performance ruthenium-based ammonia synthesis catalyst with a low ruthenium content, as well as a new safe, efficient, and energy-saving process for ammonia synthesis using iron-ruthenium catalytic relay. The world’s first industrial facility for ammonia synthesis using this iron-ruthenium catalytic relay method, powered by coal, was built, and it has been able to operate safely, stably, and over long periods of time. A complete set of new engineering technologies for the production, application, and recycling of Ruthenium-based ammonia synthesis catalysts has also been developed. “The \"iron-ruthenium relay catalysis\" ammonia synthesis technology provides an entirely new approach for the industry to reduce energy consumption and waste; it will play a key role in helping China’s ammonia synthesis industry cut energy use, improve efficiency, and make significant contributions to the diversification of the energy structure as well as to ensuring food security and energy security.