A small village by the Yellow River has been transformed into a modern coal chemical industry park

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A Small Village by the Yellow River Has Been Transformed into a Modern Coal Chemical Industry Park / Author/Source: Ordos Daily, Date: 2021-02-07, Clicks: 25. What was once a sparsely populated village by the Yellow River 15 years ago has now become a renowned modern coal chemical industry park in China’s Yellow River basin. 　　Reporters’ recent visits have revealed that the park adheres to a development philosophy of \"high-end, high-quality, and high-tech\" standards. By leveraging its leading coal chemical technologies both domestically and internationally, it shapes the direction of certain coal chemical industries today and plays a key role in determining their structural layout. 　　No need for excavation to extract coal, no need for workers to go underground – the technology of coal gasification underground is truly remarkable. Yellow gullies, yellow mounds, yellow plateaus: this is a part of the Loess Plateau in Xuejiawan Town, Zhungeer Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a place little known to the outside world. Below Ge Liangliang lies the Tangjiahuigou mining area in the Zhungeer coalfield, one of the five largest open-pit coal mines in the country. 　　At the end of October 2019, a 28-meter-tall torch was lit on a loess plateau in the Tangjiahuai mining area. It was not until a month after the flames kept burning steadily that the world learned that a \"revolutionary\" coal chemical project was underway there – an industrial demonstration project for fourth-generation underground coal gasification technology. 　　Wang Chuanmin, general manager of Inner Mongolia Zhongwei Gasification Technology Co., Ltd., pointed at the torch and said, “It may seem calm here, but right beneath our feet, coal resources are being burned and gasified. The entire process, from raw coal underground to syngas, takes place underground.” Below the torch is the outlet of the product well connected to the underground gasifier; the syngas produced by the underground gasifier is continuously delivered to the surface through this product well. ” 　　Coal in-situ gasification technology, abbreviated as ISC, is a process in which coal underground is burned and gasified under controlled conditions, with combustible gases being produced through thermal and chemical reactions of the coal. This process does not require coal mining or the entry of any workers underground, and it can produce low-cost industrial gas and gas raw materials for chemical synthesis (referred to as syngas, whose main components are hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc.). 　　This ‘revolutionary’ concept originated from the great Russian chemist Mendeleev, the inventor of the periodic table of chemical elements. He proposed the idea of underground coal gasification at the end of the 19th century, but it was not put into practice until the 1950s. Currently, only Uzbekistan in the world uses coal underground gasification technology with the first-generation air gasification process to produce syngas with low calorific value. 　　The industrial demonstration project for underground coal gasification technology carried out in the Tangjiahuigou mining area was invested in and constructed by Zhongwei (Shanghai) Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in 2018. It employs a pure oxygen gasification process and represents the fourth-generation underground coal gasification technology with fully independent intellectual property rights; it is also one of the leading technologies of its kind in the world. 　　Since its successful ignition at the end of October 2019, the project has been operating stably for nearly 14 months now. Professor Liu Shuqin, deputy dean of the School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), said that all the indicators of this project meet the design requirements, demonstrating that the fourth-generation ISC technology is mature, stable, safe, and efficient. It represents a significant technological breakthrough in the century-long history of ISC technology development worldwide, addressing the issues related to the stability of syngas production and quality in industrial applications, as well as the economic feasibility of such projects. 　　Wang Chuanmin explained that, compared with traditional surface coal gasification methods, underground coal gasification eliminates the need for coal mining, transportation, storage, and surface gasification. The industrial water consumption is only 30% of that in surface coal-to-gas projects of similar scale. This not only greatly improves the safety of coal resource utilization but also achieves near-zero emissions of solids, liquids, and waste in terms of environmental protection, effectively preventing environmental pollution. The economic benefits are 50% higher than those of traditional coal-to-syngas projects. 　　Wang Chuanmin said that the successful commissioning and continuous stable operation of the industrial demonstration project for the fourth-generation coal in-situ gasification technology at the Tangjiahuigou mining area indicate that this technology now has the foundation for large-scale industrial application. This technology is most suitable for the gasification of coal resources that are not suitable for extraction, such as coal seams buried at depths of over 1000 meters, as well as low-quality coals with high ash and sulfur content and low calorific value, **thereby increasing the utilization rate of coal resources. 　　Preliminary surveys indicate that in the Ordos region of Inner Mongolia alone, the coal reserves at depths of over 1,000 meters amount to around 600 billion tons, with potential reserves approaching one trillion tons. This provides promising prospects for the large-scale industrial application of ISC energy technology. It is reported that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Zhongwei Energy will build an underground coal gasification project in the Ordos region with an annual production capacity of 20 billion cubic meters of syngas. 　　Today, this industrialization project for this “revolutionary” and groundbreaking technology aimed at the safe, efficient, and clean utilization of coal energy has attracted significant attention in the field of coal chemical processing both domestically and internationally. The Ordos Dali Industrial Park, located 10 kilometers away from the Tangjiahuai mining area (hereinafter referred to as “Dali Industrial Park”), is highly eager for the industrialization project of coal underground gasification technology to be carried out there. Fu Feixiong, director of the Park Economic Development Bureau, was filled with enthusiasm as he accompanied the journalists on a visit to the site of the coal underground gasification demonstration project in the Tangjiahui mining area. 　　Fu Feixiong explained that as an important **-level industrial transformation and upgrading demonstration park in Inner Mongolia, Dalu Industrial Park focuses on coal-to-oil, coal-to-methanol, and coal-to-olefins as its main industrial sectors. The current production capacities are 160,000 tons, 2.1 million tons, and 600,000 tons respectively. It is the industrial park in Inner Mongolia’s Yellow River basin that offers the most comprehensive range of modern coal chemical products such as coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefins, coal-to-methanol, and coal-to-ethylene glycol, along with the best infrastructure for their production. The coal chemical enterprises in this park all use coal as raw material and synthetic gasification processes to produce coal chemical products. 　　“At present, the syngas used in our park is produced through surface coal gasification technology, with a production cost of 0.7 to 0.8 yuan per cubic meter, which is nearly twice as high as the cost of underground coal gasification. If we use syngas from underground gasification, the costs for coal chemical enterprises will drop significantly, and their profitability will increase greatly. It can be said that coal underground gasification technology will shape the future of syngas in the coal chemical industry. ”Fu Feixiong told the reporters. 　　20 years ahead of the industry, \"red-brown powder\" dominates the coal-to-oil sector. 11 years ago, a news story from the Dali Industrial Park caused a sensation across China and around the world: China achieved industrial-scale production of its first batch of qualified refined oil products through indirect coal liquefaction. To date, China’s coal-to-oil industry began in this coal chemical industrial park along the Yellow River, and has since expanded to areas such as Ningxia and Xinjiang. 　　Dalu Industrial Park is located in the northeast of Zhungeer Banner, Ordos City, with a planned construction area of 140 square kilometers. Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal-to-Oil Co., Ltd. is located in the southwest corner of the park. 　　Zhang Zhigong, Chairman of Yitai Company, said that as one of the first enterprises to settle in the Dalu Industrial Park, the company’s first-phase project involving an annual production capacity of 160,000 tons of coal-based synthetic oil represents the first production line in China to industrialize the fully independent technology for indirect coal liquefaction. In 2009, this project produced China’s first batch of qualified petroleum products derived from indirect coal liquefaction, generating a output value of 932 million yuan. 　　However, to the journalist’s surprise, the key technology for Indirect Coal Liquefaction for oil production at Yitai Company originated from Zhongke Synthetic Oil Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd., which is located right next door. What was even more unexpected was that the core of this technology is a \"reddish-brown powder\" – an iron-based catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. 　　Zhang Shihe, deputy general manager of Zhongke Synthetic Oil Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company’s parent entity is Zhongke Synthetic Oil Technology Co., Ltd. – a technology company specialized in the research and development as well as engineering support related to coal chemical processes, with a focus on coal indirect liquefaction technology. It was established with investment from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and several enterprises, based on previous research achievements and technical talent teams. It is the only research and development institution in China dedicated to basic research, technology development, engineering design, catalyst production, and industrialization support related to coal liquefaction technology. 　　The reporter learned from Zhongke Synthetic Oil Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd. that coal-to-oil technology is a technique that uses coal as raw material to produce oils and petrochemical products through chemical processing, and it includes two approaches: direct coal liquefaction and indirect coal liquefaction. In coal indirect liquefaction, coal is first gasified and then converted into hydrocarbon fuels through catalytic synthesis; thus, the catalyst becomes key to the industrial production of coal indirect liquefaction. 　　According to Zhang Shihe, coal-to-oil technology originated in the early 20th century, with process research being conducted in countries such as Germany and the United States, but industrial production was never initiated in any of these places. One of the important reasons is high production costs, especially the high cost of catalysts and low efficiency. “The reason our company’s indirect coal liquefaction technology has been put into industrial production is that we have overcome the challenges of high catalyst costs and low efficiency. ”Zhang Shihé said. 　　Currently, the catalyst developed and produced by Sinopec Synthetic Oil Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd. is priced at 150,000 yuan per ton, which is 50,000 yuan cheaper per ton than the imported catalysts previously used in the market. The catalytic efficiency of imported catalysts used in the market was 1:300, meaning that 1 ton of catalyst could facilitate the conversion of 300 tons of oil; whereas the catalysts developed by Zhongke Synthetic Oil enable a high-efficiency conversion ratio of 1:1000. 　　Today, this “small company” with fewer than 350 employees located in the Dali Industrial Park has become a leading enterprise in China for the research and development as well as production of catalysts for coal-to-oil conversion. It is the third company in the world, after South Africa’s SASOL and the Netherlands’ SHELL, to be involved in the research, development, and production of catalysts for large-scale industrial coal-to-oil processes, with an annual production capacity of 12,000 tons of such catalysts. 　　Zhang Shihe said proudly, “These seemingly ordinary ‘red-brown powder’ are the result of the round-the-clock efforts of our company’s research team.” Today, we possess 16 patented technologies in the field of coal indirect liquefaction, with another 14 patents in the application stage. These technologies lead the industry by nearly 20 years and shape the overall landscape of China’s coal-to-oil industry. Currently, the total capacity of coal-to-oil projects across the country is around 10 million tons, of which 7 million tons correspond to coal indirect liquefaction projects that use FTO synthesis iron-based catalysts, while the remaining amount relates to coal direct liquefaction projects. ” 　　Han Tao, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Daliu Industrial Park, said, “Our country is one that has abundant coal but limited oil resources. The development of coal-to-oil technology, especially its core technologies, provides technical support for expanding the sources of liquid fuels and ensuring energy security. It plays a role in driving the development of a modern energy economy, as well as in promoting the clean and efficient use of coal. It is also an important direction for the development of the coal chemical industry in our Daliu Industrial Park.” ” 　　Zhang Zhigong, chairman of Yitai Company, the main operator of the coal indirect liquefaction project in the Dalu Industrial Park, said that thanks to the core technical support provided by Zhongke Synthetic Oil Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd., the company is building a facility with an annual production capacity of 2 million tons of coal indirectly liquefied products. Once operational, this facility will produce 2.1535 million tons of various oils and liquefied petroleum gas each year, generating an annual output value of around 14.61 billion yuan. 　　Production of water purifiers from fly ash fills a gap in China’s market. In the Dali Industrial Park, there is a technology that makes use of the waste material there, high-alumina fly ash, to produce polyaluminum chloride; this technology is known as the “fly ash cleaner”. 　　As a coal chemical industry base, Dalu Industrial Park is not short of coal; therefore, the electricity used in the park comes from coal-fired power plants. While providing power for the industrial park, coal-fired power generation also produces a large amount of fly ash. In the past, this fly ash was both useless and environmentally harmful; it had to be transported by truck to gullies in the Yellow Earth region for disposal, which increased the production costs for power generation companies. 　　The Montebelluna Coal Gangue Thermal Power Plant is the largest thermal power plant in the Dali Industrial Park, with an installed capacity of 2×300 megawatts. It generates 3,000 tons of fly ash per day, which must be transported out using 100 trucks, each with a capacity of 30 tons. 　　Seeing so much fly ash being landfilled as waste, the leaders of Dali Industrial Park could not remain idle; they resolved to make use of this fly ash in various ways and turn waste into treasure. They visited research institutions, universities, and technology companies, seeking advice from various sources and attracting investment from different places, and ultimately brought Inner Mongolia Yongjiang Jiayuan Technology Co., Ltd. into the park. 　　Inside a unassuming three-story building on the south side of the Dali Industrial Park, the reporter met Hou Zongchao, general manager of Inner Mongolia Yongjiang Jiayuan Technology Co., Ltd. This petite middle-aged man told the reporter that the coal resources in the Dali Industrial Park possess the characteristic of co-occurrence with aluminum; the alumina content in the fly ash is as high as 46%-52%, making it a valuable resource for producing polyaluminum chloride. 　　According to Hou Zongchao, the production of polyaluminum chloride in China mainly relies on bauxite as raw material. However, China’s bauxite resources are very limited; therefore, using high-alumina fly ash to produce polyaluminum chloride constitutes an excellent raw material for us. This not only transforms waste into a useful resource and helps reduce production costs, but it also decreases our dependence on bauxite resources. 　　The technology for producing polyaluminum chloride from high-alumina fly ash, developed by Inner Mongolia Yongjiang Jiayuan Technology Co., Ltd., currently holds 11 intellectual property patents that are ahead of those in other parts of the country. Hou Zongchao said excitedly, “These technological innovations fill the gap in China’s use of fly ash for the production of polyaluminum chloride!” As a company specialized in the production of polyaluminum chloride within the Daliu Industrial Park, we have established a production line with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons of polyaluminum chloride. This is the first production line in China to use high-alumina fly ash for the manufacture of polyaluminum chloride. ” 　　The reporter saw in the company’s product display case that polyaluminum chloride is a yellow powder that can be used as a water purification agent for treating industrial water, domestic sewage, and other types of wastewater. In the company’s laboratory, technician Pang Yanlong gave a live demonstration to the reporters. She added aluminum chloride polymer powder to a beaker containing wastewater from a starch factory; in less than two minutes, the originally turbid wastewater gradually became clear, with the sediment at the bottom of the beaker forming a sharp contrast with the clear water on top. 　　“At present, this 100,000-ton polyaluminum chloride production line is in operation, but it is not yet able to handle all of the fly ash in the industrial park. To this end, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we will expand our production capacity to 300,000 tons. ”Hou Zongchao said that Ordos is rich in coal resources; the proven reserves of high-alumina coal in the Jungar coal field alone amount to 26.4 billion tons, accounting for over 70% of China’s total high-alumina coal resources. As an important base for transmitting electricity at ultra-high voltage in China, Jungar Banner is expected to have a thermal power capacity of over 10 million kilowatts by 2022, with annual ash emissions exceeding 6 million tons. 　　“The alumina content in these fly ashes is the same as that in the Daliu Industrial Park; therefore, our company’s technology for producing polyaluminum chloride using high-alumina fly ashes holds great potential for application. ”Hou Zongchao said. 　　At present, in addition to the production of polyaluminum chloride from high-alumina fly ash, there are also several projects for the comprehensive utilization of fly ash in the Dalu Industrial Park. These include an industrial demonstration project for the comprehensive utilization of high-alumina fly ash with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons carried out by Shenhua Zhuneng Resource Comprehensive Development Co., Ltd., as well as a project for the comprehensive utilization of coal chemical slag developed in collaboration with Jilin University by Ordos Huida Technology Co., Ltd. These projects enable the production of various products on an annual basis, including 125,000 tons of alumina, 65,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum, 12.5 tons of gallium, 26,000 tons of water treatment agents, 311 tons of lithium carbonate, 35,000 tons of carbon powder, 20,000 tons of rubber fillers, 25,000 tons of plastic fillers, 10,000 tons of silicon fertilizers and soil conditioners, 500 tons of plastic deodorants, and 10,000 tons of concrete admixtures. 　　Han Tao said that these fly ash utilization projects will make use of all the fly ash in the industrial park to the fullest extent. Meanwhile, the circular industry for the comprehensive utilization of high-alumina fly ash and the development of aluminum material processing industries as part of downstream applications represents another major industrial sector in Daliu Industrial Park. If modern coal chemical sectors such as coal-to-oil, coal-to-methanol, and coal-to-ethylene glycol are added, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Daliu Industrial Park will see an increase in production capacity of 10 million tons. Among these additions, a project for producing 1.2 million tons of coal-derived aromatics will be introduced for the first time, thereby establishing a complete industrial ecosystem for modern coal chemistry. The total industrial output value of the entire park is set to exceed 100 billion yuan, enabling it to officially join the ranks of industrial parks with a production value of over 100 billion yuan.