World-class coal-based olefin projects are advancing; see how Baofeng and Hengli aim to reverse industry losses

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This post was last edited by qy576100527 on 2021-3-13 at 18:28. On March 7, 2021, Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd. announced its intention to use its subsidiary Inner Mongolia Baofeng Coal-based New Materials Co., Ltd. as the investment entity to build a demonstration project for coal-to-olefins production with an annual capacity of 4×1000,000 tons in the Tuk Industrial Zone of the Sulihe Economic Development Zone in Wushen Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The project is estimated to require an investment of around 67.3 billion yuan, with a land area of 594.4 hectares. It will be constructed in two phases: Phase 1 will have an annual production capacity of 2.6 million tons, while Phase 2 will have an annual production capacity of 1.4 million tons. The DMTO third-generation technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics will be used in this project. The main products are polyethylene and polypropylene, while by-products include sulfur, fuel oil, heavy C4, C5+, MTBE, etc. The overall plan for this project has been approved by the Development and Reform Commission and the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with the goal of completing its construction by the end of 2023. The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 2.6 million tons per year, has also been approved. According to the announcement, the project has been designated as a key demonstration project among the four modern coal chemical industry demonstration zones outlined in the \"Plan for the Innovative Development of the Modern Coal Chemical Industry\" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The relevant preliminary approval documents have already been obtained; what is still needed is approval from the environmental protection authorities, and the application is currently under submission. The coal chemical industry as a whole was in the red, and Inner Mongolia stopped approving new projects in this sector. In 2020, the petrochemical industry faced unprecedented challenges and pressures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices. Its total revenue for that year amounted to 11.08 trillion yuan; among this, revenue from coal chemical products declined by 14.7% on a year-on-year basis. The industry incurred losses of 1.94 billion yuan that year, with these losses increasing by nearly 1.1 billion yuan compared to previous years. Recently, Inner Mongolia has also proposed that, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, no new modern coal chemical projects should be approved in principle. Public reports show that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Inner Mongolia faced significant challenges in terms of energy consumption control; the lessons learned from this situation were profound. The energy consumption per unit of GDP in the region increased sharply, and the increase in energy consumption far exceeded the allowed limits, placing the region at the bottom of the country in terms of these two indicators. The Development and Reform Commission of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a notice calling for public feedback on the \"Several Guarantee Measures to Ensure the Achievement of the Energy Consumption Control Targets during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (Draft for Comment)\“. The draft proposes to restrict the production capacity in energy-intensive industries; with the exception of modern coal chemical projects that are part of the planned development strategy or those aimed at strengthening existing industrial chains in the autonomous region, no new modern coal chemical projects should be approved during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Reducing energy consumption and achieving economic growth: efforts are being made in the field of coal-based olefins. At present, there is still a shortfall of over 20 million tons per year in China’s olefin production capacity. While developing projects based on coal-based olefins, various companies are seeking to achieve economic growth and reduce energy consumption by choosing products with higher added value, expanding downstream operations, and fostering circular economy models in their industrial chains. Differentiated, high-value-added products: When planning coal-to-olefins projects, it is advisable to choose differentiated, high-end products such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, which have a large supply-demand gap in the domestic market and offer high added value. Once the 500,000 tons per year coal-based olefins production project and the 500,000 tons per year C2-C5 comprehensive utilization-based olefins production project of Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd. are completed, an additional 1 million tons of polyolefin production capacity will be added each year. Baofeng Energy’s annual polyolefin production capacity will rise to 2.2 million tons, while its annual methanol production capacity will increase to 6.4 million tons, thereby enhancing its advantages in terms of integration and scale. The 500,000 tons per year olefins project includes a high-capacity production facility of 250,000 tons per year for EVA; the products are widely used in fields such as foam materials, wires and cables, functional greenhouse films, and photovoltaic encapsulation films. At present, the domestic reliance on imported EVA products is as high as 60%; once the project is put into operation, the plant with an annual production capacity of 250,000 tons will also set a new record for the largest EVA production facility in the western region. The 500,000 tons per year C2-C5 comprehensive utilization project for olefin production uses C2-C5 compounds, methane, and other products generated as by-products from the company’s first, second, and third phases of coal-based olefin production as raw materials. These materials are subjected to recovery and cracking processes to produce high-quality polyolefin products, thereby increasing their value and price and further improving environmental emission standards. The completion and improvement project for the first phase of Shaanxi Yanchang China Coal Yulin Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. (Yanchang Jingbian Phase II project) involves an investment of 14.413 billion yuan. Using coal and natural gas as raw materials, this project aims to build an integrated facility capable of producing 1.8 million tons per year of methanol, 600,000 tons per year of methanol-to-olefins products, 400,000 tons per year of polypropylene, and 300,000 tons per year of low-density polyethylene/ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (LDPE/EVA). Integrated development downstream – The Hengli (Yulin) Coal Chemical Integration Industrial Base is planned to have a total investment of 135 billion yuan and cover an area of approximately 32,000 mu. It focuses on the construction of the Hengli (Yulin) Coal Chemical Industry Park and the Hengli (Yulin) Textile New Materials Industry Park. For the first time in this industry, it achieves a deep integration of processes ranging from coal-to-olefins and coal-to-aromatics to the production of fine chemicals, PTA, polyester, chemical fibers, and textile new materials. The project will make full use of Yulin’s advantages in coal resources, focusing on the construction of coal mines, coal gasification facilities, as well as projects related to methanol, olefins, chemicals, fine chemicals, and new materials. It will also include the construction of thermal power plants, air separation units, and other utility facilities, with all downstream products being processed locally. Once the project is fully operational, it will process 20 million tons of raw coal per year, enabling the production of 9 million tons of fine chemical products, polyester fibers, and textile products, of which around 5 million tons will be high-end chemical products and new material products. The Yushen coal-based aromatics project of Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum is located in the YuHeng Industrial Park in Shaanxi, with an estimated total investment of 51.85 billion yuan. Using coal resources as raw materials, a coal-based aromatic hydrocarbons industry chain and an olefin industry chain are established, with partial material integration between these two chains to enhance the overall economic efficiency of the project. Among them, the construction of the aromatic hydrocarbons industry chain involves coal-based aromatic hydrocarbons projects centered on 1 million tons per year of MTA, with downstream applications in polyester chips ； The olefin industry chain is centered around 600,000 tons per year of MTO, which is used to produce high-density polyethylene and high-impact polypropylene; its downstream applications extend to acrylics and SAP ； At the same time, arene coupling is used to produce high-value styrene products. Differentiated utilization of coal: Such utilization not only enables a significant reduction in energy consumption throughout the entire process, but also allows for the maximum exploitation of the chemical and thermal energy contained in coal, thereby enabling the production of a wide variety of chemical products and carbon-based materials. The Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Project, which focuses on the differentiated utilization of coal to produce new chemical materials, is currently the largest coal chemical project under construction in the world. The total investment in this project amounts to 126.2 billion yuan, and it is capable of processing over 24 million tons of coal per year. Through the systematic integration of a range of advanced processing technologies such as coal pyrolysis and gasification, various products including polyolefins, polyesters, polycarbonates, polystyrene, and acrylates are produced. “Integrate the “coal-coke-chemicals” cycle to build an industrial chain for a circular economy based on the integrated development of this cycle. The 5 million tons per year coal coking integrated production project of Guangju New Materials, operated by Inner Mongolia Guangna Coal Industry Group Co., Ltd., is located in the Low-Carbon Industrial Park of Wuhai Economic Development Zone in Inner Mongolia. An investment of 13.268 billion yuan is planned for the construction of a facility capable of producing 5 million tons per year of coal coke, along with 600,000 tons per year of methanol, 200,000 tons per year of liquid ammonia, and 600,000 tons per year of olefins from methanol. Additionally, utility systems and auxiliary production facilities necessary for these projects will also be built. The project will be constructed with carbonization chambers of 6.25 meters in size, complete with all necessary facilities for by-product recovery and coke dry quenching systems. Advanced energy-saving technologies such as automatic heating systems, waste heat recovery from rising pipes, and high-power frequency conversion will be employed in the energy-efficient design of the process systems. This ensures complete closed-system storage and transportation of coal and coke, dust removal under slight negative pressure, as well as the collection and treatment of waste gases emitted from the coke ovens.