CGAS technology makes its debut at the China (Anhui) Science and Technology Fair; Sinohydro Gasification’s efforts to advance industrialization draw attention

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CGAS technology made its debut at the China (Anhui) Science and Technology Fair; Zhonghe Gasification is accelerating its industrialization and attracting attention. Author/Source: Zhongke Hefei Gasification Technology Co., Ltd. Date: May 24, 2021. Clicks: 14. Recently, the “Development and Industrialization of Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasification (CGAS) Technology” project carried out by the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was showcased at the 2021 China (Anhui) Science and Technology Innovation Achievements Transformation Fair as one of the five major achievements of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The company responsible for its industrialization, Zhongke Hefei Gasification Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhonghe Gasification”), has drawn significant attention. The rapid development of this project will facilitate carbon emission reductions in the coal chemical industry, which is a major source of emissions in the coal industry chain, thereby helping to achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Accelerating industrialization: Building platforms in the context of \"carbon peak and carbon neutrality\". The coal chemical industry has always been a major source of carbon emissions within the coal industry chain. Especially in China, due to its resource endowments, the chemical industry there relies more on coal, which has a high carbon footprint, as a raw material compared to other countries. Taking ammonia synthesis and methanol as examples, natural gas is the main raw material for the production of both ammonia and methanol in most cases; in China, however, about 80% of ammonia and methanol is produced from coal, which results in a higher carbon intensity in China’s coal-based chemical industry compared to other countries. In 2021, the goals of \"reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality\" were included in a **work report for the first time. At the Global Leaders Climate Summit on April 22, China reiterated its commitment to \"reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.\" Faced with the dual challenges of goals and time, the path toward carbon neutrality transformation needs to be embarked on urgently, with high-carbon-emission industries such as oil and gas and electricity becoming the focus of attention. In the coal chemical industry, gasification technology is the key technology for the clean and efficient conversion and utilization of coal. Since the 1980s, the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been engaged in research and development of technologies for the clean and efficient utilization of coal, conducting systematic studies on circulating fluidized bed technology for the combustion and gasification of coal as well as various fuels and waste materials. Over the past decade, the research institute has successfully developed circulating fluidized bed gasification (CGAS) technology, which effectively addresses the issues associated with traditional gasification methods, such as the limited range of coal types that can be used, high pollution levels, and high costs, thereby helping enterprises to reduce energy consumption and emissions. Taking the ammonia synthesis industry as an example, the energy consumption in the gas chemical process accounts for over 60% of the total energy consumption in the entire production process. Currently, over 40% of ammonia production enterprises in China still use fixed-bed gasification technology; their annual output is approximately 20 million tons. If all these enterprises were to be retrofitted, it would result in an annual reduction of about 10 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. It is worth noting that CGAS technology is currently the only technology in China’s new gasification field to have been industrialized. Its successful industrialization is attributed, on the one hand, to its technological leadership, and on the other hand, to the establishment of an industrialization platform. In 2016, the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics collaborated with Anhui Chaohu Economic Development Zone to establish Zhongke Hefei Gasification Technology Co., Ltd., which serves as the entity responsible for the industrialization of \"circulating fluidized bed gasification technology.\" Zhonghe Gasification holds the core patents for this technology. With the support of the CAS “Hongguang Project”, Zhonghe Gasification has facilitated the rapid industrial application of CGAS technology in the fields of coal-based clean industrial gas and coal-based synthetic ammonia feedstock gas; more than 70 units of this technology have been put into use by over 30 customers in industries such as alumina, metallic magnesium, and casting. Promoting implementation: Establishing multiple pilot industrial demonstration units. CGAS technology boasts significant advantages such as wide adaptability to different coal types, low emissions of waste substances, and low gas production costs, and it has been successfully applied in both coal-to-syngas and industrial gas sectors. By utilizing this technology, Zhonghe Gasification built the first circular fluidized-bed gasification units in China that use anthracite and high-alkali coal as raw materials in Guizhou and Xinjiang, achieving a breakthrough from scratch. It is understood that bituminous coal in Guizhou and high-alkali coal in Xinjiang present significant challenges for gasification. The local ammonia production companies, Guizhou Hongsheng Chemical Co., Ltd. and Xinjiang Yihua Chemical Co., Ltd., are forced to purchase high-quality coal at prices several times higher than those of the local low-quality coal. Moreover, both companies use fixed-bed gasifiers to produce raw gas, which results in high costs, high energy consumption, severe pollution, and low efficiency over the long term. In September 2020, the gasification plant project in Xinjiang Yihua was successfully put into operation. The project utilizes three 60,000 Nm3/h atmospheric-pressure circulating fluidized-bed oxygen-enriched gasifiers to produce syngas, replacing the original 20 atmospheric-pressure fixed-bed oxygen-enriched continuous gasifiers. It is the first circulating fluidized-bed gasification system in China to use high-alkali coal as raw material for syngas production; this system overcomes the problems associated with high-alkali coal, such as its tendency to cause fouling, easy coking, large fluctuations in ash melting point, and poor slurry-forming properties, which made it impossible to use fixed-bed slag, fluidized-bed water coal slurry, or fluidized-bed pulverized coal in gasification processes. As a result, the cost per ton of ammonia was reduced by more than 200 yuan. Meanwhile, this system provides technical and equipment support for the efficient and clean utilization of the large reserves of high-alkali coal in Xinjiang. Image: Site of the gasification unit project at Xinjiang Yihua. In the same year, the first phase of Guizhou Hongsheng Chemical’s project to upgrade its production capacity for synthetic ammonia to 300,000 tons per year was completed successfully – the core equipment, namely a 60,000 Nm3/h circulating fluidized bed gasifier, was brought online. Just one such gasifier was used to replace the original 20 batch-type fixed-bed gasifiers. This setup overcame the issues associated with the low activity and high thermal stability of the local bituminous coal, thereby greatly increasing the level of automation in Hongsheng Chemical’s gasification process. It also eliminated the problem of hazardous waste such as tar and phenol-cyanide wastewater generated by fixed-bed systems, helping the company save energy and reduce costs. Image: Guizhou Hongsheng Chemical’s gas head renovation project. In addition, Zhonghe Gasification has actively responded to the **Belt and Road Initiative** by undertaking the Xiamen Xiangsheng circulating fluidized bed oxygen-enriched gasification project in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The project involves constructing a gas station to support an integrated stainless steel smelting plant in the local area, with an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tons. The plant will feature 8 circular fluidized bed gasifiers, each with a capacity of 80,000 Nm3/h; once completed, it will become the largest circular fluidized bed gasifier system in the global steel industry. CGAS technology makes full use of the high reactivity and good grindability of local lignite, thereby significantly reducing the energy consumption required for its further processing. To date, 3 gasification furnaces have been constructed and put into operation, resolving the noise and pollution issues associated with the previous coal injection process; their performance has been praised by the owners. Leveraging CGAS technology, Zhonghe Gasification has built multiple \"first-of-its-kind\" demonstration projects, enabling the application of this technology in various fields and verifying its strong adaptability to different types of coal. Zhonghe Gasification will continue to explore clean and efficient solutions for the coal chemical industry, improve the utilization rate of fossil fuels, and promote the clean and efficient use of coal. While generating economic benefits for the company, it will also assume its social responsibility in helping to achieve the \"dual carbon\" goals. Accelerating progress: Building a complete industrial chain and expanding application areas. For the fly ash residues generated by coal gasification, the research team has developed two large-scale treatment and resource utilization technologies for fly ash combustion and fly ash gasification. When combined with circulating fluidized bed gasification technology, these methods enable the sequential use of coal, facilitating co-generation of heat and electricity from coal and thus making the most of it. Currently, Zhonghe Gasification has entered into collaborations with companies such as Shandong Rongxin Group Co., Ltd. and Henan Linzhou Fengbao Pipe Industry Co., Ltd. regarding the utilization of gasification fly ash, and related projects are in progress. Building on the aforementioned coal-based solid waste disposal technologies, Zhonghe Gasification will, in line with **development needs, increase its investment in research and development of key and core technologies related to such disposal methods, expand the areas of application, and achieve high-quality utilization of various types of solid waste, thereby contributing to the advancement of the environmental protection industry. In the future, the R&D teams at Zhonghe Gasification and Institute of Engineering Thermophysics will adhere to a \"dual-drive\" strategy. Through cooperation between research institutions and enterprises, they will create fast tracks for linking fundamental applied research with industrialization, facilitate precise integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, accelerate the transformation of research results from samples to products and then to commercial goods, and make full use of these scientific achievements in modernization efforts.