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The world’s first industrial project for producing aromatics from CO2 has been launched! Author/Source: Coal-based New Materials Date: 2021-10-19 Clicks: 7 Recently, the Environmental Protection Bureau of Ordos City in Inner Mongolia plans to issue its approval decision on the \"Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the Industrial Pilot Project of Producing Aromatics from Carbon Dioxide/Syngas at Inner Mongolia JiuTai Xinyuan New Materials Co., Ltd.\" and make it public. Inner Mongolia Jiutai Xinyuan New Materials Co., Ltd. is a core subsidiary of the Jiutai Group. It was established on November 1, 2019, with its registered address in Dalu New Area, Jungar Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The company plans to construct an industrial pilot project for the production of aromatics from carbon dioxide and syngas in the Coal Chemical Industry Park located in Dalu New Area, Jungar Banner, Ordos City. It is reported that the carbon dioxide/syngas feed gas for this project comes from the low-temperature methanol washing unit of Inner Mongolia JiuTai New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. The main end products are 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene (tetramethyltoluene) and crude hydrogen. This project makes full use of the exhaust gas with a high carbon dioxide content generated by the low-temperature methanol washing process, thereby enabling the resource utilization of carbon dioxide and directly reducing carbon emissions. Moreover, the project employs advanced production technologies, consumes minimal resources, and generates low levels of “three wastes” emissions; it thus serves as a model for promoting industrial upgrading. After the industrial test project is operational, if its technical viability is proven, an environmental impact assessment will be conducted again before it proceeds to industrial production. On March 22, 2021, the kick-off meeting for Jiutai Group’s 10,000-ton-per-year industrial pilot project for converting carbon dioxide into aromatics was held at Chengda Company. Cui Lianguo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the group, Gan Kejian, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of China Chengda Engineering Co., Ltd., Wei Fei, a professor at Tsinghua University, and all members of the tripartite project team attended the meeting. The industrial pilot project for producing aromatics from carbon dioxide on a ten-thousand-ton scale was jointly developed, designed, and constructed by Inner Mongolia Jiutai Group, China Chengda, and Tsinghua University. It is the world’s first facility for producing aromatics from carbon dioxide. Image: In 2020, Jutai Group and Tsinghua University jointly submitted an application for a major special project in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region titled \"Research on Key Technologies for Converting Tons of Carbon Dioxide into Aromatics.\" The application passed the expert review in June; the project was approved in August. Work on preparing the project plan and budget began in September, and these were approved in November. On November 27, a meeting was held to launch the project and to discuss the implementation plan with experts. ——The technology for producing aromatics from carbon dioxide and syngas developed by Tsinghua University. The Fluidized Syngas One-Step Aromatics Production (FSTA) technology, developed by a Tsinghua University research team, enables the direct production of aromatics using syngas with a low hydrogen-to-carbon ratio. This technology not only ensures better atom economy but also facilitates the formation of an industrial chain between coal chemical raw materials and products, thereby promoting integrated development across the upstream and downstream sectors. The new catalyst developed by the team, under conditions of 250–400°C and 2–5 MPa, overcomes the limitations of the original ASF distribution by introducing an aromatic pool, resulting in a significant increase in CO conversion rate; the hydrocarbon selectivity for total aromatics reached 83.3%. In the one-step synthesis of aromatics from syngas, the syngas used can also be replaced by carbon dioxide through technical means. Industrial pilot project for producing aromatics from carbon dioxide/syngas. Proposed location: Dalu Industrial Park, Zhungeer Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Production scale: The project will utilize the carbon dioxide/syngas process developed by Tsinghua University to produce 9,722.8656 tons per year of 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene, as well as 12,755.52 tons per year (49.4542 million Nm3/year) of crude hydrogen. This project involves two production conditions. Under Condition 1, the feed gas consists of carbon dioxide and syngas; the operating hours amount to 1,440 hours (60 days) ； Operating condition 2: The feed gas is syngas, with an operating time of 7,200 hours (300 days). The total investment amounts to 136.51 million yuan, of which 9.555 million yuan is allocated to environmental protection efforts, accounting for 7.0% of the total investment. The project consists of the main structure, utility systems, storage and transportation facilities, auxiliary structures, environmental protection measures, and supporting facilities. Main project: Operating condition 1 (feedstock: carbon dioxide and syngas) and operating condition 2 (feedstock: syngas). This is a pilot project; under operating condition 1, it will run for 1,440 hours, while under operating condition 2, it will run for 7,200 hours. Upon successful completion of the tests as expected, a new application will be submitted to proceed with industrial-scale production. Each operating condition comprises five sections: the feed gas pretreatment section, the reaction section, the quench and recycle gas compression section, the aromatic distillation section, and the crystallization and separation section. For both operating conditions, a separate set of process equipment is used in the feed gas pretreatment section; meanwhile, a single set of process equipment is shared among the reaction section, the quench and recycle gas compression section, the aromatic distillation section, and the crystallization and separation section.