Yulin City Leads the Way in Green Energy Transformation in the Chemical Industry

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Yulin Takes the Lead in the Green Transformation of Its Energy and Chemical Industry Author/Source: Yulin Daily Date: 2022-03-15 Clicks: 19 In recent years, Yulin has focused on high-quality development, aiming at the \"dual carbon\" goals. It has implemented the new development concepts in a comprehensive and accurate manner, giving top priority to the transformation and upgrading of its energy and chemical industry. By relying on technological innovation, the city has continued to explore and foster new drivers for growth, and has planned and promoted a number of high-quality projects that feature strong driving effects, good sustainability, and high overall benefits, thus facilitating the green transformation of this industry. Driven by technological innovation, at around 10 a.m. on November 21, 2021, the 400,000 tons per year ethylene glycol production project of **Energy Group’s Yulin Chemical Plant managed to complete the entire production process successfully, yielding qualified ethylene glycol products. The successful commissioning of this project has set a precedent in China for extending the industry chain of coal-based methanol combined with ethylene glycol production to biodegradable plastics. At 10:00 on November 21, 2021, the 400,000 tons per year ethylene glycol production project of **Energy Group Yulin Chemical successfully completed the entire production process from start to finish, yielding qualified ethylene glycol products. This project utilizes **the group’s own proprietary technology; it was designed and constructed by the same group, with all equipment being domestically produced. In particular, the core unit, a 100,000-ton/year carbonylation reactor, is the largest ethylene glycol carbonylation reactor in operation in China. Construction of the project began in July 2018; it was completed by CCCC in June 2021. On November 16, dinitrogen tetroxide was introduced, and qualified ethylene glycol product was produced within 108 hours. “Unlike traditional coal-based ethylene glycol projects, this project features a larger scale of operation, with the production capacity per line increasing from 50,000 tons to 100,000 tons, thereby enhancing both economic benefits and environmental benefits. It allows for the savings of over 50 million tons of coal, 500,000 tons of steam, and 800,000 tons of water each year. ”Zhang Xiansong, then Party Secretary and Chairman of **Energy Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd., said that once the project was put into operation, it laid the foundation for transitioning to the production of polyglycolic acid-based biodegradable plastics in the future. It held significant demonstrative value and a positive impact on promoting the transformation of the **coal chemical industry toward higher levels of sophistication, diversification, and lower carbon emissions. On September 13 last year, **** pointed out during an inspection of Guoneng Yulin Chemical Industry that the coal chemical industry holds great potential and a bright future. It is necessary to improve the comprehensive utilization efficiency of coal as a raw material for chemical production, promote the high-end, diversified, and low-carbon development of this industry, prioritize scientific and technological innovation as an urgent task, accelerate research on key core technologies, and actively develop coal-based specialty fuels and coal-based biodegradable materials. “The people of Yulin were greatly inspired, and they turned **’s instructions into a driving force to work hard; they successfully completed the project to high standards and achieved successful operation from the very first attempt, thus putting into practice the great principle that ‘socialism is achieved through hard work’. ”Zhang Xiansong said that in the next step, Guoneng Yulin Chemical will continue to focus on transformation and upgrading as well as technological innovation, constantly developing new processes and products in order to achieve the goals of extending, supplementing, and strengthening industrial chains, thus turning the coal chemical industry into a green industry capable of sustainable development. In recent years, Yulin City has relied on innovation as a driving force and projects as a support mechanism to advance its \"12363\" strategy for the upgrading of the coal chemical industry. It has accelerated the strategic adjustment of the energy and chemical industry structure, made continuous breakthroughs in key core technologies, promoted the integrated development of multiple industries, and extended the industrial chains. As a result, it has developed circular industrial chains such as those involving raw coal – semi-coke – coal tar – high-end petroleum products, raw coal – methanol – olefins (aromatics) – synthetic materials, and raw coal – coal liquefaction – fine chemicals. At the same time, Yulin City has also actively implemented a plan to double the number of innovation-driven enterprises; currently, there are 379 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the city, and the output value of high-tech industries has increased by 26%, ranking second in the province in terms of growth rate. A number of **, provincial-level engineering technology research centers, innovation centers, and key laboratories have been established. Efforts have been made to increase openness, supporting various enterprises, universities, and research institutions in setting up R&D facilities or forming innovation alliances. Significant efforts have also been made to attract and train talent for innovation and entrepreneurship in the coal chemical industry, thereby providing an \"intellectual drive\" for the high-quality development of this industry. Green and low-carbon development: lifting, welding… At the Huaqin Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park located in Yuheng Industrial Park, workers are accelerating the progress of the projects. “At present, the main structure of Phase 1 has been fully completed, with completion and operation expected by June this year. ”Yang Yan, the person in charge of Yulin Huaqin New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., said. As a key project introduced by the Yulin High-Tech Zone Management Committee in 2019, the first phase of the Huaqin Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park covers an area of 102 mu and requires an investment of 500 million yuan. Once completed, it will be able to produce 5,000 tons of high-purity hydrogen per year, addressing the shortage of high-purity hydrogen for local chemical enterprises, instrumentation testing facilities, as well as 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It will thus become the first base in Yulin dedicated to the production, storage, and transportation of hydrogen in the hydrogen energy industry. Developing the hydrogen energy industry is an effort by Yulin City to help achieve the goals of \"carbon peak and carbon neutrality,\" as well as to promote adjustments in the energy structure and the transformation and upgrading of industries. In recent years, Yulin City has focused on the goals related to carbon neutrality, increasing policy support in this regard. It has made efforts to develop new industries such as new materials, intelligent unmanned systems, hydrogen energy, and modern logistics. The city has introduced the world’s first long-distance drone freight delivery route, and the Intelligent Unmanned Systems Industrial Park in Yulin High-Tech Zone was opened. It was also designated as a **-level pilot zone for civilian unmanned aerial vehicles, thereby accelerating progress toward green and low-carbon development. According to statistics, the added value of strategic emerging industries in Yulin City has been growing at an average annual rate of 9%. Leveraging its vast opportunities in the field of carbon neutrality, Yulin City seizes these opportunities to focus on developing industries related to energy-saving and environmental protection technologies, such as high-efficiency motors, water pumps, and equipment for the comprehensive utilization of solid waste ； Develop the equipment manufacturing industry for carbon dioxide capture and purification, including wash towers, absorption towers, supergravity desorption units, and purification devices ； Develop the equipment manufacturing industry for large-capacity storage facilities, pipelines, compressors, heat exchangers, etc., around new technologies such as carbon dioxide flooding, gas displacement, and saline layer sequestration ； Develop the industry of new technologies and equipment for the resource utilization of carbon dioxide, focusing on new carbon-neutral technologies such as \"liquid sunlight,\" \"production of methanol from high-temperature water + carbon dioxide,\" and \"production of calcium carbonate from metallic magnesium slag + carbon dioxide.\" ； Focusing on carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization, five industrial development chains for carbon neutrality in the manufacturing sector have been developed, including digital intelligent monitoring networks and carbon dioxide monitoring and measurement systems. In addition, Yulin City is resolutely curbing the uncontrolled development of projects related to high emissions, high energy consumption, and resource-intensive industries. It is promoting process reengineering and energy-saving and emission-reduction technological upgrades with the aim of reducing energy consumption per unit of industrial output value. Thirty-six enterprises that were found to have problems through self-inspections were ordered to suspend operations for rectification, and more than 40 such projects with a total investment of over 700 billion yuan will be reduced under the 14th Five-Year Plan. Mechanisms and systems exert pressure in this regard. As a typical resource-based city, although Yulin is rich in energy and mineral resources, issues arising from a single industrial structure and an extensive model of energy exploitation are becoming increasingly apparent, leading to persistent concerns regarding the green and sustainable development of this resource-based city. To break out of this predicament, Yulin has already made its choices. Low-carbon development of high-carbon cities. Yulin City uses the \"dual control\" approach to drive industrial structure adjustment, regarding energy conservation and consumption reduction as the top priority in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality. It has established a energy use budget management system, explored an energy use rights trading system, and accelerated the development of an energy use rights trading market, aiming to build such a center in Yulin that can serve the entire province as well as the Northwest region. Carry out cleanup and rectification of existing projects; those that do not comply with industrial policies and energy consumption limits should be shut down immediately for rectification ； For existing projects that were constructed without prior approval for energy-saving reviews or whose construction does not comply with the approved plans, those that have already been completed and put into operation are ordered to cease operations immediately for rectification, while projects under construction are halted right away for similar purposes. Measures such as process optimization, energy-saving upgrades, and improvements in energy efficiency are employed to reduce the energy consumption of these existing projects. At the same time, to accelerate the improvement of the intelligence level in energy conservation management, Yulin City has established a smart energy management system that covers the entire city, improved the energy metering system, and encouraged the use of certification methods to enhance energy conservation management. Strengthen the capacity for energy conservation monitoring, improve the energy conservation monitoring systems at the municipal and county levels, establish inter-departmental coordination mechanisms, and make comprehensive use of measures such as administrative penalties, credit supervision, and green electricity pricing to enhance the coercive power of energy conservation monitoring and urge key energy-consuming entities to improve their energy efficiency.