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Digitalization makes chemical production smarter – Part 3 of a series on high-quality projects in Shaanxi that drive the industry’s sustainable development. Author/Source: Sinochem New Network. Date: April 27, 2022. Clicks: 12. These days, the Information Management Department of China Coal Yulin Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. has been working hard on the preparatory work for an intelligent inspection system across the entire plant; construction of this project is expected to begin in June. “Digital transformation is an inevitable choice for the high-quality development of the coal chemical industry; we must vigorously promote the deep integration of production technologies with digital technologies. ”Li Junjie, general manager of China Coal Yulin Energy Chemical Company, said. As the first pilot enterprise for intelligent manufacturing in the coal chemical industry, this company has seen a continuous improvement in production efficiency through digital transformation and intelligent applications; it has also achieved significant savings in energy use and reduced waste. It was the first in this industry to optimize energy consumption throughout the entire process as well as to control pollutants at every stage. Last April, they were identified by the Ministry of Emergency Management as part of the first batch of pilot projects for \"Industrial Internet + safe production in the chemical industry.\" The industrial Internet platform for intelligent inspection of the company’s gasification units was recognized by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology as a model digital application scenario in 2021, and the company’s digital brand is gaining increasing influence within the industry. Having experienced the benefits of automation, China Coal Yulin Energy Chemical Company plans to make extensive use of intelligent technologies in the second phase of its coal deep-processing project, which is set to begin construction this year. According to a responsible person from the company’s Information Management Department, building on the pilot projects for intelligent inspections of the gasification units, they plan to implement such intelligent inspection systems throughout the entire plant. By utilizing 5G dedicated networks, digital twin technology, wireless sensing technologies, as well as advanced big data algorithms, mechanistic models, and AR (augmented reality) applications, they aim to make production operations more efficient and intelligent. During the interviews, the reporter learned that other key projects under construction in Shaanxi also start with high standards, utilizing a large number of cutting-edge intelligent technologies to foster innovative development. The Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. of Shaanxi Coal Group, which is developing the world’s largest coal chemical project – a demonstration project for the use of coal in various ways to produce new chemical materials – makes full use of digital technologies. It employs 5G, big data, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to create 5G+industrial internet application scenarios, thereby facilitating the integrated development of the digital economy and modern coal chemistry. At present, the 24 5G base stations planned for the entire facility have been largely built, and the digital delivery processes for the preliminary and detailed design stages have also been completed; it is expected to become the largest digital delivery platform in China. In December 2021, the Joint Innovation Laboratory for 5G Applications in the chemical industry was established at Shaanxi Coal Yulin Chemical. This laboratory was established through a partnership between Yulin Chemical, the Comprehensive Technical and Economic Research Institute for Machinery Industry Instruments, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. It aims to integrate next-generation information technologies represented by 5G with the chemical industry. Using Yulin Chemical as a pilot site, it will develop cost-effective 5G application solutions that can be replicated and scaled up across the industry, while also establishing standards for 5G applications in this sector. Shaanxi Jintai Chlor-Alkali Shenmu Chemical Co., Ltd. is working on an industrial demonstration project that utilizes innovative environmental protection technologies for the production of 600,000 tons per year of high-performance resins and related facilities. The company is also investing heavily in the development of intelligent factories, with a forward-looking planning approach, aiming to become the first chlor-alkali enterprise in China to adopt \"5G + industrial Internet intelligence\" technologies. “Following the principles of \"safety and environmental protection, efficiency and intelligence, as well as energy conservation and carbon reduction,\" we adhere to top-level design, phased implementation, and focusing on key areas first. By using information technology components such as cloud data centers, industrial internet platforms, big data, 5G networks, and smart manufacturing, we integrate a range of the most advanced technologies available both domestically and internationally, thereby achieving automation in device operation, visualization in handling processes, digitization of information, networking in management, integration of data, and intelligent maintenance. ”Liang Yinxiang, the company’s deputy general manager, told reporters. “Upon completion of the project, several tracks and camera devices will be installed in the production units and power centers to ensure complete coverage with no blind spots. By using robotic inspections to replace manual workers, operation without human presence is achieved; compared to companies of similar scale, this approach allows for the reduction of over 500 employees, while also significantly lowering safety risks. ”Liang Yinxiang added. Fu Xiangsheng, vice president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said at the seminar on 5G applications in the chemical industry and the inauguration ceremony of the joint innovation laboratory that accelerating intelligence and digital transformation is a trend in the development of the petrochemical industry. Enterprises across the industry should focus on areas such as production and operation, equipment management, safety and environmental protection, and supply chain coordination, overcome a number of key core technologies, carry out pilot projects for smart factories and intelligent chemical industrial parks, and further enhance their innovation capabilities.