Coal-to-gas technology version 3.0 — “Catalytic coal gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification technologies” are set to undergo industrial demonstration production

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Coal-to-gas technology version 3.0 – “Coal catalytic gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification technologies” are about to enter industrial demonstration production. Author/Source: Gasification World. Date: 2022-05-01. Clicks: 13. By feeding pulverized coal with a calorific value of 4,500 kcal into the production line and using a single \"start button\", it is possible to produce natural gas, methane, aromatic hydrocarbons, and other products, achieving \"direct conversion\" of coal into oil and gas in one step. At Xinneng Energy Co., Ltd. in the Dalat Economic Development Zone, Version 3.0 of the coal-to-gas technology – namely \"coal catalytic gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification technologies\" – is about to enter industrial pilot production. “Our technology can be regarded as the ‘ceiling’ of domestic technologies for coal-to-natural gas production. ”Wu Heng, director of the Enterprise Catalytic Gasification Center, said. Where does the confidence behind coal-to-gas production as a new energy source come from? Its keyword is innovation. When it comes to innovation, New Energy Co., Ltd. must be taken under the microscope. New Energy Co., Ltd., which is part of SNOW Gas Co., Ltd., is one of the core enterprises of the SNOW Group and also one of the largest energy distribution companies in China. Starting out 25 years ago with the distribution of gas cylinders, Newao Group realized the underlying challenges behind its booming urban gas business: the company lacked its own gas supply and was vulnerable to constraints imposed by upstream resources. It was necessary for the group to extend itself further up the value chain. However, traditional natural gas production methods caused significant pollution; therefore, it was essential to achieve cleaner utilization of coal in order to gain a competitive advantage in the energy industry. After clarifying its development direction, SNOW Group established a \"Key Laboratory for Coal-Based Low-Carbon Energy.\" Over the course of a decade, and with investments of several billion yuan, the group developed independent technologies such as coal catalytic gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification. It received support from various programs including the Science and Technology Support Program, the 973 Program, and international cooperation projects, and has filed more than 240 patents. The value of technology lies in its application. Within the New Energy Co., Ltd., the “high-end” innovative achievements have been further improved and are now ready to be put into use. “The pilot plant for coal hydrogenation gasification has completed its technical testing successfully, with coal feeding trials scheduled to take place in mid-May. ”At this point, Wu Heng specifically emphasized the importance of this topic by providing a definition of \"industrial demonstration\": coal hydrogenation technology goes through an innovative industrialization process that involves stages from pilot tests to pilot-scale operations and finally to industrial demonstration. The production facilities operated by SNOW Gas Co., Ltd. in other regions of China are at the pilot scale, with a processing capacity of 400 tons of coal per day. In contrast, the coal hydrogenation industrial demonstration facility operated by Xinneng Energy Co., Ltd. has a processing capacity of 1,500 tons of coal per day, and it represents the company’s first such demonstration facility nationwide. Near the hydrogenation gasifier, which is the \"heart\" of the production line, Wu Heng gave another lecture on \"chemistry.\" \"In hydrogenation gasification, the key lies in the hydrogenation gasification unit, which is also the core of our technological innovations. This process consists of nine stages: high-pressure hydrogenous fluid transport of pulverized coal, hydrogenation gasification, cooling and dust removal, and semicoke slurry preparation. The main product produced is natural gas.\" ； The hydrogen added reacts with carbon to produce methane; our by-products are methane and aromatic hydrocarbon oils, etc. Since no oxygen is added, our production process does not generate waste gases such as carbon dioxide. ” With sufficient articles on technological innovation, the outcome is naturally a profitable situation. In terms of economic benefits, the biggest advantage of coal catalytic gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification technologies is that they are not selective regarding the type of coal used. 2.2 tons of low-quality pulverized coal, which is relatively inexpensive, can be used to produce 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas. With a coal price of around 500 yuan per ton and a price of about 2 yuan per cubic meter for natural gas, a gross profit of nearly 1,000 yuan can be achieved. In addition, by-products such as methane and oils can also generate profits; the conversion rate of oil from one ton of coal is 3%, meaning that 33 tons of coal can be used to produce one ton of crude pyrene, which is worth 200,000 yuan. ”Wu Heng said. According to corporate calculations, coal catalytic gasification technology can reduce costs by 1/4 and improve energy conversion efficiency by about 10%. In terms of ecological benefits, China is characterized by abundant coal, limited oil, and scarce gas. Under the pressure of the \"dual carbon\" goals, it is necessary for enterprises to reduce both their energy consumption and carbon emissions. Coal catalytic gasification and coal hydrogenation gasification technologies help achieve carbon reduction by minimizing pollutants and improving efficiency. Innovation can turn crises into opportunities. The enterprise’s \"two ends with one middle\" production process allows it to maintain its natural gas production capacity and operate at full capacity when necessary; at the same time, it can also produce methanol and methane, which have higher added value, thereby improving the economic efficiency of the project. Adjustments based on market conditions can help coal-to-gas projects become profitable.