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“The “Space Furnace” has broken another world record! 485 Days of Continuous Operation / Author/Source: Gasification World / Date: 2022-11-24 / Clicks: 21 The “Space Furnace” designed and manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology has operated continuously for 485 days, setting a world record for the fifth time. The “space furnace” device that set a world record for operating time this time is located at the Anhui Haoyuan project. To date, it has achieved a maximum continuous operating time of 485 days under full load, setting a new world record for the continuous operation time (Class A) of gas flow bed gasification technology. “The “Space Furnace”, whose full name is Space Pulverized Coal Pressurized Gasification Furnace, was designed and developed by Aerospace Changzheng Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. affiliated with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (referred to as “Aerospace Engineering Company”). By building on China’s expertise in the research, development, production, and testing of combustion, heat transfer, and special pumps and valves technologies related to launch vehicles and liquid rocket engines, this system incorporates a pulverized coal pressurized gasification technology for which China holds complete independent intellectual property rights, thereby breaking the foreign technological monopoly. Since the successful ignition and coal feeding of the first demonstration project’s \"Spacecraft No. 1 Furnace\" in October 2008, the operating time of this facility has continued to increase, setting new records time after time. The first record was set in 2012, during the second phase of the project in Linquan, Anhui, where the \"space furnace\" operated continuously for 215 days, setting a world record for the longest continuous operation time using world-leading fluidized bed gasification technology (Grade A). Second record-breaking achievement: In 2016, the first phase of the Anhui Haoyuan project operated continuously for 320 days, setting this world record for the second time. Third record-breaking achievement: Between 2017 and 2018, at the Manas project in Xinjiang, the \"space furnace\" operated continuously for 407 days, breaking the world record for the third time. Fourth record-breaking achievement: Between 2018 and 2019, the Phase I project of Anhui Haoyuan operated continuously for 467.5 days, setting a world record for the fourth time. Fifth record broken: As of 2022, the Phase I project of Anhui Haoyuan had operated continuously for 485 days, setting a world record for the fifth time. For large chemical companies, the process of shutting down facilities for maintenance and then restarting them typically takes several weeks to several months, and every day of shutdown results in economic losses of millions of yuan. Therefore, for the gasification unit that serves as the core of a chemical plant – the space furnace – a longer period of continuous operation translates into higher production volumes and greater profits, thereby bringing more economic benefits to the enterprise. The clean and efficient utilization of coal is an important approach to promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of energy and achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The aerospace engineering company adheres to independent innovation and focuses on the clean and efficient utilization of coal. “The \"space furnace\" leads the industry’s technological development in terms of larger scale, higher pressure, and greater intelligence, continuously enhancing China’s capacity for independent energy security. Taking China’s first ultra-large-scale space furnace with a daily coal processing capacity of 3,500 tons as an example, as of September 15, 2022, the facility had been in operation for 327 days. During this period, it demonstrated great flexibility in gasification operations, low comprehensive energy consumption, and emissions that met regulatory standards, thereby ensuring safe and stable operation. This device can reduce coal consumption by 50,000 tons in terms of equivalent standard coal per year, as well as carbon dioxide emissions by 130,000 tons. It generates an economic benefit of 300 million yuan for enterprises; by reducing production costs, it also provides strong support for the sustainable, energy-efficient, and low-carbon development of China’s coal chemical industry. Review of the development of space furnaces: The “space program” overcame the challenges in coal gasification. Coal gasification technology is an important method for the clean and efficient utilization of coal, and it also serves as a key driver for the development of the coal chemical industry. Until the beginning of this century, advanced pressurized coal gasification technology was monopolized by foreign companies. At that time, this technology had already been introduced in a certain number of large-scale domestic nitrogen fertilizer and methanol manufacturers. However, due to the high costs of foreign technology patents, technical complexity, large investment requirements for equipment, and high maintenance expenses, it is difficult for ordinary small and medium-sized enterprises to bear these costs, which severely restricts the development of China’s coal chemical industry. Driven by industrial needs, aerospace engineering has leveraged China’s aerospace industry’s strengths in the research, development, production, and testing of launch vehicles and liquid rocket engines to create a space coal gasification technology with entirely independent intellectual property rights in China, thereby breaking the foreign technological monopoly. The successful application of coal gasification technologies, represented by the space coal pressurized gasification technology, has driven the rapid development of China’s modern coal chemical industry. In order to put the aerospace pressurized coal gasification technology into practical use as soon as possible, in 2005 and 2006, Aerospace Engineering signed cooperation agreements with Puyang Methanol Plant and Anhui Linquan Chemical Co., Ltd., respectively; construction of the two demonstration projects commenced one after another. After two years of effort, on October 13, 2008, the space coal gasification furnace in Henan Puyang’s chemical plant, designed for an annual production of 150,000 tons of methanol, successfully processed coal for the first time. On October 31 of the same year, the renovation project to adjust the raw material production process for synthetic ammonia at Anhui Linquan Chemical, with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons, was put into trial operation; the trial run was successful on the first attempt, and qualified products were produced on November 3 of the same year. The successful development of the space furnace has opened up new prospects for China’s coal chemical industry, and it is regarded as the \"Shenzhou VII\" that represents the application of space technology in industrial fields. The successful commissioning of the two demonstration projects represents an important step forward in advancing space gasification technology for aerospace applications toward industrialization. In October 2012, China’s first 2,000-ton-class space furnace, developed independently by the aerospace engineering sector, was successfully ignited and fed with coal during the million-ton ammonia production project of Henan Jinkai Chemical Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., thereby enabling the operation of the entire gasification system. It was the largest domestic coal powder pressurized gasification unit of its time. The successful operation of this device marks another significant step forward for China in the development of large-scale pressurized coal gasification technology and the manufacturing of key equipment. Many of its technical achievements have filled gaps in domestic capabilities, placing its overall technology at the international leading level. With the commissioning of the first 2,000-ton-class space furnace, the mature space powder gasification technology gained a competitive market advantage. It can be said that wherever coal chemical industries exist in our country, space furnaces are also present. Meanwhile, in the face of the challenges posed by competition from new technologies, aerospace engineering has begun researching a new generation of gasification technologies, moving toward larger scale, higher pressure, and greater intelligence, thereby guiding the technological development direction of the industry. In 2017, Aerospace Engineering took on the development work for a **key research and development project: the development and demonstration of large-scale dry coal powder fluidized bed gasification technology**. This project has developed a large-scale 6.5 MPa dry coal powder gasification technology capable of processing 3,500 tons of coal per day; it has led to the creation of large gasification furnaces and their key components, as well as the establishment of new methods and key technologies for preventing ash accumulation in large-scale dry coal powder gasification processes, resulting in a complete set of technical solutions. The space furnace with a daily coal feeding capacity of 3,500 tons offers advantages such as higher production volume, better technical specifications, lower initial investment, reduced operating costs, and improved environmental performance; it represents the advanced direction of gasification technology in modern coal chemical industry. In August 2017, the complete set of technology for fluidized-bed gasification with a daily coal processing capacity of 3,500 tons of dry coal powder began industrial demonstration at Shandong Runyin Biochemical Co., Ltd. On September 25, 2021, the unit was put into operation for trial runs, the entire process was operational, and qualified ammonia synthesis products were produced. As of September 15, 2022, the unit had been in operation for a total of 327 days. During this period, the gasification unit demonstrated good operational flexibility, low comprehensive energy consumption, and emissions that met regulatory standards, ensuring safe and stable operation. The facility can reduce coal consumption by 50,000 tons in terms of equivalent standard coal per year, as well as cut carbon dioxide emissions by 130,000 tons. This helps to lower the production costs of synthetic ammonia, generating an annual benefit of 300 million yuan for the enterprise. In February 2022, \"large-scale advanced gasification using semi/full waste-heat recovery processes\" was included by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the \"Guidelines for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformations in Key Sectors of High-Energy-Consuming Industries (2022 Edition)\") as a green technology. This approach meets the needs associated with the larger-scale development of coal chemical production, helps to reduce energy consumption and emissions in gasification systems, promotes the sustainable development of the coal chemical industry, and provides strong support for the industry’s progress toward energy efficiency, reduced consumption, and lower carbon emissions. At present, the core equipment for aerospace engineering – gasification furnaces, burners, and special valves – come in a range of models, enabling product standardization and serialization. The gasification furnaces and burners with independent intellectual property rights can be freely combined according to requirements in terms of pressure, scale, and process, with all of these core devices being domestically produced. In 2022, the Aerospace Environmental Protection Engineering Technology Research Institute was established in Taizhou, Zhejiang. “The biggest advantage of aerospace furnaces is that the raw coal is thoroughly studied first before the furnace design is carried out; this is the key to success.” ”Wang Xianzheng, former president of the China Coal Industry Association, said. Aerospace Engineering has been committed to the research and development of advanced gasification technologies with independent intellectual property rights that are suited to the characteristics of China’s coal resources. It has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the composition and quality traits of China’s coal resources, and formulated a technical development plan focusing on bituminous coal, lignite, and anthracite as raw materials for gasification. In light of the gasification characteristics of different coal types, aerospace engineering has carried out extensive research, obtaining comprehensive data on aspects such as ash fusion temperature, ash viscosity, grindability index, pyrolysis properties, and combustion experiments, as well as parameters related to reaction kinetics. Based on this information, powder gasification solutions suitable for various coal types have been developed. At the same time, based on the gasification characteristics of different types of coal, lignite and anthracite gasifiers, burners, as well as related process technologies were successfully developed and applied in the Sinochem Jilin Changshan project and the Shanxi Jinmei Huayu methanol project. On August 31, 2019, the clean and efficient conversion technology for lignite using space furnaces passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. Experts believe that this technology possesses independent intellectual property rights; it represents the first set of powder coal water-cooled wall pressurized gasification technologies developed in China for lignite processing, enabling the safe, clean, and efficient conversion of lignite to a level that is on par with international standards. On September 10, 2020, the clean and efficient conversion technology for smokeless coal using space furnace was evaluated by experts organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation as the first large-scale coal water-wall pressurized gasification technology in China that is independently developed and suitable for use with smokeless coal. This technology has been successfully applied in the first phase of the Huayu High-Sulfur Coal Clean Utilization, Integrated Chemical and Thermal Power Demonstration Project of Jinmei Group, an operation with an annual methanol production capacity of one million tons; each unit is capable of processing 1,500 tons of dry coal powder per day. Since the entire process was operationalized in August 2018, the facility has achieved safe, clean, and efficient conversion of smokeless coal, as well as long-term stable operation. The space furnace has successively overcome the challenges associated with gasification using lignite and anthracite as raw materials, and can be applied in coal chemical industries such as ammonia synthesis, methanol production, olefin manufacturing, and ethylene glycol production, providing an effective way for the clean and efficient utilization of low-quality coal resources.