“China’s first brown coal gasifier in the world put into operation

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Author/Source: China Chemical Industry News Date: 2009-1-9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On January 6, the project of Yunnan Coal Chemical Group, which involves an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons of dimethyl ether along with 200,000 tons of methanol, was officially completed and put into operation. The gasifier used in this project is the world’s first gasifier capable of fully utilizing high-sulfur, low-calorific-value lignite, with 100% domestic production for its equipment materials and manufacturing processes. The operation of this gasifier has opened up an innovative path for the clean development and utilization of China’s abundant low-calorific-value lignite resources. According to Zhao Mengyun, chairman of Yunnan Coal Chemical Group, this dimethyl ether production facility is the world’s first modern industrial project to produce clean energy using low-calorific-value lignite through the pressurized gasification technology based on coal slag. It employs the gas production technology for coal slag pressurized gasification, for which Yunnan Coal Chemical Group holds independent intellectual property rights. The key equipment for this project – the gasifier – was jointly designed by Yunnan Coal Chemical Group’s Jiehua Company and the Second Chemical Industry Design Institute; its core components were designed by Yunnan Coal Chemical Group itself. The equipment uses materials that are 100% domestically sourced, and the investment required for the gasification section is less than one-third of that needed for similar facilities abroad. This dimethyl ether production facility uses low-calorific-value Liaoxtan lignite as raw material, and is equipped with processes such as shift reaction, purification, and compression to provide qualified feed gas for methanol synthesis. Methanol synthesis employs low-pressure synthesis technology developed in China; the methanol reactor is of the shell-and-tube isothermal type, and the final product is dimethyl ether produced using Danish Topsoe technology, which can serve as a substitute for liquefied petroleum gas. Industry experts believe that the 150,000 tons per year dimethyl ether production facility, coupled with a 200,000 tons per year methanol production plant developed by Yunnan Coal Chemical, boasts advanced technology and economic efficiency; the exhaust gas containing methane, hydrogen, and other components that does not participate in the reaction within the methanol synthesis unit is sent to an ammonia synthesis unit to produce ammonia, thereby achieving an energy efficiency of 53% for the entire facility and enabling integrated production. It is reported that the 150,000 tons per year dimethyl ether project is the first project to be established in the chemical industry park of the Honghe Industrial Park in Yunnan Province. The project was launched on November 21, 2005; formal design work began on October 8, 2006. At 23:00 on September 18, 2008, the chemical processing trial run for the 150,000 tons per year dimethyl ether plant, along with the 200,000 tons per year methanol plant, was successful, and qualified dimethyl ether product was produced. The entire project, from design to trial operation, took only 23 months. To date, this device has been in operation for over 2,000 hours, operating smoothly and safely with reliable control.