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Introduction to Our Company’s 150,000-ton Briquette Production Facility Author/Source: Gao Haishan (Anyang Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Anyang 455133, Henan) 1. The Importance of Building a Briquette Production Facility As coal market prices continue to rise, the costs of lump coal and small-grained coal, which are used as raw materials in fertilizer production, also increase significantly. This leads to a substantial rise in production costs, severely affecting the economic efficiency of fertilizer manufacturers. Using low-cost pulverized coal to produce shaped coal for gas generation is an important approach for fertilizer manufacturers to address the shortage of lump coal as raw material, enhance the value of pulverized coal, reduce production costs, and improve economic efficiency. Coal briquetting technology is already quite mature; briquette production facilities require low investment, have a short construction period, low processing costs, quick results, and significant economic benefits. 2 Installation status of the briquette production plant at Anhua Group Company. The 150,000-ton briquette production plant of Anhua Group Company represents an important step taken by the company in terms of energy conservation and consumption reduction, following the gas production upgrade project and the No. 2 blowing air project. The production facility utilizes technology and equipment provided by Luoyang Guoao Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd.; it was designed by the company’s technical center taking into account the specific conditions of Anhua Group, implemented by the Production Management Department and the Raw Material Gas Plant, and constructed and installed by Henan Province Installation Company. Construction on this project began on June 25, 2007, and the process was completed on October 16, 2007, with a successful first run that produced qualified products. During the project implementation, the project team overcame numerous challenges, including carrying out construction while land acquisition was in progress, working during the rainy season, and coordinating the concurrent tasks of civil work and equipment installation. They organized efforts from various sources, made reasonable arrangements, and ensured thorough coordination. Within a construction period of less than four months, the installation of nearly 30 units of large and small equipment was completed, in addition to the completion of civil engineering works such as factory buildings, dry coal storage areas, retting tanks, drying kilns, and hot air furnaces. Through subsequent operation and improvement, the device has reached a stable operating state, with a current daily production capacity of 300 tons. 3 Introduction to the Production Process: The production of briquettes by Anhua Group Company relies on medium and small-sized coal particles as raw materials for processing into briquettes. The brief production process is as follows: The raw coal enters a vibrating screen via belt No. 1 for screening; coal particles larger than 15 mm are reused as small pieces, while those smaller than 15 mm go through belt No. 2 and are crushed in a crusher to become coal powder with a size of less than 3 mm (with over 80% being below 3 mm). At the same time, a certain amount of bentonite is added to the raw coal using a screw feeder; this mixture then enters a metering feeder via belt No. 3. After the flow rate is adjusted by the metering feeder, the mixture proceeds to a twin-shaft mixer via belt No. 4. Meanwhile, a sodium humate binder solution prepared in reactors No. 1 and No. 2 is added to the twin-shaft mixer. After thorough mixing in these mixers, the material moves to retting tanks via belts No. 5 and No. 8, where it undergoes a retting process lasting 24–48 hours. The pulped raw coal is fed into the homogenizer via belt #6 for homogenization; after that, it goes to the forming machine through belt #7 to be shaped. The formed pellets are sent to the drying kiln via belt #10 for drying, while the unformed coal fragments return to belt #7 via belt #9 before entering the forming machine again to be shaped. The dried pellets are fed into the pelletizing bin via an 11# high-inclination belt. Thus, the entire production process is completed. 4 Economic benefits and future prospects The project offers considerable economic benefits; the fine coal particles that were previously separated from medium- and small-sized coal lumps were all burned in the boilers that use steam. The price difference between pulverized coal and lump coal is 400–500 yuan, with the processing cost per ton of coal produced from pulverized coal being around 100 yuan. Based on the comparison between burning briquetted coal and burning lump coal in this section, it is estimated that the gas production from briquetted coal is 80% of that from lump coal. Based on the current production level of 300 tons per day, and assuming operation for 300 days per year, the annual production amount is 90,000 tons. If the price difference between briquetted coal and lump coal is 300 yuan per ton, the annual economic benefit would be: 300 yuan × 90,000 tons × 80% = 21.6 million yuan. If the production volume can reach 150,000 tons per year, the economic benefit would be: 300 yuan × 150,000 tons × 80% = 36 million yuan. It is clear that the briquetted coal project offers very substantial economic benefits. 5 Conclusion: Due to the significant increase in raw material prices, in order to survive and develop, fertilizer companies must gradually change their reliance on a single type of raw material. They should make full use of pulverized coal to produce briquettes, and develop technologies for generating gas from these briquettes. This is an effective way to reduce the amount of coal required per ton of ammonia produced, thereby cutting costs and improving economic efficiency.