Progress of **pilot projects for bioethanol and biodiesel

5. Phase-level progress has been made in the construction of the biodiesel project in Nanchong July 28, 2008 [Font size: Large Medium Small] Source: Sichuan Economic Information Network The 60,000-ton/year biodiesel project at Nanchong Refining and Chemical Plant has seen phase-level progress in its preliminary construction work since it was approved for implementation by the **Development and Reform Commission this June. Construction of this project began in April; 7.1 million yuan has been invested in the preliminary work. Five technical assessments related to the project have been completed, site grading has been done, geological surveys have been carried out, and some pipelines for the irrigation system have been installed. The raw oil for the project has been sourced in Germany, and the technical and commercial negotiations with foreign partners have also been completed; preliminary design work is now underway. Installation work will be carried out at the end of the year, with trial operation starting in August next year. Preliminary design of Nanchong biodiesel pilot plant approved News source: Sichuan News Network Nanchong Channel Publication date: 2008-03-03 15:10:07 (Zhuang Guangrong, our reporter; Li Xingxing) On March 3, reporters learned from Nanchong Refining and Chemical Industry Complex that the preliminary design plan for the “China National Petroleum Nanchong Biodiesel Pilot Plant,” with a total investment of 35.77 million yuan, was recently approved by domestic experts at the Nanchong Refining and Chemical Industry Complex, laying a technical foundation for the construction of large-scale biodiesel production facilities in China. More than 50 experts, including those from China National Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation, Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company, the Planning and Design Institute, China Global Engineering Corporation, and professors from Tsinghua University in Beijing, agreed that the process route of this pilot plant is appropriate; the content and depth of the preliminary design documents meet the required standards, and the aspects related to safety, environmental protection, and process equipment are generally in line with the requirements. However, some aspects of the design still need further supplementation, modification, and improvement. 　　It is understood that the Nanchong Refining and Chemical Plant is the first domestic demonstration base for bioenergy development identified by China National Petroleum Corporation and approved by the **Development and Reform Commission last October. At present, CNPC has planted 2 million mu of jatropha trees in Panzhihua and Liangshan in Sichuan as well as in Yunnan, to accumulate raw materials for the production of ‘biodiesel’ by its main factories. Relying on the technical advantages of Nanlian Chemical Plant and its existing environmental treatment facilities, CNPC has invested 180 million yuan to build a biodiesel production facility with an annual output of 60,000 tons, as well as a facility for producing fuel ethanol with an annual output of 100,000 tons, at a cost of 800 million yuan. Both projects have passed their feasibility studies and have been submitted to CNPC for approval; currently, the plant is working swiftly on the environmental impact assessment for these projects. 　　The main purpose of CNPC’s construction of a pilot plant for producing 1,000 tons of biodiesel per year at the Nanlian General Plant is to obtain technology with domestic ownership rights for the future construction of larger biodiesel production facilities in China. It also serves to prepare adequately in terms of technology and personnel for the set of foreign-made biodiesel production equipment with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons that will be introduced to the Nanlian Chemical General Plant, as well as for the demonstration base for the development and production of bioenergy. 　　The preliminary design review for the \"CNPC Nanchong Biodiesel Pilot Plant\" was successfully completed, marking the transition of CNPC’s biodiesel project from the laboratory phase, where work has been fully underway, to the actual testing phase; the construction of the plant is set to be finished this year. It is also understood that the biodiesel production facility with an annual output of 60,000 tons, funded by CNPC at a cost of 180 million yuan, as well as the fuel ethanol production facility with an annual output of 100,000 tons, funded at 800 million yuan, will also be completed and put into operation by the end of this year and in the second half of next year. Biodiesel-based foundations: The biodiesel project using Camellia oleifera in our province is noteworthy. http://www.gog.com.cn 08-08-07 10:42 Jinqian Online – Guizhou Daily. Its various indicators are superior to those of diesel grade 0, and its emissions meet the Euro IV standards. According to Jinqian Online, the biodiesel project using Camellia oleifera in our province, which was initiated in 2004, has achieved remarkable results in terms of planting, research and development, and pilot production. 　　The scientific research and technological innovation aimed at producing biodiesel from Castor oil trees, led by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission in collaboration with relevant departments such as the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, has attracted widespread attention both domestically and internationally following phases of implementation including planting and processing. This project does not compete with humans for food or land, nor does it damage the ecological environment; it is beneficial for energy substitution, ecological protection, the development of new rural areas, and the growth of specialty industries. In May 2006, a cooperation agreement was signed with the German company Lurgi, and the National Development and Reform Commission approved the establishment of a 600,000-mu demonstration project for the cultivation of Camellia oleifera in our province. Subsequently, the Ministry of Science and Technology also included the project within the framework of the Sino-German demonstration project for cooperation in renewable transportation energy. The United Nations Development Programme has designated our province as a model province for the “China-UNDP Green Energy Poverty Alleviation Project,” with Luodian and Zhenfeng counties serving as pilot sites for this project. 　　Last year, after experts conducted on-site investigations organized by relevant national departments, they stated that they would provide strong support for the development of the biodiesel industry in our province, as represented by the production of biodiesel from Camellia oleifera. At present, Sinopec Group has signed a cooperation agreement with the Provincial Development and Reform Commission; both parties will leverage their respective strengths to jointly advance the industrialization of biodiesel produced from Camellia oleifera in our province. Sinopec Group will first establish a castor oil plantation, while simultaneously carrying out preliminary work for a demonstration project aimed at producing 50,000 tons of castor oil biodiesel per year. To date, approximately 1,000 mu of seedling cultivation bases for Castanopsis hystrix have been established across the province, with over 230,000 mu planted with this species. Demonstration plants capable of producing 10,000 tons and 20,000 tons of biodiesel per year, built using independently developed technologies, have also achieved successful trial production. 　　Upon completion of the implementation of the \"Development Plan for the Construction of Small Camellia Oil Planting Bases and Their Industrialization in Guizhou Province\", prepared by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, an industrial cluster with an output value of around 20 billion yuan will be established ； It has helped around 1.5 million poor farmers escape poverty and achieve prosperity, with an average annual income of 2,666 yuan ； Protect and restore more than 10 million mu of ecological areas. The biodiesel samples produced using the fruits of the Kleinia oleifera as raw material have been tested by authoritative institutions at home and abroad, and all their parameters are superior to those of diesel grade 0. With slight improvements to the production process, its emissions can meet the Euro IV standards. In addition, our province has also actively carried out research and development on the comprehensive utilization of Castanopsis carlesii, and has established the \"Guizhou Castanopsis carlesii Biodiesel Engineering Research Center\". 7. Hainan biodiesel project kicks off, set to go into commercial operation next year (2008-09-24 08:50:13) Source: Hainan Daily. The 60,000-ton/year biodiesel project in Hainan, funded by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, began construction on the 23rd, with commercial operation planned for May 2009. This is Hainan’s first biodiesel project to be constructed; once completed, it will supply 60,000 tons of high-quality biodiesel to Hainan each year. The project is located within CNOOC Dongfang Chemical City. The project was approved for initiation by CNOOC in April 2007; the feasibility study report was completed in January 2008, and in June it was approved by the **Development and Reform Commission as one of the \"first batch of **-level biodiesel industrialization demonstration projects\". In collaboration with Sinopec Petroleum Research Institute, this biodiesel processing facility carried out the first industrial scale-up of the high-pressure transesterification biodiesel production process developed by that institute, resulting in patented technologies and proprietary equipment with independent domestic intellectual property rights. At the same time, BD5 and BD10 biodiesel are promoted for sale in Hainan, establishing the country’s first demonstration market for biodiesel sales. The raw materials for the project are energy forest tree species, with Jatropha being the main one. Hainan is expected to become the first province in China to adopt \"green diesel\" on a provincial scale. The project consists of the selection and seedling cultivation of energy forest species, demonstration planting bases, oil processing, biodiesel production, and product sales. Its goal is to establish a domestic \"forest-oil integrated\" bioenergy demonstration project that combines functions such as the selection of optimal energy forest species and research on planting techniques, development of biodiesel production processes and their industrial application, as well as the extraction of oil from Jatropha seeds and the comprehensive utilization of by-products. Li Guoliang, the vice governor, Zhao Lisha, the vice chairperson of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference, along with more than 60 others including officials from the Energy Bureau, CNOOC Corporation and its holding subsidiaries, the project design agencies, construction companies, university research institutions, and relevant entities in Dongfang City, attended the inauguration ceremony. (Reporter Liang Zhenjun, Correspondent Chen Shancai, Special Correspondent Bian Wang Yujue)

The development of biofuels does address the issue of humanity’s excessive reliance on fossil fuels, thereby increasing energy diversity. But we have also seen that developing biofuels presents the issue of competing with humans and animals for food. We are a country with a large population, relatively scarce resources, little arable land, and relatively underdeveloped infrastructure; excessive development of biofuels will likely affect our country’s food security as well as the stable and healthy development of society. Therefore, developing biofuels is not a bad idea; it’s just necessary to maintain a balance. One should not sacrifice long-term interests in pursuit of short-term economic gains. It’s essential to strike the right balance, and **proper regulation is required to prevent their widespread use.

Bioenergy is promoted as a clean energy source, but after reading the following article, one might not think so anymore. Fengyuan Alcohol: The Dilemma between Environmental Protection and Production Capacity http://www.sina.com.cn August 30, 2006, 09:39 From March 15 to 22, 2006, the **Environmental Protection Administration sent inspection teams to conduct secret inspections in cities such as Bengbu and Fuyang in the Huai River basin, and examined some enterprises that were discharging pollutants illegally. 　　On April 10, the **Environmental Protection Administration informed the Anhui Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau about 18 enterprises that were discharging pollutants illegally. The first 4 are all Fengyuan-related companies, including G Fengyuan and its subsidiary Fengyuan Alcohol Company. 　　Upon verification by the Anhui Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, the suspicion that G Fengyuan was discharging pollutants illegally was ruled out, while the fact that Fengyuan Alcohol Company was discharging pollutants in excess of allowed levels was confirmed. Subsequently, the fuel alcohol company was fined 100,000 yuan by the Bengbu Environmental Protection Bureau, and was required to pay an additional 900,000 yuan in pollution fees to the Anhui Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau. 　　For every ton of fuel alcohol produced by Toyohara Alcohol Company, 10 tons of high-concentration COD wastewater are generated. According to the materials submitted by Toyohara, Plant 4 for environmental protection, part of the alcohol company, is designed to handle 7,000 tons of wastewater per day. In this regard, the **Environmental Protection Administration has set a limit of 600 tons per day for fuel alcohol production by alcohol companies. 　　Subsequently, based on the verification results provided by the environmental protection authorities in Anhui Province, the **State Environmental Protection Administration issued a directive on July 25 of this year stating that the wastewater discharged by Fengyuan Fuel Alcohol Co., Ltd. met the required standards after testing. 　　During this interview, the responsible official at Toyohara Alcohol Company confirmed to the reporters that the company’s production line, which has an annual capacity of 320,000 tons of fuel alcohol, is operating at full capacity, with a daily output of 1,000 tons. 　　It can be seen that Fengyuan Alcohol Company has violated the regulations set by the Environmental Protection Administration by producing beyond allowed limits; moreover, at least 3,000 tons of highly concentrated wastewater are not processed on a daily basis, and this wastewater may eventually be discharged into the Huai River. 3,000 tons of highly concentrated wastewater exceeds the treatment capacity. COD is one of the most important indicators for monitoring water pollution; it refers to the amount of oxygen required to oxidize organic pollutants in water using chemical oxidants. The higher the chemical oxygen demand, the more organic pollutants are present in the water. These organic pollutants cause water eutrophication and consume dissolved oxygen, worsening water quality and leading to the suffocation of aquatic organisms. 　　China’s current environmental protection laws stipulate that the allowable standard for wastewater discharged by enterprises is COD of 100 mg/L (milligrams per liter). 　　According to an unannounced inspection conducted by the **Environmental Protection Administration in March, the COD level of the wastewater discharged by Fengyuan Alcohol Company was 980 mg/L, which is nearly 10 times above the allowed limit. 　　In previous interviews, Xu Hamu, general manager of G Fengyuan, explained to reporters that since less water is used in the production of fuel alcohol, the COD concentration of the wastewater generated is \"extremely high\". Yang Yongsui, the deputy general manager of Fuel Alcohol Company, confirmed that its concentration ranges from 35,000 to 40,000 mg/L. 　　According to the company, G Fengyuan has invested over 400 million yuan in environmental protection efforts in recent years, and has built four such facilities. All of these facilities manage wastewater in such a way that waste is turned into valuable resources. Treating COD wastewater can produce biogas, etc., which is then reused in the production process ； And treating ammonia nitrogen wastewater can be used to produce compound fertilizers and the like. Thanks to the energy saved through biogas and the sales of compound fertilizers, \"G Fengyuan’s environmental protection facilities not only didn’t incur losses but also generated profits.\" 　　This is the “circular economy” model that Toyohara Company has been vigorously promoting in recent years. 　　In October 2004, the **Ministry of Environmental Protection awarded Li Rongjie, chairman of Fengyuan Group, the “Outstanding Contribution Award for Environmental Protection in China”. In December of that year, a symposium on water pollution control in the fermentation industry across key river basins in the country was held at Anhui Fengyuan Group. Liu Hongzhi, deputy director of the Pollution Control Department of the Environmental Protection Administration, gave positive comments on Fengyuan’s efforts in pollution control. 　　Engineer Feng Zhihe from the China Fermentation Industry Association has spent many years researching pollution control methods in the citric acid industry. He told reporters that, in theory, Fengyuan’s environmental protection projects related to citric acid production can definitely be profitable. He recently visited Production Area 1 of G Fengyuan to inspect the environmental protection facilities for citric acid, and concluded that the wastewater from that production area was discharged in compliance with standards. 　　However, there is also evidence indicating that the environmental solutions for the fuel alcohol project manufactured by Toyohara Corporation since 2005 still need improvement. 　　A written document provided by G Fengyuan to journalists states that the environmental protection facility at Plant 4, which is designed to work in conjunction with the fuel alcohol production company, was engineered to handle wastewater with a COD level of 150 mg/L; compared to the current standard of 100 mg/L, its processing capacity is insufficient, and Fengyuan is currently working on making improvements. 　　This written document, which was submitted to senior leaders in Anhui Province, also confirms that the main function of Fengyuan Environmental Protection Plant No. 4 is to treat the organic sugar-containing wastewater (COD) generated during the production of fuel alcohol by Fengyuan Alcohol Company, with a designed treatment capacity of 7,000 tons per day. 　　During this interview, as the production capacity of the fuel alcohol company has reached 1,000 tons per day, the company’s chairman, Li Rongjie, said in response to reporters’ questions that the wastewater treatment capacity of Plant 4 for environmental protection is between 7,000 and 10,000 tons. 　　The other side of the issue is that Toyohara Fuel Alcohol Company has a production capacity of 320,000 tons per year. According to the **Environmental Protection Administration’s limit of 600 tons per day, the company can only produce 219,000 tons throughout the year, failing to reach its full production capacity. 　　The alcohol company also confirmed that production was low due to the commissioning of the production line in the first quarter. To meet the requirements of the seller Sinopec, production was accelerated at full capacity starting from the second quarter. Fengyuan’s “stinky smell fills the whole city” “Fengyuan is farting again.” ”Whenever there was a foul smell coming from the companies associated with Fengyuan, taxi driver Xiao Wang would say this; such an odor could affect almost half of the area west of Bengbu, and that’s how the saying \"Fengyuan’s stench covers half the city\" came about. 　　“I’m most afraid of rainy days and cloudy days. ”An elementary school teacher living in a residential complex on Daqing Road said that her complex is only a few hundred meters away from both Production Area 1 and Production Area 2 of G Fengyuan. In recent years, on cloudy and rainy days, due to poor air circulation, the unpleasant odors emitted from Production Area 1 and Production Area 2 of G Fengyuan become particularly strong. 　　According to residents, the foul smell appears at irregular intervals, sometimes lasting for dozens of minutes, and it occurs several times a day. 　　Since this smell can trigger coughing, many residents believe that the emissions from Toyohara may be harmful to human health. They have written to the local mayor’s office or approached the relevant authorities, but to no avail. 　　On August 15, the reporter saw a pond several acres in size at Fengyuan Fuel Alcohol Company, with water of a dark brown color. The company stated that this pond was created in 2004, after an explosion occurred at the Fengyuan compound fertilizer plant, as the Fengyuan Group used vehicles to transport wastewater there for \"temporary storage\". 　　After two years of being in a state of \"temporary storage,\" this wastewater pond was discovered during an unannounced inspection by the Environmental Protection Agency this year; the report stated that \"the company had illegally stored approximately 100,000 tons of highly concentrated wastewater on its premises.\" 　　Thereafter, Fengyuan submitted a remediation plan to the environmental protection authorities in Anhui Province, aiming to process 600 tons per day and complete the processing by November this year. During a on-site interview on August 15, Yang Yongsui, the vice president of the fuel alcohol company, said that there were still 50,000 to 60,000 tons of wastewater in the pit. 　　According to information available on the Fengyuan Group’s website, in recent years, the **Environmental Protection Administration has visited Fengyuan Group on multiple occasions to inspect its environmental protection facilities and waste discharge conditions. However, public news reports indicate that these on-site inspections did not uncover any problems. In 2004 and this year, the Environmental Protection Administration issued two official notices regarding Fengyuan’s pollution issues, both of which were made after sending inspection teams for covert investigations. 　　The Anhui Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau has long held a positive view of Fengyuan’s environmental protection efforts. Regarding the issues identified during the unannounced inspections by the Environmental Protection Administration, Zhang Yangfeng, head of the Supervision Department of Anhui Province’s Environmental Protection Bureau, said, “The enterprises are too large; even the most thorough plans can have gaps.” ” 　　As early as June 2004, the **Environmental Protection Administration discovered through unannounced inspections that 52 enterprises in the Huai River basin were discharging pollutants in excess of allowed levels, and Fengyuan Biochemical was among them. The company explained to the media at the time that **the environmental protection agency conducted unannounced inspections in Bengbu from June 3 to 12. Just at this time, an explosion occurred at the Second Environmental Protection Plant of Fengyuan Biochemical Company, preventing it from operating normally; it took half a month before operations could resume. Safety and fire hazards: The aforementioned explosion occurred around 6 p.m. on June 5, 2004, in the granulation workshop of the triple-composite fertilizer plant, which is a subsidiary of Fengyuan Biochemicals; this accident resulted in 1 death and 2 injuries. It is reported that the direct cause of this accident was that the design and installation of the explosion-proof venting system for the fertilizer drying equipment in the granulation workshop did not meet the requirements for safe production. This was the third safety accident at the Toyohara Group in the first half of that year. 　　During this interview, the reporter learned that, contrary to the positive attitude of the environmental protection authorities, the safety and fire prevention departments at the provincial and municipal levels have a low opinion of some companies in the Fengyuan group. 　　Around 2004, the Anhui Safety Science Research Institute (formerly known as the Anhui Labor Protection Research Institute) conducted safety assessments for multiple production lines of companies in the Fengyuan group. 　　A staff member at the institute who wished to remain anonymous said, “When a project is launched, safety assessment should be an upfront step.” However, the Fengyuan Group has a state-owned enterprise background; it usually proceeds by establishing the necessary channels first and then evaluates them, leaving us to step in later to fill in the gaps. ” 　　Two safety assessment reports issued by the Institute of Safety Science indicate that the 12-ton fuel alcohol production project at G Fengyuan has at least 43 \"issues\" identified through the safety assessment, while the ethylene oxide production line at G Fengyuan’s subsidiary Suzhou Biochemical also has dozens of problems. 　　“Safety assessments are carried out only after the project is completed, and for chemical plants, there are some issues that cannot be changed, such as tanks being too close to each other or adjustments to the overall layout of the facilities. ”The aforementioned staff member said. 　　Wu Shu, the director of the Bengbu Work Safety Supervision Bureau, told the media after the explosion in 2004: “That factory was a newly established enterprise that had not gone through any work safety inspections at all.” ” 　　Wu stated at the time that only two companies within the Fengyuan Group had passed the safety production inspections, while the majority of the other companies had not; as a result, many projects had safety hazards. 　　In early August this year, a staff member from the Bengbu Public Security Fire Brigade mentioned Fengyuan, using the words \"difficult to control\". The relevant department stated to the media that \"many of (Fengyuan Company’s) projects began construction or were put into use without going through the necessary fire safety inspections and approvals, which resulted in ‘inherent deficiencies’ in terms of fire safety and led to frequent fire accidents.\" ” 　　For chemical enterprises, safety, fire protection, and environmental protection are closely related to each other. In November 2005, an explosion at the Jilin Petrochemical branch of CNPC caused severe pollution of the Songhua River, and Fengyuan’s wastewater treatment plants are also located along the Huai River. 　　□Reported by our newspaper’s reporter Gong Jing from Bengbu and Hefei

Bonus: I said I’m from a biodiesel project in Nantong, Jiangsu – does anyone believe me? You can do a search; if you have any questions or need technical assistance, feel free to reach out to me!

In my opinion, **when biofuels based on food crops were first developed, the issue of maintaining food security through appropriate scale was already taken into account. Therefore, four designated production enterprises were established across the country: 1. Jilin Fuel Ethanol Co., Ltd.; 2. Henan Tianguan Group; 3. Anhui Fengyuan Biochemical Co., Ltd.; 4. Heilongjiang China Resources Alcohol Co., Ltd. On this topic, I would like to mention that companies 3 and 4 are currently under the control of COFCO Group, company 1 is partially owned by COFCO Group, while company 2 has seen limited development recently. The raw material used by these four companies is mainly corn. Corn has a wide range of uses; it serves as a primary raw material in feed as well as in various sugar-making and fermentation processes. As a result, there is a call to develop alternative raw materials that do not compete with food crops – in other words, materials that can be used without taking away from food production. So far, the most effective alternative raw material is cassava. As for other fiber-based raw materials, such as straw, they are still at the conceptual stage for now. I heard that in the northwest region – Xinjiang – sweet sorghum is being cultivated as a raw material for sugar, but it isn’t very effective yet. There’s little to say about corn; it is mainly produced in the north, with Jilin being the leading region ； Cassava is produced in large quantities in the mountainous areas of the south, such as Guangxi and other regions, as well as in some parts of Southeast Asia where other food crops are not suitable for cultivation. Due to its relatively low cost, it is used by many manufacturers as a main alternative to corn starch. Wheat, rice, and the like are only considered for use in certain cases due to aging and deterioration; the reason is twofold: cost ； Four words: food security. Hehe, that’s it for now. I don’t know much about biodiesel. Last edited by eboy3065 on 2009-2-27 at 10:54.]

Regarding Toyohara, your information is a bit outdated. The process has been modified to use the DDGS process. In simple terms, it involves first carrying out fermentation with residues, and then using the organic waste fluids generated during production (soluble DDS and suspended DDG) to produce DDGS feed. A small amount of the secondary organic wastewater is treated through biological anaerobic processes, and the core issue in 2006 was the clear liquid fermentation process.

Thanks, eboy! Does anyone here know anything about biodiesel?