Slurry coal technology solves the problem of ammonia-nitrogen wastewater

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Source: China Methanol Network. It was recently learned from the Jinhua Environmental Protection Bureau in Zhejiang Province that Zhejiang Fengdeng Chemical Co., Ltd. absorbs 86,400 tons of ammonia nitrogen wastewater generated each year by Jinhua Conba Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; the nitrogen and hydrogen gases produced as a result are then used as raw materials for the production of synthetic ammonia. This approach not only solves the problem faced by Conba Company, which has to spend over 6 million yuan annually on treating ammonia nitrogen wastewater, but also helps the company save 2.3 million yuan per year. Currently, this technology for treating ammonia-nitrogen wastewater using water-coal slurry technology has been granted a **patent and is included in Zhejiang Province’s technology innovation project plan. The treatment of ammonia nitrogen wastewater is a global challenge. Although there are examples abroad of successful use of the water-coal slurry pressurized gasification technology for incinerating ammonia-nitrogen industrial wastewater, it has not been widely adopted to date due to issues such as high equipment costs and difficulties in establishing standards for wastewater incineration. In recent years, the main product manufactured by Conba Company, amikacin, generates nearly 100,000 tons of ammonia nitrogen wastewater per year during its production process. This wastewater contains unreacted kanamycin and isomers of amikacin that cannot be utilized; it thus constitutes high-concentration ammonia nitrogen wastewater. If discharged directly, it will cause environmental pollution. In 2006, Zhejiang Fengdeng entered into a partnership with the Northwest Research Institute of Chemical Industry. Through nearly two years of exploration and improvement in the use of water-coal slurry technology for treating ammonia-nitrogen wastewater, it established quality standards for wastewater used in slurry production that met the requirements of the manufacturing process. It also mastered key techniques related to the viscosity, concentration, and stability of water-coal slurry produced from ammonia-nitrogen wastewater, thereby solving the problem of secondary pollution associated with ammonia-nitrogen treatment and filling a gap in domestic technologies for treating amikacin wastewater. In addition, while producing synthetic ammonia entirely using full water-coal slurry, Fengdeng makes use of its existing gasification facilities to filter the ammonium nitrogen-containing wastewater from amikacin, thereby extracting valuable by-products such as kanamycin for reuse in pharmaceutical factories. The remaining wastewater generated from the new production processes is used to prepare coal slurry instead of clean water for synthetic ammonia production, thus achieving recycling. It is understood that in 2007, Zhejiang Fengdeng Chemical Co., Ltd.’s comprehensive utilization project for treating ammonia-nitrogen wastewater using water-coal slurry technology passed provincial-level evaluation, and it will soon be submitted by the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission to the **Development and Reform Commission** for consideration under the special program for the industrialization of high-tech technologies in the field of circular economy. In October 2008, Zhejiang Fengdeng Chemical Co., Ltd. also invested 26 million yuan in technical upgrades to utilize water-coal slurry technology for the treatment of high-concentration ammonia nitrogen wastewater.