Our country has built the world’s first coal-to-olefins project
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This post was last edited by jordan569 on 2013-1-6 at 21:26. On May 31, the completion celebration ceremony for the petrochemical facilities of Shenhua Baotou Coal-to-Olefins project was held in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, marking the full completion of China’s first coal-to-olefins project in the world. This project not only holds significant demonstrative value for our country in terms of optimizing the energy consumption structure, improving energy efficiency, reducing environmental pollution, and ensuring **energy security**, but it also establishes China’s leading position in the industrial production of coal-based olefins on the international stage. The Shenhua Baotou Coal-to-Olefins Project is a massive coal chemical complex that uses coal as raw material to produce methanol through coal gasification, converts methanol into olefins, and then uses olefin polymerization processes to manufacture polyethylene and polypropylene. It was the only coal-to-olefins industrial demonstration project approved during the 11th Five-Year Plan period; it is also a giant chemical complex in China’s coal chemical industry, built by integrating numerous top-tier innovative technologies from both domestic and international sources. Its core unit employs for the first time China’s independently developed methanol-to-olefins process technology, which has been scaled up for industrial use; this opens up a new technological pathway for implementing alternative energy strategies and establishing a new industry based on coal-to-olefins production. The project includes six systems and 46 sets/units. Among them, the annual production capacity of 1.8 million tons of coal-based methanol integrated chemical plant system mainly consists of five chemical production units: air separation, gasification, purification, methanol synthesis, and sulfur recovery ； The annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of methanol-based polyolefins integrated petrochemical plant system mainly consists of four petrochemical production units: methanol to olefins, olefin separation, polyethylene, and polypropylene. The successful completion of the Shenhua Baotou coal-to-olefins project marks the full end of the construction phase and the official start of the trial production phase. On May 28, the coal feeding to the gasifier of this project’s gasification unit was successful, marking the beginning of the commissioning process for the chemical processing units; production of MTO-grade methanol is expected to start in June this year ； In September, full-scale feeding and commissioning will begin, thereby achieving the established goal of the coal-to-olefins project: completing the entire process and producing qualified polyolefin products on the first attempt during feeding and commissioning. The construction of this project also set several industry records: the total estimated investment for the project was 17 billion yuan, which is nearly 2 billion yuan less than that of similar projects ； The construction period was only 32 months, setting a record for the shortest time required to build a facility of this type ； 100% qualified rate for construction quality ； To date, the project has achieved a total of 45.7 million safe working hours, as well as 1,238 days without any serious injuries or deaths, setting the best record for safe production in the petrochemical construction industry to date. News Links Currently, the industrialization technologies for producing olefins from methanol and producing propylene from methanol are in the midst of rapid development around the world. China has spent over 30 years on the technological development of low-carbon olefins to date. The Shenhua Baotou coal-to-olefins project is **one of the five designated demonstration projects for modern coal chemical processing, namely coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefins, coal-to-dimethyl ether, coal-to-methane gas, and coal-to-ethylene glycol. It is also one of the ten key projects of the Shenhua Group. Statistical data show that among the coal-based methanol-to-olefins projects in China at present, there is only 1 industrial demonstration project that has been **approved**, and that is the coal-to-olefins project of Shenhua Group ； There are 2 provincially-approved industrial demonstration projects for the production of olefins from coal-based methanol, namely the Shenhua Ningmei Group’s project and the Datang Group’s project for this purpose. The combined annual production capacity of olefins for these three projects is 1.62 million tons. In addition to these 3 projects, there are 28 other coal-based methanol-to-olefins projects under construction or in the planning stage, with a total olefin production capacity of 18.56 million tons per year. With the approval from ** and at the provincial level, along with future projects under construction, the total olefin production capacity is expected to reach 20.18 million tons per year. Entering the 21st century, under the dual pressures of rising oil prices and an increasing dependence on imported oil, the development of modern coal chemical industries in China has seen growth, with initiatives aimed at replacing oil through technologies such as coal-based olefins, coal-based oils, dimethyl ether, and alcohol-ether fuels. It is expected that after 2015 and 2020, our country will need to import even larger amounts of crude oil, with the degree of import dependence exceeding 60%. The development of coal-based olefins can reduce China’s dependence on imported crude oil, representing an important new pathway for the sustainable development of the petroleum and chemical industries. Publication time: 2010-06-01 15:21:58 http://news.10jqka.com.cn/field/20100601/62649317.shtml .Note $ # , $ $
Ugh, go ahead and do it! A coal-based olefin project of similar scale should be Datang Duolun Coal-Based Olefins Project; it was handed over last year and the air separation unit as well as the PP production facility have already been put into operation. The number one in the country should be Toronto.
In China, exaggeration is a fairly widespread trend; it’s not just a problem specific to Shenhua, but rather one of the manifestations of the degeneration of **mainstream values**
I have an important question: will this factory resume normal production in June? ? ?
That’s right, it even appeared in the China Chemical Industry News! One can’t just tell lies with their eyes open! Dadang Duolun was completed long ago! Hehe
With the approval from ** and at the provincial level, along with future projects under construction, the total olefin production capacity is expected to reach 20.18 million tons per year. Could there be another oversupply of olefin production capacity? Getting into MTO now is like going crazy, similar to what happened with methanol back then.
In recent years, there has been some frenzy surrounding coal chemical projects, especially the rush to develop projects for converting coal into methanol and then methanol into olefins. The planned production capacity for olefins continues to increase, and as mentioned earlier, this will ultimately lead to overcapacity. Regarding these phenomena, I would like to share my own views; please feel free to point out any mistakes: 1. Such enthusiasm is driven by the continuous rise in international crude oil prices. China’s dependence on imported oil exceeds 50%; developing coal-based olefins as a substitute for oil is certainly driven by energy strategy considerations. 2. Coal-to-methanol and methanol-to-olefins are typical \"three-high\" projects (high investment, high energy consumption, high pollution). Given the energy challenges, such projects are undertaken out of necessity, but they present many difficulties: the investment requirements are high; unless it is a central state-owned enterprise or a large state-owned firm, ordinary companies and private investors tend to be cautious about investing in them. The costs can run into the billions, sometimes even over a hundred billion. It’s hard to say whether the costs can be recovered in a timely manner, as predicted in the feasibility studies ； It is highly energy-intensive: approximately 2.5 tons of coal are required per ton of methanol produced, and over 1,000 tons of water are needed per hour. In China, resources are severely unevenly distributed, with water-scarce areas possessing coal, oil, and gas resources (regions such as Inner Mongolia, northern Shaanxi, and Ningdong are rich in coal but short of water). Therefore, the local conversion of coal resources only serves to exacerbate the already fragile ecosystems in these areas. There is high pollution, issues related to waste solids such as coal slag, and significant carbon dioxide emissions, creating considerable pressure; especially after the Copenhagen conference, the pressure to reduce carbon emissions in our country has increased sharply. 3. It should be said that **there is a clear awareness of these difficulties, which is why approvals for coal chemical projects are restricted. Improper investments should be curbed, the uncontrolled development of coal-based chemical industries should be stopped, and the environment should be protected for future generations. 4. From an economic theory perspective, it is inevitable that the prices of non-renewable resources such as oil and coal rise; however, they have not yet reached a level of scarcity. Why then do their prices remain high? This represents the concerns and attempts at restraint on China’s economic development on the part of Western countries with traditional strengths, due to our high dependence on imported oil. To maintain rapid economic growth, expanding the scale of investment plays a significant role in boosting GDP growth when the proportions of exports and consumption do not increase; as a result, new projects are launched in large numbers, and investment in infrastructure continues to rise. These are the conditions for the booming coal chemical industry. 5. I believe that during this period, it is possible to moderate the pace of economic growth; we should minimize the exploitation of coal resources and keep them within our country’s borders. At present, we should focus on cooperating in the exploration of oil abroad, establish an oil reserve system to ensure a stable supply, and at the same time develop renewable resources by making rational use of solar and wind energy, as well as utilizing nuclear energy peacefully by building nuclear power plants. These measures ensure the sustainable development of our country, benefit future generations, and also contribute to global carbon emission reductions. This is just my personal opinion; please point out any mistakes.
The concept of a low-carbon society – I remember the media started promoting it in March this year, and this trend has been going on for several months now. A harmonious society, a society of two types, the concept of eight honors and eight disgraces, and low-carbon development – these are all temporary trends that disappear once they pass by. If you were to buy a car, would you choose a pure-electric F3DM now? From different positions of interest, the goals to be achieved vary. The northwest region indeed lacks water, and water scarcity is a problem that can be solved with money. Without economic development, it’s not a lack of water that will be a problem, but rather starvation; an underdeveloped economy will undermine the favorable situation of unity. Xinjiang is so short of water, yet it still engages in the chemical industry. When in poverty, changes occur; when people have no money, they naturally think about splitting up the family. A while back, crude oil prices reached 87, and PP and PE prices soared to around 12,000; their prices rise in line with those of crude oil. Let those winds blow if they want to; once they’ve blown, ignore them. SHIT
Reply to 8# yezhuzi: The total estimated investment for this project is 17 billion yuan, which is nearly 2 billion yuan less than that of similar projects； This is simply too fake – it’s unbelievable. Some senior officials at Baotou Shenhua once said that the budget is far from sufficient; the cost will surely exceed 20 billion. Can such a factory recover its costs once it’s built?
Reply to 9# hansen67: Personally, I think it’s even better to just sell coal and make money!
As far as I remember, Datang Duolun Coal Chemical should be the first coal-to-olefins project in China to complete all its construction tasks. So far, the air separation unit and the polypropylene unit have succeeded in operating with vehicles. The gasification unit is also being brought online at full capacity!