Water resources issues in Ordos
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This post was last edited by jordan569 on 2013-1-6 at 21:28. As is well known, over the past decade, especially in the past five years, major coal companies in China have been mining coal aggressively in Ordos and building coal chemical complexes there. These are industries that rely heavily on water resources, yet Ordos has some of the worst water conditions in the country. So, when the National Development and Reform Commission approved so many projects related to coal mining and coal chemicals, did it take into account the long-term sustainability of these industries, or the water supply needs of the local population in the future? If not, how can this problem be solved? Will these industries, which are thriving, have to shut down due to a lack of water? . Note # ) # # , . hcbbs
The same problem exists in the Gobi Desert of Xinjiang as well
Therefore, **during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, priority was given to supporting the development of technologies for reusing wastewater and achieving \"zero discharge\"; in areas facing water shortages or with high environmental requirements, enterprises were encouraged to adopt wastewater \"zero discharge\" technologies**.
Each department deals with problems as they arise, in other words, they don’t take any proactive action.
Water resource issues have indeed become apparent now; this area is near Ordos in Inner Mongolia. For more details, see: http://news.hsw.cn/system/2011/09/27/051114708.shtml
Actually, when people talk about the water issues in coal chemical industry, have they ever considered whether coal chemical industry really does consume a lot of water? Where does the water consumption mainly go? Can alternative methods be used, such as switching from water cooling to air cooling, etc.? This is what’s most important; don’t just repeat what others say about water resource issues without understanding the essence of the problem.
This post was last edited by robinbird on 2011-11-27 22:21. The water consumption in coal chemical processing mainly comes from the separation and cooling stages of the subsequent products (especially when distillation is involved). If a large amount of water is used as a coolant, it indeed leads to high water consumption. Among the water losses, the main source is the evaporation of circulating cooling water in the cooling tower, which results in a high demand for fresh water to be replenished. In places like Inner Mongolia, air cooling is appropriate, and the basic design principle should be to use air cooling wherever it is possible. Alternatively, air cooling can be used in the high-temperature section, while water cooling is used in conjunction with it in the low-temperature section. I’ve communicated with Shenhua’s coal-to-oil project; indeed, that area suffers from a water shortage, and water has to be brought in from 100 kilometers away. Even now, groundwater drawn up from deep wells is being used.
There has also been more rain in Ordos these past years than before, hehe!
Water withdrawal permits and quotas from the Yellow River. We call it water rights – the capacity of the Yellow River’s water. In Xinjiang, China’s water management efforts have involved the development of networks and capacity for handling snowmelt water; moreover, it’s unclear whether the water rights allocated to relevant agencies, along with various water infrastructure projects worth trillions of yuan, will enable the introduction of water from the Bohai Sea. The current emphasis on the quality issues of Bohai Sea water might well be a precursor to something else – it’s hard to say for sure
Since it is coal chemical engineering, it is necessary to take the entire process chain into consideration. Coal mining also affects the distribution of water resources; mining in large coalfields leads to a drop in groundwater levels. People can’t rely solely on the water from the Yellow River, right? Is the development of our coal chemical industry aimed at ** or for the benefit of the people?
Reply to 7# robinbird: Using air cooling results in a very low first thermal efficiency； Second, the local environment/dust is poor, resulting in lower thermal efficiency