Can methanol be transported over long distances?

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The 191 methanol storage tank area of Weihua Group was successfully put into operation. Author: Chen Jie, Jiang Yifan. Date: 2014-01-18. On the morning of January 15, the 191 methanol storage tank, which is part of the facilities constructed as part of Weihua Group’s Phase III project, was successfully fed with methanol. After sampling and analysis by the company’s quality control center, the chromaticity was found to be within acceptable limits, thus achieving the goal of safe and compliant storage as required by the company’s management. The 191 tank farm of Weihua Group is equipped with 3 methanol storage tanks, each with a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters. On September 23, 2013, the project handover procedures were completed, and the site entered the production preparation phase. During the production preparation phase, the cleaning of storage tanks and pipelines was completed ； Installation of the floating pad ； Purging of nitrogen pipeline and S3 steam pipeline ； Commissioning of the water supply pipeline. Personnel training was completed, operating procedures were formulated, reviewed, and printed, the fire protection system was tested, various pumps were subjected to 72 hours of continuous operation testing, and the storage tanks were purged with nitrogen. By November 10, the 3 storage tanks will be ready for feeding, as well as for loading and unloading. The commissioning of the 191 methanol storage area has further expanded the company’s distribution channels for methanol products; it allows for the storage of these products during periods of low demand in the market, with sales taking place when market conditions are favorable. Make full use of the storage capacity of the methanol tanks, manage methanol products effectively, thereby generating greater economic benefits for the company and ensuring the successful achievement of the company’s target profit of 30 million for the year 2014. This methanol storage tank feeding represents the first time that WeiHua Group has transported hazardous chemicals over a long distance; the pipeline is 3.5 kilometers in length and crosses 3 municipal roads along its route. To effectively prevent potential safety hazards, relevant departments of the company such as the raw material workshop, production department, safety and environmental protection department, project department, infrastructure department, and administrative security department have worked together to carry out a great deal of effective work. The raw material workshop has developed a detailed methanol feeding plan, work procedures, safety risk assessment, as well as emergency response measures for methanol leaks. On the day of material delivery, the leaders of the Production Department, Maintenance Department, Quality Inspection Center, and Repair and Construction Company attached great importance to it, and arranged for relevant technical personnel, maintenance staff, as well as fire trucks to be on site for supervision. The feeding process will be completed within 2 days, after which the tank transfer operation will be carried out as planned, laying the foundation for the subsequent loading and unloading operations.

Last week, reporters learned from Huadian Yulin Natural Gas Chemical Co., Ltd. that as of March 31, the methanol pipeline running from the Yutianhua methanol storage facility to the company’s railway transfer station, with a total length of 5.138 kilometers, has been in stable operation for 7 years and 6 months since it was put into use in 2005, having transported a total of 1.5 million tons of methanol. Feng Xiaoting, the chief engineer of Jiangsu Coal Chemical Engineering Research and Design Institute, is a strong advocate for the long-distance pipeline transportation of methanol. He delivered a speech during the 2012 China International Coal Chemical Industry Exhibition and China International Coal Chemical Industry Development Forum, in which he elaborated on the importance and feasibility of such a project.

This should be considered the inter-plant methanol external pipeline between the unit and the methanol tank farm.

This should be considered the inter-plant methanol external pipeline between the methanol tank farm and the railway transfer station.

10 years ago, Ordos City in Inner Mongolia formulated a comprehensive plan for the coal chemical industry; as part of this plan, two parallel pipeline systems were planned to be built for the transport of dimethyl ether and methanol from Ordos to the Jingang Port, with an annual transportation capacity of 6 million tons each for dimethyl ether and methanol. The project starts at the coal chemical industry base in Tuk Town, Wushen Banner, and ends in the Jingtang Port area of Tangshan City. The total length of the pipeline network is over 1,000 kilometers, with an estimated total investment of around 9 billion yuan for the project. It is unclear whether it was the environmental impact assessment or the safety assessment that failed; in any case, the project was ultimately abandoned.

Shaanxi Huasheng Pipeline Co., Ltd. also planned the Yinchuan-Zhangjiagang methanol pipeline project, which is over 2,500 kilometers long; it is said to be the largest, longest, and most automated dedicated methanol transmission pipeline project in China at present. There was no further development after that.....