Domestic methanation catalysts achieved stable 110% full-load operation for the first time in Xinjiang’s Qinghua large-scale coal-to-natural gas project

In 2010, the Gas and Electricity Group began research on coal-to-natural gas process technologies and catalysts, and in 2013 it carried out joint research with the Southwest Research Institute. The self-developed methanation catalyst boasts advantages such as high temperature resistance, high activity, high stability, and resistance to carbon deposition, meeting the requirements of large-scale coal-to-natural gas industrial production. “The methaneation catalyst developed independently was successfully used in the first operation of the coal-to-natural gas plant in Qinghua, Xinjiang. The methaneation unit operated stably over a long period of time, with product quality meeting standards; natural gas was successfully integrated into the pipeline network. This achievement enabled the localization of technologies across the entire value chain in the coal-to-natural gas sector, filling a gap in China’s industry and playing a significant role in ensuring a steady supply of natural gas and safeguarding energy security. ”Hou Jianguo, deputy chief engineer of the Technology R&D Center of the Gas and Electricity Group, explained. It is reported that the Gas and Electricity Group will take this technological industrial application as an opportunity to continue promoting the use of methanation technologies in the second and third phases of the Qinghua project in Xinjiang. At the same time, it will intensify its marketing efforts and explore new applications for these methanation technologies in areas such as the integration of coal chemistry with renewable energy, as well as the chemical utilization and reduction of carbon dioxide. This will help make greater contributions to the cleaner use of coal in China, to the development of a \"clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient\" energy system, and to the early achievement of the goals of \"carbon peak\" and \"carbon neutrality\".

It’s not a revival. Instead, it needs to be vigorously developed! Under the new global landscape, Europe has begun to compete globally for LNG, which will drive up LNG prices significantly. The good times for coal-to-gas production are coming again.

Methanation catalysts are important carriers for the synthesis of methane from clean gas, and play a crucial role in increasing the rate of chemical reactions. Until then, methanation catalysts had to be imported, resulting in high production costs and long supply lead times. As the reliability of domestic catalyst technology continues to improve, and in order to promote the widespread use of such domestic technologies, Xinjiang Qinghua has decided to take advantage of this year’s maintenance period to replace all the imported catalysts that have reached the end of their useful life in the methanation cycle and production reactors with domestically produced catalysts developed by Southwest Chemical Research Institute Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Southwest Institute).

Xinjiang Qinghua Energy Group Co., Ltd. was completed and put into operation at the end of 2013, and began to supply natural gas to the West-East Gas Pipeline. To address the critical issue of the methanation catalyst, the company collaborated with Southwest Chemical Engineering Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. to complete 1,300 hours of pilot tests on the methanation catalyst at the beginning of this year. Subsequently, it was decided to take advantage of the equipment maintenance period in July to replace all the imported catalysts that had reached the end of their useful life in the methanation cycle and production reactors with domestically developed catalysts created by Southwest Chemical Engineering Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. 　　 Tests have shown that the domestically produced methanation catalyst meets all the specified performance requirements, and it outperforms foreign products in terms of one-pass methanation conversion efficiency, raw material adaptability, and operational flexibility. A responsible official from the Science and Technology Bureau of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture said that the domestically produced methanation catalysts were successfully applied in Qinghua, Xinjiang, serving as a model example for the industrial use of domestic catalysts in China’s coal-to-gas industry. 　　 To date, Xinjiang Qinghua Energy Group Co., Ltd. has transported over 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in total. Preliminary estimates show that purchasing the same quantity of domestic methanation catalysts would save the company 54.9% in costs compared to importing them from abroad.

At 15:48 on the 31st, the methanation unit of Phase I of the Xinjiang Qinghua coal-to-natural gas project successfully passed a 72-hour full-load performance test; the unit operated smoothly and the quality of the natural gas produced was satisfactory. This marks the first time in China that foreign catalysts have been fully replaced in a coal-to-natural gas facility, thereby breaking the foreign monopoly. 　　 Coal-to-synthetic natural gas is a clean energy source obtained by gasifying, purifying, and methanating low-quality coal; it serves as an effective supplement to natural gas resources. The methanation catalyst is the core element of the coal-to-synthetic natural gas production process and plays a crucial role in improving the efficiency of methane conversion. Currently, all commercially operational coal-to-natural gas projects use foreign process package designs, and the methanation catalysts are entirely imported. This results in long production cycles, long transportation distances, significant impacts from force majeure events, as well as a potential risk of supply disruptions, representing key challenges that need to be addressed urgently.