Jiujiang Petrochemical’s coal-based hydrogen production facility sets new record for 151 consecutive days of operation of a single gasifier
Thread Content
Good news has come from the Jiujiang Branch of Sinopec Corporation: as of August 17, Furnace A for coal-based hydrogen production at Jiujiang Petrochemical had been in operation continuously for 151 days, breaking the previous record held by Furnace C, which had operated continuously for 150 days and 4 hours. This marks another improvement in the operating record for burner-based vaporization furnaces of this type within Sinopec’s facilities. Since the feeding of Gasification Series C began on March 19, 2022, the coal-to-hydrogen unit under the Fourth Operation Department of Jiujiang Petrochemical has addressed a series of bottlenecks through production optimization, adjustments, and precise operations. These issues included high pressure differences at the syngas outlet of the gasifiers, blockages in the Venturi washers, and poor heat exchange efficiency in the high-flash heat exchangers, thereby breaking existing operation cycle records. To ensure the stable operation of the C-series gasifiers, the operations department has organized numerous discussions on their long-term operation, formulated a \"Special Care Plan for Long-Term Operation of Gasifiers,\" established targeted control measures and required their strict implementation, while closely monitoring key parameters such as the condition of the slag, the operation status of the gasifier burners, the composition of the syngas at the outlet of the scrubber tower, and the wall temperature of the gasifier ； Secondly, all staff are organized to receive training on potential abnormal operating conditions such as the pressure difference at the syngas outlet, blockages in the venturi scrubbers, poor heat exchange performance in the high-flash heat exchangers, and damaged burners, in order to ensure that the production risks associated with the facility remain under control ； Third, maintain stable load on Gasification C furnace to reduce burner wear ； Fourth, accelerate the maintenance work on Gasification Unit A, and strive to complete the hot standby furnace drying as soon as possible to ensure a continuous and stable hydrogen supply. Through a series of maintenance efforts, Gasification Furnace C is now operating normally. The Operations Department plans to carry out a furnace switch-over on August 24; by then, Furnace A in the gasification unit will have been in operation for 158 days, setting a record for similar facilities across the country.
At the Shuangjia workshop of Weihua Group, the #6 gasifier operated with a single burner for 64 days on August 24, 2016, surpassing the record set in 2014 of 63 days of operation per gasifier!
As of April 14, 2017, the #6 BGL gasifier at China Coal Ordos Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. (referred to as China Coal Ordos Energy Chemical) had been in operation for 208 days, surpassing the record of 205 days set by the #8 gasifier in January 2017 and setting a new record once again. This new record is also the result of China Coal Enerchemical’s continuous improvements to the gasification process.
Since the start-up of the gasifier in 2013, leakage from the stirrer has been the main factor limiting its long-term operation. It also caused the gasification furnace to shut down and be excavated on multiple occasions, increasing the operating costs of the workshop. At the beginning of 2016, China Coal Hubei Energy Chemicals resolved to address this issue and included it among the key tasks for the workshop. The workshop conducted continuous research and repeated experiments: first, it reduced the speed of the mixer to see whether the conditions in the gasification furnace remained stable; once the conditions were stable, it continued to lower the speed further. Ultimately, the mixer was stopped without affecting the operation of the gasifier. In September 2016, the gasification plant stopped adding flux to the raw coal. Through calculations, the proportion of raw coal was adjusted, with different types of coal being combined in a scientific manner to achieve the same effect as that obtained by using flux. Thanks to this initiative, the operating cycle of the gasifier in later stages has been significantly extended, its operation has become more stable, and cost consumption has decreased. This also lays the foundation for achieving the goal of stable, long-term, and high-quality operation.