【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】From 2015 to 2022, China Petrochemical’s first distributed methanol-to-hydrogen system produced high-quality hydrogen products

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Witnessing the decade-long rapid development of chemical processing equipment; praising the prosperity and strength of modern China. Replies will be rewarded – discussions are welcome! ------------------------------------------- Recently, a distributed methanol-to-hydrogen system independently developed by the Sinopec Research Institute was tested at the Dalian Shengang hydrogen refueling station operated by Sinopec Northern Energy Co., Ltd., and it succeeded in producing high-purity hydrogen with a purity of 99.999%. The main unit of the distributed methanol-to-hydrogen system covers an area of only 64 square meters, making it the smallest of its kind in China. It integrates a range of technological innovations such as methanol reforming, catalytic oxidation, process intensification, and system integration. According to Sinopec, the deployment process of this distributed methanol-to-hydrogen system was as follows: In April 2022, Ling Yiqun, a member of the Party Leadership Group and vice president of the group company, organized eight relevant departments at Sinopec to conduct a technical review of this technology ； In July 2022, the skid-mounted unit was successfully shipped out of the factory ； In November 2022, the distributed methanol-to-hydrogen system successfully commenced operation, producing hydrogen of 99.999% purity that met the required standards ； As one of the key components of a hydrogen production and refueling integrated station, once this device is tested in conjunction with the entire hydrogen refueling station, China’s first distributed methanol-based hydrogen production and refueling integrated station will be ready for operation. Once put into use, it will promote the use of hydrogen in the transportation sector, and it will also serve as a practical example for hydrogen refueling stations to choose low-cost hydrogen supply technologies. Currently, the Institute of Rock Mechanics, the Fuel Oil Company, and the Northern Energy Company are carrying out intensive joint commissioning of the entire facility to ensure that the hydrogen production and refueling integrated station becomes operational as soon as possible. In terms of methods for producing hydrogen, the current main approaches are hydrogen production through water electrolysis and hydrogen production via methanol reforming. Since hydrogen is a flammable gas, it presents challenges such as difficulty in compression, stringent storage requirements, and high transportation costs. The high expenses associated with storing and transporting hydrogen, along with the costs of infrastructure development, hinder the advancement of fuel cells. Methanol is a liquid at room temperature. Compared to high-pressure hydrogen storage, methanol is an excellent liquid medium for storing and transporting hydrogen; it facilitates storage and transportation, and the system does not require high temperatures or pressures, making it safer and more reliable to operate. Hydrogen fuel cells powered by methanol reforming enable hydrogen to be used immediately upon production, making them more economical and practical. At the same time, methanol production technology is mature, and China is now the world’s largest producer of methanol. In terms of infrastructure development, the methanol refueling system can make full use of existing gas station networks; simply replacing the nozzles of conventional fuel pumps with methanol nozzles is sufficient, and the refueling time for methanol fuel is short. Hydrogen refueling stations are extremely expensive, with costs more than 100 times higher than those of methanol refueling stations. In March this year, the **Development and Reform Commission** and the **Energy Bureau** jointly issued the \"Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021–2035)\", proposing to establish a diversified hydrogen production system that is clean, low-carbon, and cost-effective, while also encouraging the synthetic methanol industry to shift from high-carbon processes to low-carbon ones. In addition, multiple provinces and cities such as Shandong, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Hebei have successively introduced local policies and standards to support \"hydrogen production on-site\". Therefore, the successful demonstration and mass production of methanol-to-hydrogen systems are of great significance in overcoming the key bottlenecks in the development of the hydrogen energy industry. Currently, hydrogen production from methanol is moving toward industrialization. In October 2021, the “12GW methanol reformation hydrogen fuel cell industrialization project” was launched in Nanning, Guangxi. On October 28, Bohydro New Energy Company signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement for the 12GW methanol reformation hydrogen fuel cell industrialization project with the People’s Government of Liangqing District, Nanning. The total investment in this project is approximately 9 billion yuan, and it aims to establish the first complete industrial chain for methanol reformation hydrogen fuel cell end products in China, which will play a significant role in promoting the development of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles in our country. At the beginning of December, a prototype based on the principle of methanol reformation for hydrogen production, independently developed by the 711th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, completed its commissioning tests at the Zhangjiang test site. This development solved the problem of safe and efficient hydrogen use in fuel cells in confined spaces, holding significant importance. At the end of December, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the engineering science team at the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences made progress in research on using 3D printing technology to develop catalysts for hydrogen production via methanol reforming in vehicles. Catalysts produced through 3D printing in this way hold promise for use in vehicle fuel cell systems. This research contributes to advancing methanol reformation hydrogen production technology in areas such as vehicle fuel cells, and provides new ideas for the development of novel integrated catalysts. On March 20, 2022, the methanol cracking hydrogen production unit of Unit 1 for olefins at Zhongyuan Petrochemical was successfully commissioned, producing qualified hydrogen at a design capacity of 250 standard cubic meters per hour. This device is of great significance for coordinating the production of various units within the company; it reduces the dependence between these units, allowing the company to regulate production more flexibly based on economic considerations and achieve a better state of operational efficiency. On November 10, HydroDrive Technology (Shanxi) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of AITO Motors Co., Ltd., held an online signing ceremony with HighEnergy Digital Manufacturing (Xi’an) Technology Co., Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, the two parties will pursue in-depth cooperation in the future on all-solid-state batteries for new application scenarios in new energy vehicles, as well as high-temperature fuel cells for hydrogen production via methanol reforming. In November, the first mass-produced (200 kg/day) methanol-to-hydrogen and hydrogen refueling integrated station in China, manufactured by Qingdao Yanghydro Group Co., Ltd., was rolled out in Chengyang District, Qingdao, and was commissioned for operation; it is set to be deployed across the country. This type of equipment features a modular design in the form of containerized skids, enabling rapid deployment of distributed hydrogen refueling stations as well as the upgraded integration of oil, gas, and hydrogen services in existing fueling stations. Zhang Tao, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has stated on multiple occasions that \"green methanol is an ideal liquid energy storage medium with high energy density; producing green hydrogen using renewable energy to generate it, and then creating green methanol that can be easily stored in combination with carbon dioxide, represents an important pathway to achieving zero carbon emissions.\" ” Zhang Tao believes that green methanol, as a key element in energy conversion, can address the issue of clean energy throughout the carbon footprint process; it can help develop the industrial chain for hydrogen energy applications, reduce carbon emissions, and enable efficient utilization of carbon – all at once. Liu Ke, a foreign member of the Australian Academy of Engineering, firmly maintains that \"methanol is currently the best material for hydrogen production.\" \"The process of producing hydrogen from methanol is much simpler compared to that using gasoline; in fact, methanol and water are reprocessed to produce hydrogen, which can then be used to generate electricity through direct electric furnaces. This electricity can power vehicles. Producing hydrogen while generating electricity at the same time represents the future of hydrogen energy.\" ”Liu Ke said, “Methanol offers the advantages of fuel cell efficiency and those of liquid fuels; combining the two is a potential direction for hydrogen energy in the future.” ”