The 1 million-ton olefin project in Phase 3 of Ningxia Baofeng has been successfully put into operation, producing qualified products

Thread Content

Recently, the purification unit for the methanol project and the MTO+OCC units for the olefin project as part of Ningxia Baofeng Energy’s 500,000-ton-per-year coal-to-olefins facility, which was constructed by China State Construction Installation, were put into full operation, producing qualified products. According to Baofeng Energy’s 2023 semi-annual report, the 1 million-ton coal-to-olefins and methanol production unit in Phase 3 of Ningdong began trial production at the end of March this year, and it has now reached its designed production capacity ； 400,000 tons of polyethylene and 500,000 tons of polypropylene have been put into trial production ； The 250,000-ton EVA plant is expected to come online in October 2023. On September 28, Baofeng Energy responded to investors on its investor relations platform: the company’s 1 million tons per year olefin project has begun trial production. Ningxia Baofeng Energy’s 500,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins project is the first major project to be launched in Ningxia as part of its efforts to build a pilot zone for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. It utilizes international advanced processes, technologies, and equipment; the MTO unit employs third-generation methanol-to-olefins (DMTO-III) technology. Once completed, this facility will enable an additional 1 million tons of polyolefin production, raising the annual polyolefin production capacity at Baofeng Energy’s Ningdong facility to 2.2 million tons, while the annual methanol production capacity will increase to 6.4 million tons. This further enhances the company’s core competitiveness in terms of scale and sophistication, continuously setting new records in the global industry. The project builds on the enterprise’s existing engineering expertise in gasification processes; it utilizes Beijing Aerospace’s pressurized coal gasification technology, Linde’s technology for low-temperature methanol washing, and the first-generation technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year per system) ； Olefin separation utilizes technology from the American company KBR ； The polypropylene PP plant uses the Lyondellbasell gas-phase process, while the EVA plant employs the Basel high-pressure tubular process ； Sulfur recovery employs a process that includes high-temperature Claus reaction in the furnace, two-stage low-temperature catalytic Claus reaction, hydrogen reduction, and selective oxidation; after combustion of the exhaust gases, they are sent to the power island in the Linhe Industrial Park (where they enter two desulfurization systems in the power station). Baofeng Energy’s 500,000 tons per year olefins project includes a high-capacity production line for 250,000 tons per year of EVA; this product is widely used in fields such as foam materials, wires and cables, functional greenhouse films, and photovoltaic encapsulation films. Currently, the domestic reliance on imported EVA products is as high as 60%. Once the project is put into operation, the 250,000 tons per year production facility will also set a new record for the scale of single EVA production units in the western region, further enhancing its core competitiveness in terms of scale and high-end capabilities. Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group has completed two phases of its olefin projects, with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons of olefins, 600,000 tons of polyethylene, and 600,000 tons of polypropylene. Upon completion of the third-phase project, an additional 500,000 tons per year of olefin production capacity will be added, resulting in 250,000 tons per year of EVA and 300,000 tons per year of polypropylene products. The third phase of Ningxia Baofeng Energy’s 500,000-ton coal-to-olefins project involves the construction of a 1.5 million tons per year coal gasification to methanol plant, a 500,000 tons per year methanol to olefins plant, a 250,000 tons per year ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) plant, a 300,000 tons per year polypropylene plant, as well as supporting utility systems and auxiliary facilities. Simultaneously construct a 500,000 tons/year C2-C5 comprehensive utilization olefin production project, namely the Ningdong 1 million tons olefin project. In addition, the construction of the 3 million tons per year olefin project in Inner Mongolia is progressing smoothly according to the established plan. Construction of this project officially began in March 2023, with gradual commissioning expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.