【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】From 1963 to 2024: International leadership in efficient Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing long-chain α-olefins

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Safety first. Prevention first – let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical technology and equipment industry. **********************【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】A continuously updated summary post is available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Forum Website) ***************** On September 25, 2024, the industrial pilot test of the “high-efficiency Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing long-chain α-olefins” technology, carried out in collaboration between the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (referred to as “Shanghai Institute of Advanced Technology”) and Shanghai Ruican Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Ruican Energy”), passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in Beijing. The evaluation committee unanimously agreed that this achievement is highly innovative, possesses independent intellectual property rights, and is overall at the international leading level. 　　The review committee is composed of seven renowned experts in the field of energy and chemical engineering, including Liang Longhu, former deputy chief engineer at Sinopec Luoyang Petrochemical Engineering Company; Li Zhijian, vice president of the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute; Martin, a professor at Peking University; Liu Zhenyu, a professor at Beijing University of Chemical Technology; Hou Bo, a researcher at the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Dong Genquan, a professor-level senior engineer at Zhongke Synthetic Oil Technology Co., Ltd.; and Sun Yan, a senior engineer at Shanghai Yankuang Energy Technology R&D Co., Ltd. Liang Longhu serves as the chairman of the evaluation committee. The meeting was chaired by Wang Xiujiang, deputy director of the Science, Technology and Equipment Department of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. Wei Wei, vice president of the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Man Yanwei, chairman of Rui Carbon Energy, Sun Zhiqiang, general manager of the same company, and other relevant leaders attended the meeting to deliver speeches and express their views. 　　The evaluation committee listened to the presentation on the research outcomes given by Researcher Zhong Liangshu from the Shanghai Advanced Institute, as well as the assessment report prepared by Researcher Hou Bo, who was responsible for the on-site evaluation, and reviewed the relevant documents. Following inquiries and discussions, the evaluation committee unanimously agreed that this technology innovatively developed a new Ru-based catalyst for efficient Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of long-chain α-olefins, featuring extremely low selectivity for CO₂ and CH₄ by-products; it introduced a new approach to the synthesis of α-olefins and achieved the optimization of the catalyst as well as its production on a kilogram scale ； The 1000-hour verification test for the industrial fixed-bed single-tube reactor was successfully completed. The results of the 72-hour on-site evaluation show: a CO conversion rate of 87.8%, an α-olefin selectivity of 60.9% (with an α-olefin selectivity of 70% in the oil phase), a CO₂ selectivity of 0.6%, and a CH4 selectivity of 1.9%. This technology is primarily used for the production of long-chain α-olefins, opening up new pathways for the synthesis of α-olefins ； The selectivity for CO₂ and CH₄ is extremely low, meeting the requirements of the \"dual carbon\" policy. This achievement is highly innovative, possesses independent intellectual property rights, and is overall at the international leading level. 　　The evaluation committee recommends accelerating the development of 10,000-ton-class process packages to promote the industrialization of this technology. 　　It is reported that long-chain α-olefins are key raw materials for the upgrading of the polyolefin industry, the production of PAO lubricants, and straight-chain high-carbon alcohols. The synthesis technologies for commercial α-olefins, as well as over 80% of the global production capacity, are primarily in the hands of well-known foreign companies such as Chevron and Shell. China’s market for long-chain α-olefins is enormous, yet domestic production is severely insufficient, which greatly hinders the upgrading of downstream industries such as polyolefins, PAO, and detergents in the country. Based on the characteristics of China’s resource endowments, developing key technologies for efficient Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to produce long-chain α-olefins holds promise for expanding the supply channels for α-olefins and enhancing the strategic security of energy and basic industrial chemicals. In recent years, the production of olefins from syngas has attracted considerable attention from academia and industry both domestically and internationally, and significant progress has been made. However, the catalytic systems reported generally suffer from high selectivity for C1 by-products such as CH4 and CO2, as well as low selectivity and yield for α-olefins; as a result, their overall technical and economic efficiency is poor, and their carbon and energy efficiencies are also low. image007.png