Progress of the Hebi Huashi Suspended Bed Hydrogenation Project

Li Lin made improvements after going his own way with VCC technology; I’m not aware of the latest developments. Does anyone among Haiyou know anything about it? Same curiosity.

There probably won’t be much change. Curious! ! !

Suspension bed hydrogenation: A new force in coal-to-oil production? http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_52f526870102vqel.html

The civil engineering and equipment installation for the 158,000 tons/year comprehensive utilization project of tar have been fully completed. http://www.sanju.cn/?optionid=982

It has been operating stably since February 21, 2016.

The last edit to this post was made by jordan569 on 2016-7-15 at 10:43. I. Representatives from the relevant organizations arrived at the 158,000 tons per year tar comprehensive utilization industrial demonstration project in Hebi Huashi at 2:00 p.m. on May 24, 2016; guided by the staff, they visited the factory’s control room and production facilities, and listened to explanations provided on site by the staff. II. Mr. Lin Ke, the general manager of the company, exchanged views with the representatives of the institutions regarding the Hebi project; the details are as follows: Question: What is the progress in the further development of the suspended-bed hydrogenation project? Answer: There are currently over 10 target customers in the process of negotiation, and the specific implementation will need to be determined by taking into account the operating conditions of existing facilities, the improvement of the trimer support system, as well as the overall strategic plan. The company strives to achieve industrial production at the million-ton level as quickly as possible. Q: Given the current talent pool, how many million-ton-scale fluidized-bed hydroprocessing projects can Sinopec support? Answer: It should be able to support three sets. Question: What will be the cooperation model and charging standards for the subsequent suspended-bed hydrogenation project? Answer: We are currently in the early stages of large-scale industrialization, and efforts to expand future business operations are under consideration; no final decision has been made yet. However, the company will seek ways to carry out its business that allow it to maintain control over its core operations while maximizing efficiency. Regarding the fee structure, the gross profit margin for project construction should be no less than 20%; after the project is completed, the fee rate will be determined based on its profitability. The core catalysts charge service fees based on the additional profits generated by the project, thereby increasing the gross profit margin through such a service model. Q: What key issues should be noted when promoting the suspended bed hydroprocessing project? Answer: First is the issue of equipment; an increase in scale requires the development of large-scale reactors as well as the selection of appropriate pumps, compressors, and transportation equipment. Any industrial application will find it difficult to operate without proper equipment support ； In terms of catalysts, the company will continue to work with various parties to develop catalysts with multiple functions. As a processing technique, the suspended-bed process can be used not only in heavy oil processing but also in many other areas, such as the modification of diesel using this technique, and the hydroisomerization of high-quality lubricants. The company will develop more catalysts to support the development of the chemical industry based on this suspended-bed technology. Question: How to address the hydrogen consumption issue? Answer: When heavy raw materials are converted into lighter ones, a higher amount of hydrogen is required. However, through a tailored design based on trimerization, the hydrogen supply is met entirely by the surrounding coking plants, resulting in a reduction of the cost per ton of hydrogen by 8,000 RMB. This is a integrated manufacturing process that not only aims to convert heavy materials into lighter ones but also to reduce hydrogen costs. Question: What are the core competitive advantages of the tripolymer suspended-bed hydrogenation business? Answer: The biggest problem with suspended-bed hydrogenation units is that no amount of laboratory testing can resolve the issues related to their practical implementation; this includes the inability to determine the relationship between the amount of catalyst used and the resulting differences in performance. Therefore, engineering is a major obstacle to the widespread adoption of this technology; the problems faced by industrial installations are not encountered in laboratories. The demonstration unit for trimerization provides ample data sources for larger-scale installations through the switching of various raw materials, and its primary task is to ensure that large-scale industrial facilities developed in China are safe and reliable. Developing this technology was not easy; the technical staff put in a great deal of effort, and once it was successful, it opened up huge opportunities for development for Sanmu. We estimate that TriPle leads in this field by more than five years; due to the differences in the design of core reactors, data such as the amount of catalyst accumulation within these reactors and the suitability of catalysts depending on the type of oil can only be obtained through fully developed industrial facilities. The successful operation of the facility you see here provides us with the necessary conditions for this. Question: What impact does oil price have on the promotion of suspended-bed hydrogenation technology? Answer: Oil prices are always fluctuating. As part of technology development, its value can be better demonstrated when oil prices are low. The application of new technologies can improve productivity, which means that such technologies create added value – and this is particularly important. Question: Is circulation required when materials enter the suspended bed? Answer: The advantage of the trimerization unit is that it processes material in one pass, with no recycling. Question: Has the total investment amount for a suspended-bed hydrogenation project been calculated? Answer: It cannot be calculated using the current setup; this set is intended for demonstration purposes. On a macro level, overall investment is comparable when using alternatives to VRDS; building new refineries with suspended-bed hydrogenation as the core technology can result in a 20% savings in investment costs. Question: Since the Hebi project already has a suspended-bed reactor, why is a fixed-bed reactor still being used? Answer: The demonstration units can all be fed into the suspended bed, but in large-scale units, material properties need to be taken into consideration: heavier components are fed into the suspended bed first and then into the fixed bed, while lighter components go directly into the fixed bed. Components that cannot be processed in a fixed-bed reactor can be fed directly into a suspended-bed reactor; although the cost is high, the product quality is good. So overall, both cost and quality need to be taken into consideration; therefore, different process platforms have different uses, representing a combination of processes. Question: The issue of material ratio in suspended bed and fixed bed? Answer: The proportion of material fed to the suspended bed is determined based on its density; 50% of medium- and low-temperature coal tar is fed to the suspended bed, while over 90% of high-temperature coal tar is fed there. Question: Compared to VRDS on a year-on-year basis, does the suspended-bed hydrogenation technology offer cost advantages? Answer: The suspension bed technology results in higher processing costs of 150 yuan per ton compared to conventional VRDS, but the total investment is reduced. Increased output leads to a 25% higher profit margin, and the quality of the oil product is very high; therefore, overall the advantages are quite significant.

““We estimate that TriPly is ahead in this field by more than five years,” – that sentence is just funny to read. Back then, Tongliao Jinmei was just as confident. Then, it incurs a loss five years longer than other households. It’s okay; I’ve managed to survive after all. Finally, they didn’t become martyrs.