First industrial operation of the 6.5MPa-class Tsinghua furnace

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As of May 8, the gasification unit of Xinjiang Tianye Group had been in continuous operation for a total of 235 days, marking the first time that an industrial-scale gasifier with a 6.5 MPa-class water-cooled wall for coal slurry (commonly known as the “Tsinghua furnace”) was put into use. At the same time, this project successfully overcame the technical barriers associated with high-pressure gasification using coke slag and low-rank lignite from Zhundong as raw materials, achieving for the first time the efficient utilization of low-rank coal from Xinjiang in the field of water-coal slurry. The second-phase project of Xinjiang Tianye Group, which aims to produce 170,000 tons per year of 1,4-butanediol and 200,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol through the comprehensive utilization of carbide furnace gas, relies on absorption of existing technologies and independent research and development. Building on the successes achieved in the first phase in producing high-purity carbon monoxide and hydrogen from carbide furnace gas, this project seeks to overcome new technical challenges – namely, carrying out high-pressure gasification using coke dust waste and low-grade lignite from Zhundong. This represents a technical hurdle that determines whether the gasification facility can be put into operation successfully. In the absence of any domestic or international experience, technical data, or references for construction and operation, the R&D team at Xinjiang Tianye Group began its scientific research efforts by setting up laboratories and developing simulation platforms. The Tsinghua furnace is currently the gas generation equipment with the highest pressure level in the world. At that time, there was only one furnace of 4.0 MPa in the country operating on a pilot basis with this technology; increasing the pressure would cause fundamental changes in the flow field within the gasification chamber, posing certain technical risks. However, choosing a different furnace type carries greater risks and could even determine the success or failure of the project. After extensive research and technical evaluation, Xinjiang Tianye Group ultimately selected the 6.5MPa Tsinghua furnace, which has strong adaptability to different coal types, as the gasification furnace. According to Ruan Jianfei, deputy general manager of Tianchen Chemical Co., Ltd. and Tianneng Chemical Co., Ltd., at the beginning of the commissioning and operation of the plant, the system faced issues such as a short service life of the burners, high pressure differences in the Venturi scrubbers, poor efficiency in heat recovery through the coils in the low-temperature methanol washing unit, and a large volume of water circulation in the gasification system. To address these issues, the gasification team at Xinjiang Tianye Group established a task force that carried out reforms while continuing production. They successfully overcame the technical challenges associated with using coke dust waste and low-grade lignite from Zhundong as raw materials for high-pressure gasification, thereby achieving stable operation of the gasifiers over extended periods. Additionally, they achieved efficient utilization of low-grade coal from Xinjiang in the field of water-coal slurry for the first time. The continuous operation of the gasification unit at Xinjiang Tianye Group marked the first use of water-cooled wall slurry gasification technology in Xinjiang, providing strong operational and technical support for the group’s development in the coal chemical and new energy industries. The project of comprehensively utilizing the calcium carbide furnace gas from the second phase of Xinjiang Tianye Group to produce 170,000 tons per year of 1,4-butanediol and 200,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol was successfully put into operation on August 18, 2015, achieving the goal of making full use of all the waste gases from calcium carbide furnaces and coke dust generated in the industrial park in a valuable manner. Source: China Chemical Industry News