The 4 million-ton coal-to-oil project in Ningxia is expected to begin trial operations in August
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The 4 million-ton coal-to-oil project in Ningxia is set to begin trial operations in August. Author/Source: Date: 2016-05-18 Clicks: 9. At 10 a.m. on May 13, the high-pressure motor of the first 280kW low-pressure circulation water pump in the Heishui unit of Phase III of the Shenhua Ningmei coal-to-oil project officially entered the single-unit trial operation stage. The professionals followed the steps outlined in the testing plan carefully; after two hours of operation, all the motor’s operational parameters remained stable, resulting in a successful first test run. On May 13, Li Jianhua, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ningxia Autonomous Region and Chairman of the People’s Congress, emphasized during an inspection of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base that efforts should be made to achieve world-class standards and to pursue excellence, so as to turn coal-to-oil projects into high-quality and model projects. According to the person in charge of Shenhua Ningmei Group’s 4 million tons per year coal-to-oil project, the total investment in the project is 55 billion yuan. At present, the civil engineering work is nearly complete; the installation of the steel structure has been finished, over 95% of the equipment has arrived, 89% of the equipment has been installed, 98% of the pipelines have been installed, and 46% of the instrumentation equipment has been installed. The project aims to have the methanol plant produce qualified products by August 10, 2016, and Line A for oil production will also commence operations officially ； Oil Product Line B will start operations on November 20, with all project processes to be completed by the end of the year.
The investment required for coal-to-oil production is quite high; 55 billion is enough to build a refinery with a capacity of 20 million tons per year...
I’m very worried that the products won’t sell. The three major oil companies strictly control their distribution channels; there’s already an excess supply of diesel. Yankuang’s partners still have access to channels, but Ningmei is in a difficult situation
It shouldn’t be the case yet; after all, it’s a Shenhua project. Shenhua’s 1 million-ton coal direct liquefaction project has been in operation for several years now, so they must have found ways to sell the oil by now.
It is said online that Shenhua’s channels have recently partnered with a certain company; it’s the China National Aviation Fuel Group Company. Only a strategic cooperation agreement was signed, and relevant officials say that building gas stations on their own is still in the experimental stage at present
I’ve never understood why coal has to be turned into oil; I don’t know how long it will take to recoup the costs involved, as the investment is really substantial
That is direct liquefaction. In previous years, when oil prices were high, reducing the prices made it attractive for the three major oil companies to purchase it. Indirect liquefaction mainly involves diesel; these companies already export large quantities of their own diesel. If coal-to-oil production became even cheaper, it would be almost like giving it away for free
The main products of direct liquefaction are also diesel, as well as naphtha, or gasoline obtained from the catalytic reforming of naphtha.
By eliminating the fuel tax, coal-to-oil remains efficient.