China’s largest methanol-co-produced LNG project comes online in Xiaoyi

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China’s largest methanol and LNG co-production project came online in Xiaoyi. Author/Source: Date: 2016-07-25. Clicks: 15. Once the project is fully operational, it is expected to produce 600,000 tons of methanol and 400 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas per year, generating an annual output value of 3.5 billion yuan and profits and taxes of 1.2 billion yuan. On July 14, the first phase of Pengfei Group’s project to produce 600,000 tons of methanol along with 400 million cubic meters of LNG per year was officially put into operation in Xiaoyi’s new coal chemical industrial park with a capacity of 10 million tons. Against the backdrop of advancing supply-side structural reforms and adapting to as well as leading the new normal of economic development, Pengfei Group has blazed a \"new path\" for coal and coking enterprises to break through difficulties by achieving deep integration of the industrial chain, capital chain, and technology chain, thus becoming the first in the country to develop new types of coal chemical industries. “\"Only coking, no transformation\" was the true reality of the coal coking industry in the past. The Pengfei 600,000-ton methanol and LNG co-production project addresses the shortcoming of focusing only on coking without chemical processing; it is the first such project in the province and the largest in the country to produce methanol along with LNG using the same technological process. Leveraging the excess coke oven gas generated during the coking process at the group’s 5-million-ton coke production facility, the project compresses, purifies, and decarbonizes this gas. Through deep cryogenic liquefaction at minus 170 degrees Celsius, LNG is separated as a product; the remaining hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide from the decarbonization stage are then compressed and mixed together in a methanol synthesis system to produce methanol. This process transforms the traditional methanol-based ammonia synthesis process, enabling the production of higher-quality products and maximizing their profitability; with unchanged investment levels, the profits are more than twice those of the conventional process. Once all the facilities of the project are completed and in operation, it is expected to produce 600,000 tons of methanol and 400 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas per year, as well as by-products such as fusel oils, sulfur, and off-gases. The annual output value is expected to reach 3.5 billion yuan, with profits and taxes amounting to 1.2 billion yuan. At the project site, the author saw pipes everywhere, with reactors, liquid storage tanks and other devices scattered throughout; cooling and air compression equipment was operating loudly and smoothly. Xie Yidong, the director of the LNG workshop at the Pengfei methanol and LNG co-production project, said, “The cryogenic liquefaction unit is currently the largest of its kind in the country. After trial production and adjustments, it has now reached almost the designed capacity, with stable production levels and a daily output of 334 tons.” The greatest advantage of LNG as a product is that its volume is reduced by 625 times, which makes it easy to store and transport. ” It is understood that the biggest highlight of this project is innovation. Firstly, there is financial innovation: by actively forming strategic partnerships with high-quality capital sources, the company succeeded in bringing in the listed company Beijing Sanju Environmental Protection. Together, they invested 2 billion yuan in a project to produce 600,000 tons of methanol along with LNG, using a combination of equity and debt financing. At the same time, various measures were taken to reduce financing costs, such as converting debt into equity, changing short-term loans into long-term ones, and reducing high interest rates to lower levels ； Next is technological innovation: the country’s first 6.25-meter three-stage heating coke oven put into operation, Germany’s most advanced coking equipment, the SCP unit, and the United States’ most advanced thermal cycle coking technology. These technologies enable the simultaneous production of methanol and LNG from coke oven gas, making it the first facility of its kind in the province and the largest of its kind in the country for the co-production of methanol and LNG ； There are also innovative management models; by engaging in contract energy management and contract environmental management with Beijing Sanju Chuangjie Technology Company and Beijing Haotian Baineng Environmental Protection Company, the most advanced technologies from around the world are introduced, thereby reducing the financial costs associated with energy-saving upgrades as well as the technical risks for enterprises.