CHOREN News

In the past 20 years, the rapid development of China's modern coal chemical industry has been comparable to a churning sea carrying numerous advanced technologies at home and abroad. CHOREN Energy appears as a spring tide in this process and is poised to become a new wave in the raging current, driving the development of China's coal chemical industry in a more efficient, cleaner and environmentally friendly direction. As a rising star in the coal gasification industry, CHOREN Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. has accumulated enough energy, is fully prepared, and stands confidently on the starting line of the "14th Five-Year Plan" after years of engineering practice, technological innovation, accumulation of experience and promotion of localization.

The first battle was fought over the "triple difficult" coal

As a crucial process in modern coal chemical industry, coal gasification technology is the key and foundation to determine the success or failure of subsequent projects. The rapid development of China's modern coal chemical industry is inseparable from the development and progress of coal gasification technology and equipment. According to industry insiders, the country's coal gasification technology is mainly based on entrained-flow gasification, which mainly includes two technical routes: coal-water-slurry gasification ("slurry gasification") and dry pulverized coal gasification. There are more than 20 types of coal gasifiers. This is mainly due to the wide distribution of coal resources in China and the great differences in resource endowments. Due to the characteristics of raw coal, different coal chemical enterprises have different requirements for gasification technology and gasifier performance, which form a combination. More than ten years ago, gasifier types such as Shell gasifier, Lurqi gasifier, aerospace gasifier and Texaco gasifier appeared one after another, each leading. At that time, CHOREN gasifier was still a little-known and little-used youngster. Compared with its big brothers, which had dozens and hundreds of versions, the existence of CHOREN gasifier was not strong.

In October 2012, Guizhou Kaiyang Chemical Co., Ltd. was the first company to build two CHOREN CCG pulverized coal gasifiers with a daily coal processing capacity of 1,500 tons, put them into operation, and supplied the syngas to a synthetic ammonia production project with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. The syngas output of a single gasifier is 70,000 Nm³/h, and the maximum syngas output is 95,000 Nm³/h. In January 2013, the entire construction of the synthetic ammonia project was completed. In March of the same year, the plant was transferred to test production and then to continuous operation in August. Except for the production in an industrial test plant in Germany with a daily coal input of 750 tons, there was no industrial plant for this gasification process at that time at home or abroad. The CHOREN gasifier, based on sound technical principles and extensive test and investigation data, did not disappoint Kaiyang Chemical. The person in charge of Kaiyang Chemical Co, Ltd. announced that the gasification unit was put into operation at the end of 2012. After more than one year of operation experience and optimization, there is a comprehensive and scientific data set for the "triple difficult coals of Guizhou" (high ash content, high ash melting point and high sulfur content). The gasification process has been adopted into continuous operation and the long-term stable operation of the equipment has been realized. "Since 2013, the whole plant has never failed because of the gasification unit, and the annual operation time exceeds 330 days. The availability of the gasification process has reached and exceeded the guaranteed design parameters. Kaiyang Chemical won the first battle and the CHOREN gasifier began to establish itself in the industry. Since then, CHOREN's coal gasification technology has successively won the coal-to-ethylene glycol project with an annual production of 300,000 tons in Inner Mongolia and the coal-to-olefin project with an annual production of 600,000 tons in Qinghai Mining, Hubei Yihua. The Shuanghuan synthetic ammonia project and the Guizhou synthetic ammonia project have gradually achieved an efficient and reliable reputation in the market.

The next step is "thick and thin" to show its power

The success of CHOREN gasifier in Kaiyang Chemical has earned it a dazzling nameplate - as an expert in handling "triple" coal. As long as one encounters "triple difficult" coal, everyone naturally thinks of the CHOREN gasifier. Soon, this impression was supplemented by another reputation, "thick and thin", which is to indicate the flexibility with changes in coal properties.

In 2018, due to the shortage of coal supply in Guizhou, Kaiyang Chemical had to buy larger amount of coal from Shaanxi and Mongolia as supplement, which brought new challenges to Kaiyang Chemical. In the more than 5 years since it started commercial operation, Kaiyang Chemical's CHOREN gasifier in Guizhou has always used local low-grade coal as raw material, and the process indicators are very mature and stable. He is used to eating "coarse grains" and suddenly switched to "fine grains". Kaiyang first contacted CHOREN Energy. After extensive communication and research, both sides formulated a new, detailed mixture ratio and adjusted the process parameters to the two types of coal in a ratio of 1:1. The results of gasification of the coal mixture are very satisfactory. As a result, the ash content in the raw coal has reduced from 25...30% to 15...20%. The composition of the raw coal ash also changed significantly. The operating temperature of the gasifier decreased. The oxygen consumption also reduced greatly and the effective gas composition of the syngas further improved and exceeded 91%. The carbon conversion rate exceeded 99%. When the test results were announced, Gao Xingguo's heart was lifted. After one year of operation, the CHOREN CCG pulverized coal gasifier not only showed no signs of poor operating performance due to the change of raw coal type, but also improved in terms of cost reduction, efficiency increase and quality maintenance, leading to further success. Compared with the use of pure local coal in Guizhou, after the change of raw coal type, coal consumption per ton of ammonia was reduced by about 150 kg, equivalent coal consumption was reduced by about 75 kg/kNm³, specific oxygen consumption was reduced by about 20 Nm³/kNm³, and the cost per ton of ammonia was reduced by about 150 Yuan, giving Kaiyang Chemical considerable economic advantages. This forced raw material adjustment changed the industry's first impression that CHOREN gasifiers can only process the "3-times difficult" coal, and the evidence of processing raw coal with greatly changed coal properties has attracted the attention of more and more coal chemical companies. In 2019, two major coal chemical projects in Yulin, Shaanxi, chose CHOREN pulverized coal gasification process. One is the first phase of the demonstration project of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co, Ltd, with an annual production of 1.8 million tons of ethylene glycol. The other is the first phase (400,000 t/y) of Shaanxi Yulin Energy Group Co, Ltd's project with a final production of 1.2 million t/y coal-to-ethylene glycol.

The use of CHOREN gasification process for these two large-scale projects is of extraordinary significance. In recent decades, coal-water slurry gasification technology has dominated the chemical coal industry in Yulin, Shaanxi Province. Everyone had a firm opinion and believed that coal-water slurry gasification technology was the best for coal here. Now, CHOREN dry coal-powder gasification process is used here, which means that the advantages of CHOREN gasifier in terms of economy, coal type adaptability, energy saving and environmental protection are highly recognized by coal chemical enterprises in Yulin region.
Of course, the courage of the two Yulin coal chemical enterprises to make changes with it is not an impulsive step. In the early stage of selecting the gasification process, the project manager of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. visited Kaiyang in the south many times and carried out thorough and careful investigation of the two gasifiers of CHOREN-CCG pulverized coal gasification process currently in operation at Kaiyang Chemical Co., Ltd. After much investigation and consideration, the decision was made in favor of the CHOREN gasifiers.

German technology convinces with stability and flexibility

All insiders in the coal chemical industry know that the "triple difficult“coal is the most complicated coal to handle in the coal gasification process. So, how can a little-known CHOREN gasifier stand up under these tough requirements?
Li Shuguang, president of CHOREN Energy Technology (Beijing) Co, Ltd, revealed the secret. She said that CHOREN gasifier is a patented product of German CHOREN Industrietechnik GmbH based on pure German technology, which combines the knowledge of German research and development team for decades. Germany is the birthplace of modern coal gasification technology. The forerunner of the German CHOREN Industrietechnik GmbH is the well-known East German Fuel Research Institute in Freiberg/Saxony.

When the oil crisis broke out in the 1970s, the East German Fuel Research Institute began to investigate how to convert local, rich lignite deposits into gas for energy use. In 1984, the East German Fuel Research Institute built a 200-MWth lignite gasification plant in Schwarze Pumpe. In 1990, Dr. Bodo Wolf, head of the Research Institute for Power Plant Technology of the GDR, founded CHOREN Industries Co, Ltd, whose shareholders later included Daimler-Benz, Royal Dutch Shell Company and Volkswagen AG. With a total investment of 100 million euros, CHOREN Industries Co., Ltd. completed process optimization in 1997 based on the experience gained from the Schwarze Pumpe gasification plant and established CHOREN CCG pulverized coal gasification technology. Over the past 50 years, the R&D team has worked with a strictly scientific work attitude in the spirit of German scientists and tested nearly 100 types of raw coals worldwide, collecting complete coal data. In the process, it established the world's most comprehensive gasification database, a theoretical calculation system for coal gasification, coal mixing and ash mixing schemes, and a large number of patented industrial solutions in the field of entrained flow gasification technology with dry coal feeding. Currently, CHOREN owns 92 patents within 42 patent classes in the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States, Germany, Canada, China and other countries. CHOREN has accumulated a lot of experience in process research and development, design, manufacturing and operation. "The rigorous and scientific working style of the Germans has made the core technology of CHOREN gasifier. Every detail of the equipment and every parameter of the process stands up to scrutiny. More than 50 years of German gasification technology and the combination of strong process development capabilities with the technical skills of the Chinese team has enabled this technology to flourish and bear fruit on Chinese soil," said Li Shuguang.
The aforementioned application of the multi-burner system proves advantageous in many ways. "CHOREN gasifier is the only gasifier in the world that applies the multi-burner design (3+1) mounted on the gasifier head, which provides many favorable conditions for the complete gasification of pulverized coal and enables the large coal gasification capacity of CHOREN gasifier.," said the technical director of CHOREN Energy Technology (Beijing) Co, Ltd. According to research, the multi-burner design mounted on the gasifier head brings strong gasification effects, such as the following: The flow field of multi-burner is uniform and the average residence time of raw coal is large. The reflow area of the gasifier is uniform and the probability of particles hitting the gasifier wall is high. The temperature in the upper reflow region and the regional reflow velocity are uniform. This ensures the uniformity of the top slag layer and the long-term stable operation of the burner. The Multi -Burner Top-Down Spray makes the high-temperature syngas and liquid slag flow in the same direction, which ensures smooth slag discharge from the reaction chamber of the gasifier.

The four main advantages of CHOREN CCG-pulverized coal gasification technology are as follows:

1. Gasification has great adaptability to very different coal properties, and therefore can achieve low raw material cost. CHOREN CCG-pulverized coal gasification technology is suitable for clean gasification of various raw materials such as hard coal, anthracite, lignite and petroleum coke, including low-grade coal with high ash content, high sulfur content and high ash melting point. Specific requirements for strength, digestibility, cohesion and coking properties and others are not mandatory requirements for gasification, and thus can effectively reduce raw material costs.
2. The 3+1 burner overhead structure creates a uniform flow field. The 3+1 burner overhead structure ensures uniform distribution of carbon dust in the reaction chamber of the gasifier and achieves high carbon conversion efficiency. The carbon conversion rate is 98% ~ 99%; the cold gas efficiency is 81% ~ 83% and the effective content of useful components in syngas is 88% ~ 93%. The 3+1 burner overhead structure improves the back-mixing effect of carbon dust and slag in the gasifier, thus improving the slag layer adhering to the cooling screen (especially the gasifier dome). The gasifier allows higher operating temperatures and thus the use of coals with high-melting ashes (possibly with the use of fluxes).
3. The investment and operating costs of the CHOREN technology are comparatively low. CCG-pressurized coal gasification technology has a relatively short technological process, compact equipment structure, high equipment localization rate and low investment costs for equipment manufacturing. The pilot burner can operate with natural gas, LPG or recycled syngas. The gasifier requires only 1 to 2 hours from startup from a cold condition to full load operation. Restart from a hot condition can be accomplished within half an hour.
4. The realized standards for safety and environmental protection are very high. The ratio of slag to ash in the solid discharge of CHOREN gasifier is 7:3. The coarse slag accounts for 60% ~ 70% of the total slag and the residual carbon content in the slag is less than 1%, which allows it to be used as construction material (road construction, aggregate). The fine ash can be directly mixed into the boiler fuel coal. The amount of wastewater is small and the wastewater does not contain toxic substances such as benzene and phenol. The unique design of the pilot burner ensures the absolute safety of the gasifier unit when it needs to stop in the event of a malfunction during normal operation.

The use of CHOREN gasifiers in China promotes localization

Despite numerous technological advantages, it was not easy for a coal gasification technology from Germany to gain a foothold in the highly competitive Chinese market. In 2012, CHOREN gasifiers successfully commissioned at Kaiyang Chemical, allowing interested Chinese investors to study their technical level and development potential. CHOREN Industrial Technology Company holds 100% of the rights to CCG technology and owns all databases, trademarks and intellectual property rights. In 2013, CHOREN Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. established the headquarters in Beijing, and the technology and R&D center continues to be the former German CHOREN Company under the name CHOREN Industrietechnik GmbH, located in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. Thus, a high-tech company linking China and Germany is committed to the clean and efficient use of coal. However, the road to commercialization of CHOREN technology has not always been smooth. After Kaiyang Chemical's project was completed, several companies signed cooperation agreements with CHOREN Energy. For various reasons not caused by CHOREN, the contracted projects not completed yet. These years have been hard for CHOREN Energy. However, the thought of giving up never existed in the mind of Shan Yubing, Chairman of CHOREN Energy. He was and still is a firm believer that “gold will always shine” and good technology will eventually come in handy. In order to achieve the goal of high quality coal conversion and good development of coal chemical industry in China, the support of international leading technologies is indispensable. In his heart, he has always held on to the firm belief that technology and industry must serve the country. Facing difficulties and challenges, CHOREN-Energy did not give in, but chose to face the difficulties. On the one hand, it communicated with customers in various ways to seek new cooperation opportunities. On the other hand, it worked hard and made many improvements and innovations in equipment and technology in more than three years. The daily coal input of the first CHOREN gasifiers was 1,500 tons, and based on this, CHOREN developed gasifiers with throughputs of 2,000 t/d and 3,000 t/d to better meet the requirements of the coal chemical industry.
Since 2016, CHOREN-Energy has maintained a long-term research cooperation regarding coal quality and coal chemistry with Shanxi Coal Chemical Research Institute, and a research cooperation with Southeast University on various transport methods for pulverized coal under pressurized conditions. In 2019, CHOREN-Energy and Shaanxi Coal Group signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop the co-gasification technology project of coke powder and high-concentration organic waste liquid, which provides a brand-new solution for the effective utilization of high-concentration organic waste liquid, aiming at energy saving and emission reduction in the coal chemical industry. In order to better adapt to the upstream and downstream processes of the coal chemical industry and the challenges posed by the diversity of coal types, CHOREN-Energy has recently developed and completed the design of a 2,000-ton and 3,000-ton coal-water slurry gasification system. Currently, the design of a 5,000-ton slurry gasifier is under development. While continuously improving its technological innovation capabilities, CHOREN-Energy has also strengthened team building and recruited new talents to improve the team's market development and technical service capabilities.
CHOREN-Energy's innovations in coal gasification technology have also been highly recognized by relevant national departments. From 2016 to 2019, CHOREN-CCG coal gasification technology was listed in the "National Key Energy-Saving Low-Carbon Technology Promotion Catalog". In 2017, CHOREN won the 19th China Patent Excellence Award, and in 2018, it won the Beijing New Technology and New Product Certificate. In 2019, it won the National High-tech Enterprise Certificate, and in 2020, it won the Zhongguancun High-tech Enterprise Certificate. While CHOREN-Energy realized the localization of technology and engineering services, it also accelerated the process of localization of equipment manufacturing. In 2016, CHOREN-Energy signed equipment-manufacturing agreements with Dongfang Electric Group Dongfang Boiler Co., Ltd. and Xi'an Aerospace Source Power Co., Ltd. relying on the strong equipment manufacturing capabilities of the two companies. As a result, CHOREN achieves 100% localization of its patented core equipment.

On December 21, 2020, the CHOREN-CCG pulverized coal gasifier customized by Dongfang Boiler for the Shaanxi Coal Yulin ethylene glycol project with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons was delivered to the project site. Before the end of this year, these large gasifiers with a length of 22 meters and a weight of 280 tons made in China will be placed on the ground of Yulin coal chemical industry and will start the operation of new CHOREN gasifiers in the 14th Five-Year Plan.