CHOREN News

Recently, CHOREN Future Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. received the news that after selection, CHOREN's patented coal dust gasification technology was selected for the 1.8 million tons/year ethylene glycol plant in the first phase of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co. This news shows that in the Yulin area of Shaanxi province, where coal-water slurry gasification dominates, CHOREN's dry coal gasification process has become an outstanding process recognized by coal chemical companies, and that its advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, adaptability of coal types, as well as energy saving and environmental protection are coming to the fore.

This coal gasification technology is a leader in the modern coal chemical industry, which directly determines the success or failure of later projects and the competitiveness of the companies. Currently, the development of modern coal gasification technology is mainly based on entrained-flow gasification. With water-slurry gasification and dry coal dust gasification, there are two technical routes with domestic and foreign coal gasification technologies, where each process and gasifier type has its own characteristics, and companies select the appropriate equipment mainly based on the various coal resources.

Shen Yuncheng, chief engineer of Shaanxi Yulin Energy Group Co., Ltd.'s glycol project, said that the main reason for choosing the CHOREN coal dust gasification process are the comprehensive benefits of this process in terms of coal consumption, oxygen consumption, coal type adaptability and investment. Compared to the coal-water slurry gasification process, which has an effective gas composition of less than 80%, this can reach more than 90% in the gasification of dry coal dust. In other words, the CHOREN coal dust gasification process saves more than 10% of coal consumption and more than 15% of oxygen consumption compared to the water-coal slurry process with the same type of coal and the same gas production volume. In addition, the technology of dry coal dust gasification is very adaptable to coal grades, especially for coal of inferior quality, such as e.g. coal with high ash content, with high ash melting point and/or coal with high sulfur content, and has a better gasification index, while the technology of water slurry gasification requires good quality coal and good sludge formation properties.

Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. chose the CHOREN coal dust gasification process because of many studies and careful consideration. The person in charge of the company said that they chose CHOREN's technology based on extensive market research based on the industrial applications of various coal dust gasification technologies in the current market. Compared to other coal dust gasification technologies, the multi-burner design of the CHOREN gasifier mounted on the gasifier head offers outstanding advantages such as an uniform gasification flow field, long particle residence time, high carbon conversion rate, high slag-to-ash ratio, easy and convenient starting and stopping, etc. At the same time, the gasification process is optimized, the device is highly automated, safe and environmentally friendly, energy consumption is low and the manufacturing of the gasification plant is fully localized.

Representatives of Yulin Chemicla Co. Ltd. have been to Southern China many times and conducted a detailed study of the two gasifiers of coal dust gasification plant with a daily capacity of 1,500 tons each operated by Guizhou Kaiyang Chemical Co. The two gasifiers in Kaiyang, Guizhou, are considered as the industry benchmark for handling the "triple difficult" coal that has been used for seven years since the project was completed in 2012, runs smoothly and has an unparalleled advantage in handling this coal. Last year, a random change in the type of coal brought the advantage of the CHOREN gasifier to the fore in handling high-quality coal and became a model for "coarse and fine food", which significantly strengthened the confidence of Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Company Limited and Shaanxi Yulin Energy Group Co..

According to Gao Xianguo, chief engineer of Guizhou Kaiyang Chemical Co., Kaiyang Chemical had to buy some hard coal from the Shaanxi-Mongolia region in 2018 due to the scarce supply of coal in Guizhou. There was still a little concern about the change of coal type, but a year after the ongoing operation of the CHOREN coal dust gasification, the forced change in coal quality proved to be outstanding not only for trouble-free operation, but in the form of cost reduction, increased efficiency and improvement of the quality of performance. The coal and oxygen consumption of the gasification unit decreased significantly, after the two types of coal have been mixed in a ratio of 1:1, and the effective gas composition of the synthesis gas was over 91% and the carbon conversion rate was over 99%. Compared to the exclusive use of indigenous coal from Guizhou, the tonnage of coal consumed for one ton of ammonia decreased by about 150 kg. With an ammonia plant of an annual capacity of 500,000 tons, this can save tens of millions of dollars annually.

The reason why the CHOREN gasifier has achieved such a proud achievement is inseparable linked to CHOREN's more than 40 years of technical application and its strong process development capability in coal gasification technology. According to the head of CHOREN Future Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., the predecessor of CHOREN is the former German Fuel Research Institute. In 1984, CHOREN built an industrial demonstration plant with a capacity of 200 MWth in the German Schwarze Pumpe Gasification Plant, carried out gasification tests with almost 100 raw coal grades from many parts of the world, collected and created a complete database on coal gasification, a coal theory system for gasification, solutions for coal mixtures and ash mixtures.

"The cooperation with the two coal chemical companies in the Yulin region is just the beginning. In the future, they will work with users to promote advanced coal gasification technology on a large scale, the development of advanced low-grade coal pyrolysis, and the fractional and efficient, comprehensive use of technology demonstration projects, and contribute to the clean and efficient use of coal in China." said the leader.