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    Home > Chemicals Industry > Chemical Technology > How to save energy and reduce carbon in modern coal chemical industry

    How to save energy and reduce carbon in modern coal chemical industry

    • Last Update: 2022-04-26
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other four departments jointly issued the "Implementation Guidelines for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformation and Upgrading in Key Areas of High Energy-consuming Industries (2022 Edition)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide"), which proposed that the modern coal chemical industry coexists with advanced and backward production capacity.
    Enterprise energy efficiency varies significantly
    .


    Energy use mainly involves insufficient utilization of waste heat, and there is a great potential for energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation and upgrading


    Coal-to-ethylene glycol transformation pressure is high

    Coal-to-ethylene glycol transformation pressure is high Coal-to-ethylene glycol transformation pressure is high

    The scope of modern coal chemical industry in the "Guide" includes coal-to-methanol, coal-to-olefin and coal-to-ethylene glycol
    .


    At present, the coal-to-methanol industry accounts for about 25% of the production capacity with energy efficiency lower than the benchmark level; the coal-to-ethylene glycol industry accounts for about 40% of the production capacity with energy efficiency lower than the benchmark level


    Han Hongmei said that China's coal-to-methanol has accelerated its development since 2000.
    At present, there is a large gap in the production scale and technical level among enterprises in the industry, and the production capacity with energy efficiency lower than the benchmark level still accounts for about 25%
    .


    Since the first demonstration unit was completed and put into operation in 2010, CTO has developed rapidly.


    The coal-to-methanol production capacity with early completion time and high energy consumption, and the coal-to-ethylene glycol production capacity with immature technology and low device efficiency at the time of construction are the focus of energy-saving renovation and elimination
    .


    For the coal-to-methanol and coal-to-ethylene glycol industries, there is still great pressure to basically clear the production capacity below the energy efficiency benchmark level


    Core process equipment to be broken through

     Core process equipment to be broken through Core process equipment to be broken through

    China's modern coal chemical industry, especially the coal-to-methanol, coal-to-olefin, and coal-to-ethylene glycol industries included in the "Guide", have a relatively high overall technical level
    .


    Han Hongmei believes: "The current frontier technology development mainly focuses on synthesis technology


    Han Hongmei analyzed that the co-production of green hydrogen and chemical industry also needs a breakthrough, which can further reduce the consumption and emission reduction of coal chemical industry
    .


    However, the current cost of green hydrogen is about twice or more than that of coal-to-hydrogen production, and it is crucial to seek suitable hydrogen production technology


      "Coal chemical companies can invest by themselves or cooperate with companies specializing in green power and green hydrogen.
    The most important thing is to reduce costs
    .


    Only when costs are low enough can the products they produce be more competitive


      The use of residual pressure and heat is the key point

      The use of  residual pressure and waste heat is the key

      Compared with traditional technologies, the modern coal chemical industry already has many mature green technology processes, such as large-scale advanced coal gasification technology, high-efficiency catalysts, high-efficiency methanol synthesis and other process technologies, which also have better energy-saving and carbon-reducing effects
    .

      "Without changing the core main process, energy-saving transformation can be carried out from the following two aspects
    .


    " Han Hongmei introduced


      Han Meihong pointed out that it is possible to learn from nitrogen fertilizer companies with better energy utilization.
    They have done very detailed energy utilization
    .
    Comparatively speaking, modern coal chemical enterprises still have some room for improvement
    .

      CO₂ comprehensive utilization technology needs to be reserved

     CO₂ comprehensive utilization technology needs to be reserved CO₂ comprehensive utilization technology needs to be reserved

      The "Guide" proposes that it is necessary to carry out pilot projects for carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage in key process links such as conversion according to local conditions, and promote the production of methanol, degradable materials, dimethyl carbonate and other products from carbon dioxide
    .

      In this regard, Han Hongmei said: "The concentration of carbon dioxide generated in the production process of coal chemical industry is as high as 95%, which can greatly reduce the cost of capture, and is conducive to the demonstration of carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage
    .
    However, at this stage, I think coal chemical enterprises are not yet It has the conditions for a large-scale development
    .

      "The development and demonstration of carbon dioxide-based biodegradable plastics, dimethyl carbonate and other products should be accelerated
    .
    " Han Hongmei suggested that, for example, carbon dioxide and propylene oxide are copolymerized to form copolymers represented by aliphatic polycarbonate, which can be used as a Biodegradable plastic with application value in food and medical packaging
    .
    Another example is carbon dioxide and propylene oxide to generate propylene carbonate, which is then reacted with methanol to generate dimethyl carbonate
    .

      Han Hongmei also suggested that the carbon dioxide-to-methanol technology should now break through the technical bottleneck, explore engineering experience, and provide a technical basis for low-concentration carbon dioxide in the future
    .
    In the large-scale application of carbon dioxide to methanol technology, we should take a long-term perspective, do a good job in technology development at this stage, and prepare technical reserves for carbon dioxide emission reduction in thermal power plants and steel plants in the future
    .

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