Gasification is the leading technology of coal chemical projects. The picture shows a company's gasification plant.

Recently, the reporter of Sinochem New Network News found in an interview that there are many domestic coal gasification plants for coal chemical projects. Enterprises do not plan to build their own, but plan to invest, build, operate by third parties and come from third parties. Focus on supplying the gas needed for coal chemical industry. The providers of outsourcing are mostly giants in the field of industrial gases at home and abroad. such as:

On September 24, 2010, Yantai Development Zone signed a clean coal gasification investment agreement with American Air Products Co., Ltd.

On December 3, 2010, the city of Karamay, Xinjiang, and the domestic industrial gas giant Yingde Gas Group signed an agreement to build a coal-based syngas project in the petrochemical industrial park.

On December 18, 2010, the clean coal gasification project of Liaoning Panjin Liaobin Coastal Economic Zone and US Air Products Co., Ltd. was contracted.

In early 2011, Air Liquide Group of France signed a contract for a US$300 million coal gasification and syngas project at Huai'an Saline-alkali Science and Technology Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province.

In May 2011, Liupanshui City of Guizhou formed an intentional cooperation agreement with Yingde Gas Group. Yingde Group plans to invest in gas projects such as coal gasification and purification.

On July 25, 2011, Shanxi Qiyi Coal Chemical Group and Yingde Gas Group signed a contract. The project investment is about 1 billion yuan, focusing on the construction of coal gasification projects to increase the economic efficiency of coal-to-methanol projects.

On August 31, 2011, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, signed an investment framework agreement with Yingde Gas Group. It plans to use advanced coal clean gasification technology to produce multi-variety industrial gases and build syngas production projects in phases in the Wuhai Coal Chemical Industry Park.

On October 10, 2011, Hebei Yangmei Zhengyuan Chemical Group's 600,000-ton/year synthetic ammonia and 800,000-ton/year urea projects were invested and constructed by American Air Products Co., Ltd. to handle 2,200 tons of coal per day. Weather furnace.

Henan Zhongke Brilliant Chemical Co., Ltd., currently under construction, has an annual output of 360,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 600,000 tons of urea. Its two coal-water slurry gasifiers that process 2,200 tons of coal per day (dry basis) are also gas from Yingde. The group invests and operates.

Gasification is the leading process of coal chemical projects. Whether it is the direct liquefaction of coal and the indirect liquefaction of coal, or the coal-based multi-generation power generation, or the production of synthetic ammonia or alcohol ether fuel from coal, it is necessary to first apply coal to coal. Gasification. The role of gasification is to provide the raw gas required for the production of coal chemical products, which is the basis and core for the downward extension of coal chemical products. It determines to a large extent whether the system-wide devices can have long-term, safe and stable operation. Determined the cost-effectiveness of coal chemical projects. With such an important device, can companies accept the form of outsourcing?

CCIN reporters separately interviewed different companies.


Choose Outsourcing: Can Reduce Investment and Risks. Third-party investment in the operation of coal gasifiers. What are the benefits for coal chemical projects? Enterprises that are willing to outsource think that the main benefits lie in reducing investment and implementing specialized management.

Liu Jincheng, president of Hebei Yangmei Zhengyuan Chemical Industry Group, told CCIN that their company chose a coal gasification plant that was invested by a third party to invest and operate 600,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 800,000 tons of urea per year. Talking about the reasons for cooperating with third parties, Liu Jincheng stated that first, from the perspective of the development of the entire economy, specialization is the major trend. It is difficult for a company to achieve comprehensive leadership in multiple professional fields at the same time, and it is necessary to implement diversified investment and professional management. Second, most companies are under tight funding, and the interest cost of funds is relatively high. In addition, the capital cost of building a coal chemical project is high, and the total investment of 600,000 tons/year of synthetic ammonia and 800,000 tons/year of urea project is 3.798 billion yuan. The third party will build gasification equipment, including investment in purification, water treatment and air separation. In half, the investment in this project of the enterprise is reduced, the investment risk of the project is also small, and the financial pressure on the enterprise construction project is also greatly relieved. Third, there is a problem of industrial optimization. By the third party to build and operate, they have their own professional advantages, and companies have their own advantages in ammonia synthesis, urea production. In this way, companies can not only reduce their investment once, but also can expand their advantageous industries. In the long run, they will benefit the development of the company.

Sun Yongkui, deputy general manager of Yantai Guotai Chemical Co., Ltd., told the CCIN reporter that at present, domestic companies are hampered and have high interest rates. The annual interest rate is generally more than 6%, and some still need to increase 15% to 20 on the basis of the existing interest rate. %. If the investment in gasification equipment, including purification, water treatment, air separation, etc., is around 1.5 billion yuan, the interest for one year will be close to 100 million yuan. For companies that do not have financial strength, the return rate of the previous project will be poor. . If the third-party construction is carried out, outsourcing of the gasification equipment can ease the difficulties in the construction fund.

Lu Zhengyi, chief engineer of Beijing Aerospace Wanyuan Coal Chemical Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., also stated that domestic chemical fertilizer companies generally have no money and adopt a cooperative joint venture to invest in a coal gasification plant by a third party, which can speed up the localization of raw materials. At present, nitrogen fertilizer companies generally use fixed-bed intermittent gas technology. This process is not advanced. Only by adopting an advanced pressure gasification process can local coal be burned, and the localization of raw coal can be implemented. This is the direction of development of these companies. However, the nitrogen fertilizer industry has been operating at low profit for several decades and has not accumulated funds. The banks have also tightened monetary policy and limited support funds. Many nitrogen fertilizer companies hope to adopt this third-party investment model.

Wison Engineering (China) Co., Ltd. established a coal-water slurry gasification plant in Nanjing Chemical Industry Park as early as in 2007. The company will use Celanese, American Air Products and Yangzi Petrochemical-BASF Co., Ltd. in the park. Provide carbon monoxide, hydrogen, syngas and other gases. Xie Chengqin, Technical Director of Coal Chemical Engineering at Wison Engineering (China) Co., Ltd., told the CCIN reporter that third parties are generally professional gas companies. They have more experience in building and managing gasification plants than owners and know where to use expensive equipment. Or materials, where the use of cheap, the investment cost is also relatively low. After the device is built, the reliability and stability of its operation are also high, and the operating costs and management costs of the device are also low.

At present, many domestic coal chemical companies have the intention of outsourcing coal gasification equipment. The picture shows a coal chemical company in Shanxi is communicating with a gas company for outsourcing.

Do not choose to outsource: Technical risk is low profit

However, some people in the industry also stated that the methods for outsourcing coal gasification plants also face certain risks and challenges, which may not necessarily be a good choice.

According to Qi Chungan, secretary general of the China Industrial Gas Industry Association, gas giants at home and abroad are generally specialized in making space. Coal gasification and air separation are two different production processes. Air separation is the use of cryogenic technology to separate air and produce oxygen and nitrogen. Coal gasification is the production of coal at high temperatures. From shorting points to coal gasification, it is a step forward on the technical level.

According to CCIN reporters, some gas companies are also cautious about entering the coal gasification outsourcing market.

Bao Yangmin, director of coal chemical business at Praxair (China) Investment Co., Ltd., told CCIN reporters that gasification is much smaller than that of carbon and chemical products such as methanol and acetic acid. So, at present, they will not do gasification of this business.

Jiang Wei, the business development manager of Air Products (China) Investment Co., Ltd., also admitted that coal gasification is also a gas business, but transnational gas companies attach great importance to the reliability and economy of technology. Domestic coal is not the same, the choice of gasification technology is not the same, investment, costs are not the same. Therefore, some transnational gas companies are very conservative in outsourcing coal gasification.

Sun Yongkui stated that there is a risk that a third party will invest in the construction of a coal gasification plant. If one side fails to start due to installation problems or product market, the other party must compensate according to the agreement. Wang Yongsheng, deputy general manager of Xinxiang Zhongxin Chemical Co., Ltd. of Henan Yongmei Group, also admitted that third-party investment in the construction and operation of coal gasification plants can be matched with follow-up product installations in a timely manner and that the supply of gas energy cannot meet the requirements. Both have to rely on third parties. . This is tantamount to placing the economy and security of subsequent products on third parties.

Professor Yu Guangsuo, director of the Institute of Clean Coal Research at East China University of Science and Technology, believes that a product can only be profitable if it is made from the entire process. If a leading gasification plant is handed over to a third party, it will spread the profit of the product. If the main gasification equipment is also outsourced, what can companies do to make money?

Jiang Jianhui, deputy general manager of Jiangsu Linggu Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. believes that if coal chemical companies have their own capabilities, it is better to build gasification facilities themselves. Because only in this way can we guarantee the profits of new products. Moreover, gasification is the leading coal chemical plant. If the gasification plant does not work well, it will directly affect the operation of the rear equipment. If a coal chemical company builds a gasification plant by itself, it will be able to control the entire production plant.


According to industry insiders' prediction, coal chemical construction will diversify and many people in the coal chemical industry believe that the concentrated supply of industrial gases is a scientific, economic, and efficient supply model established by the developed western countries of the industrial gas industry after more than 100 years of exploration. With the development of China's coal chemical industry, the demand for coal gasification equipment is getting higher and higher, and outsourcing or becoming a new way of coal chemical construction.

Xin Chin-chin told CCIN reporters that companies that are now entering the coal chemical industry are very complicated, and many are even foreign companies such as coal mining companies and power companies. In order to build a coal chemical project, the gasification plant is the leader. The operation of coal gasification units is very difficult, and some companies do not have talent reserves in this area and they are not good at it. Because of this, it is necessary to outsource the gasification equipment and conduct specialized management. This will help improve the professionalization of gasification equipment and draw on advanced experience. Moreover, companies can use a variety of forms of outsourcing, such as investment by others, to their own raw coal, etc., to third parties; or to invest in their own construction, the device to others to manage. Xin Chin-chin believes that the outsourcing of coal gasification will help improve the professional level of China's coal chemical industry, or it will become a trend in the coal chemical industry during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period.

Yang Chunsheng, president of the Shandong Chemical Fertilizer Industry Association, believes that the construction of a gasification plant operated by a third party is a transformation of coal chemical investment. In fact, centralized gas supply has become a common practice internationally. In the past, China has not developed centralized supply of third-party gas. There are two reasons for this restriction: First, the scale of domestic enterprises is still small, and there is no need for cooperation; second, the credibility of enterprises is not high, and the chairman and general manager of a company are changed. The original gas supply price may not be recognized, and the third party does not dare to build it. With the development of China's coal chemical industry, the scale of the company is large, and the credibility of many companies has also increased. Moreover, some coal chemical projects cannot be completed by one company, so it is suitable for several companies to cooperate and build. At present, China has become the world's largest coal chemical market and the largest coal gasification market. Outsourcing is a good way.

The CCIN reporter learned that in order to build the first coal gasification outsourcing project in China, Henan Zhongke Brilliant Chemical Co., Ltd. has an annual output of 360,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 600,000 tons of urea, and more than 40 trainees from the third party Yingde Gas Group. He is studying at Yankuang Guotai Chemical Co., Ltd. and Yankuang Lunan Fertilizer Plant. Industry insiders believe that in the future, gas companies that outsource the development of gasification operations will also be expected to become coal chemical companies with various gasification technologies.

The stability and gas supply of the coal gasification unit are crucial to the coal chemical project. The picture shows the staff is looking at the device gas supply. (Image courtesy of CFP)