Coal Chemicals

Dressed in sky blue work clothes, wearing a white helmet, a fat body, wide face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and laughter... This is an external impression given by Dr. Sun Qiwen, Deputy General Manager of Yankuang Group and General Manager of Future Energy. . After talking with him, the reporter found that he was delicate inside, clear thinking, quick thinking, in particular, has a good insight into the status of China's coal chemical industry.

In the autumn of October, at the construction site of the 1 million tons of coal-based oil project in the future, the reporter had the privilege to have a long conversation with him and listened to his analysis of the status quo of China's coal chemical industry.

Coal gas makes money hard

"The coal chemical industry now has three big things: coal to oil, coal to gas, and coal to olefins." He looks rather relaxed. "The industrial process of these three types of projects is probably the most profitable one. This is a consensus."

"Yulin is more local." He pointed out a pencil in the window and said, "The one on the south has been put into production, and the extension has one more. Jingbian also engaged in one, including Shenhua and some projects under construction. The output is very large. I don't know if I can make a profit in the next step."

"The coal gas is not profitable," he said, turning his head to "coal gas." "Why did the country still approve so many projects? It mainly considers smog problems."

"At present, domestic gas prices are more expensive, and gas transportation also requires a pipeline network. At least six cents of pipe fee per cubic meter is required. Looking at coal gas is almost no economic benefit," he said calmly. "The Daping of the United States This is the case with raw coal gas projects."

At present, the 67 coal-to-natural gas (ie, coal-to-methane) projects under construction and proposed in China are basically based on the processes of the Great Plains Plant of the United States. When discussing the Great Plains Coal-to-gas project in the United States, it is often used as a successful experience. It is believed that it can not only produce clean energy, but also gain commercial benefits.

However, Dr. Yang Qiren, an expert in the internationally renowned energy and environmental policy, Duke University in the United States, believes that the price of smuggling of natural gas in the United States has been rising all the time, so they must open such factories. However, in the first ten years since 1984, coal gas from the Great Plains lost 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, and in August 1985, it declared bankruptcy after losing government assistance. On August 11th, at the press conference organized by Greenpeace, “The Experience of China's Coal-based Gas Industry Development for China's Reference”, he solemnly pointed out: “Investing is also better than investing in coal-based gas production! Worse investment than this!"

“The best benefit now is coal-to-liquids,” Sun Qiwen said. “The olefins may also earn between 800 and 1,000 yuan per ton, which is equivalent to a ton of coal-based oil that can make 500 yuan. But the amount of coal to make one ton is not so much. If you do well, there will be 1,500 profit margins."

The way out of methanol in fine chemicals

In view of the current excessive development of the domestic coal chemical industry, Sun Qiwen said: The surplus of coal chemical industry is a surplus of methanol.

“Our country currently has 40 million tons of methanol production capacity. In fact, 20 million tons is enough,” he said. “Methanol cannot find a way out, only looking for coal to make olefins.” He explained that coal-to-olefins are actually Coal produces methanol and then methanol to produce olefins. "This part of the production consumes a portion of the methanol, but there is still a lot of methanol that can't be digested."

Methanol gasoline has been talked about for some time and has been debated endlessly. He said that compared to gasoline, the low calorific value, corrosiveness, and large volume of methanol make it very difficult to enter the automotive industry. "The car engines are mostly produced abroad. Will they change the engine for our methanol?" he asked back, "The fundamental way out of methanol is fine chemicals."

The market price of methanol was at a relatively high level before the global financial crisis in the second half of 2008. After that, foreign methanol was exported to China at a low price. As a result, the domestic methanol market price plummeted, leading to long-term market prices that were inversely related to production costs, and the industry suffered serious losses.

"Olefin will saturate soon, once the saturation price goes down, it's like the original methanol." Sun Qiwen is a bit worried. "The olefins now have more than 1,000 yuan of profitable space. Once they fell, they fell." He explained that production The cost of olefins is very high. Three tons of methanol produces one ton of olefins, one ton of methanol uses 1.6 tons of coal, and consumes nearly one ton of water. “How about coal-to-oil? Three tons more coal, nine tons more water, one ton of oil, our The cost is relatively low."

According to the statistics, China has entered more than 50 coal (methanol) olefins projects that have started construction or preliminary work. It is expected that 15 million tons/year coal-to-olefins products will be formed by 2020. According to the statistics of Sinochem Xinwang, as of August 2014, China has already put into operation 7 coal (methanol) olefins production plants with a total capacity of 4.46 million tons/year, one new methanol-to-olefins project in the current year, and Shaanxi Yanzhong Coal Co., Ltd. Yulin Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. has an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of coal (methanol) olefins. It is estimated that by the end of 2014, domestic coal-to-olefin production capacity will reach 6.09 million tons.

20 million tons of olefins consume 60 million tons of methanol. By 2015, domestic methanol production will be controlled at 50 million tons. This indicates that the spring of methanol is coming. Will the spring of methanol be the "winter" of olefins?

Coal chemical entry threshold is high

Dr. Sun Qiwen was formerly the chief engineer of Sasol Corporation in South Africa and joined Yankuang Mine at the end of 2002. He soon established a high-quality R&D team and personally chaired the research and development of high-efficiency Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts, the optimization and separation of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactors and process processes, and the development of key coal indirect liquefaction technologies. The project has obtained 34 patent authorizations, undertook 5 projects of the national 863 plan and 2 projects of the national 973 plan, and achieved 9 national-level scientific and technological achievements, leading the world in terms of technology.

He knew clearly and calmly about the development of coal chemical industry in China.

“The coal chemical industry is very hot and speculation that so many projects are really on the ground.” He said in a few words, the development of coal chemical industry is actually very smooth, and the current excessive methanol is gradually controlled, coal gas There were originally 13 projects, but only two or three were built during the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period. There are no oversupply problems. It may only be a matter of efficiency. Only one Yankuang mine can be built during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” of the coal-to-liquid project, and it is a demonstration project.

He explained the reasons why coal chemical industry was “overheated”: First, enterprises must obtain resources and must follow the local government’s “local transformation” policy. Coal chemical industry is a simple and quick project, and it is a “big” project. "Frying"; Second, local governments need to pull the local economy. They need big projects and they need to "fry."

“Despite the fact that the media has been relatively hot, in fact, there has been no big, overheated, or controlled trend in the development of the industry until now,” he said. “Because the real entry into this industry needs to overcome financial problems, There are a series of high thresholds for technical issues, talent issues, etc."

He believes that the management of coal chemical companies is much more complicated than that of coal companies. Even with the same technological path, it is clear that people's design and management are completely different from those that do not understand people's design and management. Then there is the problem of funds. The investment in coal chemical projects is often costing hundreds of millions of yuan, and ordinary enterprises cannot afford it.

“So there is no need to worry about what private enterprises have done in this area,” he said with a smile. “State-owned enterprises are also a few companies such as Shenhua, Yankuang, and Pan’an. They only intervened when the ore mine demonstration was similar. Successful, the more difficult it is for them to intervene."

"If some enterprises come to Yankuang to introduce a whole set of indirect coal-to-oil technology, whether or not to sell or sell it?" the reporter asked.

"Sell!" Sun Qiwen did not hesitate at all. "There are many ways to cooperate, and technology licensing is one. Technology R&D needs investment, and it is also valuable. It can't sink investment away. Then, on the joint venture chain, you can invite some Specialized companies come to build, and then there is product cooperation. Such a quality product with characteristics, if it works with refinery companies or even classic companies, will further enhance high-quality companies and even process into other products."

Coal oil needs policy support

Sun Qiwen has joined the Yankuang there are many versions of the legend, one of the "legend" is that he worth 2 billion US dollars. "How can I be worth it? At that time, it was necessary to introduce $2 billion in indirect liquefaction technology for Sasol." Sun Qiwen laughed. "But this is not the problem. The key is that the domestic system is not suitable for Sasol's development in China."

He explained that Sasol enjoyed a national protection policy when he developed coal-to-oil, and when the price of oil fell below a certain value, the state gave subsidies to ensure its profitability. "That's just not talking to the Chinese government. The policy enjoyed in South Africa is not available in China, so it hasn't entered the country at the end." He said, "According to the current oil prices, coal prices, and national tax policies, we can support it. But if there is a big change in oil prices, we will also have problems."

He believes that coal-based oil is a matter of national energy security and will be one of the development directions of China's coal chemical industry in the future. The national plan will soon achieve an annual output of 50 million tons of coal-based oil. The coal-to-oil project belongs to the three high-intensity enterprises of “finance, technology, and talents” and the state should give certain concessions on taxation. "We don't require tax exemptions. We only ask for a part of the reduction," he stressed. "After all, coal-derived oil comes out of coal rather than oil. We don't enjoy a series of tilting policies for oil by the state," he said. The proposal for the reduction of the use tax on oil products was submitted to the State Council through the Ministry of Finance several years ago. However, due to personnel changes, it was shelved.