China coal gasification

In 1984, the Ube Ammonia Industry Co. began operating the largest Texaco coal gasification complex to date. This faciUty is located in Ube City, Japan, and has a rated gasification capacity of 1500 t/day of coal, and production capacity of 1000 t/day of ammonia. The plant has successfully gasified coals from Canada, AustraUa, South Africa, and China. At the present time the plant uses a mixture of petroleum coke and coal (43). 

J. P. Henly, Development and Commercialisation of the Dow Coal Gasification Technology, presented iu Japan and China by Dow Chemical, Sept. 1986. 

Source Adapted from Hailong, X., The Shell Coal Gasification Process (SCGP), International Hi-Tech Symposium on Coal Chemical Industry Coal Conversion, Oct. 30-31, Shanghai, China, 2004. 

Countries with large domestic coal reserves, such as China and South Africa, rely primarily on coal gasification to produce synthesis gas. This synthesis gas is hydrogen deficient (M < 2) and must undergo a further water-gas shift (WGS) step to yield a C02-rich mixture [2]. Methanol synthesis from C02 and C02-rich mixtures provides special catalyst and reactor design challenges, which will be further discussed in more detail. 

Table 4.10. Shell Coal Gasification Projects in China...

Dongliang, Z. Present status and future development of coal gasification technology in China. Coal Chemical Industry, 2004, 2, 1. 

Sha, X. and Yang, N. Coal Gasification and Application. Shanghai East China University of Science and Technology Publishing House, pp. 258-261, 1995. 

Entrained coal gasifiers are typified by the Koppers-Totzek (KT) and Texaco processes. Most of the present coal-based ammonia plants (except in China) use the KT process. The process is essentially a partial oxidation process as are most coal gasification processes. At least two KT ammonia plants have been built to use either coal or heavy oil although only one (in Finland) is known to have used both feedstocks [48]. However, any entrained gasification units presumably could be readily adapted to heavy oil or lighter hydrocarbons including natural gas. 

The sequence of the remainii steps of synthesis gas preparation is CO shift conversion, removal of H2S and CO2 by Rectisol wash (cold methanol), and liquid nitrogen wash. As in other partial oxidation processes, the H2S is converted to elemental sulfur. Ube Industries, Japan, commissioned a 1,500-tpd ammonia plant in 1984 using the Texaco coal gasification process. An energy consumption of 10.9 Gcal/tonne of ammonia is stated this is lower than the normal quoted f ure of 11.6 Gcal/ tonne of NH3 for coal-based processes 131]. Another 1,000 tpd coal-based ammonia plant is scheduled for startup at Wehei, China, in 1996. 

D. Simbeck, "Town Gas and Coal Gasification in China. Presented at Workshop on the Efficiency and Environmental Impact of Coal Use in China, Beijing, China, September 10-13, 1991. 

J. P. Henley. "Start-up and Operating Experience of the Commercial Dow Coal Gasification Process." Presented at the Fifth Advanced Coal Gasification Symposium, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, People s Republic of China, September 1987. 

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