Can Coal Chemicals Crack the "Oil Curse" (Figure)

The excessive reliance on imported crude oil has been referred to by the industry as "the curse of oil." Today, China is getting deeper and deeper in this “curse”. In recent years, China’s dependence on foreign oil has increased by about 3 percentage points each year, and it is estimated that it will reach 60% by 2013.

Under such a "curse," the petroleum-based petrochemical industry is constantly tightening, which has also spawned the coal chemical industry and quickly appeared "overheated" in our country.

During the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period, the National Development and Reform Commission continuously raises the threshold, limits the investment in coal chemical projects, and controls the scale of industry development. However, with the soaring oil prices, the voice of “appropriately developing coal chemical industry and enhancing the ability to guarantee the supply of petroleum” has become increasingly loud.

As of now, the "12th Five-Year Plan" of coal chemical industry continues to be difficult to produce, and the biggest uncertainty is the tone of "restricting" or "releasing".

However, in the "Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan for Petrochemical and Chemical Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Planning") issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on February 3, the coal chemical industry was described in greater detail.

"Properly developing coal chemical industry is one of the core contents of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan"." Gu Zongqin, president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute, who has been involved in the five-year plan for the petrochemical industry, told reporters of the "China Science Journal."

Although the industrial policy has not relaxed, Hu Qianlin, deputy secretary-general of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, believes that after the “Eleventh Five-Year” technology demonstration, coal chemical industry will have better growth during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period.

Coal olefins become bright spots

"The "plan" has five core points." Gu Zongqin told reporters that the main theme of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" is to change the mode of economic growth. The first core is to meet the needs of the people; the second is to reduce energy consumption and energy consumption; the third is to develop. The new materials meet domestic demand; the fourth is the development of high-end products; the fifth is the appropriate development of coal chemical industry, adjust the structure of raw materials, and reduce dependence on oil.

Regarding what is "appropriate," the "planning" has not relaxed the previous standard and pointed out: "For olefin industries that use coal, methanol, and other resources as raw materials, they should have rich coal resources, good water resources, and potential for carbon dioxide emission reduction and environment. Larger capacity, convenient transportation, and strong industrial development capacity have netted out the provinces from the strict layout; other areas, especially coal transferred to provinces, must strictly limit the development of coal to olefins.”

According to the “Planning”, during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, China will form a set of strict and highly efficient modern coal chemical construction procedures. At the end of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, the formation of petrochemical and naphtha production will be mainly supplemented by coal-to-olefins. Industrial structure.

Vice President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute Bai Xuan believes that ethylene and its downstream products will have greater development opportunities in the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", and coal-to-olefins are among the bright spots.

Gu Zongqin pointed out that petrochemical energy consumption is low and emissions are low, but raw materials are heavily dependent on imports and cannot meet domestic demand, but only rely on coal chemical supplements.

"The coal chemical industry has low energy efficiency and large emissions. It cannot follow the general trend of energy saving and emission reduction. It must be mature and then develop. The national standard is to control development, but it must also be moderately developed in structural adjustment. It is the reality of our country," Gu Zongqin said.

Take a cool look at "overheating"

"Overseas recession, domestic overheating; foreign small-scale, pilot-scale, domestic introduction, amplification." This is the Chinese Academy of Engineering Academician Xie Kechang's description of the status of coal chemical industry.

Although the country has long proposed the orderly development of coal chemical industry, the coal chemical industry has not only not cooled down, but it has also appeared “blossoming everywhere”. Blind development has also caused problems such as “enclosure”, homogenization, and environmental pollution.

In fact, due to the abundant coal resources in China, the temptation from resources and economy has caused many companies to join the coal chemical industry. In addition, most of China's refining and chemical industry is monopolized by PetroChina and Sinopec. The development of coal chemical industry allows more companies to participate in competition.

"The overheating itself also shows that the industry has a bright future. We must look at it calmly." Liu Zhongmin, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemicals at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters at the China Science Journal.

The data provided by the “Planning” also proves the complementary role of coal chemical industry in the petrochemical industry: “In 2010, China’s ethylene production required about 50 million tons of chemical light oil. In 2010, the foreign oil reliance reached 53%, with the sharp increase in international crude oil prices. Rising and the contradiction between supply and demand intensified in the country, and the supply of olefinic raw materials is tight, which restricts the development of the ethylene industry."

"Planning" also proposes that by 2015 ethylene's domestic guarantee capacity must reach 64%. The figure for 2010 is 48%. However, if you consider the factors of oil imports, these data will not be able to talk about.

"Under the pressure of crude oil imports, all chemical products that use oil as raw material have safeguard risks," said Liu Zhongmin.

In order to reduce the risk of dependence on raw materials, "Planning" first raised the diversification rate of olefinic raw materials to 20%.

In an interview with the media, Bai Zhen pointed out that the raw materials of the petrochemical industry rely mainly on oil and coal. One of the core elements of the “planning” is to adjust the structure of raw materials, stimulate the development of some new processes to make olefins, and increase the flexibility of petrochemical industry raw materials. reduce risk.

“Our current olefins are in short supply. If coal chemical industry can coordinate with petrochemical development, it will eventually form a reasonable chemical structure in China,” said Liu Zhongmin.

Hu Qianlin also believes that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, a balance will be found between the government’s normative guidance and local enthusiasm, which will allow the industry to develop soundly.

Twelfth Five-Year Plan to Commercialization

Water and resources are considered as two major factors constraining the development of coal chemical industry. However, Liu Zhongmin told reporters: "China's coal chemical industry is in the initial stage of development, and the development of the industry is also subject to technological progress." He believes that the new round of structural adjustment should complement and complement the technology upgrade.

"Planning" clearly put forward to encourage and guide enterprises to increase scientific research investment, improve research and development level and independent innovation capabilities, accelerate the pace of industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, improve the level of industry technology and equipment, and promote industrial transformation and upgrading.

Gu Zongqin also stated that during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, innovation was placed in an important position, and the petrochemical industry needed engineering innovation. China’s scientific research units should make great efforts to amplify the project in the later period and let the technical results come from the laboratory. Industrial production.

In fact, due to the "rich coal less oil" national conditions, China's coal chemical technology has been in an international leading position, is the world's first large-scale industrialization of coal to olefins. During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefins, coal-to-dimethyl ether, and coal-to-ethylene glycol in the five demonstration projects of the national new coal chemical industry have all successfully completed demonstrations. Coal-based methane generation is also reported to be in progress this year. Complete the demonstration.

Hu Qianlin said in an interview with the “Journal of China Science” that in the petrochemical industry, the overall level of coal chemical technology is more prominent, and in the coal chemical industry, the maturity of coal to olefins is high. The next step requires further energy conservation and emission reduction, and appropriate development in places where conditions permit, to replace imports.

Regarding the development prospects of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, Hu Qianlin believes that after the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” accumulation, coal chemical industry has successfully overcome many technical bottlenecks, and the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” will shift from demonstration to commercial operation and promotion. "The focus should be on coal-based chemicals. Coal-to-olefins and high-end chemicals may develop rapidly."