As of 9:00 AM on March 10, 2022, the Xiamen XiangSheng Circulating Fluidized Bed Oxygen-Enriched Coal Gasification Project, undertaken by ZHGAS, achieved 365 days of continuous and safe single-furnace operation. This new milestone once again sets a record for the continuous operation of circulating fluidized bed gasifiers using high-moisture lignite as feedstock.
The project is located in Konawe Regency, Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is planned as a supporting gas station for a local integrated stainless steel smelter with an annual output of 2.5 million tons. The industrial gas produced serves as fuel for the rotary kilns in the workshop's nickel-iron production line. Addressing the characteristics of local lignite, such as high moisture content (up to 40%), flammability, friability, and poor pulping properties, ZHGAS utilized circulating fluidized bed oxygen-enriched coal gasification technology to construct four pulverized coal gasifiers for the client, each with a single capacity of 80,000 Nm3/h. This technology fully leverages the high reactivity and good grindability of local lignite, and critically, it can accept raw coal with high moisture content, allowing it to enter the gasifier without prior drying, significantly reducing the energy consumption for deep processing of lignite.
Since its official commissioning in 2021, the project has operated stably with excellent performance indicators. Previously, the client used a pulverized coal injection process to heat the rotary kilns, where coal powder was directly sprayed into the kilns for combustion. The noise and dust generated during the pulverization and injection processes severely polluted the local environment and endangered the health of operators. The replacement of pulverized coal with gas not only solved the pollution problem but also significantly reduced the labor requirements at the smelter, increased the automation level of the plant, and ensured the quality of the final product. The operational results have been highly praised by the client.
The long-term stable operation of the Xiamen XiangSheng project signifies a major success for circulating fluidized bed coal gasification technology in the industrial application of high-moisture lignite gasification, further validating its coal adaptability. Previously, this technology had demonstrated its versatility with anthracite and high-alkali coal in the Guizhou Hongsheng and Xinjiang Yihua projects, respectively.
As the industrialization platform for the Chinese Academy of Sciences' "HONGGUANG Special Project on Industrialization of Circulating Fluidized Bed Coal Gasification Technology," ZHGAS has successfully implemented the market-oriented application of circulating fluidized bed gasification technology in industrial fields such as coal-to-syngas and coal-to-clean fuel gas. It has also completed a series of high-quality demonstration projects that achieve significant economic, social, and environmental benefits. Moving forward, the company will continue to promote the application of circulating fluidized bed coal gasification technology across various sectors, lead technological innovation in the industry, provide clean energy solutions for enterprises, and contribute to the high-quality development of the coal chemical and environmental protection industries.
