China to convert coal into liquid fuel in 2008
China's largest coal conglomerate, Shenhua Group will produce the energy-hungry nation's first barrel of liquid fuel from coal next year using a technology known as direct coal liquefaction.
By PTI |
BEIJING: China's largest coal conglomerate, Shenhua Group will produce the energy-hungry nation's first barrel of liquid fuel from coal next year using a technology known as direct coal liquefaction.
"We have finished 95 per cent of the engineering projects at the first production line in Erdos of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The line will start making liquid products next year in trial operation," Shenhua's coal liquefaction business in-charge, Zhang Yuzhuo said.
Zhang said the first production line would use 3.45 million tonnes of coal every year to make 1.08 million tonnes of liquid products including diesel oil, plus liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and naphtha, a volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
Oil imports have been increased in recent years to fuel China's booming economy, spurring the nation to look for technologies that can turn some of its coal reserves, one of the world's largest, into fuel and other chemicals.
The indirect liquefaction technology was first developed more than 70 years ago. It has been commercialised by South Africa's Sasol Ltd, the world's biggest producer of motor fuel from coal. The direct liquefaction technology, however, is yet to be industrialised.
On the basis of imported technologies, Shenhua has optimised the production flow, built larger facilities and developed new generation activators to create its own technologies, Zhang was quoted as saying by a news agency.
"We have finished 95 per cent of the engineering projects at the first production line in Erdos of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The line will start making liquid products next year in trial operation," Shenhua's coal liquefaction business in-charge, Zhang Yuzhuo said.
Zhang said the first production line would use 3.45 million tonnes of coal every year to make 1.08 million tonnes of liquid products including diesel oil, plus liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and naphtha, a volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
Oil imports have been increased in recent years to fuel China's booming economy, spurring the nation to look for technologies that can turn some of its coal reserves, one of the world's largest, into fuel and other chemicals.
The indirect liquefaction technology was first developed more than 70 years ago. It has been commercialised by South Africa's Sasol Ltd, the world's biggest producer of motor fuel from coal. The direct liquefaction technology, however, is yet to be industrialised.
On the basis of imported technologies, Shenhua has optimised the production flow, built larger facilities and developed new generation activators to create its own technologies, Zhang was quoted as saying by a news agency.
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