China’s coal gasification development

and deployment programme

Dr Geoffrey Morrison Programme Manager

IEA Clean Coal Centre

China’s energy and environmental initiatives

Five-year Planning Cycle for National Economic

and Social Development. This provides:

• guidelines, policy frameworks, and targets for

policy-makers at all levels of government

• top down overall objectives and goals related to

economic growth and industrial planning in key

sectors and regions

11th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010)

Key targets were to meet China’s increasing energy

demand, while simultaneously reducing pollution and

ensuring a stable, reliable and clean energy supply

• To achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption

per unit of GDP and 10% reduction of major pollutant

(sulphur dioxide)

• Improve coal power plant efficiency

through the introduction of

advanced high-efficiency units

and the closure of small inefficient

power plants

• Shut-down of obsolete, small steel-making and

cement production units

12th

Five Year Plan (2011–2015)

• Cut Energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16% from

2010 levels;

• Cut SO2 and NOx emissions by 8% and 10%

respectively from 2010 levels;

• Cut CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 17% from 2010

levels;

• Non-fossil fuel use to account for 11.4% of primary

energy consumption;

• Expenditure on research and development to account

for 2.2% GDP; and

• Cut water consumption per unit of value-added

industrial output by 30%.

New coal chemical industry supply chain

Low and high value end products

Higher value options

Low value products

China’s coal to chemicals development and

deployment programme

• Aim is to establish a modern coal chemical

industry

• include the upgrade of those demonstration

projects that offer

• higher energy conversion efficiency

• a suitable geographical location, with both adequate

suitable coal supplies and sufficient water

availability

• offer prospects for extending the industrial chain to

promote local economic and social development

• This will include a focus on the construction of

projects for clean production, utilisation,

processing and conversion of low-calorific-value

coal

Phased development programme in line with

the 11th

FYP (2006-2010)

• Establish gasification technology to use coal as

a feedstock for chemicals and fuels production

• Determine the technical viability of using

gasification based coal conversion to produce

both synthetic oil and gas, and to manufacture

various chemical products (hydrogen and

methanol)

• Assess economic viability of products from coal

conversion technologies compared to imported

alternatives

Wide range of coal gasification technologies being

supplied in China by overseas vendors

GE Energy Shell Siemens SES

Increasing use of domestic technologies also

under way

• ECUST is the leading Chinese

technology supplier, and has

some 31 projects either

operational or at the

contracted design and

construction stage. Now the

3rd

biggest gasifier vendor in

the world

• Other Chinese suppliers

include;

• TPRI

• H-TL

• Tsinghua U

• ICC-CAS

• MCSG

• Sedin

Phased development programme in line with

the 12th

FYP (2011-2015)

. Ensure coal to chemicals programme is in line with

government goals to increase clean energy use and

cut CO2 emissions.

• Establish very large scale coal to SNG processes and

possibly scale-up various coal to oil technologies.

• Apply large scale coal gasification for the production

of olefins as a means to establish higher value-added

markets for plastics and fibres.

• Continue assessment of other coal to chemicals

techniques, especially coal to glycol and coal to

aromatics processes.

• Limit any expansion of the lower end coal to

chemicals processes and weed out those companies

and industries with low production efficiencies and

high energy consumption.

Indicative economic assessment

for coal to oil products in China

Indicative economic assessment

Input coal

price

(US$/tonne)

Crude oil production

costs (US$/barrel)

ICL DCL

15 35-45 25-30

125 80-90 49-59

155 110-120 65-75

China Development Bank

Environmental considerations

Chinese

applications

Standard

coal

consumption

Water

consumption

CO2

emissions

tonnes/tonnes

ICL 4.39 13 5.0

Coal to

olefins

6.68 33 5.5

Coal to

ethylene

glycol

2.55 14 2.0

tonnes/1000 Nm3

Coal to SNG 2.83 6.58 2.5

Coal to SNG

• Some 14 coal gasification

projects are under

construction in China

through to 2016

• Total potential annual SNG

output of just over 21

billion m3 pipeline quality

gas

• Target capacities are 89-96

billion m3/year, although the

timelines for these

subsequent expansions

have yet to be defined

Coal to SNG projects for construction

in China through 2016

Owner Location

Annual output

(billion m3)

Schedule 1st

phase

operations 1st

phase Target

Guanghui Xinjiang - 0 2012

Qinghua Xinjiang 1.4 5.5 2012

Datang Inner Mongolia 1.4 4.0 2013

Xinwne Xinjiang 2.0 10.0 2013

Huineng Inner Mongolia - 2.0 2013

Huaneng Xinjiang 4.0 6.0 2013

Guodian Inner Mongolia 2.0 10.0 2014

Shenhua Inner Mongolia - 2.0 2015

Sinopec Xinjiang - 8.0 2015

Guanghui Xinjiang 4.0 4.0 2015

CPIC Xinjiang 2.0 6.0 2015

CNOOC Shanxi 4.0 6-15 2015

Hongshenggi Gansu - 4.0 2015

Datang Liaoning - 4.0 2016

Coal to olefins

• Sixteen methanol-to-olefins

(MTO) and methanol-to-

propylene (MTP) projects

are due to come on stream

by 2015, with a total annual

production capacity of 10

Mt

• First four are commercial

prototype demonstration

units, and have commenced

operation

• Product quality is at the

lower end of the market

range. Further development

work is needed to introduce

more highly efficient

catalysts and to ensure

operational stability

Non-power coal gasification projects in China

at end of April 2013

Supplier Coal gasification projects

Operational Design/construct Total

GE 28 10 38

Shell 21 - 21

Siemens 1 5 6

Lurgi variants 7 5 12

SES (U-Gas) 2 1 3

KBR (TRIG) - 2 2

ECUST 12 25 37

TPRI 1 4 5

HT-L 4 14 18

Tsinghua U 4 16 20

ICC-CAS 4 2 6

MCSG 12 2 14

Sedin 2 8 10

Total 98 94 192

CCS opportunities for the modern coal to

chemicals sector (end 2011)

Export opportunities and related initiatives

• Gasification technology exports and licenses

• Major engineering, procurement and

construction role being established overseas

• Initiatives underpinned by the China

Development Bank

Conclusions

• China offers a template for large scale coal to chemicals,

gaseous and liquid fuels deployment, for all stages of the

industrial development cycle.

• It has shown what can be achieved from a technical

standpoint while demonstrating, as technology familiarisation

has been achieved, that there are various routes that can then

be followed to ensure that acceptable economic performance

becomes a key factor.

• Water availability and the need to limit CO2 emissions will

have to be taken into account, if sector is to continue to grow

• Scope for early CCS demonstrations on larger coal conversion

units

• There will also be a strong market for the cost-effective

deployment of water-saving and wastewater treatment

technologies. Such activity will provide a significant stimulus

to GDP growth at a time when export opportunities in other

sectors may not be as strong as in the previous FYP period.

Thank you for your attention!

geoff.morrison@iea-coal.org