Given the current energy landscape of increasingly high external dependence on oil and natural gas resources, the coal chemical industry can not only achieve clean and efficient utilization of coal resources but also partially substitute petrochemical products. In a country like China with abundant coal, limited oil, and scarce gas, developing the coal chemical industry holds significant strategic importance for ensuring national energy security and possesses broad development prospects.
Coal chemical industry is the process of converting coal into gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels, as well as chemicals, through chemical processing. Modern coal chemical industry is a capital-intensive, large-scale production, and high-tech industry. After coal is converted, the high added value and substantial profits generated by its chemical products are incomparable to the benefits derived from simple coal mining. Currently, newly built and planned ethylene glycol projects in the domestic market are predominantly coal-to-ethylene glycol. A coal-to-ethylene glycol enterprise consumes approximately 4 tons of coal to produce one ton of ethylene glycol. Based on a coal market price of 500 yuan/ton and a cost of 300 yuan/ton, the profit is 800 yuan. The total cost for coal-to-ethylene glycol is approximately 5000 yuan/ton, while the current market price for coal-to-ethylene glycol is 7400 yuan/ton, yielding a profit of about 2400 yuan/ton for ethylene glycol. From this perspective, the coal chemical industry possesses a relative cost advantage compared to the coal mining industry.
Institutional research indicates that, from the perspective of national energy security strategy, if the warning lines for external dependency on oil and natural gas are controlled below 60% and 30% respectively, and the external dependency on olefins and ethylene glycol do not exceed 30% and 40% respectively, then according to the forecast for coal chemical product development and current technical levels, by 2020, the scale of coal consumption for coal chemical production will be around 1.39 billion tons, of which approximately 200 million tons will be used for coal-to-fuel and chemicals. Changes in steel output will lead to a decrease in coke production, which is projected to fall by approximately 100 million tons from 2020 levels to 1.28 billion tons by 2030, with about 480 million tons of this used for coal-to-fuel and chemicals. The future increase in coal consumption will primarily come from the development of the modern coal chemical industry, with a predicted modern coal chemical consumption of 1.1 billion tons by 2050. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, investment in the coal chemical industry is expected to reach 600 billion yuan.
The future development of the coal chemical industry will face numerous challenges and require intensified efforts from industry professionals. Strengthening the industrial foundation. The "Layout Plan for Innovative Development of Modern Coal Chemical Industry" issued in 2017 stated that from 2016 to 2020, the coal chemical industry would enter an upgrade and demonstration phase. Numerous projects in areas such as coal-to-oil, coal-to-methanol/olefins, coal-to-natural gas, large-scale coal-to-ammonia synthesis, coal-to-ethylene glycol, and coal-to-hydrogen are expected to be completed and put into operation during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. Concurrently, by 2020, the scale of modern coal chemical production is projected to reach: 12 million tons for coal-to-oil, 16 million tons for coal-to-olefins, 6-8 million tons for coal-to-ethylene glycol, 20 billion cubic meters for coal-to-natural gas, and 1 million tons for coal-to-aromatics.
Improving Technological Level. To truly achieve a breakthrough, overcome difficulties, and realize transformation and upgrading, coal enterprises must vigorously promote the clean and efficient utilization of coal. Based on current information, several coal enterprises are actively participating in project development. For instance, Shenhua Group Coal-to-Oil Chemical Co., Ltd. is involved in the "Kiloton-scale Synthesis Gas to Low-carbon Alcohols Industrial Sideline Unit"; Lu'an Group is participating in the "50,000 tons/year Cobalt-based Fixed Bed Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Technology Industrial Demonstration" and the "world's first 10,000-50,000 m3/h CO2 Methane Reforming Unit"; and Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group (Shaanmei Group) is involved in "Key Technologies for Methanol to Propylene." According to experts, the major project on clean and efficient utilization of coal was listed in the "Science and Technology Innovation – 2030 Major Project" officially approved and launched by the central government in April 2016. This major project includes 22 demonstration projects with a total investment of 164 billion yuan, of which 37.55 billion yuan is allocated by the state.
Enhancing Energy Saving and Environmental Protection. In recent years, coal chemical enterprises have actively attempted to reduce energy, water, and material consumption indicators through systematic engineering optimization, intelligent production control upgrades, and technological innovation. By introducing a new generation of information technology, they aim to improve their informatization and digitalization levels, thereby enhancing management efficiency and production operational efficiency. Intelligence and informatization will be the necessary path for the coal chemical industry to transform from high consumption, high emissions, and low utilization to low consumption, low emissions, and high utilization. Currently, with the "environmental sword" hanging high and policies like the "2+26" cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region being implemented, coal chemical enterprises, as regulated entities, must fully recognize the severity of the current environmental protection situation and treat environmental work as the most urgent task. They should properly balance the relationship between environmental protection, investment, and benefits, and not rely on luck to avoid investment. At the same time, they should have forward-thinking and high standards, ensuring that new projects can withstand future policy scrutiny. Enterprises should strengthen the operational management of environmental protection facilities, establish and improve institutional regulations, and enhance the quality of their employees. By closely following the trend, strengthening themselves, addressing shortcomings, and fostering a legal mindset, enterprises can gradually move their environmental protection work towards professionalization, institutionalization, and legalization.
Vigorously improve product quality. We must break free from the past reliance on "low-end supply" and pivot towards "high-end supply." Currently, the key growth areas in the petrochemical industry are concentrated in sectors such as refining, olefins, aromatics, modern coal chemical, new chemical materials, and traditional chemical products. The future market will increasingly emphasize demand for differentiated, specialized, and high-end products. Developing such premium, differentiated products will facilitate the creation of robust industrial platforms, enhance competitiveness in technological innovation, and elevate the industry's standing in future product markets. Enterprises in traditional industries should concentrate on their core business status, technological upgrades, and resource application, diligently advancing the extension and expansion of their industrial chains and the upgrading and optimization of their products. To adapt to the current landscape, the traditional chemical industry should undergo transformation and upgrading. This involves adopting strategies such as phasing out outdated capacity, facilitating mergers and acquisitions, consolidating equipment into industrial parks, implementing technological innovation, and pioneering new business models. The goal is to propel the industrial chain's extension from upstream to downstream and its transformation from low-end to high-end products. This will achieve a comprehensive leap in technical quality, process equipment, energy efficiency, and environmental protection, effectively shifting corporate profits from a reliance on resource advantages to leveraging product superiority and high-end supply.
(Author's Affiliation: Yangquan Coal Industry Group)
