China brings onstream the world’s first demonstration plant that converts coal to ethanol

03-May-17

China has successfully brought onstream the world’s first demonstration plant that converts coal to ethanol, according to an announcement by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Located at Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum in China’s Shaanxi province, the plant uses process technology that was jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Science, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in Liaoning province and Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum. The technology uses coal-based syngas as raw material, and a non-precious-metal catalyst, to produce anhydrous ethanol. The plant has the capacity to produce more than 100,000 metric tons of ethanol per year (m.t./yr), according to Liu Zhongmin, deputy director of the Dalian Institute. Liu says China produces 7 million mtpa of ethanol, but that does not satisfy the country’s industrial and energy needs. He says China plans to build a plant that can produce 1 million mtpa by 2020.
Most countries produce ethanol from corn or sugar cane, but this is not a viable option for China, because of its huge population and the dearth of arable land. Turning China’s abundant coal resources into ethanol will help safeguard the country’s energy and food security, Liu says. Zhu Fang, deputy director of information and marketing for the China Petroleum Chemical Industry Federation, says it is not certain the technology will make an impact. Whether the production of ethanol will prove advantageous depends partly on oil prices, he says. Oil prices have dropped so much that ethanol fuel is no longer cost-effective, compared with crude oil, adds Fang.