A landmark coke oven gas conversion project, jointly developed by CIMC Enric and Ansteel Group, has been put into operation in Lingyuan, Northeastern Liaoning province, marking a step forward in China’s industrial decarbonization drive.
As the country’s first initiative to achieve 100-percent conversion of coke oven gas — a major industrial by-product — the project is set to yield 140,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), 60,000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 24 million cubic meters of hydrogen yearly. It is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 402,500 tons, sulfur dioxide by 226.3 tons and nitrogen oxide by 1,747.2 tons per year.
The LNG produced by the project will be used to fuel heavy-duty trucks, ships, locomotives and other vehicles. It can also supply energy for power plants and industrial projects, replacing coal and other traditional energy sources to further reduce pollutant emissions.
The liquid ammonia, meanwhile, can be widely applied in multiple segments such as agricultural fertilizers, chemicals, refrigeration and metallurgy.
Hydrogen will serve as the power for the clean energy-powered heavy-duty trucks and other transportation vehicles.
The breakthrough, which turns industrial waste into high-value clean energy, came as China pushes to decarbonize its industrial sector, a key source of emissions, to meet its dual carbon goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with six other government departments, issued a guideline on accelerating green development of manufacturing industry in February 2024.
According to the document, green and low-carbon restructuring of traditional industries would be promoted and the use of green and low-carbon technologies to transform such sectors would be accelerated.
The launch of the Lingyuan project will inject “green momentum” into the development of local traditional industries and enable the traditional steel sector to engage deeper in regional energy transition, said Sun Zhengping, vice president of new energy development and application business center at CIMC Enric, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-based logistics and energy equipment maker China International Marine Containers (Group) Co Ltd.
“We believe more such projects operated by CIMC Enric will be rolled out not only in the region, but also across other parts of the country and overseas markets,” he added.
Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com
