According to reports from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China's first thousand-ton-level circulating fluidized bed coal gasification facility, developed by the CAS Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, was officially delivered to the end-user on December 4. This marks the inaugural application of clean and efficient circulating fluidized bed gasification technology in China's ammonia synthesis industry, offering a groundbreaking solution to resolve the sector's persistent environmental challenges.
Currently in China, nitrogen fertilizer enterprises utilizing fixed-bed gasifiers to supply feedstock gas for ammonia synthesis units account for 40% of the nation's ammonia production capacity. Depending on environmental alert levels, environmental authorities require these fixed-bed gasifiers in the nitrogen fertilizer industry to reduce operations by 50% or cease entirely. Annually during winter—a high-frequency period for environmental alerts—this sector faces severe production constraints.
The delivered thousand-ton-level pressurized circulating fluidized bed coal gasification facility represents China's first demonstration project for pressurized gasification of low-rank pulverized coal. Operated under an energy performance contracting (EPC) model, it supplies feedstock gas to ammonia synthesis producers. This project is further designated as a flagship initiative under the CAS Key Program for Transformative Technological Achievements.
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), its Institute of Engineering Thermophysics has dedicated three decades to advancing clean and efficient coal utilization, pioneering Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) Gasification Technology. To date, 70 industrial units equipped with this technology have been deployed nationwide, achieving an annual reduction of 2.6 million tons of wastewater contaminated with tar and phenol.