A groundbreaking experiment is expected to help China
cut down on energy consumption and reduce its reliance on
oil.
The nation now has plans to industrialize its
homegrown coal-to-petrochemicals technology after the success of a
project using the world's first 10,000-ton DMTO (dimethyl
ether/methanol-to-olefin) industrialization equipment.
DMTO is a technology that uses coal or natural gas as
a substitute for crude oil to produce olefin produces, such as
ethylene and propylene.
Sources said there is already a lot of interest in the
technology from firms both in China and abroad.
The experiment took place in northwest China's Shannxi
Province. The Shannxi provincial government and the Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS) announced the outcome yesterday.
Yuan Chunqing, acting governor of Shannxi, told a
press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that
the technology's industrialization would further rationalize
China's energy structure. The country is rich in coal but short of
oil and natural gas.
"The success of the DMTO industrialization experiment
means we can explore a new way of developing the olefin industry
and reduce oil imports, which is significant to our energy safety,"
Yuan said.
The experiment began in February and received an
investment of 86.1 million yuan (US$10.6 million) from the Shannxi
Xinxing Coal Chemical Industrial Co Ltd, a government-backed
enterprise.
"The success of the experiment lays a solid foundation
on which to increase the equipment's annual production ability to
the million-ton level," said Li Chunlin, an official with the
Shannxi Provincial Commission of Reform and Development.
Li said an industrialization program processing 3
million tons of methanol per year would be carried out in Yulin in
the northern part of the province. Preliminary work was already
under way.
"Our DMTO technology has a promising market and dozens
of enterprises from home and abroad have contacted its owners to
seek technology transfer," Li said.
(China Daily August 25,
2006)
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