Policies drive the expansion of coal-to-liquid production capacity, bringing benefits to the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst industry

Indirect coal liquefaction is a process that uses coal as raw material, first gasifies it to produce syngas, and then converts the syngas into hydrocarbon fuels, alcohol fuels and chemicals through the action of catalysts. It mainly includes coal gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and oil products. Processing and other process links. Coal-to-liquids catalysts are catalyst products used in this process, among which Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts are currently the most important coal-to-liquids catalyst products.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts are composed of main active components, carriers and auxiliaries. According to the type of main active components, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts that have been commercialized currently mainly include iron-based catalysts and cobalt-based catalysts. Iron-based catalysts have the advantages of higher activity, more flexible reaction conditions, greater product adjustability, and lower cost, but they have a shorter service life under certain reaction conditions. Cobalt-based catalysts have a long service life and high selectivity for heavy hydrocarbons. However, the surface is easily covered by heavy wax and becomes ineffective, affecting the overall reaction rate. The price is high. Therefore, the current Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst market is dominated by iron-based catalysts. According to the released “2023-2028 China Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Catalyst Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report”, China’s Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Catalyst Industry Companies in the field of synthetic catalysts such as Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical Co., Ltd., Hebei Xinpeng New Material Technology Co., Ltd., and Zhongke Synthetic Oil Technology Co., Ltd. all produce iron-based catalysts. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is engaged in research on cobalt-based catalysts, but has not yet achieved industrialization.

The development of coal-to-liquids is one of the important ways for my country to achieve energy security. It is also the inevitable way for my country to realize the transformation and upgrading of its coal industry. It is also an inevitable requirement of the dual-carbon strategy. Therefore, coal-to-liquids has received strong support from the country. Policies such as the “Fourth Five-Year Plan for Modern Energy System” and the “Strategic Plan for Expanding Domestic Demand (2022-2035)” clearly state the need to “steadily promote coal-to-oil and gas and plan and build a coal-to-oil and gas strategic base.” Ordos, Inner Mongolia, Yulin, Shaanxi, Shanxi Jinbei, Xinjiang Zhundong, Xinjiang Hami, etc. are important development areas for coal-to-liquids in my country. Driven by large coal-to-liquids companies such as National Energy Group Ningxia Coal Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co., Ltd., China Shenhua Coal-to-Liquids Chemical Co., Ltd., Shanxi Lu’an Coal-based Clean Energy Co., Ltd., my country has The production capacity of the industrialized demonstration coal-to-liquids project has exceeded 9 million tons, with another 3 million tons of production capacity under construction and 35 million tons of planned and long-term reserve capacity.

Industrial analysts said that favorable policies have driven the continuous development and expansion of coal-to-liquids, providing a broad market for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst industry Space will also attract new companies to enter this industry. However, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst products have high technical content and are difficult to industrialize, so the number of new companies is expected to be limited.