MARKET POTENTIAL

Application of Air
Separation Unit in SINOPEC’s
Coal Chemical Business
Gao Ning1, Guo Yan2
(1. Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical Co., Ltd.; 2. Sinopec
International Co., Ltd.)

Abstract: With the rapid growth of coal chemical industry in China, the selection and application of
Air Separation Unit (ASU) became very important. As the core unit in coal chemical industry, ASU
will greatly impact the engineering construction and operation/production of coal chemical business. In
this paper, major suppliers of ASU at home and abroad were reviewed, and the major supplying status of
ASU in China was introduced. The ASUs in operation of SINOPEC were listed and discussed. On this
basis, some suggestions of ASU selection strategies were provided on localization, standardization and
operation methods.
Key words: ASU; coal chemical; selection; application

A ir separation Unit (ASU) is an important package

equipment unit used in refineries, chemical plants,
and steel mills, etc. ASU separates atmospheric air into its
primary components, typically nitrogen and oxygen, and
sometimes also argon and other rare inert gases. In recent
years, together with the rapid development of modern coal
chemical industry in China, ASU has larger market for
application. It is reported that the total equipment sets and
total oxygen generating capacity of ASU made in China
had become No. 1 in the world.
ASU is significant in coal chemical business
ASU in coal chemical business and its major suppliers
Coal is the major resources in China’s energy
consumption. To realize clean and efficient utilization of
coal, modern coal chemical industries, including coal to
methanol, coal to synthetic natural gas, and coal to oil and
chemicals, have developed rapidly in recent years. In coal
chemical industry, ASU is not merely of a supplementary
utility system, but also one of the most important
technological devices. Coal gasification unit, the core of
coal chemical projects, requires a large amount of pure
oxygen as raw material. At the same time, a lot of nitrogen
is also needed as protective gas or transferring gas. As a
result, the demands for ASU are soaring (Table 1).
According to the programme by China authorities,
there will be tens of huge coal to chemical projects put
into operation before 2020, and the capacity of projects
of coal to liquid and coal to olefin in 2020 could reach
30 million tons and 17 million tons per year respectively.
Relevant market of ASUs is estimated to exceed 100 sets,
with a value of more than 20 billion RMB. Despite that
some coal to chemical projects were postponed due to the
low oil price from the second half of 2014, there are still
quite huge demands for ASU.
The modern coal chemical industry put forward
stricter requirements for ASUs, including bigger products
capacity, higher gas pressure, easier automatic control
and optimized operation, lower energy consumption and
production cost, and so on. It has promoted ASU to make

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 MARKET POTENTIAL

Table 1 Oxygen consumption of different devices adapting typical coal gasification technologies

Products and scale Coal gasification technology Oxygen consumption, m3/h

1000 kt/a methanol GE coal gasification 120000

1000 kt/a GTL (gas to liquid) Shell coal gasification 250000

600 kt/a synthesis ammonia Shell coal gasification 65000

600 kt/a MTO (methanol to olefin ) Shell coal gasification 230000

2 billion SNG (synthetic natural gas) BGL coal gasification 160000

significant progress in capacity enlargement, product
diversification and system integration. Consequently, the
scale of a single set of ASU has been increased, the energy
and material consumptions or investment of unit have
been decreased, and the automation level and operation
reliability have been improved correspondingly.
Due to the high technical requirements of ASU,
there are only a few enterprises in the world having the
ability to provide large-scale ASU. The major overseas
enterprises include Air Liquide, Linde AG (Linde for
short) and Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APCI for
short). The major domestic enterprises include Hangzhou
Hangyang Co., Ltd. (Hangyang for short), Kaifeng Air
Separation Group (KFAS for short) and Sichuan Air
Separation Group (SASPG for short). They are briefly
listed as below (Table 2).
Compared with the noted overseas ASU suppliers,
domestic ASU suppliers are less competitive, and some
key components like air compressor, high pressure plate
heat exchanger and special type valves are needed to
import. However, thanks to technology upgrading and
huge China market demand, domestic suppliers have
made rapid progress, and now they have equal capacity
with international competitors on 60,000 Nm3/h or bigger
ASU. What’s more, some domestic suppliers have made
remarkable export achievements. For example, a 120000
Nm3/h ASU manufactured by Hangyang has been shipped
to Iran in 2014.

Table 2 Major ASU suppliers at home and abroad

Name Overall information
Air Liquide is the world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and
Air Liquide Health. It supplies its customers in extremely diverse industries in 80 countries, with
group revenue of 15,225 million of Euro in 2013
As a world leading supplier of industrial, process and speciality gases and one of the
most profitable engineering companies, Linde could provide middle to large scale of
Major overseas Linde ASUs. In 2014, Linde generated revenue of EUR 17.047 billion, making it the largest
enterprises gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees
working in more than 100 countries worldwide
Founded in 1940s, APCI supplies atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases,
performance materials, equipment and services, including middle to large scale
APCI
of ASUs. In 2014 the sales of APCI reached 10.4 billion USD With over 20,000
employees in more than 50 countries
Hangyang is the world leading and China’s largest manufacturer of ASU. It has the ability
to design and manufacture ASU of medium/large size, from 30,000 Nm3/h to 80,000
Hangyang
Nm3/h. After 60,000 Nm3/h ASU successfully passing the technical identification at 2010,
Hangyang had delivered its first 120,000 Nm3/h ASU for Iran in 2014
KFAS is a key and large enterprise in China for delivering ASU, founded in 1958. It
Major domestic
has designed and manufactured 40 sets of ASU whose capacity is more than 30,000
enterprises KFAS
Nm3/h. Its products have successfully applied in different coal chemical projects in
China
SASPG was founded in 1966, and has designed more than 20 sets for ASU (capacity
SASPG bigger than 30,000 Nm3/h). Its products have been put into operation in Shanxi,
Hebei and other places of China

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Influence of ASUs supplying on coal chemical
projects
Due to the long period of manufacture and huge capital
investment of ASUs, it will obviously impact the schedule
and cost of coal chemical projects. The selection and
application of ASUs are therefore adhered many interests.
On one hand, an ASU will take long time, normally
24 to 36 months from order awarding to products output.
An ASU is a complex package including air filtration
purification system, air compressor system, air pre-cooling
system, molecular sieve purification system, distillation
column system, instrument control system, electric control
system, and other systems. It increases the difficulty in
design and manufacture for ASUs. Generally speaking, a
smaller ASU by a domestic supplier will take shorter time.
For example, Hangyang has supplied Sinopec Yanshan a
10,000 Nm3/h ASU in only 16 months, which has made
a domestic record for the shortest supplying time. As for
the large size of ASUs in coal chemical projects, with
consideration of the long manufacturing time and the
complex procedures of transportation, logistics or custom
clearance, it will take more than 24 months for ASU
delivery.
On the other hand, the purchasing values of ASUs
are always very high, normally from tens or hundreds
of millions RMB. Sometimes it could reach the level of
billions. The order of 6 sets of 100,000 Nm3/h ASU, which
was wined by Hangyang for Shenning group’s 4,000,000
tons/year indirect coal to liquid project at Ningxia, can be
taken as a primary example. It was reported that the total
amount of this order including design, supply and service
work was as high as 1.7 billion RMB.
Together with the rapid development and large-scale
trend of coal chemical projects, the ASUs have to meet
higher requirements than other industries in terms of
investment, energy consumption and operation stability.
The oxygen productivity of required ASUs is generally
between 70,000 Nm3/h and 80,000 Nm3/h or even as high
as 100,000 Nm3/h, and they are normally imported from
international enterprises or cooperative manufactured
by both domestic and international suppliers. At the
same time, domestic ASU enterprises are also making
rapid progress in technology and manufacturing ability,
striving to reach the world advanced level. The above
mentioned ASUs supplied by Hangyang for Shenning
group can be referred as an example. In all 6 sets of
100,000 Nm3/h ASUs, most of the critical equipments
or parts are imported like air compressor unit, turbine
expander, cryogenic liquid pump or high-pressure
36 CHINA OIL & GAS
No.3, 2015
plate heat exchanger. However, there is one set of air
compressor manufactured by Shenyang blower works
group corporation (Shengu) and one set of steam
turbine manufactured by Hangzhou Steam Turbine Co.,
Ltd. (Hangqi). Now the ASUs are under installation
and construction, and got high attentions of relative
companies.
ASUs successfully selected and applied by
Sinopec in coal chemical projects
ASUs selected by Sinopec in coal chemical projects
and plants
Sinopec’s coal chemical business could be traced back
to 2002. From that time Sinopec began to import foreign
advanced coal gasification technology for its raw material
optimization projects (mainly change material from oil to
coal). With the accomplishment of these projects Sinopec
has obtained rich experiences in coal chemical business
for its subsequent coal chemical industry. In recent years,
Sinopec has speeded up its coal chemical business. More
coal gasification plants have been put into operation
in its refineries and chemical plants. At the same time,
it launched several coal-based chemical complexes,
with locations at Yinchuan of Ningxia, Ordos of Inner
Mongolia, Huainan of Anhui, Zhundong of Xinjiang and
Zhijin of Guizhou.
According to statistics, there are 20 sets of ASUs
under operation in Sinopec in total, including 11 sets for
coal gasification plants, which are listed below. It could
be seen that 9 sets of ASUs are supplying hydrogen for
refineries or chemical plants, while 2 sets in Ningxia are
supplying syngas for downstream synthesis. If classified
according to the supplier source, it could be found that
there are 5 sets of ASUs are domestic (all supplied by
Hangyang) and 6 sets of ASUs are imported (supplied by
APCI, Air Liquide and Linde respectively) (Table 3).
Regarding to the coal-based chemical complexes under
construction, Sinopec has put some orders for ASU. In
Zhongtianhechuang project in Inner Mongolia, six sets
of 82,000 Nm3/h ASU were awarded to Air Liquide. In
Zhongan project in Anhui, three sets of 67,000 Nm3/h ASU
were awarded to Linde AG. It was announced that there
were other ASU purchasing order under consideration
for Zhundong projects in Xinjiang and Zhijin projects in
Guizhou.
Influence of ASUs operation on coal gasification
plants
The operation stability of ASUs has important
 MARKET POTENTIAL

Table 3 ASUs in coal chemical projects or plants of Sinopec

Capacity Operating
No. End-user Sourcing Supplier Operating mode
(Nm3/h) time
Sinopec Nanjing Chemical Independent Operation
1 40,000 Imported APCI Jun. 2001
Industrial Corporation by End-user
Independent Operation
2 Sinopec Jinling 56,000 Imported Air Liquide Sep. 2005
by End-user
Independent Operation
3 Sinopec Anqing 48,000 Domestic Hangyang Jun. 2006
by End-user
4 Sinopec Baling 48,000 Imported Linde Sep. 2006 JV with Linde
Sinopec Hubei Chemical Independent Operation
5 48,000 Domestic Hangyang Oct. 2006
Fertilizer Company by End-user
6 Sinopec Qilu 42,000 Domestic Hangyang Oct. 2008 JV with Linde
Sinopec Nanjing Chemical Independent Operation
7 56,000 Imported Linde
Industrial Corporation by End-user
8 Sinopec Yangzi 40,000 Imported Linde Jan. 2005 JV with Linde
9 Sinopec Maoming 90,000 Imported Air Liquide Oct. 2013 JV with Air Liquide
Sinopec Great Wall Energy & 45,000 Independent Operation
10 Domestic Hangyang Oct. 2013
Chemical (Ningxia) Co., Ltd. (2 sets) by End-user

influence on the long-term operation of coal chemical Shutdown days classfication

plants. However, there are certain room for improvement
in ASUs’ management. A statistic work has been done
on Sinopec’s 6 coal gasification plants applying coal
water slurry gasification technology. The operation status
of plants from Jan. to Oct. in 2014 were collected and
analyzed, aiming to get the influence of ASUs in the
unscheduled shutdown of the plants. It was found that
more than 1/4 shutdown of plants were due to the faults of
ASUs, which was shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 2.
Suggestions on ASU selection and application
strategies
The coal chemical industry has characteristics like
continuous production, high temperature and high
pressure operation, inflammable and explosive working
environment and long start-up period. They put forward
high requirements for the security, reliability and technical
maturity of equipment. To get a long term, full load and
optimal operation of coal chemical plants, project owners
should investigate the typical ASUs in operation home and
abroad in advance so as to make reasonable selections.
Taking priority selection of domestic suppliers on
small to middle size ASUs
After years of digestion & absorption, independent
technical development, and technology research, Chinese
domestic ASU suppliers have gotten rapid progress in
ASUs
29%
Plant
overhaul or
others Gasification
67% 1%
Utilities
3%
Fig.1 Influence of ASUs on coal gasification plants operation (based
on shutdown days from Jan. to Oct. 2014).
the design and manufacture. In terms of small to middle
size ASUs, the domestic ones have been in the same
level compared with international ASU enterprises, from
technical indicators, manufacturing standards, power
consumption, and operation safety to control technology
or other aspects.
According to the current manufacturing level of
domestic suppliers and localization requirements by
authorities, priority should be given to domestic suppliers
who have mature and stable performance on these ASUs.
Blindly preferring imported ASU products should be

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 MARKET POTENTIAL
Shutdown times classfication
Plant
ASUs
overhaul or
26%
others
32%
Gasification
16%
Utilities
26%
Fig.2 Influence of ASUs on coal gasification plants operation (based
on shutdown times from Jan. to Oct. 2014).
avoided.
Carrying forward the localization of large scale ASUs
positively and reliably
Adhering to the policy by authorities, large scale
ASUs should be localized positively and reliably. Due
to the important influence of ASUs to coal chemical
projects, the localization of large ASUs should be done
carefully step by step. In this process, the end-users of
coal chemical projects should strengthen cooperation
with domestic ASU suppliers, making joint development
of new products, giving favorite conditions in resources
allocation or price. Practical plans should be set up clearly
by combining material procurement for the localization to
ensure the target.
Before making selections of ASU, detailed
investigation of ASUs in service for similar plants should
be conducted on whether they have certain advantages in
price competitiveness, easy communication and prompt
service. The selected domestic suppliers who had some
bad cases performed in former plants, for example,
failed meeting operation requirements in technical
level, reliability, safety, economy, etc., or caused many
unplanned shutdown of plants, should be removed from
the short list. In such cases, imported ASUs should also be
given priority for selection considering the safe and long-
term operation of plants.
Accelerating the standardization in design and
procurement of ASUs
The standardization in design and procurement of
ASUs has many advantages. From the point of production,
38 CHINA OIL & GAS
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the standardization of ASUs is conducive to flexible
operating and fast supporting by site personnel. It will also
benefit the unification of personnel training and operation
management. From the point of procurement, it is helpful
in cost-reducing and energy-saving. It contributes to
eliminate non-standard product defect caused by personal-
related factor in design and manufacture as far as possible.
At the same time, it is beneficial to the procurement and
management of spare parts. For example, the expensive
spare parts like rotors could be stored up in a unified
mode. It will greatly reduce capital investment and
enhance the efficiency of inventory.
Selecting the operation mode of ASUs prudentially
Project owners usually took direct procurement and
self-operation when selecting ASUs. In recent years,
due to the improvement of plants capacity and suppliers
integration service level of ASU, BOT mode (to joint
venture build-entrusted operate in contract period) and
EPC-O&M mode (supplier to construct and operate,
owner to purchase the product) are becoming a viable
option. These alternative modes implemented help project
owners reduce the investment and construction period as
well as spread the risk, yet may be potentially harmful to
the long-term operation as the main material is subject to
ASU operators. Therefore, project owners should select
the operation mode of ASUs prudentially according to
their own strength and the needs of actual conditions.
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