Ningxia Coal Industry Group Facilitated Product Upgrading with Self-developed New-type Coal-based Clean Fuel

On October 16, the clean fuel for mining use independently developed by Ningxia Coal Industry Group (“Ningxia Coal” for short) under CHN Energy broke the bottleneck in the development of new-type indirect coal-to-liquid (CTL) diesel after extensive trial utilization. The fuel is verified to be safe, clean, and eco-friendly and can facilitates the upgrade of diesel fuel products for mining use.

The indirect CTL diesel, the main product of Ningxia Coal’s indirect CTL demonstration project with an annual capacity of 4 million tons, has advantages such as high concentration of hexadecane and low content of sulphur, nitrogen, and aromatic hydrocarbon. It is an ideal alternate diesel fuel. However, its density and lubricity fall short of the national VI emissions standards for diesel vehicles, so it used to be sold as diesel part oil, which hindered its sales in the market and extensive utilization.

Based on the specificity of indirect CTL fuels and mining vehicles and focused on the extending, complementing and fortifying the industrial chain of coal chemicals, Ningxia Coal launched a research project to develop new-type indirect CTL diesel that can be directly used by mining vehicles. The research team consecutively conducted fuel physical and chemical attribute analysis, oil blending experiments, engine rig tests, and actual road tests, and eventually developed a kind of coal-based clean fuel specially for mining vehicles. This new-type fuel has been gradually put into trial use in diesel-fueled vehicles such as man-driven vehicles, trucks, underground trackless rubber-tyred vehicles, and shovel loaders in Yangchangwan Coal Mine, coal washing and dressing center, and production and installation subsidiary. To date, 223.88 tons of this fuel have been consumed in trial use.

Apart from its clean, eco-friendly characteristic, this kind of coal-based fuel specially for mining use can effectively reduce the fuel costs of coal mines. If calculating according to the diesel fuel price in centralized procurement of CHN Energy, using this coal-based clean fuel can cut cost by 916 yuan per ton; If calculating according to the diesel retail price in the market, it can save 1,235 yuan per ton.

“Based on the characteristics of mining vehicles, we conducted systematic verifications on the feasibility and economic efficiency of applying indirect CTL diesel to mining vehicles,” said Zhang Jing, head of the research project at Ningxia Coal’s Institute of Coal Chemical Industrial Technology. “We also formulated The Corporate Standards of Coal-based Clean Fuel Specially for Mining Use, and put forward the direct application plan, expanding the scope of application of indirect CTL diesel. This new-type fuel features low pollutant emissions, which is conducive to ensuring safe, clean, and efficient production of mines.”