Currently, there are dozens of hydrogen powered buses operating on the streets of Wuhan. Do you know that the hydrogen gas consumed by these new energy buses all comes from Yunmeng company.
The by-product hydrogen gas of Hubei Gehua Huaxiang Chemical Co., Ltd. (referred to as Huaxiang Chemical) was once discharged as waste gas. Nowadays, after processing and purification, it is sold to Wuhan and surrounding areas at a price of over 5 yuan per cubic meter.
The recycling of ‘waste hydrogen’ has increased the efficiency of Yunmeng’s company and provided clean energy for public transportation companies, contributing to Wuhan’s’ Blue Sky Plan ‘.
Once discharged as waste gas in vain
On August 15, 2018, the first phase of Huaxiang Chemical’s project was put into trial production, and hydrogen gas was discharged into the air every day.
Huaxiang Chemical settled in Yunmeng in August 2014 and is a leading enterprise in the salt chemical circular economy industrial park. The project has a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan and will be constructed in two phases. With the help of the abundant rock salt resources in the local area, the company uses ion exchange membrane method to electrolyze salt water into caustic soda. “Liu Jun, director of Yunmeng County Investment Promotion Center, introduced that the first phase of the project can produce 100000 tons of caustic soda annually and generate a large amount of by-product hydrogen gas.
Hu Shengwen, Chairman of Huaxiang Chemical, said, “Hydrogen is not harmful to the atmospheric environment, but it is a flammable and explosive gas, and small and medium-sized enterprises are not allowed to store it in large quantities. We have to discharge it
It is estimated that after more than a year of trial production, the company has discharged over 20 million cubic meters of hydrogen gas.
In Yunmeng, hydrogen is discharged as waste. In Wuhan, a company is worried about the high price of hydrogen.
In November 2017, Wuhan Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Development Co., Ltd. was registered and established with the aim of providing hydrogen energy for hydrogen powered vehicles. Where does hydrogen come from? The general manager of the company introduced, “There is a company in Wuhan that produces hydrogen by cracking methanol. At the beginning, we purchased high priced hydrogen from this company to supply hydrogen energy vehicles for trial operation in Wuhan
After being contacted by Gehua Group, it was found that the by-product of Huaxiang Chemical is hydrogen gas. Manager Li was excited and said, “If the by-product of Huaxiang Chemical is purified nearby, the cost can be reduced by 30%
After negotiations, Wuhan Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Development Co., Ltd. and Gehua Group have decided to establish Hubei Gehua Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. in Yunmeng, to purify hydrogen gas from Huaxiang Chemical nearby and supply hydrogen energy vehicles and high-end industrial enterprises in Wuhan and surrounding areas.
In June 2018, the Zhongji Ge Hydrogen Energy Project signed a contract to settle in Yunmeng.
Wuhan hydrogen powered buses all ‘drink’ it
Site selection, demolition, three connections, environmental impact assessment, safety assessment… Yunmeng has established a dedicated team to provide the best service and accelerate the project process.
At the end of September this year, the first phase project of Hubei Gehua Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. was put into operation. On December 10th, a reporter from Hubei Daily saw at the scene that a yellow pipeline about a kilometer long crossed the road and was led by Huaxiang Chemical.
The company’s general manager Liu Xinxin introduced that this is a raw material hydrogen transportation pipeline. After the raw material hydrogen from Huaxiang Chemical is sent over, impurities are removed through a pressure swing adsorption device and converted into high-purity hydrogen gas with a purity of 99.999%. High purity hydrogen is sent to the filling area through a hydrogen compressor and dedicated pipelines for special vehicles to fill and transport to Wuhan and other places.
Is it safe to purify hydrogen gas? The reporter saw that there were almost no workers on the production site. Liu Xinxin introduced that the processing technology is very mature, and the equipment has a high degree of automation. Workers regularly inspect and record the operating parameters of the equipment. Technicians sit in the central control room and can monitor the entire production process in real-time, and achieve automated production through remote control.
On September 28th, the first batch of hydrogen gas from Yunmeng was transported to Wuhan for use by hydrogen powered vehicles. At present, Wuhan Donghu High tech Development Zone and Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone each have a hydrogen refueling station and have opened a hydrogen powered bus demonstration line. Wuhan currently has nearly a hundred hydrogen powered buses, commuter buses, and logistics vehicles, all of which are powered by Yunmeng’s hydrogen production.
Due to the incomplete production of the first phase project of Huaxiang Chemical, it currently produces over 60000 cubic meters of hydrogen per day. Manager Li explained that after processing and purification, the hydrogen is not only supplied to hydrogen powered vehicles, but also sold to fiber optic preform production and processing enterprises such as Changfei Fiber and FiberHome Communications.
Hu Shengwen, Chairman of Huaxiang Chemical, is also very pleased: “Previously, our factory’s by-product hydrogen was treated as waste and disposed of for nothing. Now, it is supplied to downstream companies nearby at a price of 1 yuan per cubic meter. If our first phase production capacity is fully released, we can produce 30 million cubic meters of hydrogen per year, which can increase the company’s profit by 30 million yuan per year
The market outlook is promising
With the help of Wuhan’s efforts to build a hydrogen energy capital, we are actively exploring the hydrogen energy market and are expected to form a hydrogen industry chain with sales revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan within 5 years. Looking ahead to the future, Liu Xinxin, General Manager of Hubei Gehua Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd., is full of confidence.
After the first phase of Huaxiang Chemical’s production capacity is fully released, it can produce 30 million cubic meters of hydrogen gas per year. After purification, 25 million cubic meters of high-purity hydrogen can be produced. At present, the price of hydrogen at hydrogen refueling stations is over 5 yuan per cubic meter.
The main product of Huaxiang Chemical is caustic soda, and its by-products include chlorine gas in addition to hydrogen gas. Caustic soda is the mother of industry, and chlorine hydrogen is also an important industrial raw material. Huaxiang Chemical’s second phase expansion is imminent, and the annual hydrogen production will approach 100 million cubic meters, “said Liu Xinxin
As a major user of hydrogen, hydrogen powered vehicles have entered the fast lane of development in Wuhan.
In September 2018, the first batch of hydrogen powered buses developed by Wuhan Taige were put into trial operation on Route 359 in Donghu High tech Zone. The first hydrogen refueling station in Wuhan, constructed by Wuhan Zhongji Hydrogen Energy Development Co., Ltd., was also put into operation, marking the full entry of hydrogen powered buses in Wuhan into the commercial demonstration operation stage. Zhongji Hydrogen Energy plans to cooperate with multiple parties and construct and put into operation 100 hydrogen refueling stations in the next 5 years.
At the 2019 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the “Government Work Report” proposed to “promote the construction of charging, hydrogen refueling and other facilities”. This is the first time that hydrogen energy has been included in the Government Work Report.
Hydrogen powered vehicles bring significant strategic opportunities. Manager Li believes that the market demand for hydrogen will experience explosive growth
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Cloud dream accelerates the formation of circular economy
Yunmeng has abundant mineral resources, especially rock salt, saltpeter, and gypsum, which are the “Three Treasures of Yunmeng”. Among them, rock salt reserves are 10.7 billion tons, gypsum reserves are 70 million tons, and calcium saltpeter reserves are 60 million tons.
Based on advantageous resources, Yunmeng is building a salt chemical circular economy industrial park, and currently the park has built advanced industrial wastewater treatment plants.
Liu Jun, Director of Yunmeng County Investment Promotion Center, introduced that the Huaxiang Chemical Caustic Soda Project generates a large amount of by-products such as hydrogen, chlorine, and steam, and has attracted 29 downstream enterprises to settle down. These enterprises can obtain basic raw materials and heat energy from Huaxiang Chemical nearby, saving production costs, reducing energy consumption, achieving circular utilization, and reducing emissions.
In 2015, Hubei Jinji Chemical Co., Ltd. relocated to Yunmeng and has now entered the trial production stage. Jinji Chemical and Huaxin Organic Silicon, which have settled in the park, mainly use chlorine gas to produce drugs and new organic silicon materials.
Liu Jun stated that since the second half of 2018, the county has introduced 29 downstream enterprises such as Yike Chemical, Jieneng Environmental Protection, and Fushen Salt Lake Pharmaceutical, and 15 of them have been built and put into operation. The next step will continue to introduce 30 downstream enterprises in the chlorobenzene industry chain. By further extending and refining the salt chemical industry chain, we can transition from a single salt production in the past to a modern salt chemical industry. (Correspondent Chen Qun)
Media Link：https://hb.qq.com/a/20200102/025639.htm
