Company profile

Core business

As a technology provider, Synfuels China focuses on the R&D on Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) Synthesis technologies for Indirect Coal Liquefaction or Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) and Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) processes using coal, natural gas, or biomass as feedstocks, and has developed proprietary Medium-Temperature Slurry-Bed Fisch-Tropsch Process (MTSFTP) technology for the production of high-quality clean liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The MTSFTP technology consists of  Fisch-Tropsch synthesis technologies including its proprietary iron-based Fisch-Tropsch synthesis catalysts and slurry-bed Fischer-Tropsch Reactor, and product upgrading technologies. This technology has been successfully applied in three 4000 BPD CTL demonstration plants in China, and Shenhua Ningmei 100,000 BPD CTL project using MTSFTP technology is under construction and will be commissioned late 2016. Synfuels China also developed proprietary multistage liquefaction technology for the utilization of low-rank coals and heavy oil upgrading. In addition, Synfuels China is active in fine chemicals engineering and other process engineering, and has developed several proprietary technologies for the selective production of γ-GBL, 2-MF, 2-MTHF, and other fine chemicals using maleic anhydride or furfuraldehyde as feedstocks.

Function allocation

Synfuels China has three major R&D bases located in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, and Taiyuan. These bases form the industrial support platform for Synfuels China's coal-to-liquids technologies in basic research, engineering design, technology development and commercialization, and for the localization of large-scale core equipment. Synfuels China R&D Center is also responsible for the application of international patents for Synfuels China technologies, in order to facilitate the development, promotion, and commercial application of Synfuels China proprietary technologies.

Achievements

Due to its breakthrough in indirect coal-to-liquids commercial technology, Synfuels China has won several awards, including the Outstanding Technological Achievement Award from Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the First Prize of National Energy Technological Advancement from National Energy Administration. In 2014, “National energy R&D center on coal-based liquid fuels” , which was sponsored by the National Energy Administration, was established in Synfuels China. “Beijing key laboratory for clean coal-based liquid fuels” was established in Synfuels China and accepted by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Committee. In addition, Synfuels China owns 80 domestic patents in China and 27 PCT patents granted in USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Russia, and the copy right of a software for the simulation and optimization of CTL and GTL processes, and has established three national technical standards on liquid fuels from CTL.

 Synfuels China

Synfuels  China Technology Co., Ltd. was established in April 2006. There are several subsidiaries in Synfuels China, including Synfuels China R&D Center, Synfuels China Engineering Holding Co., Ltd, Synfuels China Huainan Catalyst Co., Ltd, Synfuels China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd, Synfuels Americas in USA, ChemEssen in Korea. Currently, there are more than 900 employees in Synfuels China, and over 80% of them are engineers and technical researchers, including  47 PhD degrees, 203 master degrees, 18 professors  and 139 associate professors and senior engineers.

Main services

R&D on national special subjects;
R&D on coal-to-liquids technologies;
Commercial technology transfer;
Training and consulting;
Catalyst production and marketing;
R&D on proprietary coal-to-liquids equipment;
Engineering design in energy and coal chemical industry;
EPC and construction management;
Technical support and services on coal-to-liquids technologies.

  • In 2016
    In 2016

      -Feb: Essay & Photo Collection held for ten anniversary of the company to publicize all fruits, progress and achievements;

      -Nov: Approval of the NDRC on Lu’An Group High-Sulfur Coal Electric-Heating Integration Demonstration Project with Synfuels China CTL Technology Employed (NDRC-Energy [2016] No.2433) was issued for Shanxi Lu’An integration demonstration project; 

      -Dec: Inner Mongolia Yitai CTO Co., Ltd. Received the Approval of the NDRC on 2.0 million t/a Coal-Indirect-Liquidation Demonstration Project of Inner Mongolia Yitai CTO Co., Ltd. (NDRC-Energy [2016] No.2540);

      -Dec 5th: raw materials was firstly fed into I-series synfuels device, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of 4.0 million t/a Coal-Indirect-Liquidation Demonstration Project based on the Synfuels China CTL Technology and Fischer-Tropsch light oil and heavy oil was generated on Dec 6th;

      -Dec 9th: Fischer-Tropsch wax was generated from the synfuels device of 4.0 million t/a Shenhua Ningxia Coal Coal-Indirect-Liquidation Demonstration Project based on the Synfuels China CTL Technology;

      -Dec 21st: the clean quality diesel with all indicators qualified was generated from the synfuels device of 4.0 million t/a Shenhua Ningxia Coal Coal-Indirect-Liquidation Demonstration Project based on the Synfuels China CTL Technology, which indicated that overall CTO process was put into operation;

      -Dec 28th: President Xi assigned an important instructions on Shenhua Ningxia Coal CTO Demonstration Project;


Enterprise tenet

Corporate mission

Our mission is to develop proprietary coal conversion technologies, to explore the business model for independent technological development and commercialization, to support the development of indirect coal-to-liquids industry in China to meet the future domestic energy demand, and to promote the international application of our proprietary coal-to-liquids technologies.

 

The core parts of indirect coal-to-liquids (liquid fuels) technology are the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis process, F-T catalyst and reactor technologies. Its advantages and characteristics are able to convert any combustible carbonaceous organic matters such as coal and biomass to high-quality oil products and raw chemical materials, through gasification, purification and synthesis, providing a feasible technical route to produce organic hydrocarbons from biomass (renewable resources).   Based on the technical development trend of indirect coal liquefaction processes and application of F-T synthesis in biomass conversion(especially residue), Synfuels China mainly focuses on innovative R&D on indirect coal-to-liquids (oil products and chemicals), and carries out research on the integration of indirect coal liquefaction, low-temperature carbonization, multistage liquefaction, and gas turbine power generation, in order to improve the overall energy conversion efficiency of coal liquefaction process. Meanwhile, Synfuels China is working on biomass gasification technology and demonstration projects, and actively promoting the application of F-T synthesis technology for the conversion of biomass.

In technology development, Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. adheres to:

  • -Pay more attention on basic researches and process modeling work for the innovation of catalyst technology, and be good at the optimization and integration of coal conversion processes using F-T synthesis as core technology;

  • - Carry out R&D on large-scale unit process and unit equipment, such as fluid mechanics on large-scale F-T reactor, optimization of the reactor structure and its internals, R&D on materials, R&D on the optimization of large-scale heat exchanger and separator, etc;

  • -Strengthen our engineering design team and laboratory support system, and collaborate with equipment manufacturers to carry out R&D on large-scale equipment and form the industrial base for the commercialization of our technologies.

  • -Carry out R&D on product upgrading technology for target oil products, together with the R&D on F-T synthesis technology, to form a systematic R&D system for the upgrading of synthetic crudes;

董事长

Chairman, General Manager and Chief Scientist：Dr. Li Yongwang

Dr. Li Yongwang graduated from the Inner Mongolia Institute of Engineering in July 1984, then studied and worked at the Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, CAS, from 1986 to 1994, where he obtained his Master's Degree in Engineering and PhD in Science. In 1995, Dr. Li worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Petroleum Research Institute of Belgium, GENT University, and continued his postdoctoral research at the Catalytic Institute of Belgium, New Leuven University in 1996. Dr. Li conducted cooperative research at the Erlangen Research Institute from 1999 to 2000, funded by the Humboldt Foundation.

From 1997 to 2006, Dr. Li Yongwang worked at the Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry as the Deputy Director of the State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion and the Director of the Synthetic Oil Engineering Research Center, in charge of research on coal-based synthetic oil technology, catalytic reaction engineering, and computer simulation. Dr. Li and his research team completed the 863 Program sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the "Industrial Technology of Coal-Based Liquid Fuel Synthesis in Slurry Reactor" project as one of the CAS Key Knowledge Innovation Projects. They designed the overall technology scheme for synthetic oil production using a slurry-bed reactor and built the first synthetic oil pilot plant and catalyst production facility in China. A series of pilot tests on synthetic oil had been carried out under the direction of Dr. Li. Meanwhile, they developed the first generation of industrial simulation software for the entire coal-to-liquids process in China, completed the technical software package for a 160,000 t/a coal-to-liquids demonstration plant, and developed proprietary coal-to-liquids process technology ready for commercialization. In 2006, Dr. Li initiated and established Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. with several enterprises. In April 2006, Dr. Li was elected as the General Manager of Synfuels China, responsible for directing R&D and comprehensive business development. In 2009, the MTSFTP technology developed by Dr. Li and his team was successfully applied in three 4000 BPD coal-to-liquids demonstration plants in China. Among these, the Yitai CTL plant and the Shanxi Lu'an CTL plant were successfully commissioned in 2009 and produced qualified liquid fuels.

In December 2016, the 4-million-ton/year coal indirect liquefaction project of Ningxia Coal Industry, National Energy Group, built using the coal-to-oil technology of Synfuels China produced high-quality clean diesel, and the entire coal-to-oil process was completed; in 2017, the 1.2-million-ton/year fine chemical demonstration project of Inner Mongolia Yitai Chemical Co., Ltd. and the integrated demonstration project of Shanxi Lu’an successively produced qualified oil products. Synfuels China, led by General Manager Li Yongwang, created a historic moment in the Chinese coal-to-oil industry and built one classic example after another of major national equipment.

Since 2008, Professor Li Yongwang has served as the director of the National Engineering Laboratory for Indirect Coal Liquefaction; since 2014, he has been the director of the National Energy Technology R & D Center for Coal-based Liquid Fuels; in 2021, he became the vice chairman and general manager of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.; in August 2025, he will be the chairman and general manager of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.

Awards and Honors:

Chief Scientist of the 863 Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology, selected for the "Hundred Talents Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences;

Named "Excellent Labor Model of Shanxi Province" in 2007;

Selected as "National Outstanding Chemical Science and Technology Worker" by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association in 2008;

Awarded the title of "Taiyuan Outstanding Entrepreneur in High-tech Zone" in 2008;

Received the "National Labor Medal" in 2009;

Awarded the title of "National Advanced Worker" in 2010;

Received the honor of "Shanxi Top-Notch Science and Technology Innovation Pacesetter" in 2011;

Received the "Applied Science Award" granted by the Zhou Guangzhao Foundation in 2014;

Received the Special Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of "Development and Application of Key Technologies and Major Equipment for 4 million Tons/Year Coal Indirect Liquefaction" in 2018;

Received the Individual Gold Award for Invention Patents in the Petroleum and Chemical Industry in 2019, etc.;

Received the"Labor Model of Beijing" in 2020;

Received the First Class Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2021.


 Synfuels China Engineering  Co., Ltd.


Synfuels China Engineering  Co., Ltd.

In order to maintain its technological advantages and sustainability and to promote the commercialization of Synfuels China proprietary technologies, Synfuels China Engineering Co., Ltd. was established in Beijing in September 2006，as a subsidiary of Synfuels China technology Co., Ltd., and was then changed to Synfuels China Engineering  Co., Ltd. (SFC Engineering) on 9th June 2015, with a registered capital of 180 million RMB. Synfuels China technology Co., Ltd. holds 77.78% of its shares.

On the basis of Synfuels China core proprietary technologies, SFC Engineering carries out R&D on core proprietary equipment, and provides various services, such as engineering consultancy, engineering design and EPC services, commissioning support services, operators training services through SFC Dynamic Simulator System, and post services and technology upgrading services. Focusing on performance and core competence improvement, the company has established its core working teams with its certification system, and formed a seamless system from R&D to engineering, or “R&D - Core Technologies - Engineering Design - EPC Services - Special Equipment Supply”.  SFC Engineering provides excellent integrated services to our clients, and is becoming a leading engineering company in providing integrated solutions in indirect coal-to-liquids industry.

The company has 500 experienced engineers with expertise in engineering design, R&D on special equipment, and project management. It has won many honors such as “Diamond Enterprise of Tsinghua Science Park”, “Pilot Innovative Enterprise”, and “Beijing Hi-tech Enterprise”, etc. Process Design Package and engineering design has been completed for indirect coal-to-liquids Fisch-Tropsch Synthesis Unit and Product Upgrading Unit with a capacity of 500,000 t/a, 1 mt/a, 2 mt/a, and 4 mt/a, separately.

SFC Engineering provides various services, including technology development, engineering consultation, technology licensing,  engineering exploration, engineering design, project supervision, R&D on special equipment in coal chemistry and coal-to-liquids process, EPC services, operators training, and environmental assessment for energy and chemical engineering projects, etc. The company has engaged in the design and construction of three coal-to-liquids demonstration projects in China, Yitai 160,000 t/a indirect CTL project, Lu'an 160,000 t/a indirect CTL project, and Shenhua 180,000 t/a indirect CTL project (Shenhua 829 Project).

In 2015, SFC Engineering signed several contracts with a total value of more than 20 billion RMB, and has engaged in several large-scale indirect coal-to-liquids projects such as Shenhua Ningmei 4 mt/a CTL in Ningxia, Luán integrated chemicals-electricity-power generation project in Shanxi, Yitai 1.2 mt/a fine chemicals project at Hanjinqi in Inner Mongolia, Yitai-Yili 1 mt/a CTL project in Xinjiang, Yitai 2 mt/a CTL project in Xinjiang, Yitai 2 mt/a CTL project in Inner Mongolia, Jingneng lignite upgrading project in Inner Mongolia, Yufu CTL project at Bijie in Guizhou.

SFC Engineering will achieve its sustainable and leap-forward development in indirect CTL industry through continuous innovation on technology and management, while maximizing the economic benefits of its share holders via both industrial management and capital operation.

Synfuels China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd.


Synfuels China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd.

Synfuels China Inner Mongolia Co., Ltd. was established in November, 2012, with a registered capital of 300 million RMB. It mainly engages in the production and sale of semi-finished / finished coal-to-liquids catalyst and related addictives, and R&D on catalyst and its production and equipment

Relying on the innovation capability and engineering integration capability of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd., the company aims to improve catalyst technology and its production and sales on the basis of Synfuels China's proprietary CTL technology and related coal chemical industrial experience. Large-scale production of catalyst has been achieved, and the catalyst product is currently supplied to the three 160,000 t/a CTL demonstration plants (Inner Mongolia Yitai Group Co., Ltd., Shanxi Lu'an Mining Group Company, and Shenhua Group). The company will supply catalyst product and related technical support for future large-scale commercial CTL projects.

At present, there are more than 200 staff in the company, including 3 senior engineers, 19 engineers, and 44 associate engineers. Among them, bachelor degrees and postgraduate degrees (2 PhD, 22 masters, 56 bachelors) accounts for 82.7% of the staff. To meet the requirement of the company development, the allocation of human resources is continuously optimized to carry out cooperation between production, learning and research, forming an integrated technology development system for basic research, analysis, technology scale-up, catalyst production and sale. and the positive interaction between catalyst production and sales.

There are several departments in the company, such as R&D Department, Technology Department, Production Department, etc.

The R&D Department consists of three functional test centers: coal quality analysis and testing center, product analysis and testing center, and environmental monitoring center. There are 76 sets of equipment in the department, which is worth more than 50 million RMB. Over 70% of the equipment are latest international models or first-class equipment in China. The company obtained the CMA accreditation measurement certificate in November, 2011, and was qualified to carry out the relevant analytical testing and technical development.

The Technology Department is responsible for the operation of Yitai and Lu'an CTL demonstration plants as well as technical support work, plans and implements the "safe, steady, long-term, full-load and excellent" operation of the demonstration plants, designs and plans technical improvement, collects operational data and provides reliable engineering data, monitors the production and operation of equipments, optimizes processes and equipment, and maintains the long-term stable operation of the plant.

The Production Department is responsible for the enlargement of the high-tech laboratory techniques, ensures the start-up, operation, maintenance, technical improvements and construction guardianship of the pilot platform, collects data during operation of the testing project, describes and concludes the operational status in details, as well as provides commercialization device with the firsthand process operating parameters and operating procedures.

To meet the demand for catalyst of the first batch of million-ton commercial coal-to-liquids demonstration projects, the company started the construction of 48,000 t/a of coal liquefaction catalyst and industrial support for the project (the first phase of 0.12 million t/a) in 2013, and completed and put into stand-alone test at the end of 2014. The completion and implementation of this project has a very important strategic significance to enhance the technology industry support capability of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. to improve local industrial level, to upgrade the industrial structure, to promote the sustainable and healthy development of coal chemical industry.

Inner Mongolia Institute of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.


Inner Mongolia Institute of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.

Inner Mongolia Institute of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. has a registered capital of 120 million yuan. Its predecessor was the Inner Mongolia Coal Chemical Technology R & D Center of  Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. The R & D Center relies on Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.'s capabilities in coal-to-liquid and coal chemical technologies, as well as in engineering technology integration. In response to the development needs of the coal chemical industry in Inner Mongolia, taking the coal indirect liquefaction technology independently developed by  Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd.and related coal chemical industrialization experience as the starting point, it established a comprehensive coal chemical technology R & D institution aiming to provide technical support, technical services, talent cultivation and other technical connotations for coal chemical industrialization, meeting the needs of the coal chemical industry in Inner Mongolia and even the whole country for technological innovation and talents. On August 11, 2016, Inner Mongolia Institute of Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Dalu New Area, Jungar Banner.

Since its development to date, the company has established a technology industrialization incubator for laboratory scale-up - the pilot plant platform, including the coal-to-liquid pilot plant platform, the coal tar pilot plant platform, and the coal deep processing pilot plant platform. The company aims to ensure the start-up, operation, maintenance, technical transformation, and construction supervision of the pilot plant platform; collect data during the operation of test projects, and conduct a detailed description and summary of the operation status; provide first-hand process operation parameters and process operation methods for the operation of industrial plants.

The key technology of ten-thousand-ton low-rank coal high-efficiency fractional liquefaction for oil production verified in this pilot plant platform is one of the important tasks of the Chinese Academy of Sciences pilot project "Key Technologies and Demonstration of Clean and Efficient Cascade Utilization of Low-rank Coal". The ten-thousand-ton demonstration plant was approved in 2008, completed in 2009, started successive tests in 2010, achieved stable operation in July 2014, and carried out a mild hydro-pyrolysis industrial demonstration operation in 2015. Breakthroughs were made in three technologies, including the mild hydrotreating technology of coal tar slurry bed, the mild hydro-pyrolysis technology of low-rank coal slurry bed, and the fluidized bed coal drying technology, and were examined by an expert group. This marks that the hydro-pyrolysis technology has been fully verified on a ten thousand-ton scale device, with advanced technical indicators, which can be used as the basis for the basic design of further projects, providing a new technology for the efficient and clean conversion of China’s abundant low-rank coal reserves, laying a solid foundation for technology industrialization, and having important significance for solving the efficient conversion of China’s low-rank coal, promoting clean and efficient utilization of coal, promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, and ensuring national energy security.

From 2017 to 2024, the company conducted a pilot project on fluidized pyrolysis and cracking of Fischer-Tropsch heavy oil. For the new catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch oil and the corresponding process technology, the performance of the new fluid catalytic cracking catalyst can be verified through the pilot project, the suitable reaction bed and flow pattern can be explored, the reaction conditions can be adjusted to optimize the reaction product distribution, and technical preparations can be made for the subsequent larger-scale industrial plant. In the fluidized pyrolysis stage, based on the characteristics of coal pyrolysis products, an improved, more economical, and more complete oil processing process can be developed through the optimization and combination of existing technologies and process improvements, thereby addressing the problem of treating oil-coal slag in coal pyrolysis products.

top