煤制油主要技术路线——煤间接液化中关键步骤是以一氧化碳和氢气的混合气体为原料，在催化剂作用下反应，合成液态烃类物质，这就是著名的“费托合成反应”。该反应由德国科学家Franz Fischer和Hans Tropsch于上世纪20年代在威廉皇帝煤炭研究所开发得出，被誉为非石油路线生产液体燃料的工业支柱。它驱动工业发展、改变全球能源格局，以物质转换视角为化石能源时代带来新质生产力。

2025年7月是费托工艺的百年诞辰，《自然-化学工程》（Nature Chemical Engineering）与《自然-催化》（Nature Catalysis）联合推出“百年费托合成技术”专题社论“费托技术的新纪元”，邀请八位从事费托合成不同领域研究的科学家，共同回顾该技术自问世以来的发展历程，展望其创新的下一个时代并探索其未来前沿发展趋势。

中科合成油技术股份有限公司创始人李永旺研究员作为国内煤间接液化费托合成技术的开拓者，带领科研工程技术团队，历经“实验室—工业中试试验—工业化示范—大规模工业化示范—商业化大规模生产”全过程，并解决了工业催化剂研制和反应器工程放大等一系列难题，目前在国内形成了650万吨/年商业化装置生产规模。特别是在2016年12月，采用中科合成油公司完全自主知识产权煤间接液化技术设计建成的全球单套规模最大的神华宁煤400万吨/年煤制油工程成功运行，产油能力达到1000吨/吨催化剂以上，系统能效达到43%，使我国成为世界上少数完全自主掌握成熟可靠的百万吨级煤制油工业技术的国家。

作为邀请科学家之一，李永旺研究员以“Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis industry process development towards a greener prospect”为题，发表专题社论[Nature Chemical Engineering volume 2, pages 719–723 (2025)]，以下为社论原文：

Viewpont article

Yong-Wang Li, Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd., Huairou District, Beijing, China

ywl@sxicc.ac.cn

Yong-Wang Li: Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis industry process development towards a greener prospect

Synfuels China has developed a proprietary Medium-Temperature Slurry-Bed Fischer-Tropsch Process (MTSFTP) technology to produce high-quality clean liquid fuels. The highly active and stable iron catalyst leads to a larger capacity of 50,000-80,000 ton/year oil products in a single slurry reactor (10 meter in diameter and operated around 260-280℃), which significantly improves the economy of scale and energy efficiency from previous 38% to now 43% due to higher steam quality. Therefore, this new technology has been successfully applied in three 4000 BPD CTL demonstration plants and Shenhua Ningmei 100,000 BPD CTL project since 2016. Furthermore, ongoing technology demonstration plans towards greener CTL plants are under feasibility study stages to compete for strategic advantages in biomass resources, locations and governmental support. This new and greener CTL technology once demonstrated in China will pave a way to worldwide spread in countries which eventually desire to convert their local coal/biomass carbon resources to premium oil and chemical products for economy and environmental benefits to their society[1, 2].

Toady’s CTL/GTL industries with capacity of more than 20-million-ton liquid fuels and chemicals has been established using successful industrial Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technologies formed over the last century. However, a greener Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technology requires a comprehensive process optimization by taking new unit operation equipment under different circumstances, e.g., adding a new biomass gasification technologies developed in China, demonstrating the scaled-down and decentralized processes of less than 2000 BPD, and above all a more active and selective iron catalyst with new insights gained with an array of sophisticated catalyst characterization tools and complementary ab initio DFT calculations[3]. In the long run, this hundred-year carbon conversion technology will be rejuvenated with the input of the cheap new energy to deliver profitable and sustainable fuels and chemicals.

 

[1] J. Xu, Y. Yang, Y.-W. Li, Recent development in converting coal to clean fuels in China, Fuel, 152 (2015) 122-130.

[2] Y. Yang, J. Xu, Z. Liu, Q. Guo, M. Ye, G. Wang, J. Gao, J. Wang, Z. Shu, W. Ge, Z. Liu, F. Wang, Y.-W. Li, Progress in coal chemical technologies of China, Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 36 (2020) 21.

[3] L. Niu, X. Liu, X. Zhou, C. Huo, J. Xu, X. Wen, J.W. Niemantsverdriet, Y. Yang, Y. Li, Genesis of an Fe₅C₂@Fe₃O₄ core/shell structure during CO carburization of metallic iron nanoparticles, Journal of Catalysis, 407 (2022) 97-103.

社论中总经理李永旺研究员谈到，依托上世纪形成的成熟费托合成工业技术，全球已建立起年产能超过2000万吨液体燃料和化学品的煤制油/天然气制油产业。公司及科研团队正在推进更绿色的煤制油工厂技术示范计划。然而，更绿色的费托合成技术需要在不同情况下采用新的单元操作设备进行全面的工艺优化，而最重要的是，借助一系列先进的催化剂表征工具和互补的从头算密度泛函理论（DFT）计算所获得的新见解，将研发出活性更高、选择性更强的铁催化剂。从长远来看，随着廉价新能源的投入，这项拥有百年历史的碳转化技术将重焕生机，从而生产出具有盈利能力且可持续的燃料和化学品。

百年费托，回望来路，李永旺团队开发出高温浆态床合成油技术，实现百万吨级商业示范运行，正在向500万吨级以上的升级商业示范迈进。煤制油技术正在逐步迈向生物质制油并耦合绿电绿氢，实现绿色低碳能源转型的可持续发展之路。

（许健  郝晶晶）