BGL gasifiers manufactured for China Coal Ordos Energy and Chemical | Credit: TZCO (Oct 21, 2022)

China Coal Ordos Tuke Chemical Branch operates as the core coal gasification hub within the Tuke Industrial Park, supplying effective syngas to an integrated ammonia–urea complex and two large methanol units. The plant uses multiple ZEMAG BGL entrained-flow gasifiers to convert local coal into a high-CO, moderate-H₂ syngas that is then split between a water-gas shift/PSA hydrogen train for ammonia synthesis and conditioned syngas streams for methanol production.

Role in ammonia and urea production

Syngas from the BGL gasifiers is first routed to a dedicated shift section, where CO is converted with steam to additional hydrogen and CO₂, followed by CO₂ removal and PSA purification to produce high-purity hydrogen for ammonia synthesis. This hydrogen feed supports an ammonia plant of about 1.0 Mt/a capacity, which in turn feeds a downstream urea unit in the range of 1.75 Mt/a, making the Tuke complex a significant nitrogen fertilizer producer in Inner Mongolia.

Role in methanol and derivatives

The same gasification complex also supplies raw effective syngas to two major methanol projects at Tuke: a roughly 1.8 Mt/a methanol unit at neighbouring Zhongmei Mengda Wushen Zhao branch associated with downstream olefins/polyolefins manufacturing, and a second 1.0 Mt/a methanol unit at China Coal Ordos Tuke Chemical Branch. For these trains, part of the CO in the syngas is shifted and excess CO₂ removed to reach a suitable H₂/CO ratio and module number for efficient methanol synthesis, with overall specific syngas consumption around 2,300 Nm³ per tonne of methanol on an effective-gas basis.

Integrated coal-to-chemicals configuration

In aggregate, the Ordos Tuke gasification section supplies on the order of 9 billion Nm³/year of effective syngas to the ammonia and methanol units, with coal consumption close to 7 Mt/a at design conditions. The integration of gasification, hydrogen production, ammonia–urea, and methanol–olefins/polyolefins within a single industrial park positions the site as a major coal-to-chemicals platform in the region.

Note of caution on mass balance

The mass balance used to characterise Tuke’s syngas flows is derived from calculated syngas requirements of the ammonia and methanol plants (based on stoichiometry, shift/PSA performance, and typical Nm³/t factors), not from independently verified, nameplate BGL gasifier capacities. While this approach yields an internally consistent and fully closed balance for effective syngas and hydrogen, it should be treated as an engineering estimate that may differ from actual operating data, turndown patterns, standby gasifier usage, or owner-reported design capacities.

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