The Tuke Chemical Branch (图克化工分公司) is a large-scale coal-to-chemicals facility operated by China Coal Ordos Energy & Chemical Co., Ltd., located in Tuke Industrial Park, Wushen Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. Construction began in June 2011, with commissioning completed in 2013 and commercial production commencing in February 2014.
Production Plants and Capacity
Phase I Operations (operational since February 2014)
Coal Gasification System:
- 13 Zemag BGL crushed coal pressurized slagging gasifiers (11 operating + 2 standby configuration)
- Total gasification capacity staged across three construction periods:
- 2011-2014: Initial 7 BGL gasifiers
- 2015-2017: 3 additional gasifiers (units #8, #9, #10)
- 2018-2019: Final 3 gasifiers, reaching 13 total
Main Products:
- Synthetic Ammonia: 1 million tonnes per year (Mt/y)
- Urea: 1.75 Mt/y (large-particle premium-grade urea)
- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): approximately 100,000 tonnes per year
- Mid-temperature Coal Tar: 300,000 tonnes per year
- Crude Phenol: 6,200 tonnes per year
- Sulfur: 12,200 tonnes per year
- Crude Benzene: 24,600 tonnes per year
- Industrial salts (from zero liquid discharge system): NaCl and Na₂SO₄
Phase II - Methanol Project
The original Phase II project was designed to add an additional 1 Mt/y ammonia and 1.75 Mt/y urea capacity, which would have brought total facility capacity to 2 Mt/y ammonia and 3.5 Mt/y urea. However, Phase II ammonia/urea production was never constructed. Instead, based on market conditions, Phase II was redirected to a 1 Mt/y methanol project that shares the gasification infrastructure but operates as a separate production unit.
Construction and Commissioning:
- September 21, 2018: Project groundbreaking ceremony held
- 2018-2019: Final 3 BGL gasifiers installed (completing the total of 13 gasifiers)
- March 18, 2019: Methanol facility construction started
- May 2021: Project acceleration campaign announced
- 2021-2024: Extended delays (reasons not fully disclosed in sources)
- 2024: Project finally commissioned and put into production
The 6-year gap between gasifiers installation (2018-2019) and methanol plant commissioning (2024) reflects original project delays (target 2020 missed), COVID-19 pandemic impacts (2020-2022), market-driven project scope changes and complex technical integration requirements.
The gasifiers were operational and supplying syngas to other facilities during this period, while the dedicated methanol synthesis units were under construction and commissioning.
Production Capacity:
- Methanol (MTO-grade): 1 million tonnes per year (design capacity 126.32 Mt/y)
- LNG (byproduct): 136,700 tonnes per year
- Sulfur: 32,600 tonnes per year
- Ammonium sulfate: 31,100 tonnes per year
Core Process Technologies and Licensors
- Gas Purification and Treatment: Low-Temperature Methanol Wash (Rectisol Process)
- Sulfur-Tolerant Shift Conversion: Broad temperature sulfur-tolerant shift conversion
- Liquid Nitrogen Wash: Cryogenic purification using liquid nitrogen; final purification stage for synthesis gas
- Ammonia Synthesis: undefined technology licensor
- Urea Synthesis: undefined technology provider
- Air Separation Units (ASU): undefined technology provider
Supporting Technologies
- Phenol-Ammonia Recovery: Recovery of crude phenol and ammonia from coal tar condensate; undifened technology provider
- Sulfur Recovery: Likely Claus process or modified Claus; 12,200 tonnes/year production capacity
- Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) System: Wastewater evaporation and crystallization to produce industrial-grade NaCl and Na₂SO₄; undifened technology provider
- LNG Recovery: Mixed refrigerant and nitrogen compression cycle cryogenic separation for deep cryogenic separation of methane from synthesis gas; ~100,000 tonnes/year LNG production capacity; ; undifened technology provider
Environmental Performance
The Tuke facility operates with zero liquid discharge wastewater treatment technology, making it a pioneering project in China's coal chemical industry for water conservation. The crystalline salt separation unit produces industrial-grade sodium chloride and sodium sulfate, with no wastewater discharged from the entire facility.
Sources: Sina Finance (Feb 25, 2016), Coal Information Network, China Coal Energy (Outbound Investment Announcement), Aiqicha, China Coal Ordos Energy & Chemical, E20 Environment Platform, China Coal Energy (Introduction to China Coal Ordos Energy and Chemical Co., Ltd), East China Engineering Science and Technology Co., Ltd., China Coal Energy (National Coal Industry Network article), International Energy Network, GreenMine, CPCIF; CNASEC, Yulin Society of Chemistry and Chemical Industry, Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group, Sina Finance (Dec 5, 2025),
