Academician Zhang Sujiang: The process engineering is the "main engine of the main force of the industrial carbon reduction"

Text ｜ Zhang Suojiang (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, President of Henan University)

To achieve carbon peaks and carbon neutrality is an inevitable choice for China to solve the prominent problems of resources and environment constraints and achieve sustainable development of the Chinese nation. It is a solemn commitment to build a community of human destiny.

The industrial field is the main source of carbon emissions. As a world industry, carbon reduction tasks in China's industrial field are even more important.

only way:

Science and technology innovation boosted industrial carbon reduction

Today, carbon reduction relying on scientific and technological innovation is still the only way for industrial progress, and it is also the general trend of global industry.

The biggest challenge facing industrial carbon reduction is how to ensure production efficiency and efficiency while reducing carbon reduction. The basis of the two is scientific and technological innovation.

Looking back at the century -old history of industrial development, the improvement of industrial production efficiency is complementary and promoted by energy conservation and emission reduction supported by scientific and technological innovation.

For example, many industries are committed to the reduction of sulfide, and at the same time, the goal of improving the income and income and income and income through process technology and system integration innovation.

Needless to say, scientific and technological innovation has been in the energy conservation and emission reduction and efficiency of industrial production and will continue to play a huge role.

The process engineering is the reaction during the transformation of the material -the transmission of the coupling mechanism and its enlarged law.

Its important position in industrial carbon reduction can be explained in a metaphorical metaphor: if industrial carbon reduction is the "main force ship" for achieving the "double carbon" goal, then the process project can be called "the engine of the main ship" Essence

We believe that the innovative achievements from process engineering science will definitely continue to inject the driving force for industrial carbon reduction.

Source head carbon reduction:

Process engineering provides "internal drive"

The process industry involves important industries such as steel, non -ferrous, chemical industry, and building materials. After hundreds of years of research and practice, a large -scale continuous production process has been formed. The process is complex, the integration is high, and the process is relatively solidified.

The change of these traditional craftsmanship involves multi -level and multi -scale system innovation from basic principles to process.

Taking the steel industry as an example, its carbon emissions are mainly concentrated in ironmaking, that is, to restore iron ore into iron with carbon, oxygen and carbon in the ore are discharged.

To reduce carbon emissions in this critical link, developing more advanced and green "hydrogen metallurgical" will be an important direction for the low -carbon green development of the steel industry.

In principle, "hydrogen metallurgy" is the fuel and reducing agent of hydrogen replacing carbon as the metallurgical process.

However, in order to truly realize the large -scale industrial production of "hydrogen metallurgy", it is far more than modifying the chemical response equation as simple as possible, but also a series of basic science and engineering problems.

After using hydrogen to replace carbon, what kind of transmission and reaction mechanisms and laws do substances have in blast furnaces, turntables, and vertical furnaces? How do you interlock in all aspects? Study these basic science issues, and the "engine" of the process engineering plus horsepower, eventually created a new process that can be industrialized.

Another example is catalytic cracking in petrochemicals. Traditional catalytic cracking is to crack the crude oil under the action of heat and catalyst, and transform into gasoline, diesel, olefin, aromatics, etc.

With the rapid development of the electric vehicle industry, the demand for gasoline and diesel in the future will be significantly reduced. Crude oil multi -production chemicals (olefins, aromatics, etc.) will become a new direction of catalytic cracking.

How to achieve the matching of reactions and transmission in the fluidized bed reactor, especially how small molecules and macromolecular molecules achieve efficient cracking and reconstruction in a reactor is the core issue that requires breakthroughs in process engineering research.

Only by grasping each particle, every reaction, and transmission in the reactor can achieve precise regulation and control, thereby effectively supporting the green and low -carbon change in the petrochemical industry.

Another important example is synthetic ammonia. For a long time, industrial synthetic ammonia has adopted the traditional "Haber method" and obtained ammonia through two -step chemical reactions.

The first step is to prepare hydrogen to reorganize gas by gas or natural gas. In the second step, the nitrogen obtained by hydrogen and the deep -separated by the air is synthesized at high temperature and high pressure conditions.

The two -step reaction is discharged by carbon dioxide, of which the first step is the main source of carbon emissions.

In the future, the first step can be used to make hydrogen by renewable electrical energy through electrolytic water, and the second step can be used by the separation of hydrogen from the air through the membrane to synthesize ammonia through electrical thermal catalytic to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Furthermore, the use of green power catalytic nitrogen and water directly synthesize ammonia under mild conditions, which may achieve zero emissions of carbon dioxide in the synthetic ammonia industry.

Furthermore, obtaining carbon dioxide synthesis from flue gas or industrial gas has become the "negative carbon" process.

Of course, if these ideas become reality, we must not just stay at the level of innovation at the level of chemical reaction equations. Reactor innovation and process innovation are critical.

It is necessary to figure out how the material and energy in each link of the new process must be transmitted, how to transform, and how to achieve the precise regulation of the multi -scale process in order to enlarge from the experimental device to the industrial device and generate huge economic benefits while achieving carbon reduction.

System carbon reduction:

Process engineering provides "centripetal force"

The process engineering must always keep in mind the "system engineering" thinking. The "system" here not only refers to a certain reaction process, a certain process, a certain production device, and even a certain industry. "". The industrial production process is complex and the logistics energy flow system is huge. At present, various industries are often in isolation and integration.

From a global consideration, the industrial field needs to achieve carbon neutrality and targets in the following three aspects.

First, change the industrial development model of high -quality, high energy consumption, and high -carbon row. On the one hand, according to the trend of social development, we must promote industrial transformation and product structure upgrade; on the other hand, renewable energy or recycling resources must be used to replace traditional fossil energy resources, such as green hydrogen, green electricity, green heat, biomass, etc.

Second, theoretical innovation and basic research should be strengthened. The new generation of green low -carbon transformation technology is developed, and low -carbon process reconstruction and digital intelligent transformation.

Third, attach importance to the collaboration and integration of carbon reduction between steel, non -ferrous, chemical, building materials and other industries, especially raw materials for cross -industry raw materials, electro -hydrogen combined, circulating coupling, etc.

There is a great job:

Process project is in the opportunity period

At present, we are glad to see that the process project under the "double carbon" goal is ushered in the opportunity period of development.

On the one hand, the Party Central Committee attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation, which provides new opportunities for the future development of the process project. On the other hand, after more than 40 years of reform and opening up, my country has formed a large -scale process manufacturing industry to provide continuous iteration for the continuous iteration of the industrial field. Good soil.

In the future, the process engineering should strengthen the deep cross -integration of the cutting -edge disciplines and emerging industries, and take green, low -carbon, high -end, and intelligence as the development direction. The "engine" role of the process engineering in the "main force" of industrial carbon reduction provides scientific and technological support for achieving the "dual carbon" goal.

("China Science News" reporter Gan Xiao sorted out)

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"China Science News" (2022-07-21 The 1st edition of the news)

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Edit | Zhao Lu

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