Project Title:Low-concentration Gas Medium-temperature and Medium-pressure Regenerative Oxidation Project

Participating Enterprise: Shengli Oilfield Shengli Power Machinery Group Co., Ltd.

Award Received:Scientific and Technological Progress Award - Bronze Award

Achievement Level: International Advanced Level

Project Number: ECF-2025-SET-1004

Main Participant: Shao Jianbo

Expert Review Comments:
International advanced level. This project addresses key industry challenges in treating low-concentration coal mine gas, such as poor combustion stability, low energy efficiency, and high safety risks. It established a four-in-one medium-temperature and medium-pressure regenerative oxidation system integrating heat storage preheating, high-temperature oxidation, airflow switching and purging, and waste heat recovery.
The project innovatively achieved precise multi-chamber airflow control, efficient heat exchange in ceramic regenerative beds, and intelligent safety interlock operation. The device has demonstrated continuous, stable operation for over 8,000 hours, significantly improving gas treatment efficiency and energy recovery rate.
The technology has been successfully demonstrated in multiple coal mining enterprises, promoting the green and low-carbon transition of the coal industry, stimulating the development of upstream and downstream equipment manufacturing, and serving as an important demonstration for achieving carbon neutrality goals and improving intrinsic mine safety.

Main Innovations:

1. Technical Complexity:
   The system involves complex technologies and materials, including high-temperature oxidation (typically 800–950°C), high-efficiency heat recovery (>95%), fast-switching valves, and ceramic regenerative media.

2. Engineering Design Complexity:
   The project required precise calculations of heat balance, pressure loss, regenerative body volume/material selection, combustion chamber dimensions, and residence time. It also involved complex waste gas collection networks, thermal expansion compensation for high-temperature pipelines, insulation and support structure design for high-temperature equipment, explosion-proof and pressure-relief designs, emergency discharge systems, and comprehensive interlock protection mechanisms.

3. Operational and Maintenance Complexity:
   Operators must understand the process flow and control systems to perform daily monitoring, parameter adjustments, and basic fault diagnosis and management effectively.

Main Uses and Technical Principles:

Uses:
Low-concentration coal mine gas (methane volume fraction <8%) is highly explosive and difficult to utilize, often being vented directly. This technology enables the safe treatment of such gas while recovering heat energy for heating, power generation, or industrial use. It achieves near-zero methane emissions and resource utilization, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring the safe discharge of mine gas.

Technical Principles:
Using porous regenerative materials (e.g., ceramics, honeycomb structures) with high thermal conductivity and heat storage capacity, the system establishes a high-temperature oxidation environment inside the reactor:

1. Preheating Stage: The regenerative body absorbs heat to reach the methane oxidation temperature (600–800°C).

2. Oxidation Stage: Low-concentration gas passes through the high-temperature regenerative bed, where methane undergoes catalytic or direct flameless oxidation into CO₂ and H₂O, releasing heat.

3. Heat Recovery Stage: Part of the released heat is used to preheat unreacted gas, enabling thermal circulation, maintaining system stability, and reducing energy consumption.

Technical Applications:

Project Implementation and Acceptance:
Design began on June 1, 2023, and the project passed final acceptance by Shanxi International Electric Power Technology Co., Ltd. on November 21, 2023. Three 60,000 m³/h gas oxidation units are now operating stably, producing 18 t/h of saturated steam—fully meeting the heating and process needs of local coal enterprises and nearby mining areas.

Technical Certification and Recognition:
The core technology, Ultra-Low-Concentration Methane Oxidation and Utilization Technology, was included in the Advanced Green and Low-Carbon Coal Technologies and Typical Cases (2024 Edition), establishing it as a benchmark solution for low-concentration methane management in the coal industry.

Operational Results:
As of June 2025, the system has operated continuously for over 8,000 hours, maintaining a purification efficiency above 99.5% and a heat recovery rate of ≥95%.
It annually reduces emissions by more than 1,200 tons of low-concentration methane and over 1,000 tons of CO₂, saving more than 500,000 cubic meters of natural gas per year.
The project has achieved significant economic and environmental benefits, serving as a model for green, safe, and sustainable development in the coal and energy industries.