Johnson Matthey has entered into a contract for the supply of technology licence, engineering, catalyst and technical services for Qianan HongAo Industrial Trade Co. Ltd’s methanation plant in Hebei province, China.
The plant will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) utilising offgas from Qianan’s coke ovens. It is expected to be operational in 2015.
The new plant will use the proprietary CRG methanation process technology from Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies. This technology converts carbon oxides and hydrogen to methane, which can then be liquefied to provide a valuable energy product. In addition to providing an additional revenue stream, this technology avoids potential environmental problems as the offgas from the coke ovens might otherwise be simply vented or burnt.
Chinese LNG production
China’s LNG production capacity is growing rapidly to meet increasing domestic energy demand. LNG is a flexible, clean-burning fuel, which can contribute to China’s push to improve air quality.
Johnson Matthey has now secured three coke oven gas (COG) to LNG projects. In addition to these plants, CRG technology from Johnson Matthey has been licenced to six coal-based substitute natural gas (SNG) plants in China. The company has a strong history of supplying CRG technology and catalysts globally and has successfully demonstrated the technology at commercial scale in multiple applications.
Adapted from press release by Callum O'Reilly