China’s first nuclear-powered industrial steam supply project has been launched in the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, according to the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA). The project, Heqi-1, is located at the Tianwan NPP.
Heqi-1 uses heat from the Tianwan NPP to produce industrial steam via a multi-layered isolation system. The industrial steam will then be transported through pipelines to the petrochemical industrial base using multi-stage heat transfer.
“This is the very first application of such scale in the world, said Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co Chairman Zhang Yi. “Unlike those before, Heqi-1 can produce 600 tonnes of industrial steam in just one hour. To achieve this, we overcame many technical difficulties and made breakthroughs to ensure the quality of the industrial steam in the heat transfer and the long distance.” The industrial park for the project is some 23 kilometres away from the power plant.
Wan Falin, General Manager of Jiangsu Fangyang Energy Technology Co, explained: “We researched on long-distance transportation and adopted a new method of thermal insulation. The nuclear-powered industrial steam fills the need gap in the industrial park. It is stable, and also achieves the goals of carbon reduction.”
The project is expected to deliver 4.8m tonnes of zero-carbon steam annually from the power plant to the petrochemical base of Lianyungang. China National Nuclear Corporation says this project will reduce the equivalent of combustion of 400,000 tonnes of standard coal each year, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1m tonnes, sulphur dioxide by 184 tonnes, and nitrogen oxides by 263 tonnes.
“In the future, we will foster and incubate a new batch of nuclear energy multi-purpose tech-applicable projects, vigorously boosting comprehensive utilisation of nuclear energy and wide-ranging application of nuclear technology in industries, agriculture, healthcare, environmental protection and security,” said CAEA Secretary-General Huang Ping.
