To continue and intensify the campaign to protect blue skies, further enhance the comprehensive management of air pollution in the city’s coking industry, promote high-quality ultra-low emission retrofitting in the coking industry, and contribute to the sustained improvement of regional air quality, this plan has been formulated in accordance with the actual conditions of Xuzhou.
I. General Requirements
We will thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, adhere to a combination of source prevention, process control, and end-of-pipe treatment, comprehensively advance the ultra-low emission retrofitting and assessment monitoring of the city’s coking industry, elevate the level of air pollution control throughout the entire process, achieve synergistic benefits in pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and promote the continuous improvement of air quality.By the end of 2025, coking enterprises throughout the city will have basically completed ultra-low emission retrofits and clean production upgrades; by the end of 2027, all coking enterprises in the city will have completed ultra-low emission retrofits and assessment and monitoring.
II. Target Requirements
Ultra-low emissions for coking enterprises refer to the achievement of ultra-low emission standards for both organized and unorganized emissions of air pollutants across all production stages (including coal preparation, coking, quenching, coke processing, gas purification, deep processing of chemical products, as well as the storage and transportation of materials and products), as well as during transportation and monitoring and control processes.
III. Key Tasks
(1) Orderly Implementation of Ultra-Low Emission
All relevant counties (cities, districts) shall, in accordance with the overall requirements of the ultra-low emission retrofit plan, carefully manage the pace and intensity of implementation to ensure high-quality advancement of ultra-low emission retrofits and assessment monitoring for coking enterprises. Efforts must be strengthened to provide services and guidance to enterprises, helping them select appropriate retrofit technology routes and coordinating solutions for major issues such as clean transportation.
Enterprises should select mature and applicable environmental protection technologies tailored to their specific conditions. For dust removal, technologies such as high-efficiency electrostatic precipitators, bag filters, and combined electrostatic-bag filters may be adopted; for desulfurization, dry desulfurization and composite desulfurization technologies may be adopted; and for denitrification, technologies such as selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR), selective catalytic reduction (SCR), combined SNCR-SCR denitrification, and activated carbon may be adopted.Strengthen source control measures. For coke ovens, source control measures such as staged (multi-stage) combustion, in-furnace flue gas recirculation, pressure regulation in single-hole carbonization chambers, and negative-pressure coal charging may be adopted. Promote the elimination of flue gas bypasses; where retention is strictly necessary for safety reasons, such bypasses must be closed and sealed with lead in non-emergency situations, and supervision must be strengthened through the installation of automatic monitoring equipment, flow meters, and other means.Installation of sensor-activated valves on bypass lines is encouraged, with signals regarding valve status and opening degree integrated into the central control system and historical records maintained.
Unorganized emissions should be controlled through effective measures such as sealing and enclosure. Exhaust gas collection facilities should be reasonably configured in accordance with the principle of “collecting all that can be collected,” and the collection airflow should be optimized. The use of fully enclosed mechanized stockpiles, silos, and round storage tanks for material storage is encouraged. Process flows should be optimized to reduce transfer steps, minimize material drop heights, and shorten transport distances. For coke ovens, source control measures such as positive-pressure sealing, grouting of brick joints, and ceramic welding should be implemented to reduce leakage through oven walls.Effective measures shall be taken during semi-coke oven charging to control gas overflow, and the utilization of waste heat is encouraged. High-concentration VOC-containing exhaust gases collected from various storage tanks (tanks, pits) and organic liquid loading points shall be fed into pressure-balancing systems or subjected to combustion treatment;Low-concentration VOC emissions collected from facilities or workshops such as desulfurization regeneration, ammonium sulfate crystallization, sulfur (paste) production, salt recovery from desulfurization waste liquid, tar residue drying, production wastewater treatment, and chemical deep processing shall be treated using high-efficiency (combined) processes; their use as combustion air in combustion units is encouraged; it is encouraged to directly feed tar residue into coal blending and other processes after volume reduction through methods such as centrifugal drying.
Strengthen clean transportation upgrades; encourage and support enterprises to effectively increase rail transport capacity by constructing new or utilizing existing dedicated railway sidings, or by establishing connections to main lines; for short-distance and on-site material transport, use enclosed pipelines, tubular belt conveyors, or belt galleries.Enterprises should assign dedicated personnel to strengthen transportation management, install access control and video surveillance systems, and establish electronic ledgers for vehicles entering and exiting the facility, on-site transport vehicles, and non-road mobile machinery; priority should be given to the use of new energy sources for on-site transport vehicles and non-road mobile machinery.
(2) Coordinated Advancement of Pollution and Carbon Reduction
Coking enterprises are encouraged to integrate pollution and carbon reduction with clean production upgrades during ultra-low emission retrofits, and to actively explore process technologies for the synergistic control of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Enterprises are encouraged to prioritize clean and low-carbon transportation methods to build green supply chains.
Guide the coking industry chain to extend downstream toward high-value-added fine chemical products. Encourage tube furnaces to adopt steam or electric heating to replace gas heating, and promote the application of pollution and carbon reduction technologies such as riser heat recovery, circulating ammonia water, and pre-cooler heat recovery.Implement energy-saving and carbon-reduction technological upgrades to promote the application of advanced energy-saving technologies such as high-efficiency distillation and heat pumps. Existing coking enterprises must meet or exceed the energy efficiency benchmark for clean coal utilization within the specified timeframe, and strive to reach the benchmark level. Implement measures for the efficient and comprehensive utilization of coke oven gas, strengthen production scheduling and management of gas pipeline networks, and improve gas utilization rates.Promote efficient resource recovery technologies, such as salt extraction and acid production from coke oven gas desulfurization waste liquid, to address waste pollution issues.
(3) Enhancing Environmental Management Capabilities
Establish and improve corporate environmental management organizations and appoint full-time environmental protection personnel. Establish management systems for the inspection and maintenance of environmental protection facilities, environmental monitoring, environmental supervision and evaluation, and environmental emergency response plans. In accordance with the technical specifications for pollutant discharge permits, maintain standardized, accurate, and complete environmental management records that truthfully reflect the operational status of production facilities and pollution control facilities.
Strengthen operational management of ultra-low emission systems. Coking enterprises should enhance thermal regulation to maintain stable production; establish a regular inspection mechanism, strengthen management of coke oven door cleaning and leak repairs, and reasonably position dust collection devices based on the distance from dust generation points; improve production organization and equipment maintenance to reduce the frequency of unscheduled repairs for equipment such as coke pushing dust extraction fans, coke oven stack fans, and gas blowers, thereby minimizing pollutant emissions under abnormal operating conditions;Standardize the implementation of Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) for equipment and pipeline components to improve the precision of management at dynamic and static sealing points; enhance the dynamic analysis and early warning applications of data from the plant-wide integrated environmental control platform.
IV. Policy Measures
(1) Increase Special Fund Subsidies. Actively seek support from central government special funds for air pollution prevention and control and provincial ecological and environmental protection special funds for ultra-low emission retrofit projects at coking enterprises in our city, and apply for special fund subsidies in accordance with regulations. Encourage banking institutions to provide credit support to enterprises for ultra-low emission retrofits, and support eligible enterprises in issuing bonds for direct financing, with the raised funds used for ultra-low emission retrofits and other related areas.
(2) Implement Differentiated Environmental Management.Fully leverage the leading and exemplary role of benchmark enterprises. Coking enterprises that have completed ultra-low emission retrofits and made public announcements may be eligible for Grade A performance ratings, inclusion in the exemption list for emergency controls during heavy pollution weather and the positive list for supervisory enforcement, as well as priority support for selection as Green Leading Enterprises and allocation of subsidy funds. For coking enterprises that fail to complete ultra-low emission retrofits by the deadline, strict enforcement of emergency emission reduction measures must be implemented during heavy pollution weather warnings, and enforcement and regulatory efforts must be intensified.
V. Implementation
(1) Strengthen Organizational Leadership. All relevant departments shall fulfill their respective duties, assume their respective responsibilities, and coordinate closely to form a united front. They shall strengthen guidance on local work and promptly coordinate to resolve difficulties and issues encountered during implementation. Based on the progress of preliminary work, all relevant counties (cities, districts) shall formulate local ultra-low emission retrofit plans for coking enterprises, refine targets and tasks, specify completion deadlines, and submit them to the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau and the Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau by the end of January 2025.
(2) Strengthen Evaluation and Monitoring. After an enterprise completes its ultra-low emission retrofit and has operated continuously and stably for one month, it may conduct evaluation and monitoring on its own or by commissioning qualified monitoring agencies and competent technical institutions, strictly in accordance with the indicator requirements and relevant technical documents.Enterprises that consistently meet ultra-low emission requirements shall submit their assessment and monitoring reports for review by local ecological environment and industry and information technology departments. Following preliminary review by municipal-level ecological environment and industry and information technology departments, the reports shall be submitted to relevant departments at the provincial and national levels. Public notices shall be issued in accordance with requirements to facilitate public oversight.
(3) Strengthen Supervision and Management. All relevant counties (cities, districts) shall carry out routine supervision and law enforcement inspections. Enterprises that exceed emission standards, discharge pollutants without a permit, or engage in illegal activities such as clandestine discharge, falsification of data, or unauthorized shutdown of environmental protection facilities shall be punished in accordance with laws and regulations. For enterprises that have completed ultra-low emission retrofits, a dynamic supervision and management ledger shall be established, and off-site supervision shall be conducted through remote monitoring, big data analysis, and other means.
