At 3:58 p.m. on March 18, 2021, amid the resounding sound of firecrackers, the first batch of glowing red coke was successfully discharged from the vertical heat recovery coke oven, marking the successful commissioning of the 7-chamber heat-exchange vertical heat recovery coke oven (hereinafter referred to as the “vertical heat recovery coke oven”), jointly developed by Huatai Yongchuang (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., Shanxi Changxiang Technology Co., Ltd., and Heilongjiang Jianlong Chemical Co., Ltd.. The smooth commissioning of this project represents a major achievement and breakthrough in the vertical heat recovery coke oven technology by Huatai and its R&D partners. It has garnered significant attention and support from the national government and industry peers, and holds great significance for promoting the green development of China’s coking industry.

Chairman Xu Lie of Huatai, Executive Deputy General Manager Li Haitao of Heilongjiang Jianlong, and other relevant leaders attended the commissioning ceremony and witnessed the historic moment when the first batch of coke was pushed out from this vertical heat recovery coke oven.

First Batch of Mature Coke to be Pushed

Discharge of First Batch of Red Coke

This vertical heat recovery coke oven is the first of its kind in China that features a heat exchange chamber, and a new type of coke oven designed for high-efficiency, clean, and low-cost coking, with a strong growth potential. Compared with conventional by-product coke ovens, vertical heat recovery coke ovens offer advantages such as negative-pressure operation, a clean operating environment, no generation of coking wastewater, and the elimination of pollution sources associated with gas purification and by-product recovery systems. Moreover, compared with horizontal heat recovery coke ovens, it features a smaller footprint, higher efficiency, no burning losses, and lower investment, making it better suited to meet the increasingly stringent environmental requirements in China and around the world.

Since this vertical heat recovery coke oven project broke ground in March 2020, under the leadership of Project Manager Han Keming and Construction Manager Xu Huanzhu, the project team and construction contractors have worked together to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the severe cold weather in Heilongjiang province, and strictly controlled project quality at every stage of construction and commissioning. They stayed hands-on throughout, sacrificed the Spring Festival break to remain on site, and worked overtime to ensure the project’s timely completion.

Project Team Members Discussing On-site Technical Issues

Project Team Members Monitoring the Oven Heating-up

As a new coking process development project, the vertical heat recovery coke oven project witnessed repeated meetings and discussions between Huatai and its partners to optimize the process and ensure a smooth commissioning. Chairman Xu Lie personally visited the project site to convene a seminar with industry experts on the commissioning plan, where every potential issue and problem that might arise during the commissioning process was thoroughly discussed and addressed. Deputy General Manager Song Mingjiang, Director of Scientific Research Xue Gaifeng, and Project Director Bai Shouming, together with invited experts, remained on-site to oversee the implementation of start-up preparations item by item and to coordinate the immediate resolution of any on-site issues.

Seminar with Experts on Commissioning Plan

Chairman Xu Lie and Industry Experts Discussing On-site Issues

Company Leaders from Huatai and Jianlong and Industry Experts Studying the Oven Condition and Discussing Critical Points for Start-up

With one milestone behind us, Huatai lost no time in pressing ahead to the next. The successful launch of the vertical heat recovery coke oven has not only added luster to Huatai’s 10-year anniversary, but also significantly enhanced its competitiveness. We are confident that, under the leadership of Huatai management, Huatai will become the pride and shining star of the coking industry, and write a new chapter in the history of the coking industry through continued efforts!

Group Photo of Huatai Company Leadership and Project Team at the Project Site