Series ②:"Chess Way" to Prevent and Control Air Pollution

The Qipanjing and Mengxi areas of Etuoke Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as the Qipanjing area) are important parts of Wuhai and surrounding areas, and are also important growth poles of the economic belt along the Yellow River. This western town, which has always been famous for its coal industry, was once jokingly called the "Black Triangle" by local residents in the past. However, after transformation and development in recent years, the Qimeng region has based on its own resource advantages, deepened the quality improvement and upgrading of traditional industries and cultivated new driving forces for industrial development. The former "black old and rough" have gradually bid farewell to the "black mark", and air quality has steadily improved.

A "difficult but correct" path

"Compared with two years ago, it can be said that there is a world difference." In August, Yao Qian, who had just finished a voyage, was very moved. She is a staff member of the South China Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and a resident member of the "Environmental Butler" project in Etuoke Banner. Over the past two years, Yao Qian has witnessed changes in the air quality of this land.

Compared with the first voyage in August 2022, Yao Qian bluntly said that "there are fewer and fewer abnormal points." "We insist on conducting a voyage every six months. I basically keep an eye on the data of the voyage every time. As long as there is any abnormality in the data, we will stop and check for surrounding pollution sources." Yao Qian told reporters that in just two years, the number of abnormal points per voyage dropped from 89 to 24.

What impressed Yao Qian most was the tremendous changes that have taken place in the transportation roads of the Kuangqu. "Two years ago, when we took the transportation roads in Kuangqu areas such as Hangqiqian Line and Maladi, there were almost no daily supervision means such as cleaning and watering. Problems such as vehicles carrying dust on the road, overloading and speeding can be seen everywhere. The dust pollution is quite serious, and it can be said to be 'yellow sand'." Yao Qian still remembers that the data soared sharply at that time. The instantaneous maximum value of PM10 could reach 9032 micrograms/cubic meter, and the instantaneous maximum value of PM2.5 could reach 2865 micrograms/cubic meter.

Nowadays, sweeper trucks and sprinklers can be seen everywhere on the main transportation roads of the Kuangqu. Transportation vehicles are basically fully covered, and enterprises have also installed fog cannon devices. Large dusty scenes are no longer seen. The latest sailing data in August showed that the instantaneous maximum value of PM10 was 932 micrograms/cubic meter, and the instantaneous maximum value of PM2.5 was 225 micrograms/cubic meter, a drop of an order of magnitude.

This is the most vivid footnote for the Qimeng area to take off the "black hat".

In the past two years, the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Qipanjing Industrial Park and Mengxi Industrial Park have continued to decrease year-on-year, and the ratio of days with good air quality has continued to increase. They are at the forefront of the assessment rankings in Wuhai and surrounding areas, superior to Wuhai city site data, the improvement of air quality is very significant.

This eye-catching "blue sky report card" is hard-won. How can a chemical industry cluster of hundreds of billions of yuan not only develop the economy but also protect the environment?

Talking about the local air pollution prevention and control work, Jia Rui, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and director of the Management Committee of the Otok High-tech Industrial Development Zone, was very moved that the Qimeng area is affected by factors such as geological topography, climatic conditions and industrial characteristics. Various atmospheric pollutants are discharged at high intensity and are transported and superimposed on each other between regions, showing the characteristics of regional, composite, and compression, and atmospheric environment problems are very prominent.

In the final analysis, ecological and environmental issues are issues of development methods and lifestyles. "We really use the courage of a strong man to decisively eliminate those industries and enterprises with high pollution and high emissions to make room for the development of emerging industries." According to Jia Rui, Otok High-tech Industrial Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as the High-tech Zone) took the lead in breaking through by "completely eliminating backward production capacity." At the same time, it insisted on promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, extending and expanding the industrial chain, and expanding new growth space.

Today, the park has eliminated 48 submerged arc furnaces below 25,000 kVA in Ordos Electric and Metallurgical Group. In accordance with the "Lighthouse Factory" standard, the replaced silicon-based alloy intelligent "innovation factory" has been put into trial production; All 4.3 million tons of stamp-cured coke ovens below 5.5 meters have been withdrawn. Sub-area integration and reorganization are being started to replace and upgrade coal-based entire industrial chain projects. At the same time, the construction of creating a "green coking" indicator system is comprehensively carried out to establish total emission reduction and energy consumption. The goal of reducing the intensity; establishing and commissioning two 60,000 KVA high-quality calcium carbide closed furnaces of Tongyuan Chemical.

Adversity can also achieve magnificent transformation. Data shows that after the transformation, the three traditional industries of metallurgy, coking, and calcium carbide will save 1.736 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.834 million tons per year.

Under the blue sky, walking into the silicon-based alloy innovation factory of Ordos Electric Metallurgical Group, modern factories stand proudly in the western land.

From the open-air storage of raw materials in the factory, relying on manual unloading and forklift transfer, to the first large-scale intensive central control and continuous production in the ferroalloy industry; from crane casting, the unorganized emission of smoke generated by the production of a fully automatic product casting system, the smoke is centrally recovered; from manual high-intensity operation to open and block furnace holes to the application of remote intelligent submerged arc furnace robots... the relevant person in charge of the silicon-based alloy innovation factory of Ordos Electric Metallurgical Group said: "We have developed a number of new green and environmentally friendly technologies, and the 'silicon-based alloy' production base has achieved leapfrog development in terms of green and low-carbon."

During the interview, Li Zhibiao, member of the Standing Committee of the Otok Banner Committee and deputy flag leader, bluntly said,"This is a 'difficult but correct' path." Hard work will eventually pay off. In January this year, Otok High-tech Zone was identified by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment as the first batch of pilot units for collaborative innovation in pollution reduction and carbon reduction in cities and industrial parks.

Internal and external management to control key pollution sources

According to the air quality forecast of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, moderate pollution will occur in Wuhai and surrounding areas from December 24 to 25, 2023. In order to minimize the level of pollution, Etuoke Banner launched an Incident Response Service to yellow warning (Level III) for heavily polluted weather in Qipanjing Mengxi area at 18:00 on December 23, 2023. All Kuangqu enterprises stopped production, and industrial enterprises in the park complied with the requirements of the "Etuoke Banner Heavily Polluted Weather Emergency Emission Reduction List" to restrict and reduce production in an orderly manner.

After implementing emergency management and control requirements for severely polluted weather, no polluted weather occurred in the Qimeng area.

This is an example of the successful response to air pollution in the Qimeng area. Judging from objective conditions, the Qipanjing area is surrounded by mountains on three sides, forming a pollution transmission channel under the action of the northwest wind. In addition, the Qipanjing Industrial Park has a large number of enterprises, a high concentration, a large transportation volume, and a high emission intensity of pollutants. It is not conducive to the spread of pollutants, which makes it easy to cause pollution accumulation.

Unideal geographical location and industrial structure conditions certainly require certain emergency measures to make up for shortcomings. But in addition to that, managing key pollution sources is the key to fundamentally promoting air quality improvement.

The coking industry is the "fist industry" of Etuoke Banner, with a large amount of pollutant emissions. Promoting the implementation of ultra-low emission transformation in the coking industry will effectively reduce air pollutant emissions from coking enterprises and improve regional air quality.

At the national level, the coking industry is another industry that implements ultra-low emissions after the thermal power and steel industries. The Otok High-tech Zone is even one step ahead of the "country" in deploying this work. At present, five coking enterprises including Dongri, Singapore Airlines, Jianyuan, Hongying and Huayu have all completed ultra-low emission transformation tasks and are promoting full-process acceptance.

"After the ultra-low emission transformation is completed, the park's coking industry can save 150,000 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 130,000 tons every year." Regarding this work, Ma Yuzhen, director of the Ecological Environmental Protection and Development Coordination Service Center of Otok High-tech Zone, cannot hide her pride. The park has achieved coordinated control of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from the entire process of source management, process control and end management.

According to Ma Yuzhen, Etok's High-tech Zone has been laid out in advance, organizing and compiling a total of 5 coking companies, 4 cement clinker production companies, 2 cement grinding stations, 1 steel company, 2 ferrosilicon companies, and 7 calcium carbide companies. The comprehensive improvement plan of "one enterprise, one policy" has achieved comprehensive ultra-low emissions and quality improvements in major industries in the park.

We should focus on ultra-low emission transformation with one hand, and focus on energy-saving technological transformation across the industry with the other.

"By carrying out energy-saving technological transformation across the industry, it aims to improve industrial energy utilization efficiency and promote enterprises to reduce consumption and increase efficiency." Ma Yuzhen said that the park focuses on enterprises in energy-consuming industries such as chemical industry, metallurgy, coal chemical industry, and building materials, comprehensively carries out energy-saving diagnosis and energy efficiency assessment, and carries out industrial technological transformation and upgrading in an orderly manner. For example, in the calcium carbide industry, all enterprises are promoted to carry out the transformation of vertical drying kilns; in the power industry, the co-current transformation of steam turbines and the deep utilization of residual heat recovery from boilers and steam turbines are promoted.

Today, four projects, including energy efficiency improvement of Xijin Ferrosilicon Electric Furnace, deep reclaimed water reuse of SIA's comprehensive wastewater, Xingguang Huayu's dry quenching, and reclaimed water reuse, have been completed and entered the debugging stage; Junzheng Metallurgical and Chemical Industry Comprehensive energy-saving technical transformation, Lianhua Urea 18 projects, including technical transformation of large-particle exhaust gas treatment and Shuangxin Jingneng Water Resources Comprehensive Utilization Technical Transformation Project, have started; Three projects, including Ordos electric boiler parameter optimization control renovation, steam turbine efficiency improvement renovation, and chemical company syngas compressor replacement project, are undergoing preliminary procedures and are planned to start during equipment overhaul in October.

Li Zhibiao told reporters that in the process of energy-saving technological transformation and "upgrading new", Etok High-tech Zone has a secret-only by taking it well can it be used inexhaustible. "We plan development from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and consciously limit economic activities and human behavior to the limits that natural resources and the ecological environment can bear.

Li Zhibiao said that Etuoke Banner resolutely prohibits the launch of "Two High" projects, and strives to press the front end and extend the chain to promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the industrial economy. "Enterprises that only want to occupy resources and be front-end will not be considered no matter how much they will contribute to economic indicators."

Implement low-carbon transformation of infrastructure

In the park, dust-free "green giants" shuttle back and forth, with little noise and no exhaust emissions... In the Otok High-tech Zone, new energy logistics equipment such as new energy heavy trucks, electric loaders, and electric buses can be seen everywhere.

"In the past, heavy fuel trucks required tarpaulin to get on the road, which was very dusty; now, after new energy vehicles are put into use, the entire transportation process is fully automatic and closed, which is convenient and environmentally friendly." Ma Yuzhen introduced the park's changes in transportation and logistics to reporters.

It is understood that the zero-carbon and dust-free smart logistics pilot demonstration project has injected a steady stream of "green power" into the green, low-carbon and sustainable development of Otok High-tech Zone. The project is based on photovoltaic green electricity, new energy heavy trucks, new energy engineering machinery (electric loaders), fully enclosed crawler translation dump trailers and pipeline belt transportation as carriers, and intelligent dispatching system as the brain, which can minimize the problem of coal scattering and dust along the way.

As an important part of building a green and low-carbon park, the comprehensive promotion of new energy heavy truck substitution is showing its talents. Data shows that the park has completed and put into operation 15 power exchange stations and 134 charging piles. All 1500 short-distance fuel transportation vehicles in Qipanjing area have been replaced with new energy fully enclosed dust-free transportation vehicles, and it is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 21,000 tons annually.

Traditional energy is continuing to become "green". In the Otok High-tech Zone, such measures to protect the blue sky abound.

In the past, the heating quality of Otok High-tech Zone was not high. "In winter, the outdoors is full of choking soot." Liu Zhenhua, a native and retired long-distance passenger driver, recalled the previous heating season and was very impressed.

Today, the roads here are clean and the air is fresh, which is in sharp contrast to the past when coal dust flew and the environment was "dirty and chaotic". "Now that the environment is better, many migrant workers come to our community to rent houses, but the supply of houses exceeds demand." Liu Zhenhua said.

The environment in the Qipanjing area has undergone earth-shaking changes, in part due to local efforts to promote central heating.

"We invested 240 million yuan to renovate 960 of the 2000 bungalows, ban more than 1600 coal-fired bulk burning, and completely change boiler heating in the Qipanjing area to industrial steam centralized heating." According to Jia Rui, at the same time, the park implements a "heat source substitution" project for centralized heating, using the waste heat of cogeneration power plants to replace the original coal-fired boiler for heat supply, which can save 200,000 tons of coal per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 540,000 tons, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide 900 tons and 1050 tons respectively.

In addition, in terms of energy infrastructure, we actively promote the integrated comprehensive application demonstration of source, network, and load storage, and build supporting energy storage facilities. The Ordos Group's 200,000-kilowatt source, network and load storage project has been advanced in an orderly manner.

The persistent and heavy rectification has achieved fruitful results, and the air quality rate in Otok High-tech Zone has continued to improve. From January to May this year, the proportion of days with good air quality in Qipanjing Industrial Park and Mengxi Industrial Park was 78.3% and 78%, respectively, up 7.0% and 10.5% year-on-year respectively, ranking among the top two in Wuhai and surrounding areas.

Today's Otok High-tech Zone has always had blue skies and fresh air, realizing the transformation from a "hardest hit area" with pollution to a development zone suitable for livable and industry.

"Environmental Butler" protects the blue sky

Not only must we reform inward, but we must also be good at using technical means and external experts.

In order to win the battle to defend the blue sky, Otok High-tech Zone continues to innovate air pollution prevention and control measures with "digital intelligence power." According to reports, a smart park based on pollution sources has been initially established. The park has created an energy and carbon emissions management and control cloud that integrates online monitoring of energy consumption, verification of carbon emission monitoring reports, early warning and prediction of energy conservation and emission reduction indicators, diagnosis of energy conservation and emission reduction problems, pollution source monitoring and management, and energy conservation and emission reduction technology exchange services. platform.

At the same time, the introduction of the country's first urban park version of the "Five-Basics" collaborative three-dimensional atmospheric environment monitoring system and environmental protection housekeeper services, as a typical urban experience and practice in the field of ecological environment in 2023, was praised by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

During the interview, Chao Ke, Party Secretary and Director of the Etuoke Banner Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Ordos City, told "Environmental Economy" that Etuoke Banner cooperated with the South China Institute of Environmental Science of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to carry out the district's first "Environmental Manager" project to carry out full coverage investigation, point-to-point services, informatization promotion, and fundamental governance of regional environmental issues, and effectively enhance ecological environment governance capabilities such as blind environment, pollutant emission reduction, and industrial standard upgrading and transformation, and improve the level of environmental governance across the region.

Through traceability analysis of the direction of atmospheric management, regular navigation monitoring is carried out to determine the focus of atmospheric management, atmospheric attack plans and precise management and control plans are formulated, and "one enterprise, one policy" rectification plans for key enterprises..."Environmental Protection Manager" has comprehensive impact on the ecological environment of Qimeng region. Outstanding problems have been comprehensively brought to the bottom, promoting the "long-standing and difficult" problems of the local ecological environment to "treat both the symptoms and root causes".

It is understood that according to the current situation of regional pollutant emissions and environmental quality improvement requirements, the "Environmental Protection Manager" follows the method of zoning and policy guidance from five key aspects: comprehensive management of ecological environment in parks, Kuangqu, towns, roads, and other areas. According to different pollution types, regional current situations and crux of problems, we will arrange targeted control measures and treatment projects, tighten the responsibilities and completion deadlines of all parties, and accurately and effectively implement root causes. Significantly improve the ability to cure ecological and environmental problems across the region.

"'Environmental Butler 'combines offline investigation with online supervision, and achieves regional risks through refined management of the entire process of task sources, task issuance, on-site investigation, rectification deadlines, problem review, and review status records. The overall management and control has formed a closed loop of problem investigation, supervision and rectification, and law enforcement linkage." Chao Ke said.

Not only that, in response to outstanding environmental issues, Etuoke Banner has solidly promoted planning and strengthened top-level design.

The comprehensive management of the ecological environment in Qimeng area has been included in the "Ordos City's 14th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Protection" and the "Implementation Plan for Ordos City to In-depth Fight against Pollution." With the help of "Environmental Protection Butler", The local government has successively issued and implemented the "Etuoke Banner National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone Plan"(2023-2030)"Implementation Plan for the Construction of a" Waste-Free City "during the" 14th Five-Year Plan "Period in Etuoke Banner""Air Quality Improvement Plan of Etuoke High-tech Industrial Development Zone""Overall Implementation Plan for Ultra-Low Emission Transformation of Coking Industry in Etuoke High-tech Industrial Development Zone", It has also compiled the "Etuoke Banner Air Quality Improvement Plan","Qipanjing Mengxi Area Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (October-December 2023)" and the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Control of Dust in the Kuangqu Mining Area of Etuoke Banner".

In resource-based areas like Etuoke Banner, the improvement of air quality is a long-term and gradual process, and there are still many difficulties and challenges before them. Under the overall requirements of "addressing both the symptoms and root causes to solve outstanding environmental problems, adhering to comprehensive management, systematic management, and source management, and making every effort to build a green and low-carbon industrial park", Etuoke Banner has implemented multiple measures at the same time, working steadily, and striving to promote the "counterattack" of air quality and achieve a butterfly transformation from "gray" to "blue".