Liu Zhongmin

Introduction:

Prof. Liu Zhongmin is a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). He is also the director of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS); director of National Engineering Research Center of Lower-Carbon Catalysis Technology and National Energy Low-carbon Catalysis and Engineering R&D Center.

Liu has long been working with the catalysis research, process development, and technology transfer in energy conversion and utilization, and made significant achievements. In 2006, as a leading scientist, Liu, together with partners and his colleagues, finished the first industrial demonstration test of methanol to olefin process, named as DMTO. Based on DMTO technology the world's first commercial unit of MTO process was constructed and started to operate by Shenhua group in 2010, which was an important progress for coal to chemicals, and provides a new chance for the substitution of oil by coal. So far, DMTO technology has been licensed to 31 units with a total olefins production capacity of 20.25 Mt/a. And 16 commercial DMTO units have been put into stream with olefins production capacity exceeding 9 Mt/a. This breakthrough leads coal to olefins to a new industrial sector in China, greatly changes Chinese light olefins supply, and impacts the light olefins market worldwide. Liu also developed coal-based ethanol production technology, via carbonylation of dimethylether and further hydrogenation, and finished its comerciallization by construction of a world's first plant (100KTA) in 2017, which demonstrates a new way for the clean utilization of coal. Up to now, 10 DMTE units have been licensed with the ethanol production capacity of 3.25 Mt/a. As DMTE technology can turn the relatively abundant coal resources not food into ethanol, it can safeguard China's food supply while reduce air pollution.

Liu has received many awards in his scientific career, including the First Prize of the National Technological Invention Awards, the First Prize of the National Scientific and Technological Progress Award, Chinese Catalytic Achievement Award, Highest Science and Technology Awards of Liaoning Province, etc.