Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry, En+ aim to launch pilot production of acetylene from coal by 2028
IRKUTSK. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry (IIC) federal research center of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch is developing a technology for producing acetylene from hard coal, the institute's director Andrei Ivanov said at the international conference Transgran-2025 in Irkutsk.
"This technology, which our institute is working on together with En+ Group with the support of the Education and Science Ministry, will make it possible to abandon petroleum raw materials in the production of a number of in-demand chemical components. Essentially, we are talking about a new basic processing technological platform that can unite us with China without creating competition. We will be able to jointly create a range of products not only for import independence but also for export expansion," Ivanov said.
This is a "new technological platform for the production of benzene from acetylene, which in turn will be produced from coal through plasma conversion," Ivanov told Interfax.
"This will make it possible to utilize coal deposits both in the Irkutsk region and in other regions of Russia and China, which are currently losing consumers amid the global economy's transition to alternative energy sources. The technology is particularly promising given the predicted oil shortage, which will inevitably occur within 30-50 years," Ivanov said.
The IIC is currently building a 200 kW plasmatron for the first pilot production of acetylene from hard coal, and a 20 kW laboratory reactor is already operational, he said. The launch of pilot production is expected to take two to three years, meaning it will occur by 2028.
The creation of the plasmatron and other equipment for the pilot production is being financed by En+ Group, he said. Investment amounts to 100 million to 150 million rubles.
The IIC also won a grant from the Education and Science Ministry in 2025 to create a youth laboratory that is developing the technology for producing acetylene from coal. The term is three years, with funding of 20 million rubles per year and with the prospect of extension. The funds are intended for the salaries of employees working on the project.
"We already have the technology for processing acetylene into benzene and other in-demand products. It will take three years until the first pilot plant. I am not yet prepared to predict how long scaling the project for industrial production will take - we need to complete this stage first," Ivanov said.
He did not name the site where the pilot production and prospectively the industrial production will be built.
It was previously reported that the Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry is one of the initiators of the project to create the Usolye-Sibirskoye Federal Chemistry Center in the Irkutsk region on the industrial site of the previously closed Usolyekhimprom, where the Federal Environmental Operator (FEO, part of Rosatom) is currently dealing with accumulated environmental damage and hazardous waste.
En+ Coal LLC (formerly Vostsibugol, part of En+) is the main supplier of fuel for coal-fired power plants in the Irkutsk region. Its assets are located in the Irkutsk region (deposits in the Cheremkhovsky and Tulunsky districts), as well as in Trans-Baikal and Krasnoyarsk Territories and Tuva. In 2024, the company's coal production amounted to 17.3 million tonnes.
