en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 3, data disclosed at the Coal Washing and Processing Industry Exchange Conference held in Tianjin, China, showed that China's raw coal washing rate has increased from 14.03% in 1957 to over 85% currently. The country has built 75 large-scale modern coal preparation plants with an annual capacity of over 10 million tons, with overall process equipment reaching internationally advanced levels. The conference, centered on the "dual carbon" goals and the "15th Five-Year Plan" development blueprint, identified three main technical research directions for the next phase: clean and efficient, intelligent upgrade, and green development. These include frontier technologies such as coal preparation artificial intelligence large models, zero-carbon coal preparation plants, and fine separation.
The raw coal washing rate refers to the percentage of raw coal washed during the reporting period relative to the total raw coal produced, serving as a core indicator for measuring the level of coal washing and processing. Coal preparation is an important processing step that removes impurities (such as sulfur and ash) from coal through physical or chemical methods, thereby improving coal quality. According to data released by the China National Coal Association in 2025, China's raw coal washing rate has increased from 74.1% at the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" period to over 85%, with steady growth in clean coal production. The number of coal preparation plants with an annual capacity of over 10 million tons nationwide has increased from 70 in 2021 to 75 currently. According to the "China Mineral Resources Report (2025)" released by the Ministry of Natural Resources, as of the end of 2024, China's coal resource reserves stood at 225.66 billion tons, with national coal production reaching 4.96 billion tons in 2024.
On the technical front, China's coal preparation equipment has achieved a leap from import dependence to independent innovation. In 2023, the "Mid-term Evaluation Report on the '14th Five-Year Plan' for Coal Processing and Utilization" released by the China Coal Processing and Utilization Association showed that the domestic equipment localization rate for the entire coal preparation industry had exceeded 95%. Key equipment such as heavy medium cyclones, high-efficiency screening equipment, and intelligent dry separators have reached internationally advanced performance levels. In 2024, the investment growth rate for intelligent transformation in China's coal preparation industry reached 22%, and it is expected that the industry's intelligent penetration rate will increase to over 30% by 2025. The application of AI large model technology in scenarios such as coal preparation process optimization, equipment predictive maintenance, and online product quality inspection is accelerating. According to statistics from the China National Coal Association, as of the end of 2025, 32 intelligent coal preparation plants had been built nationwide, with the average comprehensive energy consumption per plant decreasing by approximately 8% to 12% compared to traditional coal preparation plants.
The conference proposed that the next step will be to improve the full-chain industrial service system of "research—design—engineering—operation and maintenance," continuously upgrading existing coal preparation facilities through intelligent and green technologies. Key directions include: developing an AI-based coal washability prediction system, a heavy medium separation intelligent closed-loop control system, and an intelligent coal slurry dosing system; researching and developing efficient and low-consumption dry coal preparation technology, high-sulfur coal desulfurization and ash reduction technology, and comprehensive coal gangue utilization technology; and constructing "zero-carbon coal preparation plant" demonstration projects to reduce carbon emission intensity through photovoltaic power generation, energy storage peak shaving, and carbon capture pathways. According to industry forecasts, by 2028, the number of coal preparation plants with an annual capacity of over 10 million tons in China is expected to exceed 100, and the raw coal washing rate is projected to further increase to between 88% and 90%.
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