Recently, China National Chemical Corporation Co., Ltd. issued the "Notice on Promulgating the ChemChina Science and Technology Award of 2018" (ChemChina [2018] No. 191).The invention patent "Coke oven gas methanation catalyst and its preparation method" of SWRDICI was awarded the patent gold award from China National Chemical Corporation. In 2018, in addition to the coke oven gas methanation plants using technologies licensed from SWRDICI, the coke oven gas methanation catalysts were also used in plants of Inner Mongolia Sanju Jiajing New Energy Co., Ltd. and Hebei Anfeng Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. to replace expired catalysts supplied by Topsoe (Denmark) and domestic competitor respectively. The patented technology of coke oven gas methanation from SWRDICI has been licensed to 23 sets (including 10 plants completed and in operation) in China, wherethe total recovery of coke oven gas amounts to 7.154 billion Nm3/year, producing 3 billion Nm3 of natural gas per year. This technology achievement was also awarded the first prize of 2016 Sichuan Science and Technology Progress Award as well as the 2015 and 2017 China Patent Excellence Awards.
In addition, SWRDICIhas won the Enterprise Patent Excellence Award of China National Chemical Corporationagain. This is the fifth time that SWRDICI has received this honor since 2010. As one of the first state-level intellectual property demonstration enterprises and national patent operation pilot enterprises, SWRDICI actively implements intellectual property strategy and facilitates intellectual property creation, protection, management and application through organizing and allocating resources. This year, patent examiners of the State Intellectual Property Office were invitedto SWRDICI to give lectures on PCT patent application, surrounding topics on patent writing, analysis and utilization of patent information, a channel of communication was establishedwhich broadened management and technical personnel on patent knowledge, solved professional problems, and enhanced awareness of corporate strategic layout and patent protection. By the end of 2018, a total of 493 patents (including 443 invention patents) were applied, and 276 patents were granted (including 230 invention patents).