New ideas for energy savings – Creative thinking: “The application of transesterification in existing EO/EG plants”
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The ethylene glycol production units in petrochemical companies are designed to manufacture ethylene glycol through high-pressure hydration; 25 times the amount of water is used to absorb EO. Of this water, one part is utilized, while the remaining 24 parts need to be processed through 5 stages of distillation, which results in significant energy consumption. After transesterification, carbon dioxide, a byproduct of EO production, is reacted with ethylene oxide; followed by methanol transesterification to produce dimethyl carbonate and ethylene glycol. The separation cost for these systems is much lower than that of removing 24 parts of water, and this approach is environmentally friendly as it makes use of carbon dioxide while yielding dimethyl carbonate as a product.
Is there any company promoting this technology?