Meeting on the process package for Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s 2.4 million tons per year project for producing high-quality fiber-grade ethylene glycol from coal

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Recently, the kick-off meeting for the process package of Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s 2.4 million tons per year project for producing high-quality fiber-grade ethylene glycol from coal was successfully held in Chengdu, Sichuan. Relevant officials and key technical personnel from Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd., China Chengda Engineering Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Pujing Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. gathered at the site to conduct in-depth discussions on core topics such as project process optimization, selection of key equipment, control of design milestones, and rational layout of the overall site layout, thereby laying a technical foundation for the further progress of the project. As the world’s largest coal-based ethylene glycol project at present, it utilizes the ethylene glycol production process technology and proprietary catalysts provided by Shanghai Pujing Chemical Industry; China Chengda Engineering Corporation is responsible for the engineering design of this project. The project uses lignite from the Aiding Lake mining area in Xinjiang as raw material to produce syngas through key processes such as gasification, shift reaction, and purification. Subsequent steps including the separation of carbon monoxide from hydrogen and the synthesis of dimethyl oxalate result in the production of ethylene glycol. The synthetic ammonia plant constructed as part of this system will provide the raw materials needed for nitric acid production, thus creating a complete raw material recycling system. In terms of plant configuration, the project adopts a scaled and serialized design: the gasification section is equipped with 4 sets of 3,000 t/d SpaceMeyer reactors (4 in operation with 1 as backup); the conversion and purification systems each consist of 2 series (the purification process uses the low-temperature methanol washing technology developed by Dalian University of Technology). The H2/CO separation unit, the dimethyl oxalate production unit, and the ethylene glycol production unit each have 4 series (each series has an output capacity of 600,000 tons per year for ethylene glycol). Additionally, there is a synthetic ammonia plant with an annual output of 40,000 tons, a nitric acid plant using the single-pressure process with an annual output of 30,000 tons, and 3 air separation units, each with an oxygen production capacity of 105,000 m³/h. For sulfur recovery, the mature three-stage conventional Claus process used in China is employed. This is a new construction project located in the Coal-Based New Materials Circular Industry Park within the Economic Development Zone of Turpan City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The planned land area is approximately 2.5375 million square meters, with a total investment of around 25.7 billion yuan; the construction period is scheduled to be 36 months. Upon completion of the project, a vertically integrated industrial chain of \"coal resources – low-cost ethylene glycol – polyester production\" will be established. Leveraging the regional resource advantages of Xinjiang, as well as Hengyi Group’s technical expertise and supply chain capabilities, this chain will serve the chemical industries in the central and western regions as well as Central Asia. In addition to the core production facilities, the project will also include auxiliary production facilities, utility systems, and infrastructure for production services. These encompass various elements such as storage and transportation systems, pipe corridors and underground pipelines, water and power supply, fire protection and communication systems, testing and maintenance facilities, as well as landscaping, all of which are designed to meet the needs of industrial production. Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd. As the world’s largest producer of PTA-polyester and caprolactam-nylon fiber products across both industrial chains, Hengyi Group has been active in the petrochemical and fiber raw material sectors for half a century. It currently possesses an oil refining capacity of 8 million tons per year, a PTA production capacity of 22 million tons per year, and a polyester and nylon production capacity of 12 million tons per year. With total assets exceeding 160 billion yuan, the company ranked 220th on Fortune’s World 500 list for 2025. This coal-based ethylene glycol project represents an important extension of the group’s backward integration strategy. It is also a major project in which Pu Jing Chemical collaborates with a leading polyester manufacturer, following its partnership on Zhejiang Zhengkai Group’s 1.2 million tons per year ethylene glycol project. Once the project is put into operation, it will not only provide a stable supply of ethylene glycol for sub-sectors of the chemical industry such as coatings and resins, but it will also contribute to the advancement of new-type industrialization in Xinjiang, creating over 10,000 job opportunities. Meanwhile, Hengyi Petrochemical’s latest report for the third quarter of 2025 shows that the company’s net profit attributable to its owners for the first three quarters was 231 million yuan. The net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses increased by 273.30% on a year-on-year basis, and such solid financial performance provides a solid foundation for the advancement of project construction.