World’s first 500,000-ton/year syngas-to-ethanol project process package starts operation

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On February 2, the kick-off meeting for the world’s first 500,000 tons per year syngas-to-ethanol (DMTE) project was successfully held in Xingping, Shaanxi, marking the official entry of this project into the phase of actual implementation. Relevant officials from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yanchang Zhongke (Dalian) Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and Xinghua Group, as well as the team responsible for preparing the process packages, attended this meeting. At the meeting, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics provided a detailed introduction to the entire process plant, focusing on aspects such as the design principles of the process package, the configuration of the process flow, and the equipment setup. It also explained to the project team members the basic parameters such as the material balance of the process package and the energy and material consumption. At the same time, the participants had in-depth discussions and exchanges on issues related to the composition of certain raw materials as well as solutions for process optimization, laying a foundation for subsequent design work. It is understood that this project is a large-scale industrial production facility built by Shaanxi Xinghua, building on the stable and efficient operation of its first-phase 100,000-ton ethanol plant. By utilizing the DMTE patent technology (which involves the use of methanol/syngas to produce anhydrous ethanol through dimethyl ether carbonylation), further investment has been made in its development. It is currently the largest syngas-to-ethanol plant under construction in the world. As planned, the project is expected to complete the preliminary work and prepare the site for construction by the first half of this year, after which it will enter the phase of basic design and ordering of long-term-use equipment. Construction is set to begin in September of the same year, with the goal of completing the project and putting it into operation by the end of 2019.