The first 500,000-ton coal-to-ethanol project in Xinghua, Shaanxi, has entered the implementation phase

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The first 500,000-ton per year coal-to-ethanol project in Shaanxi Xinghua enters the implementation phase Author/Source: Huahua Network – Coal Chemicals Date: 2018-02-12 Clicks: 13 Recently, the kick-off meeting for the process design of the 500,000-ton per year coal-based syngas to ethanol (DMTE) project carried out by Yanchang Petroleum’s subsidiary, Shaanxi Xinghua Group Co., Ltd., was successfully held in Xingping, Shaanxi, marking the official entry of this project into the implementation stage. Relevant officials from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yanchang Zhongke (Dalian) Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and Shaanxi Xinghua Group Co., Ltd., 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 options 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. On December 15, Shaanxi Xinghua Group Co., Ltd. and Yanchang Zhongke (Dalian) Energy Technology Co., Ltd. signed a technology licensing agreement for a 500,000 tons per year ethanol production facility using syngas (DMTE) in Xi’an, marking the official entry of this technology into the era of large-scale industrial application. Once completed, the ethanol production capacity of Shaanxi Xinghua Group will reach 600,000 tons per year. The DMTE (production of anhydrous ethanol via carbonylation of methanol/syngas using dimethyl ether) technology is a patented technology with full independent intellectual property rights, jointly developed by Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Co., Ltd. and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It represents another breakthrough achievement in the field of coal chemical engineering by the team led by Academician Liu Zhongmin, director of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, following the DMTO (production of olefins from methanol) technology. The 100,000 tons per year industrial demonstration plant for ethanol production from syngas, built using this technology, has attracted widespread attention within the coal chemical industry both domestically and internationally since its successful completion of the entire production process in January 2017. Since the operation of the unit began, all technical parameters have met or exceeded the design specifications, and the lifespan of the carbonylation catalyst has surpassed 7,500 hours. In early November 2017, the E10 ethanol gasoline formulated using this device passed the certification by the **Petroleum Fuel Supervision and Inspection Center (Henan), meeting the **GB18351-2015 standards. The successful operation of the industrial demonstration unit since its commissioning has provided valuable design criteria and construction experience for the construction of large-scale DMTE plants.