Environmental impact assessment for 300,000 tons/year dimethyl ether to ethanol production set to be approved; total planned capacity for ethanol production via non-biological methods in China exceeds 3 million tons

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Environmental impact assessment for 300,000 tons/year dimethyl ether-to-ethanol project to be approved; total capacity for ethanol production via non-biological methods in China exceeds 3 million tons. Author/Source: Yaha Coal Chemical Industry. Date: May 7, 2020. Clicks: 52. On April 30, the Hebi Environmental Protection Bureau planned to publish its approval decision regarding the environmental impact assessment document for Hebi Tengfei Clean Energy Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 300,000 tons of ethanol per year from dimethyl ether. The public notice period is from April 30, 2020, to May 9, 2020. Project Name: Project to Produce 300,000 tons per year of ethanol from dimethyl ether
Location: Moushan Area, Baoshan Circular Economy Zone, Hebi City
Developer: Hebi Tengfei Clean Energy Co., Ltd.
Environmental Impact Assessment Agency: Henan Chemical Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Project Overview: The project requires an investment of 1.2 billion yuan to build a facility for producing 300,000 tons per year of ethanol from dimethyl ether; the project covers an area of approximately 240,000 m2. This project uses syngas and dimethyl ether purchased from Baofa Energy Company as raw materials, and its main production units include: MDEA decarburization, gas separation, carbonylation unit, MAC hydrogenation, and product separation. On October 26, 2019, the Second China·Henan Talent Attraction and Innovation Conference, as well as the China·Henan Open Innovation and Cross-border Technology Transfer Conference, were held in Zhengzhou. At the meeting, Yanchang Zhongke (Dalian) Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a company in which Dahuaxian Research Institute holds shares, and Hebi BMW Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “BMW Group”) signed an agreement for a project to produce 300,000 tons of ethanol from dimethyl ether. By utilizing its own methanol and dimethyl ether products, and by applying the carbonylation and hydrogenation technologies developed by Dahuaxian Research Institute, BMW Group will be able to produce methyl acetate and ethanol with high added value, thereby enhancing its resilience to market fluctuations. On November 28, 2019, the groundbreaking ceremony for the 300,000-ton per year ethanol production project of Hebi BMW Group Tengfei Clean Energy Co., Ltd. was held. Research by Yaha Consulting shows that the two main sources of raw materials for ethanol production are biomass and fossil resources. The processes for producing ethanol from coal/syngas via non-biomass routes mainly include: catalytic conversion of syngas to ethanol, fermentation of syngas to ethanol, hydrogenation of acetic acid (acetates) to ethanol, and carbonylation of dimethyl ether to ethanol. Syngas comes from coal gasification or industrial by-product off-gases (with effective components CO and H2) ； The production of acetic acid and dimethyl ether uses syngas as a raw material (syngas to methanol – methanol to acetic acid or dimethyl ether). The world’s first industrial demonstration project for producing anhydrous ethanol from coal through dimethyl ether carbonylation – On January 11, 2017, Yanchang Petroleum’s 100,000 tons per year ethanol production facility using syngas successfully completed the entire production process, yielding qualified anhydrous ethanol with a purity of 99.71%. The industrial demonstration project for producing anhydrous ethanol from 100,000 tons per year of coal through dimethyl ether carbonylation is under construction. The 500,000 tons per year coal-based ethanol project at Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yushen Company is expected to come online in 2021! The total investment in this project is 6.98 billion yuan. It is located in the southern area of the Qingshui Industrial Park in the Yushen Industrial Zone of Yulin City. Using raw coal from the Xiwan Coal Mine as input, it produces 500,000 tons per year of fuel ethanol through units such as gasification devices, syngas purification systems, gas separation units, methanol production facilities, and ethanol production facilities. As of the end of February, a total of 1.15 billion yuan has been invested in this project; all process packages have been purchased, the preliminary design has been approved, and the preparatory work for the EPC bidding has begun. Tripartite agreement signed for Ningxia’s project to produce fuel ethanol from 60,000 tons of industrial waste gas; full resumption of operations! On April 1, Ningxia Shoulang Jiyuan New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Pingluo County Binhe Silicon Carbide Products Co., Ltd., and Pingluo County Ningyuan Metallurgy Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly build a project for the production of 60,000 tons of fuel ethanol per year. It is understood that the project uses industrial waste gas as raw material, and employs the biological fermentation technology of Beijing Shougang Langze New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. to directly convert it into high-value-added products such as fuel ethanol and protein feed. At present, the project has resumed full operations, and the call to work hard and swiftly has been sounded. The project for producing 200,000 tons per year of fuel ethanol through CO2 reforming and biological fermentation using industrial waste gas is expected to be completed by September this year! At the beginning of March, the first phase of the 200,000 tons per year fuel ethanol project resumed construction on a full scale! The project is developed in collaboration between Lu’an Group and Jupeng Biology, utilizing Jupeng Biology’s proprietary bacterial fermentation technology for fuel ethanol production; ethanol is manufactured by using the waste gases from Lu’an Coal-based Synthetic Oil Co., Ltd. as raw material. As of the end of March, 80% of the civil work for Phase 1 of this project has been completed, while 50% of the mechanical and electrical installation work has been finished. The project has now entered the stage of equipment and pipeline installation, and it is expected to be ready for trial operation by the end of August or early September this year.