Latest progress on the first phase of the 1.2 million-ton ethylene glycol project using coal as raw material

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At 13:58 on October 31, at the construction site of the chimney for the thermoelectric unit of Yueneng Chemical Company’s 400,000-ton coal-based ethylene glycol production project, workers delivered the last tank of concrete to the designated location, and the chimney of the project’s thermoelectric unit was successfully completed. The successful completion of the chimney for the thermoelectric unit marks the full finish of the civil engineering work related to this chimney for the company’s 400,000-ton coal-based ethylene glycol project, ensuring that the thermoelectric unit of this project can be commissioned as planned next year. It is reported that the chimney is cylindrical in shape, with a height of 180 meters and an outlet diameter of 6.04 meters; it constitutes one of the key components of the thermal power unit for the company’s ethylene glycol project. Since construction began on the chimney foundation on April 3 this year, and despite various challenges such as rising prices of raw materials during the construction period, 210 days of intensive work were carried out, and the structure was successfully completed on October 31. The 400,000-ton-per-year ethylene glycol production phase of the first phase of the 1.2 million tons-per-year ethylene glycol production project carried out by Shaanxi Yulin Energy Group Co., Ltd. is part of the initiatives launched by this company in the Clean Fuel Production Base and High-End Chemical Materials Base located in the Qingshui Industrial Park of the Yushen Industrial Zone; the total planned area for these facilities is 1,711 mu. The project plans to reach the zero-meter mark for the foundation of the main unit on June 15, 2021 ； All installations were completed on June 15, 2022 ； Qualified products were produced on December 15, 2022; the total project duration was 21.5 months, and the total investment in the project remained within 5.8 billion yuan. The first phase of Yulin Energy’s 400,000 tons per year ethylene glycol production facility uses coal blends as raw material, and Collins powder gasification is employed to produce crude syngas. The crude synthesis gas is divided into two streams after entering the shift reactor. One of these streams undergoes heat recovery, and then is sent to a low-temperature methanol wash process to remove sulfur and CO2 impurities. The purified synthesis gas is then subjected to deep cryogenic separation to produce CO, which is used in the ethylene glycol production facility. The hydrogen-rich gas obtained from deep cryogenic separation is sent to a pressure swing adsorption unit for H2 extraction ； Another stream of crude syngas undergoes two stages of isothermal shift reaction, after which it is sent to a low-temperature methanol wash to remove sulfur and CO2 impurities. It then enters the PSA-H2 unit together with the hydrogen-rich gas obtained through cryogenic separation, to produce H2 for use in the ethylene glycol plant. The project construction includes a gasification unit, a purification unit, an H2/CO separation unit, an ethylene glycol unit, etc. The utility systems and supporting auxiliary facilities include: 3×350t/h high-temperature and high-pressure circulating fluidized bed boilers + 2×30MW back-pressure steam turbine generator sets, air separation units, circulating water stations, desalination stations, storage and transportation facilities, sewage treatment plants, etc. The gasification unit employs the Corin powder coal gasification technology and includes 2 powder coal gasifiers ； The ethylene glycol plant utilizes the Zhongke Yuandong ethylene glycol technology. Using CO as a raw material, dimethyl oxalate (DMO) is synthesized through an oxidative coupling reaction; subsequently, DMO is hydrogenated to produce ethylene glycol.