Public notice on the environmental impact assessment for the ethylene glycol production facility using coal gasified feedstock in Xinjiang Zhongkun Coal

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In September 2025, the Xinjiang Ecology and Environment Protection Industry Association published a public notice regarding public participation in the environmental impact assessment for the technical transformation project aimed at the clean and efficient utilization of coal at Xinjiang Zhongkun New Materials Co., Ltd. Project name: Phase I Technical Transformation Project for the Clean and Efficient Utilization of Coal in the 2×600,000-ton/year Natural Gas-based Ethylene Glycol Project by Zhongkun New Materials ； Project location: Korla Petrochemical Industrial Park, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang ； Project Overview: This project uses coal as raw material. The gasification process will employ powder coal gasification technology to produce syngas. After the hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of the syngas is adjusted through shift reaction, heat recovery is carried out. Subsequently, the syngas is sent to a low-temperature methanol wash unit to remove sulfur and carbon dioxide from it, and then to the H2/CO deep cryogenic separation unit of the Zhongkun New Materials natural gas-to-ethylene glycol project (Phase I), where it supplies 185,000 Nm3/h of syngas (CO+H2). The Xinjiang Zhongkun New Materials project for the clean and efficient utilization of coal involves using coal together with advanced domestic gas generation technology to produce CO and hydrogen, which serve as feed gas for the company’s existing 600,000-ton ethylene glycol production facility to manufacture ethylene glycol products. According to the publicly available environmental impact assessment information, the construction contents of the renovation project are as follows. Gasification: HT-L semi-waste boiler pressurized coal gasification is planned to be used, with 2 gasifiers of 2000 t/d each, and a gasification pressure of 4.2 MPa. The annual production of syngas is 14.8×108 m3/year. Transformation: An isothermal transformation process and a cobalt-molybdenum-based sulfur-resistant transformation catalyst are employed. A partial conversion of the feed gas plus heat recovery process is adopted. The produced transformed gas and untransformed gas are mixed and then sent to the downstream low-temperature methanol washing unit. Purification: Low-temperature methanol washing process. Propylene is compressed and used for refrigeration to meet the cooling capacity requirements of the low-temperature methanol washing unit. Introduction to the Ethylene Glycol Production Facility at Xinjiang Zhongkun. The first phase of Xinjiang Zhongkun New Materials Company’s facility, with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of ethylene glycol, uses natural gas as a raw material. It employs Shanghai International Construction’s non-catalytic partial oxidation (POX) technology to produce syngas; CO2 is removed using the NCMA method, while H2 and CO are separated through pressure swing adsorption. These gases serve as raw materials for the dimethyl oxalate and ethylene glycol production processes. Ethylene glycol and dimethyl oxalate are produced using advanced chemical technologies. Commissioned in November 2023.