Catalytic synthesis of ethylene glycol

The technology for producing ethylene glycol directly from syngas is a technology under investigation. The Fujian Institute of Material Structure conducted pilot tests. The Huayang Chemical Plant in Danyang, Jiangsu, has carried out pilot tests with a capacity of 100 tons per year; it is now working on the design for a demonstration plant with a capacity of 10,000 tons. There is still a long way to go before this technology can be industrialized; it must overcome challenges related to both processes and economics. The concept behind this process is good, but it is extremely difficult. It mainly involves catalyst research – can indicators such as conversion rate, lifespan, and yield meet the required standards? Claiming to establish a plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia, is just propaganda – it’s too early for that. This post was last edited by Liang Hua on 2008-2-27 at 16:43.]

Making full use of CO2 resources is the trend for the future; Shanghai Huayi Group has also set up a facility with a capacity of 1,000 tons per year. It is said that it will take 3 years before any conclusions can be drawn, and the catalyst has a service life of just over 1,000 hours.

The production of ethylene glycol from carbonyl compounds is the future direction for the ethylene glycol industry; it is hoped that the related process technologies and catalysts will mature as soon as possible.

Excuse me, sir on the third floor: does the 1,000 t/a ethylene glycol pilot plant of Shanghai Huayi Group use CO2 as a raw material, or syngas?

A Critical Look at Ethylene Glycol Produced from Coal: On May 7, the complete set of technologies for producing ethylene glycol from coal, developed in collaboration by the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiangsu Danhua Group, and Shanghai Jinmei New Chemical Technology Company, passed the evaluation for demonstrating their effectiveness. Records show that the 10,000-ton per year coal-based ethylene glycol plant was successfully commissioned in December 2007, with the entire production process operational. More than a year of actual operation has proven that the world’s first 10,000-ton per year coal-based ethylene glycol production technology has been entirely successful. Currently, Tongliao Jinmei Company is using lignite as raw material to build the world’s first demonstration plant for producing 200,000 tons of coal-based ethylene glycol per year in Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia. Completion and commissioning of this plant are expected by the end of 2009, with plans to reach a production capacity of 1.2 million tons within the next 5 years. However, some industry experts point out that, considering both the market size of the product and its cost competitiveness, careful consideration is needed before large-scale promotion of coal-based ethylene glycol. 　　 The rapid development of China’s polyester industry in recent years has **increased the demand for its main raw materials, purified terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. In 2006, China’s consumption of ethylene glycol was 5.64 million tons, rising to 7.14 million tons in 2008. However, the production of ethylene glycol during the same period did not increase significantly; it was 1.58 million tons in 2006 and 1.95 million tons in 2008, accounting for less than 10% of the world’s total ethylene glycol production. Due to the rapid growth in demand for ethylene glycol in our country, its production is far from sufficient to meet the needs of the domestic polyester industry, necessitating large-scale imports. Data from the General Administration of Customs of China show that China imported 4.8 million tons of ethylene glycol in 2007, and 5.22 million tons in 2008. 　　 Yahua Consulting, which specializes in research on coal-based energy chemicals, believes that there are two reasons why China’s ethylene glycol production has not increased significantly. One of the reasons is the transportation constraints of ethylene glycol raw materials. The key raw material for ethylene glycol in the traditional petrochemical route is ethylene oxide. Due to the transportation constraints associated with ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol production facilities must be built alongside ethylene plants; as a result, the capacity for ethylene glycol production is concentrated in large petrochemical companies. Another reason is the lack of competitiveness in production costs. Manufacturers in the Middle East produce ethylene glycol using inexpensive ethane as a feedstock; due to the very low production costs, it remains cost-effective to ship the product by sea to Asian markets. Therefore, although the supply-demand gap for ethylene glycol in the domestic market has drawn attention to investments in coal-based ethylene glycol production, large-scale adoption of this technology still requires caution, taking into account both the market capacity for such products and their cost competitiveness. 　　 On the one hand, in terms of market capacity, the total domestic consumption of ethylene glycol is currently around 7 million tons; based on current market prices, the total market size is approximately 35 billion yuan. The absolute value of the market capacity for these products remains low; therefore, in terms of its strategic significance as a substitute for oil and gas, coal-based ethylene glycol is clearly inferior to coal-based oil, coal-based olefins, and coal-based synthetic natural gas. 　　 On the other hand, the competitors of coal-based ethylene glycol in our country are not only domestic integrated petrochemical companies, but also Middle Eastern manufacturers that use ethane as a raw material. The plant for producing ethylene glycol from lignite, with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year, requires an investment of around 2.1 billion yuan. Once operational, it is expected to generate annual revenues of about 1.53 billion yuan and a profit of around 894 million yuan, resulting in an overall return on investment of 40.89%. Based on this calculation, even if the low-cost coal supplied specifically for Tongliao is used at 130 yuan per ton, the cost still amounts to 2650 yuan per ton; thus, it has no advantage over products from the Middle East. It is estimated that the cash production cost of ethylene via ethane cracking in the Middle East is only 250–300 dollars per ton, **which is lower than the cost of coal-based ethylene glycol produced domestically. As the ethylene production capacity of companies in the Middle East increases rapidly, highly cost-competitive polyethylene and ethylene glycol products will be exported to the Chinese market, which will have a profound impact on both China’s petrochemical and coal chemical industries. 　　 In the past two years, the success of industrialization experiments for coal-based ethylene glycol has attracted widespread attention from the coal chemical industry as well as the capital market. Objectively speaking, it will take some time to determine whether coal-based ethylene glycol projects can succeed in operating on a large scale and achieve good economic returns.

Support the opinion above! At present, in China, research on the synthesis of ethylene glycol via carbonylation follows indirect routes, which are circuitous; direct synthesis of ethylene glycol from syngas will be the ultimate and most competitive solution for producing ethylene glycol from coal. It’s only a matter of time before this method replaces the indirect processes!