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Successful lifting of the water cooling tower for the air separation unit in Yulin Chemical’s 1.8 million tons per year ethylene glycol project Author/Source: Date: 2020-07-22 Clicks: 65 On the afternoon of July 20, the first large-scale lifting equipment used in Yulin Chemical’s 1.8 million tons per year ethylene glycol project – namely the water cooling tower for the air separation unit – was successfully lifted into place. Weighing 110 tons and measuring 29.9 meters in length, this equipment is the first lifting device for the air separation unit of the Shaanxi Coal Yulin Chemical Project, as well as the first large-scale lifting device for the entire project. The successful installation of the water-cooled tower has marked the beginning of the installation of large-scale equipment for Shaanxi Coal Yulin Chemical’s 1.8 million-ton ethylene glycol project. The large-scale equipment for the first air separation unit will arrive gradually in late July, and the construction of this unit will progress from a phase dominated by civil engineering work to one where both civil engineering and installation activities take place simultaneously. The construction of the air separation unit supporting the first phase of the Shaanxi Coal Yulin Chemical’s demonstration project for the selective utilization of coal to produce new chemical materials, which involves an annual production capacity of 1.8 million tons of ethylene glycol, includes air separation equipment with an oxygen production capacity of 3×100,000 Nm3/h, a shared backup system of 5,000 m3 of liquid nitrogen, a backup system of 3,000 m3 of liquid oxygen, and a vaporization system. It supplies high-pressure and low-pressure oxygen products with a purity of ≥99.60% for the production of subsequent process units such as project gasification, medium-pressure and low-pressure nitrogen with a purity of ≥99.99%, as well as low-pressure nitrogen products with a purity of ≥99.60%. Meanwhile, it provides media such as instrument air and plant air to support the plant’s utility systems. On May 13, 2019, Yulin Chemical Company of Shaanxi Coal Group signed a contract with Linde Engineering regarding the air separation unit required for the 1.8 million tons per year coal-to-ethylene glycol project; the contract covered the design, supply, and maintenance of 3 ultra-large-scale air separation units with a capacity of 100,000 Nm3/h each. The scope of the contract includes: the technical design of the plant process package and the basic engineering design, the detailed engineering design of the cryogenic tank system, the supply of complete sets of process equipment, as well as technical services such as installation and commissioning. The \"Demonstration Project on the Utilization of Coal at Different Grades to Produce New Chemical Materials\" carried out by Yulin Chemical of Shaanxi Coal Group is currently the largest coal chemical project under construction in the world. The project covers an area of approximately 13 square kilometers, with an estimated total investment of 125 billion yuan. As a coal conversion demonstration project with the largest coal processing capacity, the highest degree of industrial integration, the most complex technology integration, and a supply chain that is closest to the end market, this project represents, to a certain extent, the highest level of development in the coal chemical industry. It will have a profound impact on the further development and direction of China’s coal chemical industry, as well as determine the extent to which China’s coal chemical supply chain will be expanded in the future. The project is constructed in two phases and four stages, comprising a total of 27 process units along with associated utility systems. These mainly include the medium- and low-temperature pyrolysis of 15 million tons of coal, the production of 5.6 million tons of methanol, 1.8 million tons of ethylene glycol, 2 million tons of MTO, as well as downstream products derived from these intermediate materials. The first phase of the project requires an investment of around 70 billion yuan; it will involve the construction of facilities for producing 1.8 million tons per year of ethylene glycol, 5.6 million tons per year of methanol, and 2 million tons per year of olefins, as well as a large amount of fine chemical products derived from these olefins. The investment for the first phase of this project is around 70 billion yuan, which will be used to build facilities capable of producing 1.8 million tons per year of ethylene glycol and 2 million tons per year of olefins, as well as a large number of fine chemical products derived from olefins. The facility for producing 1.8 million tons per year of ethylene glycol is part of the first stage of this project, and it represents the largest coal-based ethylene glycol production facility under construction globally. The estimated investment for this facility is 26.5 billion yuan. The project utilizes Collin’s patented dry powder gasification technology and Japan’s patented technology for producing ethylene glycol from syngas. Shanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. and Nippon Kako Kagaku Co., Ltd. jointly invested in establishing Shanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Yugao Chemical Co., Ltd. to build and operate facilities for the production of oxalate esters as well as for the hydrogenation of oxalate esters to produce ethylene glycol. At present, the construction of projects for 1.8 million tons per year of ethylene glycol, 1.2 million tons per year of coal gasification, and 500,000 tons per year of coal tar hydrogenation has already begun. The preliminary procedures for these projects have been largely completed, all process packages have been delivered, and the overall design has been reviewed; completion and operation are scheduled for June 2021.