The Five-Ring Project wins the bid for the project to produce ethylene glycol from waste gas in Naomaohu, Yiwu, Hami, Xinjiang

“In the past, most of this waste gas was used for combustion to generate electricity or simply burned off, resulting in low energy utilization rates, significant waste of resources, and substantial environmental pressures. The project leader stated that the Guanghui ethylene glycol project utilizes the third-generation technology for \"producing polyester-grade ethylene glycol from syngas\", developed by China’s Wuhuan Group and featuring independent intellectual property rights. This technology enables the conversion of waste gas into high-value chemical products – polyester-grade ethylene glycol – while simultaneously converting the organic sulfur present in the waste gas into hydrogen sulfide, which can then be processed into sulfur. This approach allows for maximum utilization of the waste gas resources, and ultimately transforms these complex waste gases into useful syngas. As a result, it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 600,000 tons per year directly, and by another 1.7 million tons indirectly. It is a typical example of an environmentally friendly and energy-saving project that makes use of industrial waste gases effectively.

“In the past, most of this waste gas was used for combustion to generate electricity or simply burned off, resulting in low energy utilization rates, significant waste of resources, and substantial environmental pressures. The project leader stated that the Guanghui ethylene glycol project utilizes the third-generation technology for \"producing polyester-grade ethylene glycol from syngas\", developed by China’s Wuhuan Group and featuring independent intellectual property rights. This technology enables the conversion of waste gas into high-value chemical products – polyester-grade ethylene glycol – while simultaneously converting the organic sulfur present in the waste gas into hydrogen sulfide, which can then be processed into sulfur. This approach allows for maximum utilization of the waste gas resources, and ultimately transforms these complex waste gases into useful syngas. As a result, it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 600,000 tons per year directly, and by another 1.7 million tons indirectly. It is a typical example of an environmentally friendly and energy-saving project that makes use of industrial waste gases effectively.

Wastegas is refined into syngas, which is then used to produce ethylene glycol. Although the process packages for each unit are already mature, connecting the system together and operating it on an industrial scale in a continuous manner is indeed a challenge.

Domestic engineering companies have sent their offerings to system companies

On May 28, the launching ceremonies for major investment attraction and infrastructure construction projects in Yiwu County, Hami City for 2019 were held at the Yiwu Industrial Park in Hami City. The total investment in these 4 projects amounts to 6.275 billion yuan, and upon completion they will create 1,000 new job opportunities. The Yiwu Industrial Park in Hami City is an important modern coal chemical industry park in the autonomous region. Focusing on coal and coal-based industrial chains, the park promotes the development of fine chemicals by expanding production capacity to strengthen these chains, improving product offerings to extend them, driving innovation to enhance them, and attracting investment to further develop them. This approach aims to increase the added value of products and maximize the utilization of resources. To date, 40 enterprises have settled in the park, with a total investment of 42.9 billion yuan. The project launched this time, the 400,000-ton-per-year ethylene glycol production facility for the comprehensive utilization of waste gas at Hami Guanghui Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., has a total investment of 3.69 billion yuan. The project employs advanced manufacturing processes and environmental protection technologies; by utilizing 2.65 billion cubic meters of raw coal gas generated annually through the grading and upgrading of coal upstream, it produces 400,000 tons of ethylene glycol, thereby saving 574,000 tons of standard coal each year ； It directly reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 628,000 tons and sulfur dioxide emissions by 1,286 tons. Hami Hengyou Energy Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. has a project for producing polypropylene from methanol and light hydrocarbons with an annual capacity of 700,000 tons, involving a total investment of 1.51 billion yuan. 200,000 tons of polypropylene are produced using 700,000 tons of methanol manufactured by enterprises upstream in the park, thereby extending the industrial chain and increasing the added value of the products. Xinjiang Xintianlu Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.’s 1 million tons per year project for the comprehensive utilization of coal ash makes full use of the coal ash that is not utilized by enterprises located upstream in the industrial park, and employs advanced production technologies to manufacture carbon-based new materials. In order to further improve the production and living conditions in the park and enhance its service capabilities, the Yiwu County Party Committee and the county government plan to invest over 50 million yuan in 2019 on the construction of infrastructure such as roads, power supply, communication systems, landscaping, and water supply facilities in the park.

A production capacity of over 40 million tons is set to come online, leading to a surge in demand for ethylene glycol. Original article by Huahua Chemical Online, May 21, 2018. Since mid-March this year, the domestic ethylene glycol market has experienced sharp fluctuations in prices; in mid-April, prices in the East China region reached 8,600–8,800 yuan per ton, the highest level in 5 years. However, those prices soon dropped back to normal levels. 　　Affected by the increase in the operating rate of downstream polyester plants and rising crude oil prices, the price of ethylene glycol began to recover in mid-to-late March. At the same time, many large petrochemical companies announced maintenance work in the second quarter, and some coal chemical plants also stopped operating. Driven by optimism about future market conditions, a trend of price increases emerged in the market, leading to a sharp rise in the price of ethylene glycol. Meanwhile, attracted by rising domestic prices, foreign shipments have been increasing gradually. Under these circumstances, the inventory of ethylene glycol at ports in East China kept reaching new highs, approaching the one-million mark, which ultimately led to a sharp drop in the market prices as the trend turned sharply downward. 　　For a long time, the heavy reliance on imports of ethylene glycol has become the norm. According to the Customs Administration, China’s total imports of ethylene glycol in 2017 reached 8.75 million tons. From January to March 2018, a total of 2.545 million tons were imported, representing a 19.3% increase compared to the previous year. In March alone, 998,000 tons were imported, a 254.5% increase on a year-on-year basis; this monthly import volume set a record that has not been seen in several years, which is truly rare. 　　High profits and a huge demand gap have led to the proliferation of ethylene glycol projects in recent years. According to Chemical Online, there are currently over 80 ethylene glycol projects under construction or planned in China, with a total production capacity of nearly 45 million tons. Most of these projects are scheduled to come online between 2018 and 2023. Of these more than 80 projects, around 14 are scheduled to come online in 2018, with a production capacity of nearly 5 million tons. In addition to the plants currently in operation owned by Inner Mongolia Yigao Coal Chemical and Guizhou Qianxi Coal Chemical, Xinjiang Tianying Petrochemical, Inner Mongolia Rongxin Chemical, and CNOOC Shell also planned to commence operations in the first half of the year. Additionally, in the second half of the year, facilities such as Shandong Hualu Hengsheng, Anhui Zhongyan Hongsi Fang, Shanxi Hongtong Coal Chemical, and Inner Mongolia Guoneng Xinxing are also planned to come online. If there are no delays with these projects, then by the end of this year, domestic ethylene glycol production capacity will increase by 50%, reaching a total capacity of 14 million tons. 　　In addition to these projects that are already in the advanced stages of preparation for commissioning, many large-scale integrated projects over the past two years have also included ethylene glycol production facilities in their plans, including Zhejiang Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical, Sinopec Refining & Chemical, Satellite Petrochemical, Nanshan Group, Zhongan United Petrochemical, and Shaanxi Coal Chemical. Backed by funding and policy support, these large-scale projects have reached new levels in terms of production capacity; some units capable of producing ethylene glycol have an output of 900,000 tons each, with the total production capacity reaching nearly 10 million tons. Most of these projects will become the main force in producing ethylene-based ethylene glycol in the future, competing with the numerous oxalate-based ethylene glycol producers. 　　With the glycol industry being so booming, it has attracted some major downstream fiber manufacturers to get involved as well. Given the fierce competition in the polyester industry, moving upstream has become a trend in this sector. Most giants are pursuing a development model of “polyester-PTA-PX,” but some companies have set their sights on the ethylene glycol industry. In addition to Hengli Petrochemical, which began making plans for this area long ago, Tongkun Group and Shenghong Group have also successively announced their plans to enter the ethylene glycol industry. In addition to investing in Zhejiang Petrochemical, Tongkun Group plans to build an ethylene glycol plant with a capacity of 1.2 million tons in Hefei, Anhui ； A new 1.1 million-ton facility was built in Dalian, Liaoning, in a joint venture with Xinjiang Guanghui. Jiangsu Sierbang, which is part of Shenghong Group, also has plans to build a new production facility with a capacity of 400,000 tons. 　　In summary, over the next few years, domestic ethylene glycol production capacity is set to experience a significant increase; project scales are tending to become larger, and the connections between upstream and downstream industries are becoming tighter. Ethylene-based ethylene glycol and oxalate-based ethylene glycol will also develop a pattern of parallel development and competition with one another.

The new WHB technology for producing polymeric-grade ethylene glycol from coal (hereinafter referred to as the WHB technology) was jointly developed by China Wuhuan Engineering Co., Ltd., Huashuo Technology Co., Ltd., and Hebi BMW Group Industrial Co., Ltd. This technology adopts a collaborative development approach that integrates research, engineering, and production, and it possesses fully independent intellectual property rights. It has already undergone pilot tests, scale-up tests, as well as performance tests related to polymerization, spinning, and dyeing of the product. The first industrial plant with an annual production capacity of 220,000 tons was successfully commissioned in August 2015 at Yangmei Group Shenzhou Chemical Co., Ltd.

(1) Development History: Huashuo Company began research on three key catalysts for this technology in 2006, and achieved success after 4 years. In September 2009, the pilot-scale technology passed the evaluation by the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology. In 2009, Wuhuan Company, Huashuo Company, and BMW Company joined forces, with Wuhuan Company taking the lead, to develop a new technology for producing polymeric-grade ethylene glycol from coal. It took two years to complete the pilot-scale testing of the entire process for this technology. Among them, the catalyst was operated for a total of 2900 hours, and the quality of the pilot-scale ethylene glycol product met both the premium grade standards specified in GB/T 4649-2008 and the polymer-grade requirements outlined in American ASTM E 2470-2007. It passed the expert appraisal organized by the **Energy Bureau on December 12, 2011. In 2012, building on the results of the pilot-scale tests, and in order to enhance the sophistication, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of WHB technology when applied in industrial installations, the three parties conducted additional 3,100 hours of scale-up tests. These tests were aimed at verifying and improving the relevant process technologies and procedures, as well as optimizing operational parameters, and they yielded significant results. Industry experts believe that the engineering scale-up and supplementary tests represent an important step forward in the maturation of WHB technology, enabling the construction of large-scale facilities. (II) Latest Progress: The first industrial plant utilizing WHB’s new technology, built by Shenzhou Chemical Co., Ltd. under Yangquan Coal Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., was established in Shenzhou, Hebei Province in 2013. The plant has an annual production capacity of 220,000 tons, and some of the utility facilities available can meet the needs of the plant in its second phase. This device utilizes space furnace powder gasification technology, with domestic technologies and equipment being used for core units such as air separation, shift reaction, and deep cryogenic separation. The unit was ignited for gasification at the end of July 2015, and the ethylene glycol plant was successfully commissioned in September, with the main process brought online to produce ethylene glycol products; currently, the operating load of the unit is increasing steadily.

(III) Market transfer performance: Shenzhou Company’s Phase 1 ethylene glycol project with an annual capacity of 220,000 tons and Phase 2 project with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons； Henan Kaixiang Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 220,000 tons/year ethylene glycol project ； The projects including Inner Mongolia Shuangxin Energy Chemical Co., Ltd.’s project for producing 100,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol from calcium carbide off-gases, result in a total annual production capacity of 1.69 million tons. II. Process Overview (1) Process Description The WHB technology employs a process in which carbon monoxide and hydrogen (syngas) are used as raw materials; dimethyl oxalate (DMO) is first produced, which is then hydrogenated to yield crude ethylene glycol, and finally, polymeric-grade ethylene glycol is obtained through distillation. The main reactions include the carbonylation reaction in which carbon monoxide and methyl nitrite (MN) react to form dimethyl oxalate (DMO) under the action of precious metal catalysts, the hydrogenation reaction of dimethyl oxalate to produce ethylene glycol (EG) using copper-based catalysts, and the esterification regeneration reaction in which nitrogen monoxide, oxygen, and methanol combine to form methyl nitrite.