Why do so many coal chemical ethylene glycol production processes use high-chemistry processes?

On July 8, 2019, the Second Branch of Sinochem 13th Construction won the bid for the installation work of Hubei Sanning Co., Ltd.’s project to adjust the raw material structure for ammonia synthesis and to produce 600,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol. The provisional winning bid price is 200 million yuan. The construction scope of the winning bid includes the low-temperature methanol washing process in Section 1, as well as the DMO synthesis and distillation process as well as CO recycle gas compression (42/43/44) in the ethylene glycol plant in Section 6. Hubei Sanning’s adjustment of its ammonia synthesis raw material mix and the production of 600,000 tons of ethylene glycol utilize the multi-nozzle gasification technology from East China University of Science and Technology, as well as the ethylene glycol production technology from Japanese company Takahashi Chemical. The project to adjust the raw material structure for ammonia production at Hubei Sanning and to produce 600,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol started construction on February 9, 2018. On November 1, 2018, the first steel frame of Boiler Unit 1 in the ethylene glycol boiler system was successfully lifted, marking the start of the installation work; completion of the main construction is expected by December 2019. Hubei Sanning Company is investing 10 billion yuan in adjusting the raw material structure for ammonia synthesis and in a project to produce 600,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol through co-production. The project will be constructed in two phases: Phase 1 will involve the construction of a facility capable of producing 520,000 tons per year of synthetic ammonia and 400,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol, while Phase 2 will involve the construction of a facility capable of producing 200,000 tons per year of ethylene glycol and 600,000 tons per year of slow-release urea.

According to a report on Ordos** Net in June 2019, as of the end of May, the 100,000-ton per year production phase of Project 2 of Inner Mongolia Yigao Coal Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.’s facility for producing ethylene glycol from syngas, with an annual capacity of 240,000 tons, had seen a total investment of 1.47 billion yuan. Of this amount, 1.278 billion yuan was invested in 2018, while 185 million yuan was invested from January to May 2019. Research and development on the supporting catalyst process is currently in progress, with commissioning expected by the end of 2019. The No. 1 production line for producing ethylene glycol from syngas at a capacity of 240,000 tons per year at Inner Mongolia Yigao Coal Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. utilizes technology provided by Shanghai Pujing Chemical. The process was streamlined in May 2018. Environmental protection completion inspection in January 2019.

On June 15, the EPC general contract for Hami Guanghui Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 400,000 tons of ethylene glycol per year from waste gas – China’s first energy integration project of its kind – was signed in Urumqi. The signing parties are Hami Guanghui Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Guanghui Energy, and China Fifth Ring Engineering Co., Ltd., which is part of Sinochem. The Guanghui ethylene glycol project is located in the Naomaohu Industrial Park, Yiwu County, Hami City, Xinjiang, with a total investment of 3.56 billion yuan. The project adopts the third-generation technology for \"WHB synthesis gas-based polyester-grade ethylene glycol\", jointly developed by China Five Rings, Huashuo Technology Co., Ltd., and Hebi BMW (Group) Co., Ltd. Through a series of processes including conversion, shift reaction, low-temperature methanol washing, and PSA adsorption separation, the valuable synthesis gas components H2 and CO present in raw gas are extracted, and polyester-grade ethylene glycol is produced using carbonylation, hydrogenation, and purification technologies.

The circular economy demonstration project of Inner Mongolia Rongxin Chemical Co., Ltd., located in the Dalat Economic Development Zone, which has an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons of coal-based ethylene glycol and 300,000 tons of polyoxymethylenemethane, is scheduled to begin trial operations this October. It is reported that the total estimated investment for this project is 7.68 billion yuan, with a land area of 1,268 mu. Construction officially began in November 2017 under the EPC general contracting model. By the end of July, the civil works for the project were largely completed; 98% of the steel structure installation was finished, 93% of the process piping welding was completed, and 75% of the equipment installation was done ； 48% of the single-unit trial operation has been completed, with 4.54 billion yuan already invested. All preparatory work regarding personnel, technology, materials, external conditions, marketing, and product storage and transportation is essentially finished ahead of the trial operation with actual materials used. The 400,000-ton coal-to-ethylene glycol and 300,000-ton polydimethyl ether circular economy demonstration project of Inner Mongolia Rongxin Chemical Co., Ltd. is another major project undertaken by the company to extend its industrial chain and promote the clean utilization of coal, building on its initial 600,000-ton coal-to-methanol project.

The construction site for the 300,000 tons per year coal-based ethylene glycol production facility of Shaanxi Weihe Binzhou Chemical Co., Ltd., which is part of the Shaanxi Coal Chemical Weihe Group, is located within the Xinminyuan Modern Coal Chemical Industrial Park in Bin County. The project covers an area of 600,000 square meters. In April 2016, Shaanxi Weihe Binzhou Chemical Co., Ltd. signed a CTEG technology licensing agreement and an engineering design contract for a 300,000 tons per year coal-based ethylene glycol project with Gaoxuehua and Donghua Engineering. The original owner of the project was Shaanxi Binchang Mining Group Co., Ltd. On November 19, 2014, the 300,000-ton coal-to-ethylene glycol project of Chongchang Mining Group was officially transferred to Shaanxi Weihe Coal Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd. The project construction includes the main facilities such as gasification units, purification units, and ethylene glycol synthesis units, as well as auxiliary facilities for water supply and drainage, desalination stations, power supply, heating, and fire protection. It also encompasses storage and transportation systems, as well as environmental protection measures such as waste gas treatment, wastewater treatment, and solid waste disposal. Upon completion, the project will have an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of ethylene glycol; the by-products will include 17,576 tons of crude DMc per year, 5,336 tons of DMo reconstituted components per year, 5,920 tons of fusel oil per year, 13,440 tons of light fractions per year, 6,048 tons of heavy fractions of ethylene glycol per year, and 4,321.6 tons of sulfur per year. The total investment for the project is 5.495 billion yuan, of which 444 million yuan is allocated to environmental protection measures.

The “Demonstration Project for the Production of Chemical New Materials through the Differential Utilization of Coal” undertaken by Yulin Chemical of Shaanxi Coal Group is currently the largest coal chemical project under construction in the world. This project was planned and developed by Shaanxi Coal Group, taking advantage of the resource advantages in northern Shaanxi, following a completely new industrial organization model. The total area of the project is approximately 13 square kilometers, and it includes 27 processing units along with the associated utility systems. These units are mainly used for the medium- and low-temperature pyrolysis of 15 million tons of coal, as well as the production of 5.6 million tons of methanol, 1.8 million tons of ethylene glycol, 2 million tons of polyester, and 2 million tons of olefins; downstream products are also manufactured using these materials as intermediate inputs. The annual amount of coal processed exceeds 20 million tons, with an estimated total investment of over 120 billion yuan. The project will be constructed in two phases and four stages, with the investment for Phase 1 amounting to approximately 70 billion yuan. The 1.8 million tons per year ethylene glycol project is the first phase of this initiative; it is also the largest coal-based ethylene glycol production facility under construction worldwide. The estimated investment for this project is 26.5 billion yuan, with the goal of producing qualified products by June 2021. The entire project is expected to be completed and put into operation by 2025. The 1.8 million tons per year ethylene glycol project utilizes Collin’s patented dry powder gasification technology, as well as Japan’s Takahashi’s patented technology for producing ethylene glycol from syngas. Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. and Nippon Kako Kagaku Co., Ltd. jointly invested in establishing Shaanxi 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. This is the largest Sino-Japanese joint venture to be established in Shaanxi since 2005.

【High-Chemical Consortium’s Technology for Synthesizing Ethylene Glycol from Syngas – Presentation on Technologies for Producing Ethylene Glycol from Syngas (Part 1) – Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum Website】https://bbs.hcbbs.com/forum.php?mip=1&mod=viewthread&tid=1374914

Interview with Gao Huaxue – Exploring the Current Status and Future of China’s Coal-based Ethylene Glycol Industry. Zhuochuang Information, Wang Ping. 2014-08-19. Due to the severe losses incurred by the traditional coal industry, there has been a strong desire among domestic coal companies to transform and upgrade themselves in recent years. Against this backdrop, the development of new types of coal chemical industries has become a direction for many of these companies to pursue in their transformation process. During this period of transition, domestic ethylene glycol has become the choice for many coal-based enterprises, thanks to its promising market prospects (with an annual apparent consumption of 12 million tons) and high degree of import dependence (import dependence reaching as high as 70%, ranking first among imported organic chemicals).

Interview with Gao Huaxue – Exploring the Current Status and Future of China’s Coal-based Ethylene Glycol Industry. Zhuochuang Information, Wang Ping. 2014-08-19. Due to the severe losses incurred by the traditional coal industry, there has been a strong desire among domestic coal companies to transform and upgrade themselves in recent years. Against this backdrop, the development of new types of coal chemical industries has become a direction for many of these companies to pursue in their transformation process. During this period of transition, domestic ethylene glycol has become the choice for many coal-based enterprises, thanks to its promising market prospects (with an annual apparent consumption of 12 million tons) and high degree of import dependence (import dependence reaching as high as 70%, ranking first among imported organic chemicals).

With technology given priority in the development of the industry, domestic coal-to-ethylene glycol production technology has also seen rapid progress in recent years, giving rise to numerous advanced technology providers. So what is the current status of the domestic coal-based ethylene glycol industry? What are the prospects for it? And what other challenges does the industry face in its development? These issues have become a focus of concern for industry professionals at present. On July 13, Mr. Gao Lei, General Manager of Beijing Xinggao Chemical, visited Zhuochuang. Taking this opportunity, Zhuochuang Information had a friendly and in-depth discussion with Mr. Gao on the hot topics related to coal-based ethylene glycol, which are of interest to many industry professionals.