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The construction of the 500,000 tons per year ethanol production facility by Shandong Hengxin New Energy Co., Ltd. is in full swing. Author/Source: Gasification World. Date: 2023-08-15. Clicks: 32. It has been learned recently that the construction of this ethanol production facility at Shandong Hengxin New Energy Co., Ltd. is progressing vigorously. The key development project among Shandong Province’s top 10 industries, and Hengxin Group’s project for producing 500,000 tons of ethanol per year, represent the first application in our province of the ethanol synthesis technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences; this will contribute to the cleaner and more efficient use of coal. Du Hanshuang, executive vice general manager of Shandong Hengxin Group and chief engineer of Shandong Rongxin Group, said that the production facilities for 500,000 tons of ethanol, along with related systems for gas replacement, air separation, and the production of acid from waste materials, are all under construction. Trial operations are expected to begin in the first quarter of next year, with full production capacity and efficiency achieved by the second half of the year. The 500,000-ton ethanol project uses atmospheric-pressure circulating fluidized-bed gasification to produce gas, with coke oven gas, water gas, and methanol as raw materials for ethanol production. Ethanol synthesis technology at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. The process route is as follows: methanol is used to synthesize dimethyl ether, dimethyl ether is carbonylated to produce methyl acetate, and methyl acetate is hydrogenated to produce ethanol. Project Overview: In March 2022, Shandong Rongxin Group posted on its official website the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (for approval) for Shandong Hengxin New Energy Company’s 500,000 tons per year ethanol production project. According to the public announcement, the 500,000-ton ethanol project will use atmospheric-pressure circulating fluidized bed gasifiers to produce gas, with coke oven gas, water gas, and methanol serving as raw materials for ethanol production. Considering the current market conditions, no further LNG construction will take place. The process route is as follows: methanol is used to synthesize dimethyl ether, dimethyl ether is carbonylated to produce methyl acetate, and methyl acetate is hydrogenated to produce ethanol. Shandong Hengxin New Energy Co., Ltd.’s 500,000-ton-per-year ethanol project: Shandong Hengxin New Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hengxin New Energy”) is located in the Shandong Lunan Chemical Industry Park in Zoucheng City, Shandong Province (the official name of this chemical park is Zoucheng Chemical Industry Park). The company was established in June 2020. Shandong Rongxin Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Rongxin Group”) is located to the west of Hengxin New Energy. It currently has 2 sets of large ramming coke ovens of the NDK55-05 type, with 2×60 chambers each; these ovens produce 2.4 million tons of coke per year, along with 12×10 Nmh of coke oven gas and 200,000 tons of methanol per year. In addition, the project for gas replacement and comprehensive utilization of coke oven gas has been approved (approval document number: Ji Huan Shen 31). It was originally planned to construct 3 pulverized coal atmospheric pressure circulating fluidized bed gasifiers in order to produce 18×10 Nmh of water gas as a substitute for the coke oven gas used for LNG production; however, due to market reasons, the LNG production facility will not be built, and only the pulverized coal atmospheric pressure circulating fluidized bed gasifiers will be constructed. Given that water gas contains a certain amount of CO (≥28%) and H2 (≥41%), while coke oven gas contains a significant amount of H2 (≥56%), Hengxin New Energy plans to use methanol, coke oven gas, and water gas produced by Rongxin Group as raw materials to synthesize dimethyl ether. Ethanol will then be produced through the process of dimethyl ether carbonylation followed by methyl acetate hydrogenation, thereby achieving an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons of anhydrous ethanol. The Hengxin New Energy project, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons of ethanol, covers a total area of 28.13×10² square meters and is developed in three separate plots: Plot No. 1 is located in the northeast corner of the factory complex owned by Shandong Rongxin Group Co., Ltd., covering an area of 4.8×10² square meters; this plot is used mainly for installing water-gas compression and purification units as well as sulfur recovery and CO₂ liquefaction facilities. Plot No. 2 is also located within the factory complex of Shandong Rongxin Group Co., Ltd., but on the southwest side, covering an area of 4.19×10² square meters; it is used primarily for setting up coke oven gas purification units. Plot No. 3 is an area of industrial land acquired newly, 500 meters south of Plot No. 2, covering an area of 19.14×10² square meters; this plot is used for installing cryogenic separation and PSA hydrogen extraction units, as well as ethanol production systems. The proposed project uses methanol, CO and H in water gas, as well as H in coke oven gas as raw materials, and employs the methanol carbonylation process to produce ethanol, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons of anhydrous ethanol. The total investment for the project is 3,090,010,000 yuan, of which 2,100,000,000 yuan is allocated to environmental protection measures. The plant will employ 380 workers and be designed to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; the designed annual operating time for the equipment is 8,000 hours. The production staff will be arranged in four shifts, with operations carried out on three shifts.