Environmental impact assessment approval granted for Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s 2.4 million tons per year project for producing high-quality fiber-grade ethylene glycol from coal, with a total investment of 25.7 billion yuan

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On December 16, Xinjiang planned to publish a notice regarding its decision to approve the environmental impact assessment document for Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s project to produce 2.4 million tons per year of ethylene glycol derived from coal, intended for use in high-quality fibers. Project Name: Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s 2.4 million tons per year coal-based ethylene glycol project for high-quality fibers
Location of Construction: Coal-based New Materials Circular Industrial Park, Turpan Economic Development Zone
Constructor: Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.
Project Overview: The project is a new construction initiative aimed at producing 2.4 million tons per year of polyester-grade ethylene glycol; as by-products, 52,120 tons of ethanol, 76,000 tons of dimethyl carbonate, 32,485 tons of sulfur, 28,404 tons of liquid ammonia, and 24,500 tons of nitric acid (50% wt) will be generated annually. The main components of the project include: (1) The core facilities consist of 10 units, such as a gasification unit, a shift unit, a low-temperature methanol washing unit, a sulfur recovery unit, a hydrogen and carbon monoxide separation unit, a dimethyl oxalate unit, an ethylene glycol unit, an ammonia synthesis unit, a nitric acid unit, and an air separation unit. (2) Auxiliary engineering includes water supply, circulating water stations, drainage and reclaimed water systems, desalination stations, power supply, heating, air compression stations, fire protection, maintenance, flares, heating and ventilation, office and living facilities, a central laboratory, as well as telecommunications facilities. (3) Storage and transportation engineering mainly includes the storage and transportation of solid materials, the storage and transportation of liquid materials, coal storage and transportation, as well as internal roads. (4) Environmental protection projects include supporting measures for air pollution control, water pollution control, noise control, environmental risk prevention, as well as facilities for temporary storage of solid waste. The project covers an area of 253.75 hectares, with a total investment of 2,570,180.85 million yuan, of which 1,550,000 million yuan is allocated to environmental protection measures, accounting for 6.03% of the total investment. From October 22 to 23, 2025, the kick-off meeting for the process package of Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd.’s 2.4 million tons per year project for producing ethylene glycol from coal for high-quality fibers was held in Chengdu, Sichuan. The project utilizes the ethylene glycol process technology suite and proprietary catalysts provided by Shanghai Pujing Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., with China Chengda Engineering Co., Ltd. being responsible for the engineering design. This project uses lignite from the Ayding Lake mining area as raw material; it is gasified to produce syngas. The syngas is then transformed and purified to separate carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Carbon monoxide, along with externally purchased methanol and domestically produced nitric acid, is used to produce dimethyl oxalate, which is subsequently combined with hydrogen to produce ethylene glycol. The project is equipped with an ammonia synthesis unit, and the ammonia produced serves as raw material for the nitric acid production plant. The overall process flow is as follows: The 2.4 million tons per year high-quality fiber-grade ethylene glycol production project carried out by Hengyi Energy Technology in Turpan uses lignite from the Aidinghu mining area as raw material. Through gasification, syngas is produced; part of this syngas undergoes heat recovery before entering a low-temperature methanol washing unit to remove sulfur and carbon dioxide therefrom. Subsequently, deep cryogenic separation is carried out to separate hydrogen and carbon monoxide, with the carbon monoxide obtained being sent to the DMO unit as feed gas. Another portion of the syngas undergoes isothermal shift to adjust the hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, and after methanol washing, most of it is sent to the 1# PSA pressure swing adsorption unit for hydrogen extraction. Hydrogen and dimethyl oxalate produced by the DMO plant are used to manufacture ethylene glycol. Another small portion is sent to 2#PSA to produce hydrogen, which is then sent to the ammonia synthesis unit. Liquid ammonia is sent to downstream facilities to produce nitric acid. Vaporization: 4 sets of 3,000 t/d SpaceMaiwei furnaces, 4 in operation with 1 as backup. Transformation: Set up a 2-series transformation system and a 2-series untransformed system. Purification: Series 2. Dalian University of Technology Low-temperature Methanol Wash. Sulfur recovery: Series 2. Domestic third-stage conventional Claus sulfur recovery technology. H2/CO separation: Series 4. Including cryogenic and PSA hydrogen extraction. Dimethyl oxalate: Series 4. Ethylene glycol: Series 4. The production capacity for a single series is 600,000 tons. Synthetic ammonia: single train. 40,000 tons per year. Nitric acid: single series. Single compression method. 30,000 tons per year. Air separation: Series 3. One set of oxygen at 105,000 m3/h. Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd. Hengyi Group is one of the largest fiber manufacturing companies in the world, with its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. It currently has a production capacity of 8 million tons of oil refining products, 23.2 million tons of PTA, 13.5 million tons of polyester, 500,000 tons of CPL, and 520,000 tons of nylon. Hengyi’s investment in coal-based ethylene glycol production in Xinjiang not only helps to address the weaknesses in the upstream segment of the polyester industry chain and ensure self-sufficiency in raw materials, but it also enables the company to reduce its reliance on fluctuations in crude oil prices by optimizing the raw material structure. This approach helps to lower the costs across the entire industry chain and enhance its profitability resilience.