Producing ethylene glycol from coal is the inevita

Coal based ethylene glycol is the inevitable way to achieve self-sufficiency

in 2011, China's apparent consumption of ethylene glycol reached 10.47 million tons, surpassing the United States to become the world's largest consumer of ethylene glycol. In 2011, the output of ethylene glycol in China was only about 3.2 million tons, while the import volume reached 7.27 million tons, with an external dependence of nearly 70%. Due to the shortage of oil resources, high oil prices and high costs, the impact of cheap products in the Middle East and other factors, the traditional domestic oil route to produce ethylene glycol is lack of competitiveness. In the future, only through the development of coal to ethylene glycol can we reduce the external dependence. This is the information obtained from the situation analysis of China's coal chemical industry and the exchange Seminar on hot issues held from November 22 to 24

ethylene glycol is mainly used in the production of polyester fiber, antifreeze, unsaturated polyester resin, lubricants, plasticizers, non-ionic surfactants, explosives, coatings, inks, etc. In recent years, with the rapid development of polyester industry in China, the consumption of ethylene glycol in China is increasing. The self-sufficiency rate of ethylene glycol in China has been hovering at 25% - 30% for five years. In 2011, China imported 7.27 million tons of ethylene glycol, an increase of 9.5% over 2010

the core and foundation of Middle East Lianhe is IOT ethylene glycol, which has a huge impact on China's market. In 2011, the global ethylene glycol production capacity was about 26 million tons, and the output was about 20 million tons. The average operating rate was about 77%. The global ethylene glycol production capacity was relatively surplus. The Middle East is the main export region, accounting for 93.9% of local real estate exports and 51.4% of world exports

at present, ethylene glycol produced in China mainly adopts the oil route. The product cost is closely linked to the international oil price, and the price fluctuates greatly with the change of crude oil. The cost of raw materials accounts for about 50% of the total cost of ethylene glycol. At present, the cost of producing ethylene glycol by petroleum method is 5500 ~ 6000 yuan (ton price, the same below), so when the price of finished ethylene glycol is below 6000 yuan, domestic petroleum method products tend to have zero profit. The ethylene glycol products in the Middle East are made from ethane and propane in the associated gas of the oil field, which are cheap and even free to use. Therefore, the average CIF price of ethylene glycol is about 5120 yuan, and the cost advantage is very obvious

under the factors of shortage of oil resources, high oil prices and high costs, impact of cheap products in the Middle East, large water consumption and high energy consumption, the traditional domestic oil route to produce ethylene glycol is lack of competitiveness. However, the biochemical process route using corn as raw material and ethanol ethylene glycol is not feasible due to the limitations of national food security. Therefore, the coal to ethylene glycol route is an inevitable development trend

according to maxiaoxun, Dean of the school of chemical engineering of Northwestern University, China has strong competitiveness after the technology of coal to ethylene glycol is mature. The cost of ethylene glycol with a coal price of 217 yuan is the same as that of imported Middle East ethane ethylene glycol. At the price of $80/barrel of crude oil, the ethylene glycol with coal price of 520 yuan can compete with the imported Middle East ethane propane ethylene glycol, and the ethylene glycol with coal price of 580 yuan is equivalent to the domestic ethylene glycol level. It is understood that the design route of coal to ethylene glycol basically uses lignite and other low-quality low-cost coal as raw materials, and the price of ethylene glycol is much higher than that of methanol, so the economy of coal to ethylene glycol is very good. The energy efficiency of coal to ethylene glycol is 25.7%, which meets the energy efficiency requirements of coal chemical industry demonstration projects and is greater than 25%

at present, there are nearly 30 coal to ethylene glycol projects under construction, proposed and planned in China, with a total capacity of more than 8 million tons. However, it is worth noting that the coal based ethylene glycol technology is not yet fully mature, there is no industrialized device with long-term stable operation, and the actual production and operation technology and economic indicators have not been obtained. At present, coal based ethylene glycol has not been widely accepted by the polyester industry, so it is difficult to make a comprehensive and accurate technical, economic and competitive evaluation of it. Further research and industrial tests are still needed, and it is not suitable to promote it in a large-scale and comprehensive way, with the focus on demonstration

maxiaoxun said that in the cost composition of coal to ethylene glycol, investment and labor costs account for a large proportion of data processing, so building a larger scale production plant on the basis of mature technology can further improve competitiveness. In order to minimize the impact of ethylene glycol imports from the Middle East on China's ethylene glycol industry, it is necessary to develop cheaper and accessible ethylene glycol production raw materials according to local conditions. For example, chemical fertilizer enterprises in the eastern region can take advantage of the current situation. 1. The warranty scope has the ability to produce gas, and build ethylene glycol units to improve the competitiveness of enterprises; Coking enterprises can use the by-product coke oven gas to produce ethylene glycol to further improve the added value of products; Coal enterprises can use coal-bed methane and calcium carbide enterprises can use calcium carbide furnaces to produce ethylene glycol for them, so as to improve the added value of products while reducing exhaust emissions; In the second and third tier cities, gas can be used to replace the surplus gas that cannot be used to test the tensile properties of rubber, and glycol devices can be built

maxiaoxun pointed out that locking resources, appropriately extending the product chain, and improving resource utilization efficiency and energy conversion efficiency are issues worthy of consideration in the development of coal to ethylene glycol. It is expected that several sets of 200000 t/a industrial production units built during the "12th Five Year Plan" will be put into operation, and through demonstration, commissioning, optimization and improvement, a new way for China to produce ethylene glycol from coal based syngas will be found

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