SINOPEC Successfully Implemented Testing of Unit for Manufacture of Polymerization Grade EG from Syngas

The syngas-to-ethylene glycol unit owned by SINOPEC has implemented the whole test program and terminated its operation on January 29, 2013. It is learned that SINOPEC has become the world’s first enterprise to successfully produce from syngas the polymerization grade EG, incarnating that SINOPEC has assumed the leading position among domestic enterprises to possess mature technique for manufacture of coal-based EG.

This test unit which uses coal as the resource base and syngas as the feedstock is envisaged as one of SINOPEC’s key projects. On June 28, 2012 this unit came on stream at Yangzi Petrochemical Company at the first attempt of startup to crank out qualified target product and had passed the 96-hour operation tests. Sinopec has filed two Chinese invention patents along with its own proprietary techniques, and on the basis of 5 tests has made breakthroughs and innovation in key technology.

Currently, China boasts a string of syngas-based ethylene glycol projects. However, SINOPEC is the first enterprise engaging in manufacture of polymerization-grade EG to showcase the advanced nature of this technology, which symbolizes the leading role of SINOPEC in production of coal-based EG. The construction of a commercial scaleup project based on this technology has been kicked off, which means that SINOPEC has possessed the coal-based EG manufacture package technology covering the engineering design, the construction knowhow, a whole set of techniques, and associated equipment fabricated in China.