Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
4e0e912aaf22488c980926b5dd7a8e52
Materials
Associated ID
0940c495-70a6-4b22-8432-989a92dde2e2
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Ethylene glycol can be used as a solvent, antifreeze, and raw material for synthesizing polyester; the dataset includes primary raw and auxiliary materials, energy inputs, and water emissions from the production process, but environmental burdens associated with production equipment, factory infrastructure construction, and equipment maintenance are excluded from the dataset boundary; the life cycle inventory is compiled from data sourced from multiple references; the coal-to-synthetic gas route for ethylene glycol production involves the following steps: air separation for oxygen production, coal-water slurry gasification, water-gas shift, purification, cooling, CO separation, hydrogen production, dimethyl oxalate synthesis, purification, ethylene glycol synthesis, and distillation.
Activity Description
The process of producing ethylene glycol from coal-derived syngas includes steps such as air separation for oxygen production, coal-water slurry gasification, water-gas shift, purification, cooling, CO separation, hydrogen production, dimethyl oxalate synthesis, refining, ethylene glycol synthesis, and distillation.
Process Description
Ethylene glycol, also known as glycol or 1,2-ethanediol, commonly abbreviated as EG, has the chemical formula (CH2OH)2 and is the simplest diol. It is a liquid under normal temperature and pressure conditions and is odorless. Ethylene glycol is miscible with water and acetone but has limited solubility in ethers. It is used as a solvent, antifreeze agent, and raw material for the synthesis of polyester.
Time period
2020
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The specific processes include: (1) Air separation for oxygen production: producing low-pressure oxygen in an air separation unit for use in the gasification unit; (2) Coal gasification process: feeding coal feedstock into the gasifier to produce raw synthetic gas via a water-coal slurry gasification process; (3) Water-gas shift process: employing a sulfur-resistant partial shift process to adjust the H2:CO ratio (2:1) in the raw synthetic gas using CO; (4) Removal of acidic gases such as H2S, COS, and CO2 from the gas stream, then directing the purified synthetic gas to the ethylene glycol unit; (5) Separating CO through a deep cooling unit, and sending the purified hydrogen-rich gas to a PSA hydrogen production unit to generate hydrogen; CO within the ethylene glycol unit. , H2 and low-pressure oxygen are used in the synthesis of dimethyl oxalate, purification, ethylene glycol synthesis, distillation, and other processes to produce ethylene glycol and its by-products.