The 400 kta coal to ethylene glycol plant owned by Chn Energy Group Yulin chemical Co., Ltd (Chn Energy Yulin), the largest capacity of single train syngas to MEG project of PJCHEM process, has been on stream successfully.

At 10:00 on November 21, 2021, 400kta the ethylene glycol plant co-production of 50kta polyglycolic acid (PGA) by Chn Energy Yulin got through the whole process in one go and produced qualified MEG. The smooth operation of MEG plant has laid a foundation for the production of degradable materials PGA in the next step, and has an important demonstration and positive impact on promoting the transformation and development of China's coal chemical industry to "high-end, diversified and low-carbon" industry chain.

The construction of the 400kta ethylene glycol plant started in July 2018, and mechanical completion was finished in June 2021. At 21:43 on November 16, dinitrogen tetroxide（N2O4）was injected in the system and after 108 hours of collaborative efforts between Chn Energy Group Yulin and PJCHEM, qualified MEG was produced. The plant adopts PJCHEM syngas to ethylene glycol co-production PGA process, while the engineering design was carried out by Chn Energy Group. All the equipment of the whole process is domestic. 100kta carbonylation reactor, the core equipment, is the largest MEG on-stream carbonylation reactor in China.

Unlike the traditional coal to ethylene glycol project, this project is deeply coupled with the 1.8 million ton coal-to-methanol on-stream project and the world's first 50 kta degradable materials PGA demonstration project under construction, which not only achieves the utilization of the surplus syngas of methanol project, collectively use the same utility system, and the recycling of the tail gas from MEG units, but also extends industrial chain to the high-end material, which contributes to recycling and clean utilization of coal, and improvement of economic benefits and environmental protection benefits. Compared with the similar scale of coal to ethylene glycol plant, the investment cost is reduced by about 30% and the complete production cost is reduced by about 20%. Compared with traditional plastics production, coal consumption of degradable plastics PGA per ton can be reduced by about 50%, and carbon dioxide emission can be reduced by about 65% and industrial added-value can be increased by 2-3 times.