Ethyleneglycol is commonly known as ethylene glycol, and its English name is ethylene glycol, abbreviated as EG; The molecular formula is C2H6O2 and the structural formula is HO-CH2-CH2-OH. It is the main raw material for producing polyester, polyester resin, synthetic fiber, plasticizer, surfactant and other organic products. Ethylene glycol is the simplest dihydric alcohol, which has the commonness of alcohol. It can be esterified with inorganic or organic acids and polymerized with polybasic acids to produce polyester.
With the increasing market demand of polyester fiber and polyester plastics, the quality index requirements of ethylene glycol products are becoming more and more strict. At present, national standards must meet the requirements of excellent products, such as aldehyde mass fraction ≤0.0008%, ultraviolet transmittance, 220nm≥75%, 275nm≥92% and 350nm≥99%, so as to meet the needs of downstream products.
China's energy structure is more coal and less oil, so the method of producing ethylene glycol from coal is gradually widely used. Preparation of ethylene glycol from coal is to prepare synthesis gas from coal, then to prepare dimethyl oxalate by catalytic reaction, and then to prepare ethylene glycol by low-pressure hydrogenation of DMO under the action of catalyst. This production method involves crude oil, ethane, coal and other raw materials.
In recent five years, China's ethylene glycol production capacity has increased year by year. According to statistics, by 202 1, China's ethylene glycol production capacity was 2 1.45 million tons, up 32.8% year-on-year, and the output was1.8 million tons, up 2 1.6% year-on-year.
China has imported ethylene glycol products for many years, and the annual import volume has remained between 7.5-10.6 million tons. In 20021year, China's ethylene glycol imports reached 8,426,400 tons, down 20. 1% year-on-year. With the development of coal-based ethylene glycol technology, the production capacity will be greatly improved, and the dependence on ethylene glycol imports will be reduced in the future, thus improving the supply level.