Ethylene Glycol in China: The main process route for producing ethylene glycol from petroleum

从产业链角度来看，乙二醇上游主要是石油、煤炭、天然气以及甲醇等原材料。中游市场方面，根据乙二醇制备工艺的不同，主要分为油制乙二醇和煤制乙二醇，其中油制工艺又分为石脑油原料法以及乙烷原料法（天然气制），均是通过生产乙烯经环氧乙烷进而生产乙二醇；煤制工艺包括草酸酯法、甲醇合成法以及直接合成法。在中国国内，油制乙二醇产能最多，且应用最广，但受制于原油的价格；煤制乙二醇流程短，原料来源广泛且价格低廉，但环境负荷大，且装置前期投入金额巨大，成本较高。

From the perspective of the industrial chain, the upstream of ethylene glycol is mainly composed of raw materials such as oil, coal, natural gas, and methanol. In the midstream market, according to the different preparation processes of ethylene glycol, it is mainly divided into oil to ethylene glycol and coal to ethylene glycol. The oil production process is also divided into naphtha feedstock method and ethane feedstock method (natural gas production), which are both used to produce ethylene glycol through ethylene oxide production; Coal production processes include oxalate method, methanol synthesis method, and direct synthesis method. In China, oil to ethylene glycol has the largest production capacity and is widely used, but it is subject to the price of crude oil; Coal to ethylene glycol has a short process, a wide range of raw materials, and low prices. However, the environmental load is large, and the initial investment in the device is huge, resulting in high costs.

截至2月2日，中国大陆地区乙二醇整体开工负荷在62.40%，其中煤制乙二醇开工负荷在56.19%。对于国内煤制乙二醇装置开工率不高的原因，主要包括其项目投产过多、产品供过于求，并且还和蒸汽消耗高以及无上下游产业链正相关，或是项目建在西部，导致运输费用过高等，同时还受到国家“双碳”战略以及企业安全问题、高成本等因素影响。由于煤制乙二醇在生产过程中，副产了不同于石油路线的醛、酸、醇、酯类微量杂质，可能会对高档纺丝产品染色产生不利影响，因此下游聚酯纺丝企业更倾向于油制乙二醇，大大压缩了煤制乙二醇装置的生存空间。基于我国“煤多油少”的能源结构，我国大力推广煤制乙二醇的生产路线，油制技术和煤制技术已成为我国可以进行规模化制备乙二醇的技术，在“双碳”的大背景下，绿色、环保、节能将成为乙二醇行业的发展方向。

As of February 2, the overall starting load of ethylene glycol in Chinese Mainland was 62.40%, of which the starting load of coal to ethylene glycol was 56.19%. The reasons for the low operating rate of domestic coal to ethylene glycol plants mainly include excessive project production, oversupply of products, and a positive correlation with high steam consumption and the absence of upstream and downstream industrial chains, or the fact that the project is built in the west, resulting in high transportation costs, as well as the impact of national "dual carbon" strategy, enterprise safety issues, high costs, and other factors. In the production process of coal to ethylene glycol, trace impurities such as aldehydes, acids, alcohols, and esters, which are different from petroleum routes, may have a negative impact on the dyeing of high-end spinning products. Therefore, downstream polyester spinning enterprises prefer oil to ethylene glycol, greatly reducing the living space of coal to ethylene glycol devices. Based on China's energy structure of "more coal and less oil", China has vigorously promoted the production route of coal to ethylene glycol. Oil based technology and coal based technology have become technologies that can be used to produce ethylene glycol on a large scale in China. In the context of "dual carbon", green, environmental protection, and energy conservation will become the development direction of the ethylene glycol industry.

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