Technical woes plague China coal/syngas-based MEG plants

Focus article by Sunny Chen

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s coal/synthesis gas (syngas)-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) plants are riddled with some technical problems, which disrupt operations of existing units and could push back the start-up of about 3m tonnes/year of new capacity, industry sources said on Tuesday.

About 29% or 1.66m tonnes of the country’s current MEG capacity is being derived from coal and syngas, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.

Given China’s abundant coal reserves, the country has developed technologies that use the fossil fuel as a much cheaper alternative to naphtha as feedstock for production of chemicals, including olefins and methanol.

Twelve new MEG units using coal and syngas as feedstock for production are scheduled to come on stream between end-2014 and 2015 but could face delays as operations existing units have not been smooth, industry sources said.

Hubei Chemical Fertilizer’s 200,000/tonne syngas-to-MEG plant at Zhijiang in Hubei province broke down in late October and may not resume operations until February next year, a company source said.

Before the recent shutdown, the plant has had intermittent operations – having started up in February but only went into full operation in May, only to be shut for the whole month of July.

In Henan province, Yongjin Chemical’s 200,000 tonne/year coal-to-MEG unit at Puyang was taken off line in early November, while its other plant with the same capacity at Anyang will be shut in early December, a company source said.

The plants are due to undergo their second maintenance in one year because of lingering technical issues, another company source said.

In contrast, MEG plants that use the more expensive naphtha as feedstock usually undergo regular maintenance at an interval of more than two years, and shutdowns caused by technical problems do not usually take months, industry sources said.

Until the technical problems are resolved, coal-based MEG units will continue to operate at much reduced capacity, they said, citing that current run rates at these units are pegged at 34%.

A much smaller unit in Xinjiang with a 50,000 tonne/year capacity, however, appears to be doing well so far, according to industry sources.

Xinjiang Tianye Group’s syngas-based MEG unit is currently running at near-full capacity, and has not experienced any production hiccups since it started up in  August 2013, a company source said.

The company is planning to start up a bigger 200,000 tonne/year synthesis gas-based MEG unit, also in Xinjiang, by the end of the year, the source said.

While most coal/syngas-derived MEG is limited for use in the downstream unsaturated polyester resins and anti-freeze sectors, Xinjiang Tianye’s products are comparable to naphtha-based and ethane-based MEG, which can be fully used in the polyester sector, the company source said.

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections