http://www.cas.ac.cn/cm/202312/t20231229_4993320.shtml
An ethanol production plant with an annual output of 600,000 tons has started trial production on December 28. The plant uses coke oven gas as raw material and produces anhydrous ethanol. This is claimed to be currently the largest industrial ethanol production facility in the world.
The technology was developed by the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under Academician Liu Zhongmin and by Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group, the plant was built by Anhui Carbonxin Technology Co., Ltd. of the Huaibei Mining Group.
Academician Liu Zhongmin’s team has been engaged in non-grain ethanol production research for a long time, and has cooperated with Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group to develop a technology to synthesize absolute ethanol (DMTE) using syngas as raw material through dimethyl ether carbonylation and methyl acetate hydrogenation. Large-scale production of ethanol using coal, natural gas or steel plant gas as raw materials has been realised. Currently, DMTE Technology has signed technology implementation license contracts for 13 sets of industrial equipment.
The photograph shows Huaibei Mining Group Anhui Carbon Xin Technology Co., Ltd.’s 600,000 tons/year ethanol production unit. (Photo provided by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)