Result background:

Chemical glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are mainly used in the production of polyester resins, antifreeze, adhesives, paint solvents, cold-resistant lubricants and surfactants. At present, the vast majority of chemical glycols are obtained by hydrocracking petroleum-based substrates or grain-based glucose, facing major strategic issues such as the increasing depletion of fossil raw materials and food security. The use of abundant and renewable crop stalks to produce chemical glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol is an important direction of lignocellulose biorefinery. The industrialization implementation of this technology will have a significant improvement effect on the sustainable development of traditional agriculture and industrial upgrading, and will significantly reduce air pollution factors such as smog caused by straw burning. However, high production costs seriously hinder the industrialization of this technology. The production cost of straw chemical alcohol is specifically reflected in the high energy consumption and high wastewater discharge of the process.

Achievements Introduction Technical advantages:

The complete set of technologies for the production of chemical glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol from crop straw raw materials adopts dry biorefinery technology. This technology mainly includes main processes such as dry dilute acid pretreatment, high-solid enzymatic saccharification and continuous hydrocracking of straw sugar. Among them, the dry dilute acid pretreatment technology uses a new spiral belt stirred pretreatment reactor to achieve zero wastewater discharge in the process, and the amount of fresh water and steam is reduced by more than 80% compared with typical pretreatment technologies; high-solid content enzymatic saccharification technology uses a independently developed spiral belt reactor to treat the enzymatic hydrolysis of straw substrates with a solid content of more than 20%, and straw saccharification liquor with a sugar concentration of higher than 10% can be obtained; The continuous hydrocracking technology of straw sugar realizes the continuity of the chemical diol production process and the recycling of catalysts. Through this complete set of technology, a cracking solution of chemical diol with a concentration of not less than 20%(w/w) can be obtained.

The vitamin conversion rate reaches more than 75%.

Maturity of this technology: Many pilot tests have been completed and industrial application is under way

Application prospects:

In 2012, my country's ethanol imports were about 6.8 million tons. From 2013 to 2015, the demand for ethylene glycol will grow at an average annual growth rate of 6.5%. By 2015, my country's ethanol consumption will account for more than half of the world's total production. At present, my country's propylene glycol output is 328,000 tons, and the demand is about 360,000 tons, and the demand will increase by 5-10%. Through the above market demand analysis, it can be seen that the market demand for biochemical alcohols is large, the gap is huge, the application prospects are broad, and the demand is urgent. The technology of using crop straw raw materials to produce chemical glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol will be the most important technical route in the future.