Wuhan Donghai Successfully Manufactures World's First Ethanol Production Project from Coking Oven Off-Gas—Coil-Type High-Efficiency Feed Heat Exchanger Put into Operation

Release time：2022-12-31

On December 26, 2022, the world's first 200,000-ton-per-year anhydrous ethanol production project utilizing coking-oven off-gas was successfully commissioned at Henan Liyuan Group, achieving a one-time startup and producing anhydrous ethanol with a purity of 99.8%.

This project is designed and constructed using the DMTE (Dimethyl Ether Carbonylation Hydrogenation to Ethanol) technology—developed by Zhongke Company, which holds independent intellectual property rights. The process utilizes by-product coke oven gas from Henan Liyuan Group's 1.28 million-ton-per-year coking plant as the raw material to produce anhydrous ethanol, marking the world's first industrial-scale demonstration project that employs a chemical synthesis method based on coke oven gas for anhydrous ethanol production. A key piece of equipment in this technology—a feed-and-discharge heat exchanger—is an advanced, highly efficient coiled-tube heat exchanger developed, designed, and manufactured by Wuhan Donghai.

During the development of this technology, Wuhan Donghai provided a comprehensive range of shell-and-tube and coiled-tube heat exchangers, as well as reactor prototypes, helping to gather critical data for industrial-scale applications. These tests confirmed that coiled-tube heat exchangers offer significant advantages, including enhanced heat transfer efficiency and reduced operational costs. The recently delivered coiled-tube heat exchanger for feed and product streams marks the first large-scale industrial application of this technology in a production facility designed to produce anhydrous ethanol using coke oven gas as the raw material. The successful startup and operation of this plant highlight another major milestone in Wuhan Donghai’s ongoing efforts to develop innovative, cutting-edge products.

The company remains committed to aligning with the nation’s strategic development goals of "carbon neutrality" and "peak carbon emissions," continuously advancing application research and development in innovative products such as spiral-tube high-efficiency heat exchangers and reactor equipment. Notably, these two product lines were already included in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s "National Catalogue of Recommended Energy-Saving Technologies and Equipment for Industrial and Information Sectors" in 2021 and 2022, respectively. As a result, Wuhan Donghai will be well-positioned to deliver more comprehensive and superior energy-saving and consumption-reduction solutions to the energy and chemical industries.

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