Deep in the Turpan Basin, the lignite in the Aiding Lake mining area has not yet been mined, but the coal based new material recycling industrial park 30 kilometers away has sounded the roar of a pile driver. At the beginning of August 2026, the construction of 12 individual building civil foundations for the 2.4 million ton annual coal to ethylene glycol project of Hengyi Energy Technology, with a total investment of 25.7 billion yuan, was fully launched. The project construction period is 3 years, striving for trial production in the first half of 2028. This is the core start-up project of the Turpan Coal Chemical Spinning New Material Integration Base, which is worth billions of yuan. Its single set production capacity ranks among the top in the world for coal to ethylene glycol projects under construction.

Hengyi Supplement Chain Upstream Raw Materials

As a Fortune 500 company, Hengyi Group has a dual industry chain of PTA polyester and caprolactam nylon, but ethylene glycol, the core raw material of polyester, has long relied on external procurement. Through the Turpan project layout of coal to ethylene glycol, Hengyi will connect the entire industry chain from coal to chemical fiber. In addition to the 2.4 million ton ethylene glycol plant, the first phase is also equipped with a 15 million ton annual coal mine, a 100 kilometer dedicated transmission pipeline, a railway dedicated line, and a 1 million kW wind and solar new energy project. Against the backdrop of high international crude oil prices, relying on the local coal cost advantage in Xinjiang, the polyester sector is expected to receive more stable profit support.

Technical roadmap and circular system

The project is equipped with four sets of 3000 ton aerospace Maiwei furnaces for brown coal gasification. The synthesis gas is purified by transformation and low-temperature methanol washing, and carbon monoxide and hydrogen are separated through deep cooling and PSA processes. The synthesis of ethylene glycol adopts Pujing Chemical's process technology and proprietary catalysts, and the engineering design is undertaken by China Chengda. The project is also equipped with an annual production capacity of 40000 tons of synthetic ammonia and 30000 tons of nitric acid, which can produce the required nitric acid raw materials for dimethyl oxalate, forming an internal raw material circulation system. Keywords: New energy news and information, chemical industry, coal to ethylene glycol

Billion dollar cluster long-term layout

The Turpan project is a key breakthrough for Hengyi in the coal chemical industry in Xinjiang. After the first phase is put into operation, it will promote the on-site conversion of local coal resources and produce high value-added chemical fiber new materials. The second phase plan includes production facilities for 2 million tons of PET, 3.43 million tons of PTA, and 1.46 million tons of PA6. Hengyi plans to build the Turpan base into a billion dollar coal chemical spinning new material industry cluster within 5 to 8 years. From the commencement of civil engineering to the full chain layout, the coal chemical industry is accelerating its development in Xinjiang.Editor/Gao Xue