The mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant on Jurong Island will incorporate a number of significant technology advances that will achieve the highest commercially available yield from ethylene to glycol. Applying this technology will also ensure that much less water will be used in the process and virtually no by-products will be created. |
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The MEG plant will utilise Shell’s proprietary OMEGA process. The OMEGA process for ethylene oxide/MEG conversion is Shell’s newest technology and combines a CRI high selectivity catalyst for the conversion of ethylene to ethylene oxide (EO) with a catalytic process to convert EO to glycol.
In the conventional ethylene oxide/glycol process, ethylene reacts with pure oxygen at the ‘front end’ to produce ethylene oxide, producing CO2 as a by-product. There is some distillation to clean off the EO and then it moves to the ‘back end’ glycol section. A lot of water is used to react EO not only into MEG but also into by-products like diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG).
The new OMEGA process in the ‘back end’ glycol section uses a circulating stream of CO2to convert EO into ethylene carbonate, which is then reacted with water to produce MEG with almost no by-products.
The key to OMEGA's breakthrough lies in its combination of two complementary and highly selective processes which result in by far the lowest consumption of ethylene per tonne of MEG achieved so far in the industry. Other advantages include lower energy and water consumption, thus resulting in lower waste water production.
The OMEGA process explained further
MEG and Shell
Shell companies have a long history in the manufacture of MEG with strengths in process technology, proprietary catalyst technologies, and manufacturing and marketing. Shell’s EO catalysts are sold to third parties and have a global market share of about 55%, while its EO/EG technology is licensed.
