Thermodynamic and techno-economic analysis of coal to ethylene glycol process (CtEG) with different coal gasifiers

[Display omitted] •Modeling of coal to ethylene glycol process with three different gasifiers is conducted.•Thermodynamic and economic performance of three cases are analyzed and compared.•Sensitivity analysis of the effect of economic parameters on the production cost of three cases are investigated.•The CO2 emissions and comprehensive performance of the above cases are analyzed. Coal gasification unit, one of the most important units of the coal to ethylene glycol (CtEG) process, determines the amount and composition of syngas and is crucial to the overall performance of the CtEG process. Thus, the effect of coal gasifiers on the thermodynamic and techno-economic performance of coal to ethylene glycol (CtEG) process is analyzed and compared in this study. A rigorous steady-state modeling and simulation of the CtEG process with three different gasifiers (GSP, Shell and Texaco) is firstly performed and validated with literature data. Then the CO2 emissions, thermodynamic and economic performance of three cases of CtEG process with GSP, Shell and Texaco are detailed analyzed and compared. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis of the effect of economic parameters on the production cost of the CtEG process with different gasifiers is investigated. Results show that the exergy efficiency of the Case GSP is the highest, 43.98%, followed by Case Shell, 41.61% and Case Texaco, 39.22%. The capital cost of Case Shell is the highest, 2904.38 $/t-EG, followed by Case GSP, 2642.08 $/t-EG, and Case Texaco 2418.75 $/t-EG. The total production cost of Case Texaco is highest, 717.25 $/t-EG, followed by Case Shell, 705.05 $/t-EG, and Case GSP, 666.09 $/t-EG. The internal rate of return of Case GSP, Shell and Texaco are 18.01%, 14.24% and 17.72%, respectively. The CO2 emissions of Case GSP is the largest, 3.27 t/t-EG, followed by Case Shell, 3.12 t/t-EG and Case Texaco 2.89 t/t-EG.