Technical Viability

The MEGeelong Plant is somewhat technically viable but older technologies used in this plant will
limit the potential to increase the overall plant efficiency. The plant capacity could not exceed 110
ktonnes/year due to safety conditions since increasing MEG production would require a surge in
oxygen flow rate to increase EO production. This would result in the flammability limit of the
feedstock surpassing the flammability limit which could jeopardize the entire operation in terms of
safety. Based on the yield, the amount of MEG produced per kg of ethylene used is 0.6381 kg (0.288
mol MEG/mol ethylene), which is quite low as compared to the desired ratio of 1.95:1 for
MEG:Ethylene. The overall energy efficiency of the MEG production plant was determined to be
only 53.58% because of the significantly poorer yields achieved by this process. The table below
shows the feed to product ratios with different basis.
Basis Unit Feed Amount MEG Product Feed to product
ratio
Oxygen kmol/hr 320 202.172 1:0.6318
Oxygen kg/hr 10188.42 12548.48 1:1.232
Ethylene kmol/hr 700.961 202.172 1:0.288
Ethylene kg/hr 19664.6 12548.48 1:0.6381

Economic viability

The MEGeelong Plant is economically unviable throughout its economic life as the NPV of the
project at the end of its 15-year economic life is –AUD$1.14 billion with a return on investment
(ROI) of -165%. The reason for non-profitability can be mainly attributed to the large variable costs,
in particular that of raw materials. The plant cannot gain enough revenue to earn back the initial
fixed capital injection, hence it can be observed that the cash flow diagram is continuously
downward sloping, and does not increase after the initial capital is paid off.

Environmental viability

The MEGeelong Plant is not environmentally viable because of significant carbon footprint of the
facility and the large contribution towards resource depletion due to the need for non-renewable
feedstock. The total equivalent carbon emission is 6.271 tonne CO2 produced per tonne of MEG
produced which is excessive and should be reduced as it is unjustified for the small capacity
production. Based on the natural gas requirements of the plants, over the operational lifetime of 25
years, MEGeelong uses only 0.55% of natural gas from the Bass/Ottway Basin. The water
consumption is much more severe with the plant using 18.91% of the total Geelong water reserves
over its operational lifetime. On-site water treatment and water recycling/reuse are highly
recommended to save on fresh water requirements.