Process for simultaneous production of ethylene glycol and carbonate ester

A process for simultaneously producing ethylene glycol and a carbonate ester comprising the following steps (a) to (c) for production of ethylene glycol, the following steps (d) and (e) for production of a carbonate ester and the following step (f) for purification of ethylene carbonate, wherein the step (f) intervenes to combine production of ethylene glycol and production of the carbonate ester:

• (a) an EC formation step of reacting ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide to form a reaction solution containing ethylene carbonate,
• (b) a hydrolysis step of reacting the solution containing ethylene carbonate with water to give an aqueous solution containing ethylene glycol,
• (c) an EG purification step of purifying and collecting ethylene glycol from an aqueous solution containing ethylene glycol obtained mainly in the step (b),
• (d) a transesterification step of transesterifying ethylene carbonate and a hydroxyl group-containing compound to form the corresponding carbonate ester and ethylene glycol,
• (e) a carbonate purification step of separating the carbonate ester from the solution obtained in the step (d), and
• (f) an EC purification step of separating ethylene carbonate by distillation from at least part of the reaction solution obtained in the step (a) and the remainder left behind the separation of the carbonate ester in step (e), feeding the ethylene carbonate to the step (d) and feeding the remainder to the step (b).