TEG is prepared commercially as a co-product of the oxidation of ethylene at high temperature in the presence of silver oxidecatalyst, followed by hydration of ethylene oxide to yield mono-, di-, tri- and tetraethylene glycols.
Applications
TEG is used by the oil and gas industry to "dehydrate" natural gas. It may also be used to dehydrate other gases, including CO2, H2S, and other oxygenated gases. It is necessary to dry natural gas to a certain point, as humidity in natural gas can cause pipelines to freeze, and create other problems for end users of the natural gas. Triethylene glycol is placed into contact with natural gas, and strips the water out of the gas. Triethylene glycol is heated to a high temperature and put through a condensing system, which removes the water as waste and reclaims the TEG for continuous reuse within the system. The waste TEG produced by this process has been found to contain enough benzene to be classified as hazardous waste. Triethylene glycol is well established as a relatively mild disinfectant toward a variety of bacteria, influenza Aviruses and spores of Penicillium notatum fungi. However, its exceptionally low toxicity, broad materials compatibility, and low odor combined with its antimicrobial properties indicates that it approaches the ideal for air disinfection purposes in occupied spaces. Much of the scientific work with triethylene glycol was done in the 1940s and 1950s, however that work has ably demonstrated the antimicrobial activity against airborne, solution suspension, and surface bound microbes. The ability of triethylene glycol to inactivate Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes and Influenza A virus in the air was first reported in 1943. Since the first report the following microorganisms have been reported in the literature to be inactivated in the air: Penicillium notatum spores, Chlamydophila psittaci, Group C streptococcus, type 1pneumococcus, Staphylococcus albus, Escherichia coli, and Serratia marcescens Bizio. Solutions of triethylene glycol are known to be antimicrobial toward suspensions of Penicillium notatum spores, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus viridans, and Mycobacterium bovis. Further, the inactivation of H1N1influenza A virus on surfaces has been demonstrated. The latter investigation suggests that triethylene glycol may prove to be a potent weapon against future influenzaepidemics and pandemics. However, at least some viruses, including Pseudomonas phage phi6 become more infectious when treated with triethylene glycol.
