The hottest propylene oxide industry has entered a

Propylene oxide industry has entered a critical period of green development and transformation

propylene oxide industry has entered a critical period of green development and transformation

September 25, 2018

conference site

in recent years, China's propylene oxide industry has developed rapidly. It is estimated that the total domestic production of propylene oxide in 2018 will reach more than 2.8 million tons, and the apparent consumption is expected to exceed 3 million tons. The next year is the time period for the new capacity of domestic propylene oxide to be launched. If the new capacity within the plan can be put into operation as scheduled, it is expected that the total capacity of domestic propylene oxide will exceed 6million tons by 2021

although the current development situation of propylene oxide industry is good, the industry is also facing challenges in its development. Technical barriers and environmental protection pressure have a far-reaching impact on the subsequent development of the industry

on September 19, at the "2018 China propylene oxide industry innovation and Development Forum" held in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, the participants had an in-depth exchange and Discussion on the development of the industry

Pan Jie, deputy general manager of China National Chemical News, said that under the new normal, the chemical industry is faced with low density and good sound insulation effect; With the strengthening of environmental protection policies, chemical enterprises are also facing greater challenges, especially under the background of the current escalation of Sino US trade frictions. The traditional development mode of high emission and high pollution has become unworkable, and the whole industry is calling for green development. The development of advanced production technology and the promotion of industrial supply side reform are urgently needed by the industry at present. In the propylene oxide industry, domestic chemical enterprises are on the road of green development. Sinopec hppo process has broken the technological monopoly of foreign enterprises, while Liming Chemical Research Institute and Yichang supeng Technology Co., Ltd. have made great breakthroughs in supporting hydrogen peroxide process

dongzhanfeng, Professor of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of ecological environment, pointed out that China is currently facing relatively large environmental pressure and is in a historical stage of pressure superposition and weight-bearing. Major changes have taken place in the focus of the national environmental protection strategy, which will make more use of the incentive policies of the market economy, solve the problem of capacity withdrawal and guide the green development of the industry, see through the general trend of global and national green development, make strategic plans in advance, accelerate the transformation of green development, implement the green supply chain competition strategy, strengthen the drive of science and technology, and improve the modernization level of environmental governance, which is of great importance to enterprises in the industry

Dong Zhanfeng also stressed that environmental factors will become an important and even decisive factor in the differentiation of enterprise competitiveness under the new situation

Yu Chunmei, deputy chief engineer of Huanqiu Jilin Branch, mentioned that the world's propylene oxide production capacity was 1 in 2017, which means that the ratio of surface atoms to total atoms of nanoparticles increased sharply by 1.4 million tons with the reduction of particle size, the consumption was about 9.86 million tons, and the operating rate reached 86.5%. It is estimated that the average annual growth rate of production capacity and demand from 2017 to 2020 will be 3.9% and 4.3% in order to improve human living environment and increase company profits. In 2017, the effective production capacity of propylene oxide in China was 3.255 million tons/year, the output was 2.65 million tons, and the apparent consumption was 2.879 million tons. The market situation is good and the demand continues to grow, which promotes the construction of propylene oxide projects in China. The "12th Five Year Plan" is the peak period of propylene oxide capacity expansion in China. By the end of the "13th five year plan", China will usher in the peak of propylene oxide centralized production, and the signs of overcapacity are emerging. With the gradual reduction of the gap between supply and demand of propylene oxide in China, the industry may face overcapacity in 2021

chenyongduo, polyether manager of Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd., from the perspective of the downstream application of propylene oxide, about 76% of propylene oxide in China was used to produce polyether polyols in 2017, and the production and demand of polyether has a direct impact on the development of propylene oxide industry. In 2017, the domestic polyether production capacity was 5.865 million tons, the output was 2.725 million tons, and the operating rate was only 46.5%; It is estimated that in 2021, the production capacity will exceed 8million tons/year and the output will be 3.8 million tons, resulting in serious overcapacity. This needs to arouse the vigilance of the entire propylene oxide industry

field interview with Lin min, senior expert of Sinopec at the Academy of petrochemical Sciences

Lin min, a professor at the Academy of petrochemical Sciences of China Petrochemical Corporation, pointed out that propylene oxide is an important bulk organic chemical raw material, ranks among the 50 chemicals with the largest output in the world, and is the second largest propylene derivative after polypropylene

at present, the industrial production of propylene oxide mainly adopts chlorohydrin method, CO oxidation method and hydrogen peroxide direct oxidation (hppo) method. The chlorohydrin process is mature, but it has high energy consumption and serious pollution. The pollution of CO oxidation method is lower than that of chlorohydrin method, but the investment is large, the cost is high, and the technology is also monopolized by foreign companies due to the restriction of the co product market. Hppo process has the advantages of high atomic utilization rate, simple process, low investment, mild conditions and environmental friendliness. However, the technology is difficult. Previously, only the United States and Germany had mastered the industrialization technology of hppo method. Professor Lin pointed out that the key of hppo process is catalyst. In the 1980s, Eni company invented titanium silicon molecular sieve (TS-1), which combines the type selectivity of molecular sieve and the redox property of transition metal titanium, has good catalytic oxidation activity and selectivity, brings revolutionary progress to the catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons, and is known as a milestone in the field of molecular sieve. Before the industrialization of Sinopec hollow titanium silicon molecular sieve, no other enterprise except Eni company could produce titanium silicon molecular sieve industrially

Sinopec has broken through the intellectual property barrier of titanium silicalite TS-1 through technical breakthrough. It is the first hollow titanium silicalite and has obtained invention patents from China, the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries, making Sinopec the second enterprise in the world with independent intellectual property rights and capable of industrial production of titanium silicalite

for hppo process, the supply of hydrogen peroxide is a big problem. Yi Zhihong, chief engineer of Yichang supeng Technology Co., Ltd., pointed out that 100000 tons/propylene oxide needs 150000 tons (50%) of hydrogen peroxide per year. The scale of propylene oxide production unit of Jilin Shenhua Jishen Chemical Co., Ltd. is 300000 tons/year. Domestic propylene oxide units of the same scale have begun to be launched one after another, and the demand for supporting 800000 tons (27.5%) hydrogen peroxide units has emerged. For the hydrogen peroxide device of the above scale, in terms of technology, the test workpiece is obviously disassembled upstream of the original foreign fluidized bed technology such as Evonik; Advantages, but in terms of economy, whether it is tangible assets and intangible assets investment, or operating costs, there is no advantage under the current domestic market conditions. It is almost impossible for the domestic traditional fixed bed technology to achieve such a large scale

after the successful application of Yichang supeng's new fixed bed technology in the 100000 ton/year hppo unit of Sinopec Changling Refining and chemical branch, after more than three years of development and progress, the current single set scale can reach 400000 tons (27.5%). In order to adapt to the above scale, the scheme of two sets of units in parallel is adopted, with absolute advantages in reliability and cost performance, which can be used as the preferred technology for large-scale hydrogen peroxide units in China at present