What will be the future of MTBE?

MTBE can no longer be used as a component in gasoline, which means that its largest market application is no longer available. MTBE can also be cracked to produce high-purity isobutylene, and it has other uses as well, but the market demand for it is very low. Recommend a transformation!

To be honest, our company is planning to install an MTBE production facility; production is expected to start in 2020. Should we proceed with the transformation at that time?

You probably switched to MTBE in order to process the isobutylene present in liquefied gas. However, it has been clearly stated that by 2020, ethanol-based gasoline should be used on a widespread scale, and the addition of oxidants to gasoline is not allowed. If the equipment has already been ordered, it will likely be difficult to make changes later; better to go ahead with it anyway

Given China’s current circumstances, it is unrealistic to ban MTBE. Although the promotion of ethanol-based gasoline is indeed a national policy, its promotion began quite early on! The environmental pollution and toxicity associated with MTBE are also unfounded (the data speaks for itself)! Imagine, even without the 2017 gasoline policy measures, how good the MTBE market could be now (after all, growth in the fuel market has slowed down)? A surplus market condition for MTBE emerged at the end of 2015. The so-called lamination technology (a technology that has been around for at least 10 years) also depends on whether it is cost-effective ； Moreover, the MTBE synthesis process, as an effective method for chemically separating isobutylene from C4 hydrocarbons, cannot be discarded either. Rational analysis, independent thinking, and making decisions based on one’s own current situation.