Qixiang Tengda’s independently developed project on \"Research, Development, and Industrial Application of Catalysts for the Oxidation of Butane to Maleic Anhydride\" won an award

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Recently, Qixiang Tengda’s independently developed project on \"Research and Industrial Application of Catalysts for the Oxidation of Butane to Maleic Anhydride\" won the first prize for scientific and technological advancement at the Third Science and Technology Conference of Shandong Energy Group. 　　“The foreign catalysts that were used in the past were expensive and had limited availability; reservations had to be made months in advance. Any problems with them would severely impact production progress and product quality. ”Zhang Chunfeng, member of the Party Committee, deputy general manager, and chief engineer of Qixiang Tengda, said. 　　To break free from this situation of being dependent on others, starting in 2016, Qixiang Tengda began working on technological advancements for maleic anhydride catalysts. “During the early stages of research and development, the team conducted hundreds of small experiments each day, and the notes taken from their trips to learn more piled up to be taller than a person. ”Recalled Hou Junqi, the chief engineer at Qilu Keli, the unit under Qixiang Tengda responsible for catalyst research and development. 　　As the catalyst entered the pilot-scale production phase, the task force remained at the pilot-scale facility for several months in a row; multiple scale-up experiments demonstrated excellent performance in terms of catalyst activity, selectivity, and stability. Through years of optimization, the company has successfully developed the KLOX-01 series of maleic anhydride catalysts independently and brought them into industrial use. 　　The research team did not stop at the successes in the laboratory; instead, they went to the actual installation site to find the optimal solution. “We form joint working groups with operators and technical staff to carry out customized optimization for various process conditions such as load and temperature. ”Wen Zhaoan, the director of the Third Plant of Qilu Keli Catalysts, explained. By optimizing multiple parameters, the catalyst consumption per unit decreased by 5%, and its overall performance surpassed that of imported catalysts; the key technical and economic indicators were 2% better than those of imported catalysts. This achievement successfully ended China’s reliance on imported catalysts for the oxidation of butane to maleic anhydride. 　　To date, the project has established an industrial production facility with an annual capacity of 720 tons. The catalysts produced feature high activity, good selectivity, and stable performance; in addition to that, they are used for