Propane dehydrogenation capacity exceeds 5 million tons; there remains a significant gap in the propylene market

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Frog Chemical (www.qwchem.cn) reprints content from XinSijie Network: Propane dehydrogenation capacity exceeds 5 million tons; there is still a significant gap in the propylene market. Propylene is a raw material for three major types of synthetic materials, and it plays an important role in these synthetic materials. Propylene is primarily used in the production of polypropylene. Additionally, it can be used to manufacture acrylonitrile, isopropanol, phenol, propyl and butyl alcohols as well as octanol, acrylic acid and its derivatives, as well as propylene oxide and propylene glycol, epichlorohydrin, and synthetic glycerin. It serves as an important raw material for various organic chemicals, synthetic resins, synthetic rubbers, and fine chemicals. Currently, there is a high demand for propylene in the domestic market, and there is a significant gap between supply and demand in this sector. Moreover, the domestic market still relies to some extent on imported propylene; therefore, the future prospects for the domestic propylene industry are quite promising. The huge potential for industry growth is attracting many companies to join, including planned projects, projects under construction, and bidding projects – all within Frog Chemical Network, the world’s only e-commerce platform dedicated to the chemical industry. Depending on the production process, the current production of propylene mainly falls into three categories: propylene produced from naphtha (SC), propylene produced via methanol synthesis from coal (MTO), and propylene produced through propane dehydrogenation (PDH). Olefin production from naphtha is a traditional olefin process, referring to the technology of producing olefins using naphtha as raw material ； Coal-based olefins, also known as olefins produced from coal-derived methanol, refer to the technology in which coal is used as a raw material to produce methanol, which is then used to manufacture olefins such as ethylene and propylene ； Propylene production via propane dehydrogenation (PDH) involves using the raw material propane to produce propylene and the by-product hydrogen. According to the \"Special Research Report on Leading Propane Dehydrogenation Companies and Their Competitors from 2018 to 2021\" released by Newthink Industry Research Center, in 2017, petroleum-based and coal-based methods accounted for a large proportion of propylene production; petroleum-based olefin production contributed around 66% of total propylene output, while coal-based olefin production accounted for about 20%. Compared to these two methods, the propane dehydrogenation process yielded less propylene, accounting for approximately 13.2%, according to Frog Chemicals. The processes for producing olefins from coal and oil consume large amounts of resources such as coal and petroleum, and are concentrated in areas where these resources are available. As a result, propylene plants in China are mainly located in the East China and Northwest regions, with Shandong being an important production base for the propylene industry in the country. Propane production is mainly concentrated in the East China region, with Shandong Province being a key area. This region is located near the coast and has numerous ports, which facilitates import trade; therefore, it serves as an important production base for converting propane into propylene in China – Frog Chemicals. Industry researchers at Newthink Group note that there are currently 8 propane dehydrogenation production facilities in operation in China. In 2013, only Tianjin Bohua Group managed to start operations; in 2014, four more companies – Changjiang Natural Gas Chemical, Sanyuan Petrochemical, Weixing Petrochemical, and Ningbo Haiyue – began production. In 2015, Sanjin Petrochemical, Yangtze River Petrochemical, and Wanhua Chemical also started operating. By 2017, China’s propane dehydrogenation capacity had exceeded 5 million tons.