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Breakthrough in domestic FTO wax technology! The market has broad development prospects. Author/Source: Collaborative Group on Advanced Processing and Hydrogenation of Coal Tar. Date: 2021-08-16. Clicks: 20. On July 30, 2020, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute issued the \"14th Five-Year Plan Guidelines for the Petrochemical Industry.\" The development tasks for modern coal chemical industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period state that it is necessary to optimize and improve the operation of existing plants, actively work on upgrading the product portfolio, and develop FTO wax products through indirect coal liquefaction. Ferto wax is a methylene polymer produced from coal, natural gas, or biomass by converting them into syngas (CO+H2). The syngas then reacts in the presence of a catalyst to form liquid hydrocarbons, which are subsequently subjected to hydrogenation processes to saturate any oxygen-containing compounds and olefins present, thereby transforming them into a mixture primarily composed of alkanes. Domestic FTO waxes are primarily produced through iron-based or cobalt-based synthesis using high-quality and inexpensive raw materials from the coal chemical industry; as a result, they have a significant price advantage over petroleum waxes, with an average price that is about 1,000 yuan per ton lower. Ferto wax is a new variety in the wax market, primarily used as a substitute for traditional products such as petroleum wax and stearic acid. Currently, the waxes available on the market are divided into crude waxes and refined waxes, with refined waxes mainly being high-melting-point waxes. High-melting-point FTO waxes have a melting point range of 75°C to 115°C, accounting for over 60% of the market share. Since 2017, the domestic production of FTO wax has experienced rapid growth. By the end of July 2021, the main companies in China engaged in the production and supply of FTO wax were Lu’an Group, Inner Mongolia Yitai, Shenhua Ningmei, and Shaanxi Future Energy; moreover, there were additional companies planning to bring their production facilities online in the future. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20210816/1045383873813.jpg In 2020, the domestic consumption of FTO wax was approximately 350,000 tons (including crude wax and refined wax). The PVC processing industry accounted for the largest share, followed by the calcium-zinc stabilizer industry; together, these two industries accounted for over 60% of the total demand. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20210816/1046253878584.jpg FTO wax serves as a lubricant in the PVC processing process, with an addition rate of around 0.2-1%; this ratio varies depending on the type of PVC product. In the application of calcium-zinc stabilizers, FTO wax helps these stabilizers to extend their thermal stability period, reduce the viscosity of the melt, decrease the friction between molecules as well as between molecules and the mechanical walls, improve the initial coloring of the products, and have a positive impact on the mechanical properties of the products; as a result, it is widely used in this field. In the coming years, as demand for calcium-zinc stabilizers in China continues to rise year by year, and FTO wax continues to replace paraffin wax in the fields of candles and masterbatches, it is estimated that the consumption of FTO wax in China will reach 500,000–550,000 tons by 2025. Although China already has the capability to produce high-melting-point FTO waxes, there is still a certain gap in performance compared to imported products such as those from Shell and Sasol, mainly in terms of product quality and the stability of its specifications. On December 5, 2020, Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. began producing its new 100,000 tons per year capacity of refined fischer-tropsch wax. The wax with a melting point of 115°C produced by this company is the one with the highest melting point among refined fischer-tropsch waxes available in China, filling a gap in the domestic market. It was put on the market in the first half of 2021, being supplied to the East and South China regions. Using the wax oil produced by coal-to-oil units as raw material, this project isolates a range of high-value FTO wax products with different melting points and grades, such as those at 52°C, 60°C, 70°C, 108°C, and 115°C.