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Filling the gap in domestic adiponitrile technology — A look at the project that won the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress: Key technologies for the full-chain production of adiponitrile and nylon 66. Author/Source: China Chemical Industry News. Date: February 9, 2022. Clicks: 7. The project focused on the development and industrialization of key technologies for the full-chain production of adiponitrile and nylon 66 recently received the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation for the year 2021. This project has changed the situation in which China’s production technologies for adiponitrile and hexamethylenediamine relied heavily on foreign companies; it has overcome the technical barriers to adiponitrile production and ensured the security of China’s nylon 66 supply chain. Nylon 66 possesses excellent mechanical properties such as heat resistance, high impact resistance, and good air permeability. It is one of the essential materials in industries such as automotive, electronics, rail transport, aviation, and defense manufacturing. It also serves as a metal substitute in next-generation vehicles to reduce weight and consumption. Due to the long-term shortage of the key raw material adiponitrile, nylon 66 cannot be utilized on a larger scale. The production process of adiponitrile is lengthy, the catalyst system is complex, and the reactants contain highly toxic cyanides, resulting in even higher technical barriers. Currently, over 90% of the world’s adiponitrile production capacity is concentrated in Europe and the United States, and it is used by manufacturers for their own needs; only a small amount is supplied to the market. As a result, the global adiponitrile market has remained in a state of tension for a long time. To achieve large-scale production of adiponitrile in China and meet the growing domestic demand for nylon 66, this project underwent 6 years of research and development before its industrial application was completed in 2019. The project has established the world’s largest adipic acid production facility as well as China’s only 100,000-ton capacity hexanitrocin plant. This project features the following innovations: First, it develops a green and low-carbon process scheme for producing adipic acid using the cyclohexene method along with the accompanying cyclohexane method ； Second, a process technology for the efficient ammonolysis of adipic acid to produce adiponitrile was developed, and large-scale industrial application was achieved ； Third, a new hexamethylenediamine production technology based on low-pressure, high-flow cyclic hydrogenation of adiponitrile was developed and brought into industrial use ； Fourth, a low-carbon process for the continuous polymerization of nylon 66 and modified new products have been developed. The technical achievements of this project have been recognized by the Petrochemical Federation as filling a gap in domestic technology for the industrial production of adiponitrile, and placing it at the international leading level in terms of the technology for producing adiponitrile/adipamide via the adipic acid route. This project was carried out through collaboration among Chongqing Huafeng Chemical Co., Ltd., Huafeng Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai Huafeng New Materials R&D Technology Co., Ltd., Chengdu Pured Technology Co., Ltd., and China Chemical Saiding Ningbo Engineering Co., Ltd. The project has applied for over 60 patents in total, including 20 invention patents and 30 utility model patents. The annual export volume of its products exceeds 100,000 tons, with cumulative sales amountsing to 20.4 billion yuan and profits of 4 billion yuan over the past three years.