New technology for butyl ethylene glycol ether

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The 60,000-ton ethylene glycol butyl ether project built by Denka (Nanjing) Chemical Co., Ltd. using its own technology has entered the design phase. This project utilizes catalyst technology developed by Denka Company, enabling a yield of butyl ethylene glycol exceeding 90%; the yield of the by-product, butyl diethylene glycol, is kept below 10%. In contrast, the catalytic technology currently used internationally for butyl ethylene glycol production results in a yield of the target product of no more than 75%. At the same time, the new process will also avoid the drawback of a large amount of by-products in traditional processes that cannot be effectively utilized. At present, the annual domestic demand for ethylene glycol butyl ether products exceeds 100,000 tons, and most of it relies on imports. It is understood that butyl ethylene glycol ether is produced by reacting ethylene oxide and butanol in the presence of a catalyst, with diethyl ethylene glycol ether and triethyl ethylene glycol ether being produced as by-products. Depending on the different states of the catalyst and the reaction, the catalysts used in the production of butyl ethylene glycol ether are generally classified as homogeneous catalysts and heterogeneous catalysts. They can also be divided into basic, acidic, and neutral catalysts based on their acidity or alkalinity. Most domestic manufacturers of ethylene glycol butyl ether employ a batch-type, homogeneous alkaline-catalyzed reaction process, using sodium or potassium alkoxides as the catalysts. It is reported that Denka Corporation used a new TY-1 catalyst in its successfully developed 10,000-ton per year pipeline-type continuous reaction process for producing butyl ethylene glycol ether. The TY-1 catalyst is a catalyst developed independently by Denka Company. Its activity and selectivity for butyl glycol ether are significantly higher than those of traditional basic catalysts. At a dosage of 200 parts per million, the TY-1 catalyst can achieve an ethylene oxide conversion rate of 100%, requiring a significantly lower amount compared to traditional basic catalysts. At present, the 10,000-ton ethylene glycol butyl ether technology upgrade project carried out by Denka using new processes has passed the appraisal and acceptance, while the solid composite acid continuous catalytic reaction distillation technology employed in the downstream ethylene glycol butyl ether acetate project has also reached world-class standards. Dena Company’s projects for 60,000 tons of ethylene glycol butyl ether and 40,000 tons of ethylene glycol butyl ether acetate are expected to come online by December next year.