Thread Content
Sulfuric acid, as an important basic raw material, is widely used in industries such as chemicals, light industry, textiles, metallurgy, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. In the chemical industry, sulfuric acid is primarily used in the production of fertilizers, with its consumption accounting for around 70% of the total consumption. Therefore, the development of the fertilizer industry directly affects the development of the sulfuric acid industry. I. The current production status of the sulfuric acid industry in China At present, there are over 600 sulfuric acid production enterprises in China, of which about 80% are small-scale plants. These plants account for around 55% of the total production volume. Their production processes, equipment, and environmental protection technologies are relatively backward; they consume large amounts of raw materials, have low equipment efficiency, cause significant environmental pollution, and exhibit poor economic performance. There is still a considerable gap compared to larger enterprises, which severely affects the market competitiveness of these smaller companies. The production routes for sulfuric acid include acid production from sulfides, acid production from flue gas, acid production from pyrite, and acid production from gypsum. For many years, sulfuric acid production in our country has relied on pyrite as the main raw material. Abroad, sulfur is basically used as the raw material for production. Compared to acid production from pyrite, sulfur-based acid production has certain advantages in terms of environmental protection, production costs, and operational procedures. In recent years, the development of sulfur-based acid production in our country has also been rapid. In 1995, sulfuric acid produced from pyrite accounted for about 80% of the total; in 1998 this proportion was around 60%, and by 2001 it had dropped to about 40%. At the same time, the proportion of sulfur-based acid production increased from around 1.5% in 1995 to around 30% in 2001, showing rapid growth in the sulfur-based acid industry. This is mainly due to factors such as low prices of imported sulfur and tight domestic resources of pyrite, which restrict the development of acid production from pyrite. The main producers of sulfuric acid in our country include: Shandong Lubei Enterprise Group Corporation, Tongling Non-ferrous Metals Group Company, Jiangxi Copper Industry Company, Huludao Zinc Factory, Tongling Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Suzhou Fine Chemicals Group Co., Ltd., Mianzhu Longmang Group Co., Ltd., Yunnan Red Phosphorus Chemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Hongri Group Co., Ltd., Yunnan Sanhuan Chemical Co., Ltd. (Yunnan Phosphate Fertilizer Plant), Jinchuan Group Company, Sinopec Nanjing Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Yunnan Copper Industry Co., Ltd., Baiyin Non-ferrous Metals Company, Guizhou Xiyang Fertilizer Industry Co., Ltd., Daye Non-ferrous Metals Company, Shaozhou Smelting Plant of Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Co., Ltd., Hubei Huangmailing Phosphorus Chemical Group Company, Hunan Zhuzhou Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Fuling Chemical Co., Ltd., Guizhou Kailin (Group) Co., Ltd., Yunnan Yunfeng Chemical Industry Company, Sichuan Shifang Yingfeng Industrial Corporation, Yanggu Chemical Plant of Luxi Chemical Group Corporation, Sichuan Hongda Group Co., Ltd., Luxi Fertilizer Factory in Liaocheng City, Hubei Xiangyun Group Chemical Co., Ltd., Hunan Zhuye Torch Metal Co., Ltd., Guangxi Luzhai Fertilizer Co., Ltd., Liaoning Xiyang Special Fertilizer Co., Ltd., Zibo Cobalt Industry Co., Ltd., Juhua Group Company, Kaifeng Yellow River Fertilizer and Chemical Group, Shandong Zhaojin Group Company, Dong’a Phosphate Fertilizer Branch of Luxi Chemical Group Corporation in Liaocheng, Shandong. In recent years, China’s sulfuric acid industry has developed at a rapid pace; the annual production of sulfuric acid increased from 16.8458 million tons in 1995 (on a 100% basis) to 26.5134 million tons in 2001. The average annual growth rate of sulfuric acid production between 1995 and 2002 was 8.11%. The sulfuric acid production in China over the past few years is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Sulfuric acid production in China in recent years. Unit: 10,000 tons. Sequence number, Year, Production (converted to 100%), Remarks: 1. 1995: 1684.58; 2. 1996: 1756.67; 3. 1997: 1797.28; 4. 1998: 1911.35; 5. 1999: 2029.09; 6. 2000: 2365.04; 7. 2001: 2651.34; 8. January–September 2002: 2180.79, with an estimated annual figure of 2907.72. II. Consumption of sulfuric acid in China The main areas of consumption for sulfuric acid in China are as follows: Fertilizers: ordinary calcium carbonate, ammonium sulfate, heavy calcium carbonate, and ammonium phosphate. Chemical industry: trichlorfon, dichlorvos, DDT, plexiglass, epoxy resin, ion exchange resin, ***, p-nitrochlorobenzene, *** chlorobenzene, o-nitrotoluene, hydrochloric acid, hydroquinone, sodium azide, titanium dioxide, lithopone, dimethyl sulfate, phenol, synthetic alcohol, sodium aluminate, anhydrous chromium trioxide, oxalic acid, formic acid, sodium cyanide, 2-naphthol, sebacic acid, synthetic cresol, electrolytic caustic soda, aluminum sulfate, sulfonating agent, disodium phosphate. Light industry: synthetic detergents, sodium tripolyphosphate, synthetic fatty acids, bicycles, leather, synthetic leather. Textiles: vinylon, acrylic, printed and dyed fabrics, yarns for knitting. Metallurgy: steel pickling, fluorides, electrolytic copper, electrolytic zinc, electrolytic nickel. Petrochemicals: crude oil processing, petroleum catalysts, petroleum additives, caprolactam, polyvinyl alcohol, acrylonitrile. Other industries mainly refer to the pharmaceutical industry and the military industry. In our country, sulfuric acid is primarily used in the fertilizer industry, especially in the phosphate fertilizer sector. The consumption composition of sulfuric acid in our country is shown in Table 2. Table 2: Consumption composition of sulfuric acid in China Unit: 10,000 tons Serial number Consumption sector Consumption proportion in 2001 (%) 1 Fertilizers 70 2 Chemicals and light industry 8 3 Textiles 3 4 Metallurgy, petroleum, etc. 19 5 Total 100 China is a large agricultural country; with the development of agriculture and the chemical industry, fertilizer production has increased rapidly. Consumption of sulfuric acid products will also increase as a result. An analysis of China’s imports and exports of sulfuric acid and fuming sulfuric acid from 1995 to 2002 shows that the amount of sulfuric acid produced domestically was not sufficient to meet domestic demand; therefore, imports were needed as a supplement, and the volume of such imports has been increasing year by year. From 1995 to 2002, the net import volume of sulfuric acid and fuming sulfuric acid increased from 46,100 tons per year to 1.8324 million tons per year. The net import volume rose year by year, with an average annual growth rate of 69.23%, which was much higher than the average annual growth rate of production. Therefore, the demand gap for sulfuric acid products in our country will increase year by year in the coming years. The import and export situation of sulfuric acid and fuming sulfuric acid in China from 1995 to September 2002 is shown in Table 3. Table 3: Import and export situation of sulfuric acid and fuming sulfuric acid in China in recent years. Unit: 10,000 tons. Serial number, Year, Import volume, Export volume, Net import volume: 1, 1995, 5.34, 0.73, 4.61; 2, 1996, 7.55, 0.65, 6.9; 3, 1997, 12.89, 0.53, 12.36; 4, 1998, 29.72, 0.52, 29.2; 5, 1999, 26.25, 0.56, 25.69; 6, 2000, 36.75, 0.58, 36.17; 7, 2001, 96.23, 0.52, 95.71; 8, January–September 2002, 138.34 (estimated at 184.45 for the whole year), 0.91 (estimated at 1.21 for the whole year), 183.24. III. The development of China’s sulfuric acid industry and recommendations: In the development of China’s sulfuric acid industry, it is necessary to adjust the scale structure of sulfuric acid production enterprises as soon as possible. Compared with sulfuric acid production from sulfur, production from pyrite has certain disadvantages in terms of pyrite resources, grade, transportation costs, and environmental protection. In recent years, driven by low prices of imported sulfur, China’s sulfur-based sulfuric acid production industry has developed rapidly; currently, sulfur-based production accounts for around 30% of the total sulfuric acid industry in China. It has changed the situation in which small and medium-sized enterprises dominated sulfuric acid production from pyrite, further developed sulfuric acid production from sulfur, and selectively built sulfuric acid production facilities in coastal areas. By making full use of low-cost imported sulfur raw materials, it is appropriate for China’s sulfuric acid production capacity from sulfur to account for around 45% of the total sulfuric acid industry capacity. At the same time, maintain the production ratio of sulfuric acid from pyrite to avoid impacts from the international sulfur market on China’s sulfuric acid industry. Transform small and medium-sized enterprises into large ones to leverage the advantages of economies of scale. To meet China’s growing annual demand for sulfuric acid, it is planned to build new sulfuric acid production facilities, taking into full account factors such as site selection and integration with phosphate fertilizer production bases; the production scale should be at least 150,000 tons per year.