Current production status of phenol propyl ether

According to statistics, over 90% of phenol propionates in the world are produced using the isopropylbenzene method. The process steps are: benzene and propylene react in the presence of a catalyst to produce isopropylbenzene ； Isopropylbenzene is oxidized by oxygen or air to produce isopropylbenzene peroxide (CHP) ； CHP is decomposed to produce phenol and propylene, which are then refined after neutralization to yield phenol and propylene products. The most typical example of this method is KBR’s phenol process. In addition to producing high-purity phenol and propylene from cumene, the by-products α-methylstyrene (AMS) and phenylethylene (AP) are also recovered. In this process, the oxidation of isopropylbenzene to CHP using air achieves an efficiency of over 95%; CHP is then concentrated and decomposed into phenol and propylene with a high yield (greater than 99%) in the presence of an acid catalyst. AMS hydrogenation yields isopropylbenzene, which is used for cyclic oxidation or recovery. In the process with AMS hydrogenation, 1.31 tons of isopropylbenzene can produce 1 ton of phenol and 0.615 tons of propylene. The KBR phenol process features low energy consumption, low raw material usage, low production costs, and low pollution emissions. To date, 30 production units have been built using this process, resulting in a total phenol production capacity of over 2.8 million tons per year. At the end of the 1990s, Aristech and Shell Chemical used this process to build plants with capacities of 100,000 tons per year and 225,000 tons per year in the United States, respectively; Sinopec’s Shanghai Gaqiao branch also adopted this process. Phenol produced using this process accounts for over 50% of the world’s capacity. ExxonMobil has also developed a catalytic distillation technology for producing phenol from cumene hydroperoxide (CHP). A Zr-Fe-W oxide solid catalyst is used in the catalyst bed of the column, achieving a conversion rate of 100%; the selectivity for phenol and propylene is high, while the amount of high-boiling-point by-products such as 4-isopropenyphenol, α-methylstyrene (AMS) dimers, and tar is very low. The selectivity of this process for phenol is 89.5%, which is slightly lower than that of the traditional process using sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The operating conditions for the reactor catalyst bed are: 50–90°C, 34 KPa, and a liquid space velocity of 4 h-1. The selectivities for the by-products α-**ethylene and phenylethyl are 9.7% and 0.8%, respectively. This catalytic distillation process effectively utilizes the reaction heat in the propylene distillation process, combining the reaction and distillation steps to reduce energy consumption and investment. By using a solid acid catalyst instead of the conventional sulfuric acid catalyst, the neutralization step of the product can be eliminated. Energy consumption of China’s major phenol production enterprises as of April 2010: Manufacturer, Phenol, Cumene; Production process: Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Company – 18.8, 11.2; Isopropylbenzene method, technology from Mitsubishi Oil Chemical Corporation, Japan. Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Company – 10.0, 6.0; Isopropylbenzene method, technology from Kellogg Company. Jilin Petrochemical Company – 7.5, 4.5; Isopropylbenzene method, technology from UOP Corporation, USA. Zhonglan Harbin Petrochemical Company – 7.5, 4.5; Isopropylbenzene method, technology from UOP Corporation, USA. Jiantao Huizhou Zhongxin Company – 12.5, 7.5; Shanghai Gaoqiao Caojing – 12.5, 7.5; Sinopec Tianjin – 22.5, 12.5. Baotou Mingtian Technology Co., Ltd. – 1.4, –; Sulfonation method. Total: 92.7, 53.7

The Far East Group is currently building a phenol propionate project in the Yangzhou Chemical Industry Park, and it is expected to come online by the end of this year!

As long as the raw materials are benzene and propylene, they are generally obtained through large-scale oil refining! There must be sales contracts with local petrochemical plants, right?

Reply to 4# baoliang311: It’s not reliable. When Sinopec has excess benzene and propylene, it will supply them; when it’s busy dealing with its own needs, it can only stop production. For such a large facility, the loss incurred from being shut down for one day takes several days to make up for. I’ve seen many factories with controlled raw materials; some of them were built but never had any production activity, resulting in all the investment going to waste.

Recent manufacturers: Jiantao Yangzhou Shiyou Chemical, Lihua Yi Weiyuan Chemical