The technology used by domestic MMA manufacturers

Methyl methacrylate, also known as MMA, is a colorless and volatile liquid that serves as an important raw material in the organic chemical industry. It is primarily used in the production of plexiglass, as well as in the manufacture of acrylic resins and molding compounds. It is also utilized in the production of acrylic coatings, PVC additives, textile sizing agents, latex plasticizers, and as a second monomer in the polymerization of acrylic fibers. In mid-November, Evonik Industries began construction of a new facility for producing MMA at a capacity of 150,000 to 200,000 tons per year; this facility is expected to come online by 2014, marking the commercialization of new MMA production processes. In 2007 and 2008, the world’s MMA production capacity was 3.416 million tons per year, with actual production amountsing to around 3.045 million tons, giving an equipment utilization rate of 89%. MMA production is concentrated in over 20 factories located in three developed regions: the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. The combined production capacity of these factories amounts to approximately 2.28 million tons per year, accounting for 70% of the world’s total production capacity. According to SRIC’s statistics, as of 2008, the global total MMA production capacity was 3.635 million tons per year. The main distribution is as follows: the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 1.773 million tons per year, of which China accounts for 410,000 tons per year ； The United States: 980,000 tons per year ； Western Europe: 794,000 tons per year ； Brazil: 33,000 tons per year ； Russia is 55,000 tons per year. By 2011, global MMA production capacity is expected to reach 4.21 million tons per year. Of this, Asia will account for 50%, North America for 26%, Western Europe for 21.2%, South America for 1.5%, and Central and Eastern Europe for 1.3%. In recent years, the new MMA production capacity added globally has been concentrated in Asia. Between 2005 and 2007, Asia’s new production capacity totaled 290,000 t/year. British company Lucite International (formerly Ineos Acrylies) is the world’s largest producer of MMA, with manufacturing facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan, China; its total production capacity accounts for 21.7% of the world’s total capacity. The American company Rohmand Haas is the world’s second-largest MMA producer, and its 360,000 t/year production facility in Texas is the largest MMA facility in the world. Other major MMA manufacturers in the world include Germany’s Degussa, France’s Total, as well as Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Rayon, Sumitomo, and Asahi Kasei. Next, HuiCong Chemical Network will take you for an in-depth look at the production capacity of MMA, a major chemical company. In 2005, Shanghai Luctech Company put into operation an MMA production facility with a capacity of 90,000 tons per year in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Zone. It is reported that on May 28, 2010, Luctech International, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Rayon, announced that its MMA facility in Memphis, Tennessee, had encountered force majeure following 5 weeks of maintenance work ； Singapore’s SMM Company expands capacity by 30,000 t/a ； The 70,000 t/a MMA plant of Huizhou Hui Ling Hua Cheng Co., Ltd. in China was completed and put into operation at the end of 2006 ； Thai MMA Company will add an additional 20,000 t/year of production capacity. Moreover, in 2010, Thai MMA Company plans to expand its 90,000 t/year factory located in Mab Ta Phut to a capacity of 180,000 t/year ； Market experts say that the supply of MMA in the United States was also very tight in 2010, and this situation is likely to continue into 2011. The MMA plant of South Korea’s LGMMA company in Ulsan has seen an increase in production capacity of 80,000 t/year. Advances in MMA technology: The production of MMA worldwide relies primarily on the propylene cyanohydrin method, which accounts for about 80% of total production capacity. The rest are mostly produced using the isobutylene method. The MMA production facilities in the United States and Western Europe mainly use the propylene cyanohydrin method, whereas MMA production in Japan primarily uses the isobutylene method. In addition, some newly built plants in East Asia and Southeast Asia have also adopted Japan’s direct oxidation of isobutylene technology. According to HC Chemical Network, when constructing new projects, European and American companies still tend to use the traditional propylene cyanohydrin process, while companies from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan prefer to adopt the isobutylene process. Given the certain limitations in raw material supply for both of these processes, investors are more likely to enter through joint ventures or partnerships, that is, by finding local partners to build together. For example, BASF produces MMA using the ethylene process, and built and put into operation a plant with an annual capacity of 36,000 tons in June 1988. This process uses readily available raw materials, giving it a certain degree of competitiveness; however, the technology is monopolized by the German company BASF and has never been transferred to others ； Mitsubishi Gas Chemical in Japan has developed MMA using the propylene cyanohydrin method, and has built a plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons that is now in operation. The characteristic of this method is that it does not use sulfuric acid, but still uses HCN and propanone as raw materials, with HCN being regenerated and reused. Current consumption status: With the development of China’s economy, there is still great potential in the domestic market for bulk use of plexiglass in applications such as signs, lighting fixtures, bathtubs, instruments, and household items. However, special types of plexiglass, such as optical plexiglass, radiation-resistant plexiglass, and optical fibers, are not yet utilized in China. High-purity plexiglass suitable for use in CD, VCD, and optical disc production, which is widely used abroad, is also not produced in China. Therefore, provided that methyl methacrylate is available in sufficient quantities at reasonable prices, China’s plexiglass industry has significant room for growth. In the surface coating industry, where foreign consumption accounts for a large share, methyl methacrylate is primarily used in the production of automotive topcoats and furniture coatings. At present, consumption in this field in our country is relatively low, with annual consumption amounting to only around a hundred tons. The main reason is that the price of methyl methacrylate in our country is high, resulting in a low proportion of it in paint formulations. As the living standards of the people in our country improve, the proportion and production of high-quality coatings will increase significantly, especially high-quality water-based coatings. In the acrylic fiber industry, methyl methacrylate is used as the second monomer for polymerization; due to its high cost, it is only used by Daqing Petrochemical Complex, while other factories use methyl acrylate or vinyl acetate. It is expected that consumption of methyl methacrylate in this field will not see significant growth in the future. In other various consumer sectors, the consumption of methyl methacrylate in textile sizing is relatively high, with most of it being used in spandex. It is estimated that around 10–13 kt of methyl methacrylate will be needed in 2005. Other related fields will also see development, among which ACR has great potential. By 2005, China’s demand for methyl methacrylate will reach 100–120 kt (including the equivalent amount of imported plexiglass). The main potential market areas for development are the acrylic glass and water-based coatings industries. The key to domestic methyl methacrylate gaining a foothold in the market lies in its ability to improve technology, reduce costs, and enhance quality in order to compete with imported products. PVC modifiers, such as acrylates (ACR) and methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymers (MBS), will become the main consumers of MMA. Qilu Petrochemical has built a 1.5 kt/a MBS pilot plant, with plans to establish a MBS production facility on a ten-thousand-ton scale. Fushun and Wenzhou are also planning to install 5kt/a MBS plants. It is beneficial for monomer manufacturers to develop downstream products on their own, as this helps increase MMA production and boosts profits. On the basis of expanding its MMA production, Longxin Chemical Co., Ltd. plans to attract investment to build a 5kt/a MBS facility in order to expand the processing of downstream products. Expand to downstream products. Mitsubishi Rayon of Japan and Jihua Company jointly built a 5kt/a methyl butyl acrylate production plant (originally scheduled to start operations in 1997). An industrial plant with a capacity of 300 tons per year for producing dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, using MMA and dimethylaminoethanol as raw materials, has been put into operation at Xinyu Chemical Factory in Xishan City, Jiangsu Province. The 5kt/a butyl acrylate (MBA) project jointly produced by Suzhou Amway Chemical Plant, Japanese Mitsubishi Rayon Company, and Shin’yu Shoji Co., Ltd. Analysis of industrial development issues (1) The currently industrialized MMA production technologies in use around the world mainly include the acetoncyanohydrin method (ACH method), the isobutylene method (including the traditional i-C4 method, the tert-butanol method, and the ASAHI method), the ethylene method (BASF method), and the improved acetoncyanohydrin method (MGC method). A reasonable economic scale for MMA production is above 40,000 tons per year. According to publicly available foreign literature, the investment cost for medium-scale plants (40,000–60,000 t/year) using the isobutylene method is lower than that of the propiononitrile method, resulting in better economic benefits ； The advantages of the propyl cyanohydrin method will become apparent in larger-scale plants (100,000 t/a and above), where the capital investment per unit will be significantly reduced, giving it strong competitiveness; however, this will be limited by the availability of hydrogen cyanide as a raw material. (2) When constructing an MMA plant in our country, whether to choose the propylene cyanohydrin method or the isobutylene method depends on market conditions, taking into account the scale effects of the plant, in order to find the optimal balance among raw materials, market demand, and investment. When constructing MMA plants domestically using the propylene cyanohydrin method, they should be built simultaneously with acrylonitrile plants in order to reduce raw material costs, and a certain scale of production should also be achieved. (3) The isobutylene process is mature and reliable; the raw materials, isobutylene or tert-butanol, are readily available. The production process is simple, the costs are low, giving it competitiveness, and it is widely used in East Asia and Southeast Asia. This technology has traditionally been held by Japanese and Korean companies, and most of them can transfer the technology directly. The Lanzhou Petrochemical Research Institute of China National Petroleum Corporation has also claimed to have successfully developed, in collaboration with the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a production process for manufacturing MMA from cracked C4 compounds, thereby creating an innovative technology with independent intellectual property rights. Quotations from several sources

It is noted that several more domestic organizations intend to launch MMA programs and have already begun recruiting members. Who knows the specific process routes used by 3M Company and Jiangsu Sierbang Company? Additionally, please be mindful not to post lengthy literature in this thread. The purpose of creating this thread was to exchange and discuss the process technologies for synthesizing MMA in the industrial sector or those currently under industrialization, as well as the status of related facilities in China, in order to stay updated on the latest developments regarding MMA. And the literature is often outdated; it might not be appropriate to use it at this time. Thank you!

As far as I know, there are six or seven such companies; haha, the total production capacity is estimated to be between 300,000 tons and 350,000 tons

{:1_90:} Please share. Could you tell me what they are? I’m currently interested in knowing whether there are any plans to build MMA facilities in Yixing, Jiangsu Which one is it?

Our company has recently developed a new technology for producing methyl methacrylate (MMA) using inexpensive methyl acetate and formaldehyde as raw materials, while simultaneously generating methyl acrylate (MA) as a by-product. This represents a significant breakthrough in being able to produce two important unsaturated ester products in a single process. No such technology has been reported internationally to date, making it an innovation of global significance; it is far ahead of other technologies in this industry； I look forward to collaborating with various enterprises; those interested please get in touch with me! QQ: 892238807