The world’s first pilot plant for producing acrylic acid using the acetic acid-formaldehyde method completed a 72-hour test

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The world’s first pilot plant for producing acrylic acid using the acetic acid-formaldehyde method has completed a 72-hour test period. Author/Source: Gasification World. Date: April 18, 2023. Clicks: 4. Recently, the world’s first pilot plant with an annual production capacity of 1,000 tons for manufacturing acrylic acid via the acetic acid-formaldehyde method, developed through a collaboration between Southwest Chemical Engineering Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd., Solutia Corporation, and Shandong Energy Lunan Chemical, has finished the second phase of testing. It successfully passed the 72-hour performance test, with all parameters meeting the design specifications; the purity of the product was 99.80%, which meets the standards for high-purity acrylic acid as defined by national regulations. The production of acrylic acid via the formaldehyde acetate method offers advantages such as lower investment costs, reduced expenses, and safer operation compared to the traditional oxidation of propylene method. The success of the pilot test marks a significant step forward toward the industrialization of this new coal-based process for producing acrylic acid. Leveraging the resources of large chemical enterprises in pilot-scale production, the three parties worked together to overcome various key challenges related to the industrialization of this technology, thereby accelerating the transformation of scientific achievements into industrial applications. This approach overcame the limitations imposed by foreign propylene oxidation methods and added a new industrial chain to China’s coal chemical industry. In May 2020, Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. established the Southwest Chemical Lunan R&D Base and a key laboratory at the Lunan New Materials R&D Center. Subsequently, Selenis (Nanjing) Chemical Co., Ltd. signed a tripartite agreement with Southwest Chemical and Yankuang Lunan Chemical to build a pilot-scale unit (PSU) at Lunan Chemical, using the acetic acid-formaldehyde condensation process jointly developed by Selenis and Southwest Chemical to produce acrylic acid. In September 2022, the pilot plant for producing acrylic acid via the formaldehyde acetate method was fully operational.