【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】040-2023: How China’s rare earth-based styrene-butadiene rubber industry has grown so large
Thread Content
This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2023-5-8 at 20:50. As is well known, the processing technologies for styrene-butadiene rubber can be divided into 5 major categories based on the catalytic system used: nickel (Ni) system, cobalt (Co) system, lithium (Li) system, titanium (Ti) system, and rare earth (neodymium Nd) system. Rare earth cis-butadiene rubber, also known as neodymium-based cis-butadiene rubber, is a type of cis-butadiene rubber synthesized using a catalytic system based on the rare earth metal neodymium. Thanks to its high strength, resistance to flexing, low heat generation, resistance to slipping, and low rolling resistance, using this rubber as a raw material in tire manufacturing can significantly improve the quality and performance of tires. The global production capacity for rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber is primarily concentrated in markets such as Asia and Europe. Singapore’s Alang Synco facility, with a production capacity of 140,000 tons per year of rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber, is the largest supplier of such product in the world; in addition, rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber products manufactured by Russia’s NIZHNCKAMSK company are also available on the market. In the research on China’s rubber market, rare earth cis-butadiene rubber was successfully developed for the first time through several collaborations between Jinzhou Petrochemical Company and the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, filling the domestic gap in this type of rubber ； Subsequently, enterprises such as Yanshan Petrochemical, Huayu Rubber, and Dushanzi Petrochemical also acquired production capabilities. In particular, over the past two years, companies like Zhejiang Transfar and Sichuan Petrochemical have expanded China’s production capacity for rare earth-based styrene-butadiene rubber by upgrading their facilities for producing such rubber.
Shen Zhiquan, a polymer chemist, is primarily engaged in fundamental research as well as applied basic research in the field of polymer chemistry. The terternary nickel-based styrene-butadiene rubber he developed laid the foundation for the polymerization processes at China’s five styrene-butadiene rubber production plants with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons each. At the same time, she was the first to use rare earth compounds as catalysts. She has received numerous honors, including the **Special Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress**, the \"Wu Xuezhou Award\", the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Award for Scientific and Technological Progress, the title of Advanced Worker at the National Science Conference, and the title of Model Worker in the national education system. Elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1995.
In 2012, as one of Sinopec’s “Ten Dragon” projects, the 30,000 tons per year industrial plant for rare earth (neodymium-based) cis-butadiene rubber was successfully commissioned at Yanshan Petrochemical. As a preferred rubber compound for developing high-performance and energy-saving tires, rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber offers superior ductility, wear resistance, wet-skid resistance, and fatigue resistance compared to conventional styrene-butadiene rubber, in addition to having lower rolling resistance and less frictional heat generation. In 2022, Yanshan Petrochemical’s annual production of rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber exceeded 10,000 tons for the first time; it took 10 years from the commissioning of the production facility to reaching this volume.
At Sinopec Group’s 2023 Science and Technology Progress Conference, the technical innovation team responsible for the efficient synthesis of rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber at Yanshan Petrochemical was awarded the title of Sinopec’s Outstanding Innovation Team for 2022. The team has developed a set of industrial technologies for high-performance rare earth cis-butadiene rubber that possess independent intellectual property rights. To date, the third generation of highly active and highly selective rare earth catalysts has been developed, and these are being used in the industrial production of high-performance rare earth cis-butadiene rubber.
Rare earth cis-butadiene rubber boasts good elasticity, low-temperature resistance, high wear resistance, crack resistance, and excellent dynamic properties, making it the preferred rubber material for manufacturing green tires. In recent years, as the development of **new energy vehicles has continued to expand, the demand for rare earth cis-butadiene rubber has grown rapidly. Yanshan Petrochemical has developed several grades of this rubber product, which have been well received by the market and customers, resulting in strong sales and production performance. In 2022, the rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber production facility of Yanshan Petrochemical achieved an annual output of rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber that exceeded 10,000 tons for the first time, with all of the produced material being sold. In 2023, the facility will also undergo corresponding technical upgrades aimed at developing new products and ensuring long-term operation, with the goal of achieving new breakthroughs in the quality and output of rare earth cis-butadiene rubber.
On May 23, 2019, through the joint efforts of all employees involved in the project, the technical renovation of the 50,000-ton/year neodymium-based rare earth cis-butadiene rubber plant, undertaken by the company’s Sichuan Petrochemical project, was successfully completed. This project is part of CNPC’s first neodymium-based rubber production facility, and construction began on August 26, 2018.
On March 30, 2021, the Dushanzi Petrochemical Company’s key R&D project aimed at producing narrowly distributed branched rare earth cis-butadiene rubber completed industrial-scale continuous pilot production of the medium Mooney viscosity grade BR9101N and the high Mooney viscosity grade BR9102. These products passed the on-site evaluation by an expert panel, marking significant progress in this high-level research initiative. It is reported that narrowly distributed branched rare earth cis-butadiene rubber is an important raw material for producing green, high-performance tires. China needs to import nearly 150,000 tons of narrowly distributed styrene-butadiene rubber each year, and this product is a focus of development in the country. To effectively implement its strategy for competing in the high-end segment of new chemical products, Dushanzi Petrochemical has consistently focused on the development of efficient catalysts for rare earth styrene-butadiene rubber as well as a range of new products. During this industrial-scale trial of continuous polymerization of narrow-distribution branched rare earth cis-butadiene rubber, the catalyst exhibited high activity and the polymerization process was stable and well-controlled. The key parameters of the polymer met the required standards; indicators such as the Mooney viscosity and molecular weight distribution were at advanced levels for the industry.
Zhejiang Petrochemical’s 100,000-ton per year styrene-butadiene rare earth rubber and 70,000-ton per year nickel-based styrene-butadiene rubber production facilities came online. On April 25, 2023, the facilities built by Zhejiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in the Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of styrene-butadiene rare earth rubber and 70,000 tons of nickel-based styrene-butadiene rubber, began operations successfully, and qualified products are now being produced there. SBR possesses excellent wear resistance, good flex resistance, low heat generation, and outstanding performance at low temperatures, making it suitable for wide use in tires, shoes, conveyor belts, hoses, and various rubber products. The commissioning of Zhejiang Petrochemical’s plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of styrene-butadiene rare earth rubber, and another plant with an annual capacity of 70,000 tons of nickel-based styrene-butadiene rubber, helps to enhance the domestic supply capacity for these types of rubber products. This improves the security of supply chains for related industries in China. The combined production capacity of these newly commissioned rubber plants, along with that of the previously operational styrene-butadiene rubber plants, places them among the top three in China, giving them a clear competitive advantage.