【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】Commissioning of Hydrogen Peroxide Production Plants Using the Slurry Bed Anthraquinone Process from 2008 to 2019

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical technology – praise for China’s prosperity and strength. This is just a starting point; more participation from everyone will make things even more lively. HaiChuan becomes even better with your involvement; we welcome everyone to take part more actively in the forum discussions. Everyone should pay attention to safety and know how to handle emergencies. ********************************************* On October 8, 2019, news came from Baling Petrochemical: the “Ten Dragon” project focused on technological innovation by Sinopec – an industrial demonstration plant capable of producing 20,000 tons per year of high-concentration hydrogen peroxide using the slurry-bed anthraquinone hydrogenation process – began operating at Baling Petrochemical’s coal chemical division. The plant was able to produce hydrogen peroxide with a concentration of 28.1%, marking the successful first operation of a domestic plant that uses this proprietary technology for hydrogen peroxide production. The commissioning of this demonstration unit has laid a solid foundation for the development of propylene oxide production facilities using caprolactam and hydrogen peroxide processes in Sinopec. The 20,000-ton/year industrial demonstration project at Baling Petrochemical for the production of high-concentration hydrogen peroxide via slurry-bed anthraquinone hydrogenation was approved by Sinopec’s headquarters in 2015, and in December 2016 it was included in Sinopec’s list of “Ten Key” scientific and technological projects. This project utilizes China’s first set of green hydrogen peroxide production technology, developed through joint efforts by Baling Petrochemical, the Chinese Academy of Petroleum Sciences, Qingdao Institute of Safety Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Corporation, Shijiazhuang Refining & Chemical Co., and Tianjin University. It was upgraded based on the original second fixed-bed hydrogen peroxide production unit in Baling Petrochemical’s coal chemical division, with construction carried out by Sinopec’s Tenth Construction Company. Construction of the project began in October 2017; the new unit was delivered on April 30, 2019, while the old unit was delivered on June 10, 2019. Following preliminary preparations such as staff training, single-unit testing, preparation of the working fluid, and water integration tests, the plant was successfully started up for hydrogen injection on August 17, and qualified products were produced on August 23. It is understood that the slurry-bed anthraquinone hydrogenation technology for producing high-concentration hydrogen peroxide represents the advanced level of hydrogen peroxide production processes in the world today. Compared with traditional fixed-bed processes, this technology offers four advantages: first, it increases production capacity – the world’s largest slurry-bed hydrogen peroxide production facility can achieve an annual output of 1.2 million tons, whereas China’s largest fixed-bed hydrogen peroxide production facility has an annual output of only 400,000 tons; second, it improves economic efficiency, as energy and material consumption can be reduced by around 20%; third, it enhances environmental protection, as the amount of wastewater discharged can be reduced by 30%; fourth, it improves the intrinsic safety of the installation – in previous process systems, there was a need to switch between acidic and alkaline conditions, and hydrogen peroxide decomposes violently when it comes into contact with alkalis, posing a risk of explosion. The new process system, however, maintains a weakly acidic environment, ensuring that the hydrogen peroxide production process remains relatively stable. At present, all parties involved in the project continue to strengthen their collaboration in order to achieve completion of the project as soon as possible, thereby preparing for the scale-up of subsequent processes and technological upgrades.