【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】World’s first petro-based 10,000-ton/year maleic anhydride production project via hydrogenation goes into commercial operation from 2018 to 2023

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical technology – praising the prosperity and strength of modern China. 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 join in the forum discussions. Be careful with fire as the heat increases in July. -------------------------------------------- On July 1, 2023, reporters learned from Jiangnan University that the world’s first large-scale production facility for producing maleic anhydride via the hydrogenation of petroleum-based succinic anhydride, a project carried out by a team of professors including Dong Weifu and Wang Shibo from the School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering at that university, in collaboration with Xuke New Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd., has now reached full-scale production. This marks a significant breakthrough in China’s technology and equipment for the low-cost, large-scale production of high-quality succinic anhydride and succinic acid, and it will provide strong support for the development of the green chemical materials industry. 　　Professor Dong Weiifu explained that the project for producing 10,000 tons per year of succinic anhydride and succinic acid in its first phase began production on May 31, with a successful start-up on the first attempt. On June 6, high-quality maleic anhydride products with a purity of over 99.5% were produced stably; the product quality was excellent, featuring high purity and a white color, with the highest purity reaching over 99.9%. At present, it has been operating stably for a month; the purity of the succinic anhydride produced remains above 99.5%, with a maximum purity of 99.9%, which is at the international leading level. 　　“Within a month of the commissioning of the production facility for this project, high-quality maleic anhydride and maleic acid products were obtained through highly efficient catalytic reactions at a rate of nearly 200 units per unit time. Both of these products are white crystalline solids at room temperature and normal pressure, and they are important chemical raw materials. ”Professor Wang Shibo said. 　　It is understood that succinic anhydride and succinic acid are among the raw materials used in the synthesis of petroleum-based biodegradable polymers, such as polybutylene succinate (PBS). This biodegradable polymer has physical and mechanical properties similar to those of polypropylene (PP), and can be used as a substitute for PP in applications such as straws, disposable tableware, disposable hotel plastic items, and spinning processes. 　　Electrolytic hydrogenation and autoclave slurry-bed hydrogenation processes are characterized by high energy consumption, severe corrosion, and difficulties in scaling up and operating continuously; they have long been the key barriers preventing the rapid development of industries such as those involving biodegradable materials like PBS. 　　This research team innovatively developed a highly selective fixed-bed liquid-phase continuous hydrogenation catalytic system for maleic anhydride, along with the key technologies associated with it, and implemented its industrial production and application at Xukewei New Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd. “The efficient cleaning production process we have developed creates favorable conditions for the low-cost, large-scale production of high-quality succinic anhydride and succinic acid products, as well as for the widespread use of biodegradable materials such as PBS. It also lays a solid foundation for further rapid scale-up in the future. 　　The first phase of Xukē New Materials project verified the feasibility of 10,000-ton-scale technology. ”Professor Wang Shibo said. Wang Xin, deputy general manager of Ruxike New Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd., said that in the next step, the two parties will accelerate the expansion of production capacity by constructing in Phase 2 a 200,000-ton succinic anhydride plant, a 100,000-ton PBAT (thermoplastic biodegradable plastic) plant, a 100,000-ton PBS plant, a 100,000-ton BDO (1,4-butanediol) plant, and a 100,000-ton succinic acid anhydride plant.