【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】The first domestic catalyst-based 1,4-butanediol (BDO) production line was successfully put into operation from 2014 to 2021

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This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2023-9-10 at 19:44. 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) is an important basic organic chemical raw material with a wide range of applications. Through these two main reactions of dehydration and dehydrogenation, it is primarily used to produce polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), polyurethanes (PU), N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), **furane (THF), and polytetramethylene glycol ether (PTMEG), among others ； In particular, its derivatives are chemical products with high added value, and are widely used as solvents, in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, plasticizers, curing agents, pesticides, herbicides, foam synthetic leathers, fibers, engineering plastics, and other applications. Previously, the BDO production process and catalyst preparation technologies were under foreign monopoly for a long time. Moreover, when foreign companies transferred these technologies to China, they did not transfer the core technology for preparing two-stage hydrogenation catalysts, which forced domestic enterprises to rely on imports for such catalysts. As a result, not only is production subject to external control, resulting in limited opportunities for product value enhancement and poor profitability for enterprises, but it also poses a threat to the safe and stable development of the entire industry chain for BDO and its derivatives in our country. Zhao Yongxiang pointed out that the preparation of two-stage hydrogenation catalysts has become a bottleneck restricting the development of BDO and its downstream products in China. In June 2021, news came from Henan Kaixiang Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. indicating that the country’s first 1,4-butanediol (BDO) production line using domestic catalysts had been successfully put into operation at the company’s 2×45,000 tons/year 1,4-butanediol facility. The core catalyst used in this device – the 1,4-butyne diol synthesis catalyst RK-17 (oxide type) – is supplied by Dalian Rike Technology Co., Ltd. The successful application of this catalyst has made Dalian Rike the first manufacturer in China to achieve industrial production and application of such catalysts.