【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】264 – China’s first bio-based carbonate production line will come online by 2023
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The first in the country! A bio-based carbonate production line is set to go into operation. Polylactic acid is a new type of biodegradable material that is produced by fermenting and polymerizing biomass raw materials, and it possesses many excellent properties that petroleum-based plastics lack. Although it possesses high tensile and bending strengths, it has poor toughness and is brittle, with an elongation at break of less than 10%; these characteristics greatly limit the application of polylactic acid in certain specific fields. Bio-based carbonates are used to modify polylactic acid in order to improve the mechanical properties of polylactic acid products. Furthermore, bio-based carbonates can not only modify polylactic acid, but also be used to produce polycarbonates, high-molecular-weight polyester resins, and epoxy resin curing agents through the manufacture of derivative products. They serve as alternatives to traditional petroleum-based materials and are widely used in composite materials, automotive interiors, household goods, as well as industries such as aviation and healthcare, owing to their excellent properties such as being green, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. Methanol, produced as a by-product during the manufacturing process, is a widely used chemical raw material used in the production of formaldehyde and pesticides, as well as as an extractant for organic substances and a denaturant for alcohol. Recently, according to the official WeChat account “Bengbu Release”, China’s first bio-based carbonate production line is set to go into operation. “At present, all the production equipment has been calibrated. Once the project acceptance is completed, this country’s first bio-based carbonate production line will go into operation. Upon reaching full capacity, the plant will be able to produce 10,000 tons of bio-based carbonates per year, with 6,500 tons of methanol as a by-product. ”said Wang Hai, general manager of Bengbu Jinggu Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
In September and December 2020, the first and second phases of Anhui Fengyuan Group’s project to produce 500,000 tons of lactic acid and 300,000 tons of polylactic acid per year were launched respectively in the Economic Development Zone of Guzhen County, Bengbu City, Anhui Province. The first module was originally scheduled to go into operation in 2022, but there have been no announcements regarding its operational start yet. On March 4, 2022, the first public announcement regarding the environmental impact assessment for Shandong Fengyuan Biomaterials Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Fengyuan Bio,’s project to produce 100,000 tons of polylactic acid per year, was made. On August 25, 2022, the Environmental Protection Bureau of Guzhen County issued the first public notice regarding the environmental impact assessment for Anhui Fengyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd.’s industrial demonstration project aimed at producing 3,000 tons of polylactic acid per year. Fengyuan Bio currently has a production capacity of 100,000 tons per year of polylactic acid, and plans to raise this capacity to 15 million tons per year by 2025 (including 10 million tons of polylactic acid and 5 million tons of nanocellulose) ； By 2030, the production volume of polylactic acid is to reach 35 million tons per year (including 25 million tons of polylactic acid and 10 million tons of cellulose and nanocellulose). In 2023, Fengyuan Biology completed the registration process for listing guidance with the Anhui Securities Regulatory Bureau, and is actively pursuing a listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.