About dimethyl carbonate

Dimethyl carbonate, abbreviated as DMC, is a colorless and transparent liquid with a slight odor and a mildly sweet taste at room temperature. Its melting point is 4 °C, its boiling point is 90.1 °C, and its density is 1.069 g/cm3. It is insoluble in water, but it can mix with alcohols, ethers, and almost all other organic solvents. DMC is azeotropic with methanol at atmospheric pressure, with an azeotrope temperature of 63.8°C. DMC has very low toxicity; it was classified as a non-toxic substance in Europe back in 1992. It is an environmentally friendly chemical raw material that meets the requirements of modern \"clean production\" techniques. As such, the synthesis technology for DMC has received considerable attention from the chemical industry both domestically and internationally. China’s Ministry of Chemical Industry designated it as a key project during the \"Eighth Five-Year Plan\" and \"Ninth Five-Year Plan\" periods. The DMC has a unique molecular structure (CH3O-CO-OCH3) and excellent properties, which gives it a wide range of applications; it is primarily used as a reagent for carbonylation and methylation, as an additive in gasoline, and as a raw material for synthesizing polycarbonates (PC). The mass production of DMC developed alongside the phosgene-free synthesis process for polycarbonate. The traditional production route for DMC is the phosgene method, but this approach is gradually being phased out due to the high toxicity and corrosiveness of phosgene, as well as environmental concerns related to sodium chloride emissions. There are three commonly used synthesis routes: oxidation carbonylation using copper chloride or nitric oxide as a catalyst, transesterification of propylene carbonate with methanol, and urea methanolysis. The manufacturers of DMC are mainly located in Western Europe, the United States, and Japan. Major producers include SNPE in France, BASF in Germany, EniChem in Italy, and Ube in Japan. In 1999, the total production capacity of DMC was only 30 kt/a. In the past two years, China has made significant progress in the production of DMC; by 2002, its annual production capacity for DMC exceeded 10 kt/a. The development of the DMC industry has resulted in relatively reasonable and stable market prices for DMC. In 2002, the price of domestically produced 99.5% DMC products ranged from 8,400 to 9,800 yuan per ton. A technical and economic analysis is conducted using the oxidation carbonylation process with copper chloride as a catalyst, and a DMC product production capacity of 150 kt/a as an example. The price of the DMC product is 425.1 USD/ton; after adding a 10% return on investment, the price rises to 532.5 USD/ton. The wide range of applications for DMC, along with the advantageous properties of its green and environmentally friendly chemical intermediates, are gaining favor among manufacturers in various downstream industries. As both businesses and consumers place increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability, DMC, as the \"new cornerstone\" of organic synthesis in the 21st century, will see even wider use. The demand for DMC is expected to continue growing rapidly in the future ； On the other hand, DMC manufacturers, including those involved, will further expand their existing production capacity. After years of development, the capacity of the dimethyl carbonate industry has increased from around 6,000 tons in 2002 to around 700,000 tons by 2013. It is expected that the domestic DMC market will continue to show rapid growth in the coming years. The Fine Chemicals Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society put forward specific plans for the development of dimethyl carbonate in the \"Long-term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology in China’s Fine Chemicals Industry 2020\": \"It is necessary to use the transesterification method to achieve a production capacity of 4 million tons per year of dimethyl carbonate by 2020\"” ； Meanwhile, according to predictions by the Chemical Industry Association, the growth rate will exceed 40% over the next decade, and by 2020 the market size is expected to reach around 4.5 million tons. At present, companies in the DMC industry operate independently in the market, and market competition has been fully established. However, as domestic environmental protection policies become increasingly stringent and people place greater emphasis on health, demand for dimethyl carbonate products in China continues to grow steadily, resulting in limited overall competition within the industry. 2. Market supply and demand conditions and reasons for changes (1) Overseas consumption areas of dimethyl carbonate At present, the largest consumption area for DMC abroad is polycarbonate. In addition, the most common use of DMC is as an intermediate in organic chemistry, used to synthesize various products for different industries; for example, it is used to produce tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) for the electronics industry, polycarbonate diols for transparent resins, as well as carbazoyl hydrazides and triphosgene. The second largest application area is in the coatings, inks, and adhesives industries. With the use of DMC in the domestic coating industry, and subsequent recognition by the EPA of DMC as a non-volatile organic compound, customers in countries such as South Korea, the United States, and Europe began to use DMC to replace certain toxic solvents in the production of environmentally friendly paints, coatings, adhesives, inks, and similar products. With the world’s push for healthy and environmentally friendly solvents, there is a huge potential demand for DMC in this field. Dimethyl carbonate is also widely used in the production of battery electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. In recent years, with the promotion of the electric vehicle concept, the use of DMC in this field has seen rapid growth over the next 3 to 5 years. In addition, some foreign customers also use DMC to produce ciprofloxacin and synthetic pesticide intermediates. (2) Domestic consumption sectors of dimethyl carbonate. As a chemical raw material that is non-toxic, has excellent environmental properties, and can be used in a wide range of applications, the demand for DMC has been growing steadily in recent years. Among these, the lithium-ion battery electrolyte industry and the paint and coating industry represent the main markets for DMC in China at present. According to the \"2014–2020 Report on the Operations and Investment Prospects of China’s Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) Industry\" published by China Industry Information Network, the main downstream industries for DMC in China currently include: ① Lithium-ion battery electrolytes. In recent years, China’s industry of mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, portable computers, camcorders, and cameras has experienced rapid development. In particular, the markets for electric assist bikes and electric cars are, driven by the new energy strategy, becoming one of the most promising sectors in China’s future economy. Consequently, the production and demand for lithium batteries have also increased at a fast pace. As raw materials for battery electrolytes, carbonate-based products have attracted widespread attention in this field. It is foreseeable that as the plans for the new energy industry continue to be implemented, the demand for DMC in the lithium battery sector will experience rapid growth ； ②The paint, coating, and adhesive industries account for over 50% of the total domestic DMC consumption. Due to its excellent solvency, narrow range of melting and boiling points, high surface tension, low viscosity, low dielectric constant, high evaporation temperature, and fast evaporation rate, DMC can replace toxic substances such as toluene and xylene, and is thus widely used in industries such as paints, coatings, and adhesives. As consumers’ awareness and demands regarding environmental protection continue to rise, the non-toxic and highly safe properties of DMC meet the needs of the market ； ③Polycarbonate. In recent years, with the rapid development of the domestic DMC industry, DMC has gradually replaced phosgene in the production of polycarbonates and isocyanates, for which there is a large market demand. Polycarbonate is a commonly used material in everyday life; it boasts excellent impact resistance. It is the only one of the five major engineering plastics that possesses good transparency, and it is also the general-purpose engineering plastic with the fastest growth rate in recent years. It is currently widely used in industries such as automobiles, electronics and electrical equipment, construction, office equipment, packaging, sports equipment, and healthcare. As research on its modification progresses, its application is rapidly expanding into high-tech fields such as aerospace, computers, and optical discs ； ④Pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry is currently one of the most important sectors for DMC consumption in China. In the pharmaceutical field, DMC is used as a methylating agent to replace the highly toxic dimethyl sulfate, and it is employed in the synthesis of anti-infective drugs, antipyretic and analgesic drugs, vitamins, and drugs for the central nervous system ； ⑤Pesticides. Although the market consumption of DMC in China’s pesticide industry is relatively low at present, given that China is a major producer of pesticides and as the restructuring of its pesticide industry accelerates, **requirements regarding pesticide safety will become increasingly stringent. Traditional highly toxic pesticides will gradually be replaced by non-toxic or low-toxic alternatives. Therefore, DMC, as a green and environmentally friendly intermediate, holds great potential for use in the pesticide production sector.

The urea + methanol process is not yet mature, and there are no production facilities for it; in fact, this process is quite good, as many nitrogen fertilizer manufacturers already have access to methanol and urea.

What is the total investment required for 60,000 tons of dimethyl carbonate?

Dimethyl carbonate is in severe surplus, and in the future different production processes will compete for market share. This year, a 100,000-ton capacity facility using the gas-phase carbonylation of methanol will come online; the amount of dimethyl carbonate produced as a by-product of synthesizing ethylene glycol will also be significant – 50 kilograms of dimethyl carbonate are generated per ton of ethylene glycol produced

Which company uses which technology to produce DMC?

Zhongyan Hong Sifang is being built in Hefei, utilizing Ube’s technology