Fat alcohol production process and design capacity

Among the domestic manufacturers of natural fatty alcohols, the largest one is believed to be Huaxing Group in Liaoyang; they seem to use acid hydrolysis on palm oil and then proceed with further processing to refine it. There is also direct high-pressure hydrolysis; a classmate from Kerry told me that they use high-pressure hydrolysis to obtain fatty acids directly, which are then converted into alcohols.

Thank you! Are there any other process routes? Or are there any design institutes in China that perform well in this industry?

Fat alcohols in the domestic market are facing tough times: chlorine availability for production is low, and there is no advantage in terms of raw materials. In 2012, Jiahua installed a fatty alcohol production facility that uses palm kernel oil as raw material; fatty acids are obtained through high-pressure hydrolysis, and these fatty acids are then esterified and hydrogenated to produce 1214 alcohol. The oil hydrolysis process makes use of DBI technology from Italy, while the fatty alcohol production process relies on David technology from the UK; it seems that the design was carried out by Sinopec Nanjing Engineering Company.

It’s inevitable that there is no advantage in terms of raw materials, as domestic palm oil or palm kernel oil relies entirely on imports from Southeast Asia. But if their hydrogen is chlor-alkali hydrogen or some other cheap type of hydrogen, it should be competitive compared to that imported from Southeast Asia. Apart from the lack of a raw material advantage, are domestic products inferior to foreign ones in other aspects as well?

The hydrogen consumption for 1214 alcohol is 257 Nm3/t; the price of hydrogen has a relatively minor impact on costs. There is a policy in Southeast Asia that you might not be aware of – in order to encourage further processing of oils and fats, exports of raw oil and fat materials are subject to tariffs, while exports of products resulting from such processing are exempt from tariffs. Jiahua Energy produces fatty alcohols using hydrogen generated as a by-product of chlor-alkali production; by looking at their production volumes in 2014 and 2015, one can get an idea of the state of this industry. The relatively high operational rate during the first half of this year is due to the fact that they stocked up on palm kernel oil last year when its price was low, and it is only now, with rising prices for fatty alcohols, that they are able to make a profit. Calculated based on the current prices of castor oil and fatty alcohols, it is still a loss. In China, the processes for producing fatty alcohols include David’s low-pressure gas-phase hydrogenation process and the high-pressure liquid-phase hydrogenation process inspired by Henkel. Liaoning Huaxing uses the high-pressure liquid-phase hydrogenation process; the equipment employed is obtained by modifying used equipment from closed ammonia synthesis plants, and its cost is roughly equivalent to that of scrap steel, resulting in much lower investment costs compared to other companies. In terms of product quality, the products produced by the low-pressure gas-phase hydrogenation process are of higher quality; **all countries in Southeast Asia use this low-pressure gas-phase hydrogenation process. Another factor that affects economic efficiency is the large amount of stearic acid produced as a by-product; there is also a severe surplus of stearic acid. Many stearic acid manufacturers in China use waste materials from edible oil processing as raw material, and edible oils (such as soybean oil) contain higher levels of stearate esters.

Thank you, the omnipotent Haiyou! :handshake

Hello! Another factor that affects economic efficiency, as you mentioned, is the large-scale production of stearic acid; there is also a severe surplus of this substance. Many stearic acid manufacturers in China use by-products from edible oil processing as raw materials, and edible oils (such as soybean oil) contain relatively high levels of stearate esters. ”Domestic fatty alcohol plants do not produce large amounts of stearic acid as a by-product; only 10% crude glycerin is obtained (which results in a loss in value). Besides, the profitability of stearic acid companies isn’t that bad either; they can still make a profit at present. If possible, please send the process diagram for fatty alcohol production.