Pu Jing Chemical has successfully developed coal-based polyglycolic acid technology

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Pu Jing Chemical has developed a coal-based polyglycolic acid technology. Author/Source: Yaha Coal Chemical Industry. Date: 2016-09-30. Clicks: 4. Pu Jing Chemical is a leading developer of ethylene glycol technology based on the coal-based syngas oxalate route, and has achieved successful commercial application of this technology. On this basis, Pu Jing Chemical actively develops cogeneration technologies for coal-based ethylene glycol (EG) production facilities, providing customers with flexible product solutions. The technology for producing glycolic acid from oxalate raw materials developed by Pu Jing was put into industrial production in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia, in June 2015. The traditional method for producing glycolic acid involves the acidic hydrolysis of hydroxyacetonitrile; this approach is toxic and costly. Other methods also have insurmountable drawbacks, which prevents their use on a large scale ； Pu Jing’s glycolic acid technology can produce glycolic acid by replacing the hydrogenation catalyst using the syngas EG route, offering low costs as well as a safe and environmentally friendly process. Glycolic acid is the main raw material for the biodegradable material polyglycolic acid (PGA). In 1995, Wu Yu Corporation was the first in the world to develop industrial production technology for PGA, and in 2002 it built an industrial pilot plant for PGA with an annual production capacity of 100 tons in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. In 2008, Wu Yu partnered with DuPont to invest $100 million in DuPont’s plant in West Virginia, USA, which produces glycolic acid, in order to build a PGA production facility with an annual capacity of 4,000 tons. This enabled the creation of a complete production system ranging from the raw material glycolic acid to PGA resin, allowing for the development of resin products in various forms and grades for different applications. Polyglycolic acid (PGA) is a novel polymer material with excellent biocompatibility, gas barrier properties, and machinability, which can bring innovation to packaging and various industrial applications. It can also serve as a substitute for expensive biodegradable materials such as PLA and PBS. Being the most direct downstream product derived from glycolic acid (esters), it has promising application prospects and a favorable market potential. Pu Jing has independently developed PGA polymerization technology, which has been verified through pilot-scale operations at a rate of 300 tons per year. The entire process involving syngas – oxalate – glycolic acid – PGA provides the necessary technical foundation for the successful co-production in the EG project. In addition, Pu Jing’s syngas-based EG plant can also produce ethanol, dimethyl carbonate, and oxalamide on a co-production basis; by leveraging future product markets, it is possible to flexibly adjust the main products of the plant, thereby offering customers diversified solutions to mitigate market risks.