I lead the world in ethylene heterogeneous hydroformylation technology

On May 14, the "50,000 tons/year ethylene heterogeneous hydroformylation and its hydrogenation to n-propanol industrialization technology" developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation.
Organization's scientific and technological achievements appraisal
.
The appraisal committee agreed that the metal Rh single-atom heterogeneous catalyst for ethylene hydroformylation invented by this technology is a pioneering technology, and the overall technology has reached the international leading level
.

The single-atom catalyst for the heterogeneous hydroformylation of olefins used in this technology was independently developed by the team of researchers Ding Yunjie and Yan Li from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Problems such as loss of components, and significant economic benefits
.

This technology has the following advantages: First, the utilization rate of precious metal atoms is close to 100%, and the loss is negligible; second, there is almost no separation cost between the catalyst and the reaction system; And n-propanol products have less impurities and high purity; Fourth, through the energy-saving design in the engineering process, a large amount of low-grade heat in the hydroformylation reaction and hydrogenation reaction has been efficiently utilized
.

Using the technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the "50,000 tons/year ethylene heterogeneous hydroformylation and its hydrogenation to n-propanol is designed by Shanghai Huanqiu Engineering Co.
, Ltd.
and constructed by Ningbo Juhua Chemical Technology Co.
, Ltd.
The "industrial plant" was put into operation in August 2020 and has been running smoothly so far
.
The device underwent an internal 72-hour continuous operation assessment from October 18 to 21, 2021
.
The assessment results show that the total conversion rate of ethylene is 99.
26%, the total conversion rate of propionaldehyde hydrogenation is 99.
58%, and the selectivity of propionaldehyde and n-propanol are 99.
51% and 98.
64%, respectively
.

Zhou Qiang, chairman and general manager of Ningbo Juhua Chemical Technology Co.
, Ltd.
, said that the industrialization project has carried out a lot of optimization and improvement in process route selection, process design, equipment selection, automatic control, etc.
, and adopted a number of measures to fill the gaps in the industry.
The advanced control technology has laid the foundation for the development of the olefin heterogeneous hydroformylation industry
.

According to reports, olefin hydroformylation is a reaction that converts olefins, hydrogen and carbon monoxide into aldehyde compounds.
The utilization rate of raw materials in this process is nearly 100%, which is of great significance in optimizing the utilization of resources
.
And aldehydes can be further converted into chemicals such as alcohols, acids and esters, and are the main raw materials for detergents, plasticizers, surfactants, and high value-added fine chemicals such as medicines and fragrances
.
However, olefin hydroformylation has problems in the catalytic process, such as the loss of precious metals and ligands, the difficulty of separating catalyst and product, the use of a large amount of solvent, and the low utilization rate of a large amount of low-grade reaction heat
.