The Chinese Academy of Sciences team developed a complete set of green and low-carbon new technologies to achieve the operation of 100,000-ton industrial plants

It was learned from the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences) that the green and low-carbon complete set of new technologies for the synthesis of carbonates from ionic liquids catalyzed by carbon dioxide have recently passed the results appraisal organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation
.
This achievement realizes the systematic innovation of ionic liquid catalyst-reactor-process.
A 100,000-ton ionic liquid catalyzed carbon dioxide synthesis carbonate industrial plant was built in Huizhou, Guangdong, which has been running continuously and stably for 14 months since March 2021
.

The carbonate products (including ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, etc.
) produced by the 100,000-ton industrial plant meet electronic grade standards, and ethylene glycol products meet polyester grade standards
.
The operation results show that the new green and low-carbon new technology for the synthesis of carbonate from carbon dioxide catalyzed by ionic liquid has the advantages of advanced technology, short process, low energy consumption and good benefits, and has broad application prospects
.

According to the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the main achievements of the green and low-carbon complete set of new technologies that have passed the appraisal this time include four aspects:

First, by regulating the interaction of positive and negative ions and the ionic microenvironment, the problems of low activity, high cost, and poor long-term operation stability of ionic liquids can be overcome.
The key technology is to effectively suppress side reactions and achieve efficient and highly selective conversion of carbon dioxide and ethylene oxide.
The safety and controllability of the ethane and strong exothermic reaction processes; fourth, the research and development of the reaction-separation coupling process enhancement and energy cascade optimization utilization technology, which greatly improves the single-pass conversion rate and significantly reduces the system energy consumption
.

Academician Zhang Suojiang, director of the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the most prominent advantage of the institute's latest identification results is the use of industrially emitted carbon dioxide to produce electronic-grade carbonate and co-produce polyester-grade ethylene glycol
.
The use of highly active ethylene oxide to induce activation of inert carbon dioxide molecules improves the thermodynamic driving force of the reaction, and through the synergistic mediation of positive and negative ions to reduce the activation energy of the transition state, the atom-economic reaction "carbon fixation" is realized, which breaks through the difficult problem of carbon dioxide activation; The production of polyester grade ethylene glycol further improves the economic benefits of the complete set of equipment and solves the problem that restricts its large-scale application
.

It is understood that carbonate is the main component of lithium battery electrolyte, which has indispensable value for the development of new energy vehicles, energy storage, electronic information and other industries
.
More importantly, carbonates, as a class of platform compounds, can be derived from a series of products and materials, such as synthesizing polycarbonates and isocyanates that can replace phosgene, and are known as the new cornerstone of green chemistry
.
Ethylene glycol is the basic raw material for the production of polyester, synthetic fibers, antifreeze, medicine, etc.
At present, China's demand is more than 20 million tons, and the external dependence is as high as 50%
.

The large-scale industrialization and promotion and application of ionic liquid catalyzed carbon dioxide to synthesize carbonate green and low-carbon new technologies will strongly promote the formation of low-carbon and even negative-carbon industrial chains, and at the same time provide another successful example for the application and development of ionic liquids in the world
.
Industry experts believe that this new technology has great potential and good benefits, and has an important demonstration role in related industrial production fields
.