The road to localization of adiponitrile technology is full of thorns

Overwhelming worries of overcapacity appear

As the most important raw material of nylon 66 (PA66), the advanced production technology of adiponitrile has always been monopolized by foreign compani.

Adiponitrile restricts the development of nylon industry

PA66 is a thermoplastic resin with high mechanical strength and hardness and great rigidi.

PA66 is produced by the reaction of adipic acid and hexamethylene diamine, and hexamethylene diamine is formed by hydrogenation of adiponitrile, so adiponitrile is an intermediate for the production of PA6 As the most important raw material of PA66, the advanced production technology of adiponitrile is currently monopolized by European and American companies such as INVISTA and Ascend, and all domestic adiponitrile relies on impor.

In February 2018, Solvay declared force majeure at its adiponitrile plant at its French plant due to a stri.

Domestic technology research is hindered

At present, the methods for synthesizing adiponitrile mainly include electrolytic dimerization of acrylonitrile, direct hydrocyanation of butadiene, and catalytic ammoniation of adipic ac.

On the road of localization of adiponitrile production technology, domestic enterprises have experienced exploration and failu.

Even so, the domestic exploration of adiponitrile localization technology has not stopp.

The direct hydrocyanation of butadiene method seems to be a relatively ideal process comprehensively, and this route is also the leading process in the pilot test in Chi.

The gap between domestic and foreign technology is widening

In China, the construction and operation of a pilot plant for butadiene hydrocyanation began five years ago, but so far the technical barriers have not been eliminat.

Ascend and INVISTA, the world's largest adiponitrile production suppliers, have undergone many years of optimized operation to eliminate shortages, and the technology has been continuously upgraded, resulting in lower energy consumption and lower production cos.

On May 23, 2018, INVISTA announced that its $250 million adiponitrile project in Victoria has entered the final design sta.

Ascend also announced on May 31, 2018 that they will use the fifth-generation adiponitrile production technology to increase production capacity by 220,000 tons by 2022 to meet growing dema.

There are worries about oversupply in the future market

Most of the domestic research on butadiene hydrocyanation process in China is a single battle between enterprises and scientific research uni.

In the next three years, the production capacity of adiponitrile-PA66 in North America and China is expected to increa.

At present, about 300,000 tons of adiponitrile is consumed annually in Chi.

At present, the operating rate of global PA66 installations is about 80% and is still risi.