Recalling the achievements of global chemical science and technology innovation in 2005 that profoundly affected industrial development

In 2005, with the development of global chemical production, the pace of technological innovation was further accelerated and became an important guarantee for the sustainable development of the chemical industry. In the past year, the new progress of global chemical science and technology was mainly concentrated in the fields of basic raw materials and intermediates, synthetic resins and plastics, chemical production and environmental protection catalysts, biochemicals, nanotechnology, new chemical materials, and chemical equipment, and a series of important innovations. Significance and promotion value, new achievements that have profound effects on the development of chemical and related industries have emerged one after another.
New raw material technology accelerates industrialization The newly developed ethylene production process SRT-X from Lummus has the characteristics of rapid heating and reduced coking, and the furnace area is reduced by 10%, and the cracking capacity is increased by 3 times. This new furnace capacity can be expanded to 300,000 tons/year, and investment can be reduced by 10%. The catalytic cracking process developed by Asahi Kasei will produce propylene and ethylene from the C4 and C5 extracts. The company’s industrial-scale installation at Water Island in Japan will be commissioned in early 2006.
The polymerization grade terephthalic acid process developed by Eastman has the characteristics of fewer steps, simple operation, high reliability and low production cost. The total investment is 25% to 30% lower than that of the conventional PTA technology. Zhejiang Hualian Sanxin Petrochemical Company used this technology to build the terephthalic acid plant in Shaoxing and started production in May this year. BASF and Dow Chemical will use a hydrogen peroxide-free route to produce propylene oxide and a 300,000-ton/year installation in Belgium.
New products in the field of polymers SRI Consulting has introduced a new batch process technology to produce polystyrene (PS) by anionic polymerization. The PS molecular weight distribution produced by this process is much narrower than that of the prior art, the strength and processability are improved, the investment cost is reduced by 28%, and the production process can reduce the amount of material up to 45%. Teijin Chemical Co., Ltd. has developed a new process that can recycle completely recycled polycarbonate resin, which reduces the energy consumption required to make bisphenol A from pure monomers by 66%.
Metabolix's polyhydroxyalkyl ester biopolymer, which competes with PE for price and performance, is expected to eventually replace 50% of conventional plastics. Cornell University in the United States has found that renewable resources and CO2 can be used to make plastics. It has many properties similar to polystyrene (PS) and is also biodegradable. Biodegradable plastic materials developed by BASF combine biodegradable Ecoflex polyester with bioplastic polylactic acid.
Catalyst technology promotes process innovation Northwestern University developed a metalloenzyme with a membrane capsule structure for the methanol reaction of methane. The study facilitates the development of a catalyst for the conversion of methane to methanol, allowing natural gas to replace petroleum for the synthesis of useful fuels and chemicals. ExxonMobil Chemical Co., Ltd. developed a new type of silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieve methanol-produced propylene catalyst, which significantly improved its catalytic activity and solved the problem of too rapid coking of a methanol-to-propylene process catalyst using methane as a raw material.
Univation Technologies has developed the Prodigy BMC100 catalyst for high-density polyethylene film grade resin and tube grade HDPE resin, and has invested 40% in a comparable multi-reactor system production solution. A new generation of fluidized-bed catalysts developed by the Swiss company Lonza uses its proprietary process to produce maleic anhydride. Compared with the previous-generation catalyst, the selectivity of the catalyst is 4% higher, the operating temperature can be reduced to about 410°C, and the butane conversion can be maintained at 80% to 85%.
Nanotechnology promotes new product development Oxonica has developed Envirox, a fuel additive based on nanotechnology, which is used by the Stagecoach Group in cars in Great Britain. The additive can reduce fuel consumption by 5% and vehicle emissions by 5%. BASF launched Ultradur HighSpeed ​​nano-polymer modified polybutylene terephthalate, which has been used in the commercial production of telephone line sockets.
The Southern German Chemical Company developed a successful anti-wear grade polypropylene/polystyrene plastic alloy with modified nano additives, which not only has high anti-wear performance, but also has a uniform surface and good hand feel. Mitsui Chemicals Japan has developed a new type of polyimide carbon nanocomposite that can be used for semiconductor manufacturing or hard disk drive components that require high cleanliness.
New materials add luster to high-tech NEC Corporation has developed an ultra-thin rechargeable flexible polymer battery with a charging time of 30 seconds. This flexible battery uses an organic radical polymer as a cathode, small enough to be embedded in smart cards and smart paper. British PlasticLogic developed a 25.4-cm flexible organic substrate display with a resolution of 100ppi and a thickness of less than 0.4mm. At present, 350mm × 350mm display models will soon be available. The University of California, USA, has developed a low-cost plastic solar cell, which is expected to be produced at a cost of 10% to 20% of conventional cells. This is by far the most efficient plastic solar cell.
The University of Michigan developed a class of lightweight, strong polymers that are expected to be used to store hydrogen fuels. This covalent organic framework has a predictable crystalline structure that can be made into a highly porous material to increase its storage capacity, and it is light in weight and more economical to carry automobiles.
Units are backed by energy savings Some innovative technologies have emerged in distillation unit operations, including extractive distillation, reactive (or catalytic) distillation, split-wall (DW) towers, and some process improvements, such as combined membrane technology to increase separation efficiency. By July 2005, nearly 60 split-wall towers had been put into operation. The combined process of split-wall tower design and extractive distillation was promoted to industrial application by the German Ude Company.
Catalytic distillation technology uses reactive distillation technology for desulfurization from gasoline, which can react chemically and produce distillation in the same column. The company has transferred and applied 25 sets of devices with a total processing capacity of approximately 43 million tons/year of catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline. The reactive distillation process developed by Sulzer Chemtech in cooperation with Wacker Chemicals can be applied to the hydrolysis of methyl acetate.