(correspondent: fan xin) recently, the new-generation cnm-5 dehydrated methanol-to-dme catalyst developed by southwest research & design institute of chemical industry (southwest institute), has been first used in the super 1.8 million ton/year methanol-to-propylene (mtp) facility of shenhua ningxia coal industry group co., ltd. the successful start and operation of the facility marks that the new-generation dme catalyst developed by southwest institute can substitute imported catalysts, breaking the latter's monopoly in super mtp facilities.
before that, shenhua ningxia coal industry group had been using the catalyst provided by süd-chemie for their 1.8 million ton/year methanol-to-propylene (mtp) facility. shenhua's cooperation with the southwest institute could be traced back to 2012 when the latter's product was used to replace 30 tons of süd-chemie's catalyst and another 50 tons of imported catalyst in 2014. satisfied with southwest institute's products, in june this year, shenhua ningxia coal industry group decided to use the southwest institute's new-generation dehydrated methanol-to-dme catalyst with the filling volume of 230.8 tons for its two sets of methanol dehydration units, breaking the technological barrier of foreign companies and filling in the blanks of the use of the domestically produced catalyst in super mtp facilities. the new-generation dehydrated methanol-to-dme catalyst is intensive, stable and endurable, with the minimum working temperature lowered from 240℃ to 220℃, and the intensity ≥200n/cm, significantly improving the low-temperature activity and choice of the catalyst.
in april this year, the 10,000 t/y methanol-to-dme of aerosol grade project based in turkey, using the dehydrated methanol-to-dme technology and catalyst provided by the southwest institute, was successfully launched and passed the acceptance inspection. after 72 hours of continuous stable operation, the facility met all the contractual requirements in all indicators and outperformed the eu's standards for dme of aerosol grade. its success paved the way for the southwest institute's dme technology and catalyst to go global, and heralded the successful application of the catalyst to the 1.8 million ton/year methanol-to-propylene (mtp) facility of shenhua ningxia coal industry group.
the southwest institute already developed the dehydrated methanol-to-dme technology and catalyst in the early 1990s, and in the mid 1990s, built china's first set of dme industrial unit at guangdong zhongshan fine chemical industry company. so far it has supplied the technology and catalyst to over 70 dehydrated methanol-to-dme units, with the biggest capacity of 300,000 t/y, grabbing over 70% of the domestic market. the technology is protected by three national invention patents, and the "methanol-to-dme process" was awarded outstanding patent award of china in 2009, and "cnm-e dehydrated methanol-to-dme catalyst" the key new product award of china in 2011.
so far there are 45 coal (methanol)-to-olefin projects under construction, in operation, in trial operation and initial preparation in china, with the production capacity expected to reach 28.21 million t/y by 2019, creating huge market prospects for the application of the southwest institute's dme catalyst in methanol-to-olefin facilities.
