Clariant’s SynDane® catalyst powers Wanhua’s new world-class maleic anhydride production plant

Latest News:Clariant announced that it has won an important contract from Wanhua Chemical Group to provide catalysts for its new maleic anhydride project. The production plant currently under construction by Wanhua is one of the largest maleic anhydride production plants in the world, with a designed annual production capacity of 200,000 tons. Its production process will be based on Clariant’s SynDane catalyst. The device will be located in Yantai City, Shandong Province, and is scheduled to start production in 2023. Wanhua Group, also headquartered in Yantai, is one of the leading companies in China’s chemical industry. The sales performance as of 2020 shows that Wanhua ranks among the top 30 chemical companies in the world.

Wanhua Yantai Headquarters: Zhao Shizhong, Director of Clariant Catalyst China R&D Center (third from left), Huang Youwang, Sales Director of Clariant Catalyst Specialty Chemicals China (fourth from left), Li Dong, Purchasing Manager of Wanhua Specialty Chemicals (fifth from left), Clariant Darren Su, Sales Director, Asia Pacific, Additives Business Unit
Soo) (sixth from left), Andy Walti, president of Clariant China and Asia Pacific (seventh from left), and Xaver Wei, global sales director of Clariant Emission Control, Oxidation and Molecular Sieve Catalysts
Karsunke) (third from right), and Mu Hongrun (first from right), purchasing manager of Wanhua Special Catalysts.

Wanhua’s maleic anhydride production plant will take the lead in adopting a new production process. Compared with traditional technology, the production efficiency is higher and the energy consumption is lower. According to estimates by Conser, a patentee of process technology, the plant can reduce energy consumption by 2.5 to 3.0 megawatts per hour of production. Assuming 8,000 hours of annual production, it is expected to save 20,000 to 24,000 MWh of energy per year.

Jace Wang, Vice President of Clariant Catalysts Greater China
Wang) said: “Sustainability is a very important strategic part of our company, and we are proud to support Wanhua’s ambitious and important projects with innovative catalysts.”

Clariant’s SynDane catalyst is well suited for this new production process, which was previously used by MAN
The DWE® reactor was successfully validated in performance testing. In addition, due to its extremely low pressure drop, SynDane can further improve the production efficiency and energy efficiency of the new process. The special structure and chemical composition of the catalyst also increase the selectivity to maleic anhydride, thereby maximizing the product yield.

China is phasing out the use of non-degradable plastics, and maleic anhydride is an important base for the production of biodegradable plastics, polybutylene adipate/terephthalate (PBAT) and polybutylene succinate (PBS). material, the market demand is huge. PBAT plastic performs similarly to low-density polyethylene (PE) plastic, but when landfilled in soil, it is completely decomposed by naturally occurring microorganisms, leaving no toxic residue. PBS is another highly biodegradable biodegradable plastic.

In addition, Wanhua has selected another Clariant catalyst, EnviCat, for its operating Ningbo nitric acid plant.
N2O-S for efficient purification of exhaust gases containing nitrous oxide (N2O). Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that has a great impact on global climate change. The move is expected to convert up to 95 percent of nitrous oxide emissions into harmless oxygen and nitrogen. The measure is especially important for producers, given that nitrous oxide is 300 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide.

To help minimize the damaging effects of this greenhouse gas, Clariant has launched a major initiative to provide its EnviCat free of charge to 10 nitric acid producers worldwide
N2O-S catalyst. By using EnviCat N2O-S, nitrous oxide emissions equivalent to more than 4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent can be reduced annually.