[Industry Focus]：Production Plant of High Purity Ethylene Carbonate (EC) and High Purity Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) in Sirbon

on December 5, Asahi Huacheng issued an announcement announcing that the new high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) and high-purity dimethyl carbonate (DMC) production plant of Jiangsu Sirbang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sirbang") under Shenghong Group will be officially put into commercial operation in Yungang City in November 2024. The total production capacity of this production is 108000 tons/year, including 38000 tons/year of high-purity EC and 70000 tons/year of high-purity DMC. The production technology of the project was authorized by Asahi Kasei, and the cooperation between the two parties began in September 2021 and the start-up acceptance was successfully completed in November 2024.

Jiangsu Silbon Petrochemical adopts Asahi Chemical Process Technology to produce high purity EC and DMC's new plant.

the high-purity carbonate put into operation this time is mainly used as an electrolyte solvent for lithium-ion batteries. As an important part of lithium-ion batteries, the solvent quality accounts for up to 85%, the cost accounts for 30%, and then accounts for about 1.8-2.4 of the cost of power batteries. The electrolyte adopts "mixed solvent system", of which 95% is "carbonate solvent", which is divided into cyclic carbonate and chain carbonate according to the structure. EC as the first choice of cyclic carbonate, because its dielectric constant is much higher than propylene carbonate, and the chain carbonate in the DMC in the lithium iron phosphate battery is relatively high.

the production process of EC mainly includes phosgene method, ester exchange method, halohydrin method, direct oxidation of ethylene and carbon dioxide, ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide ring addition method and urea alcoholysis method. Among them, the phosgene method and the ester exchange method have been eliminated by the market due to the existence of toxic substances, serious pollution and product loss. The application of the halohydrin method and the direct oxidation of ethylene and carbon dioxide is limited due to the harsh reaction conditions, high safety risks and many by-products. The ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide cycloaddition method is the most common ethylene carbonate production process at home and abroad, and the urea alcoholysis method has attracted much attention in recent years because of the easy availability of raw materials, mild reaction conditions and the formation of a green cycle chemical production chain. The newly commissioned project in Sirbon is the production of EC using ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide cycloaddition.

china is already the world's largest producer and consumer of ethylene carbonate. Stimulated by the demand for electric vehicles and energy storage, domestic ethylene carbonate production capacity is growing rapidly. In 2022, the supply and demand of domestic battery-grade ethylene carbonate production capacity is relatively tight, and the quotation is more than 16000 yuan/ton. However, with the rapid growth of domestic production capacity, the current price of battery-grade ethylene carbonate has dropped to 4000-5000 yuan/ton.

the production process of DMC mainly includes phosgene method, ester exchange method, methanol oxidative carbonylation method, urea hydrolysis method and carbon dioxide direct oxidation method. Among them, the phosgene method has been banned, and the carbon dioxide direct oxidation method is still in the research and development stage. After 2022, the new capacity will mainly come from transesterification, methanol oxidative carbonylation and urea hydrolysis. China is also the largest producer and consumer of DMC, but the price is lower than the international average. In recent years, with the continuous maturity of production technology and the release of new production energy, the domestic production capacity of dimethyl carbonate continues to increase. In 2023, the domestic production capacity of dimethyl carbonate will reach 2.46 million tons, while the consumption will be about 1 million tons, of which the consumption of electrolyte will be about 340000 tons.

asahi Kasei Process for Producing High Purity EC and DMC Using Carbon Dioxide

the newly put into production project of Sirbang not only adopts advanced production technology and technical route, but also pays attention to the double improvement of environmental protection and economic benefits. The project can consume 54000 tons of CO2 raw materials every year, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and realize green production. At the same time, the commissioning of the project will further enhance the market competitiveness of Srbon in the field of new energy materials and bring considerable economic benefits to the company.