On the morning of December 27, 2020, the list of the Sixth China Industrial award, commendation award and nomination award was released. The complete set of new technology project for caprolactam green production of Baling Petrochemical won the China Industrial award and was the only winner of Sinopec. With the support of the Ministry of science and technology of the people’s Republic of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Baling Petrochemical and stone research institute transformed the scientific research achievements of basic research into new technologies. Over the past 30 years, three generations have overcome numerous setbacks and tribulations, developed a complete set of green technology with independent intellectual property rights, successfully broke the blockade and monopoly of caprolactam production technology in foreign countries for 70 years, and established the brand image of China’s independent innovation technology. At present, the domestic self-sufficiency rate of caprolactam has increased from 30% to 94%, and China’s dependence on foreign technology and imported products has decreased significantly.

30 years of independent innovation, successful development of caprolactam green production of new technologies

Caprolactam is an important organic chemical raw material. As a monomer for producing nylon-6 synthetic fiber and nylon-6 engineering plastics, caprolactam is widely used in many fields such as textile, automobile, electronics, etc. Caprolactam industry is closely related to national economic strength and people’s living standards, and plays an important role in the development and continuous improvement of national economy.

In the early 1990s, Sinopec spent nearly 10 billion yuan to introduce three sets of 50000 T / a caprolactam production units, which were built in Baling Petrochemical, Nanjing DSM Oriental Chemical Co., Ltd. and Shijiazhuang refining and Chemical Co., Ltd. Subsequently, Sinopec took the preparation of cyclohexanone oxime, the core technology of caprolactam production, as a breakthrough point to carry out a complete set of new technologies for green production of caprolactam in Baling Petrochemical Company. With the strong support of the Ministry of science and technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and under the guidance of academicians min Enze and Shu Xingtian of the Chinese Academy of stone Sciences, the research team has made great efforts in cooperation and hard work. In the past 30 years, it has formed more than 100 invention patents at home and abroad, and successfully developed a complete set of new technologies for green production of caprolactam, which are integrated by new reaction pathways, new catalytic materials and new reaction engineering.

The complete set of new technology has six core technologies, all of which have reached the international leading level, including single reactor continuous slurry bed ammoximation of cyclohexanone to cyclohexanone oxime process technology, three-stage Beckman rearrangement technology of cyclohexanone oxime, ammonium sulfate neutralization crystallization technology, magnetically stabilized bed hydrofining technology of caprolactam, gas-phase rearrangement technology of cyclohexanone oxime to caprolactam, and new technology of cyclohexene esterification and hydrogenation to cyclohexanone technology. Among them, the first four technologies have been applied in industry, forming 137 invention patents at home and abroad; 17 provincial and ministerial awards have been won, including one national first prize for technological invention and one national second prize for scientific and technological progress.

The “new process of cyclohexanone oxime gas phase rearrangement moving bed” without by-product ammonium sulfate in Baling Petrochemical Company has also made breakthrough progress in catalyst preparation, reaction process, product refining, etc., completed the small-scale and pilot scale technical research, and is about to carry out 50000 T / a industrial application. In addition, Sinopec initiated and developed the “new process of cyclohexene esterification and hydrogenation to cyclohexanone”, with a carbon atom utilization rate of nearly 100%. It not only has low energy consumption, but also can co produce anhydrous ethanol. It has completed the pilot study and 200000 t / a process package development, and is about to carry out 200000 t / a industrial application.

New technology promotes the vigorous development of new industries, and relocation and upgrading protect a river of clear water

Today, Baling Petrochemical has become a large petrochemical and coal chemical joint enterprise, as well as the largest caprolactam and lithium rubber production enterprise and an important epoxy resin production base in China. Among them, the caprolactam product chain includes 500000 T / a caprolactam (including 200000 t / a of joint venture), 450000 T / a cyclohexanone and 800000 T / a ammonium sulfate. Caprolactam green production complete set of new technology, realized the leap forward technological progress of traditional industries, not only more environmental protection, pollutant emissions per unit product reduced by 50%, and unit production cost reduced by 50%, 10000 tons of production capacity investment dropped to less than 150 million yuan, reduced by nearly 80%, produced significant economic and social benefits.

A complete set of new technologies for green production of caprolactam has greatly promoted the rapid development of caprolactam and its downstream industries. By the end of 2019, Sinopec has built several caprolactam production units in Baling Petrochemical Company and Zhejiang baling Hengyi company, with a production scale of 900000 tons / year, accounting for 12.16% of global caprolactam production capacity and 24.39% of domestic caprolactam production capacity. At present, the capacity of new green production technology of caprolactam in China has reached 4 million tons, becoming the world’s largest production country, with a global market share of more than 50%, forming a new industry of 40 billion yuan, driving the vigorous development of downstream industry of 400 billion yuan.

In 2020, Baling Petrochemical’s caprolactam industrial chain relocation and upgrading transformation development project with a total investment of 13.95 billion yuan will be launched in Hunan Yueyang Green Chemical Industrial Park. The project adopts a batch of new technologies independently developed by Sinopec and will build a 600000 T / a caprolactam industrial chain at one time. The project will be built into a demonstration project and benchmark project of “guarding a river with clear water”, cracking the “chemical industry encircling the river”, and implementing the relocation of hazardous chemicals production enterprises in densely populated urban areas in China.