SWCHEM is the earliest developer in China of low-pressure methanol carbonylation technology for acetic acid production. The technology was first industrialized in China in 2002, breaking the long-standing Western monopoly in this field, and was included among the landmark events in the centennial history of China’s chemical industry. To date, the technology has been licensed to 11 companies.
SWCHEM has been granted 18 patents, including 14 invention patents and 4 utility model patents, covering reaction processes, catalysts, key equipment, distillation systems and off-gas recovery, with fully proprietary intellectual property rights. Two of the invention patents have received the China Patent Excellence Award.
In 2023, SWCHEM licensed its third-generation low-pressure methanol carbonylation technology for acetic acid, CARBO@SMART, for the first time. To date, SWCHEM has signed revamp contracts with two companies, technology licensing contracts with two companies, and a technology licensing and engineering design contract with one company. The successful industrialization of CARBO@SMART demonstrates SWCHEM’s strong R&D and engineering development capabilities and reinforces its leading position in China’s acetic acid technology sector.
SWCHEM has developed a new catalyst stabilizer for the rhodium catalyst system, significantly increasing catalyst activity and stability, reducing catalyst loss during operation and lowering the water content of the reaction system. The acetic acid production capacity of a single reactor is significantly increased and can reach more than twice that of the second-generation technology.
A new two-stage reactor with fluid agitation is adopted. This eliminates the frequent shutdowns caused by leakage from mechanical agitators, while improving the uniformity of material and temperature distribution in the reaction system, increasing reaction conversion and CO utilization, and reducing energy consumption.
A flash evaporation process is adopted to increase reactor production capacity and significantly shorten the investment payback period.
Based on the reaction system with low water content and low by-product formation, the conventional three-column separation process is optimized into a two-column separation process, shortening the process flow, reducing steam consumption and lowering equipment investment.
Methanol is used as the absorbent for off-gas recovery, providing high absorption efficiency, low absorbent consumption and low equipment corrosion, thereby reducing equipment material requirements. Using process-feed methanol instead of other absorbents also avoids the need for additional separation equipment and the associated investment and energy consumption.
High- and low-pressure off-gas streams are absorbed separately, improving the recovery of valuable components in the off-gas and reducing refrigeration duty.
SWCHEM provides:
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