Currently, hydrogen peroxide is an important raw material for producing propylene oxide (PO), and 27.5% hydrogen peroxide plays a dominant role in domestic market. In recent years, however, hydrogen peroxide with a concentration of over 50% has been increasingly used as it can help increase the productivity of PO facilities and improve product quality. In HPPO process, PO is manufactured through direct oxidation of propylene with hydrogen peroxide (mostly with a 50-70% concentration). Specifically, at low temperature and low pressure in a fixed bed reactor, selective oxidation reaction occurs between propylene and hydrogen peroxide in the mixture of methanol and water and in the presence of the titanium silicalite (TS-1) catalyst. Featuring short process, high atom utilization, low investment, mild reaction conditions, high energy efficiency, no pollution, high product yield and few by-products, HPPO is internationally recognized as a green production technology. 

Purchased raw materials costs Direct materials costs Propylene Hydrogen dioxide Methanol Liquid caustic Sulfuric acid Hydrogen TS-1 catalyst Hydrogenation catalyst Purchased fuels and power costs Electricity Cooling water Process water Steam Fuel Wages and benefits Sewage treatment costs Other expenses Revenue from selling by-product Ethylene glycol Operating costs Depreciation costs Interest expenses Total cost.

Previously, the core technologies for HPPO process were monopolized by a handful of global chemical giants such as BASF, Dow Chemical, Evonik and Uhde. This provided a bargaining chip for them to ask high prices for technology transfer. Specifically, the fee for licensing PO manufacturing technology was tens of millions of euros, and additional fee was charged for hydrogen peroxide production technology, which was tied to the sale of the former technology. The result is meagre profit for PO produced using this process, averaging about CNY -275/tonne, according to Suntower.

Presently, Jilin Shenhua and Sinopec Changling Refining & Chemical are the two established PO manufacturers using HPPO process. In 2011, making an investment of CNY 2.5 billion, Jilin Shenhua brought in the HPPO process jointly developed by Degussa and Uhde to build a 300kt/a PO facility in Jilin province, the first and largest of its kind in China and coming online in July 2014. In 2013, Sinopec Changling Refining & Chemical invested approximately CNY 1.28 billion to build a 100kt/a industrial plant using its proprietary HPPO process. In July 2014, interim handover of the project was completed. And on December 6, trial run was successfully conducted, marking that Sinopec became the third company in the world owing patented HPPO process. In April 2023, Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical’s 300kt/a PO facility, with an ancillary 900kt/a hydrogen peroxide plant, successfully produced premium-grade propylene oxide. In May, Qixiang Tengda Chemical put into production its 300kt/a PO unit using HPPO technology jointly developed by Evonik and thyssenkrupp. In August, Taixing Yida Chemical’s HPPO-based 150kt/a PO project was completed. Suntower estimates that the current PO capacity using HPPO process stands at 1.55 million tonnes per year, accounting for about 45% of the total PO capacity.

If you are interested in the information about costs of different PO production processes and other relevant information, please contact us or subscribe to the 2023 Asia-Pacific PO Market Report.
 

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