Recently, the Administration for Institutional Reform and Public Services of Tangshan City has released a public notice regarding the acceptance of the environmental impact report for the new materials intermediate pilot project of Tangshan Zhonghao Chemical Co., Ltd. (i.e., the 2,000-ton/year epichlorohydrin and 1,000-ton/year adiponitrile pilot project). 
Zhonghao Company implemented the "Phase I 40,000-ton/year Project of 300,000-ton/year New Materials of Nylon 6,6" in 2023 and the "100,000-ton/year Hexamethylenediamine Project" in 2025. It has established a complete industrial chain from adiponitrile to hexamethylenediamine to nylon 6,6. However, all the key raw material adiponitrile is purchased from outside, and the supply is highly vulnerable to market fluctuations. To break through the bottleneck of adiponitrile, Zhonghao Company has decided to attempt to produce adiponitrile on its own. 
At present, the commonly used synthesis processes of adiponitrile mainly include butadiene method, acrylonitrile electrolytic dimerization method, and adipic acid ammonolysis method, etc. However, the above methods have problems such as technical blockade, high cost, and high energy consumption. Therefore, Zhonghao Company has decided to adopt the "cyclohexene - epoxycyclohexane - adiponitrile" process route for the production of adiponitrile. Currently, this technology has passed the small-scale trial stage and is ready for the scale-up pilot test. 
For this reason, Zhonghao Company has decided to implement the "New Materials Intermediate Pilot Project of Tangshan Zhonghao Chemical Co., Ltd. (i.e. 2,000 tons/year of Epichlorohydrin and 1,000 tons/year of Adiponitrile Pilot Project)" within the existing factory area of Tangshan Kailehua Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. in Tangshan Haigang Economic Development Zone. The project will build one set of 2,000 tons/year epichlorohydrin pilot plant and one set of 1,000 tons/year adiponitrile pilot plant. After the project is completed, it will produce 2,000 tons of epichlorohydrin and 1,000 tons of adiponitrile annually. 

Project

Pilot Project of New Materials Intermediates of Tangshan Zhonghao Chemical Co., Ltd. (Including 2,000 Tons/Year of Epoxycyclohexane and 1,000 Tons/Year of Adiponitrile Pilot Project). After the project is completed, it will produce 2,000 tons of epoxy cyclohexane and 1,000 tons of adiponitrile annually. The total investment of the project is CNY 69.934 million, among which the environmental protection investment is CNY 3 million, accounting for 4.29% of the total investment. The construction period is scheduled to be 6 months.
 

About Tangshan Zhonghao

Tangshan Zhonghao Chemical Co., Ltd. is located in Tangshan Haigang Economic Development Zone and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kailuan Energy & Chemical Co., Ltd. It currently has one 150,000-ton/year adipic acid production line and a matching 135,000-ton/year nitric acid plant, one 120,000-ton/year cyclohexanol plant, one 40,000-ton/year polyoxymethylene plant and a matching 130,000-ton/year formaldehyde plant, and one 4,000-ton/year dioxolane plant. It has an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons of adipic acid, 135,000 tons of nitric acid, 120,000 tons of cyclohexanol, 40,000 tons of polyoxymethylene, 130,000 tons of formaldehyde, and 4,000 tons of dioxolane. 

Source: Tangshan Municipal Bureau of Administrative Services and Approval