Isoprene rubber usher in the golden period of development

A few days ago, the reporter learned from Maoming Luhua Chemical Co., Ltd. that the company’s first 15,000-ton/year isoprene rubber plant put into operation in April this year operated smoothly, and the performance index of isoprene rubber products produced reached or exceeded that of imported Japan. 2200, Russia SKI-5PM products, can fully meet the needs of users, after the products on the market in short supply. Zero breakthrough in the industrial production of isoprene rubber has made all seven of our country's synthetic rubbers industrialized. With the significant increase in domestic ethylene supply capacity, cheap and stable raw materials for cracking carbon 5 will gradually be guaranteed. In the world, the dependence on natural rubber imports has increased year by year and has risen to 80%. This is the best supplement for natural rubber. Isoprene rubber ushered in the golden period of development.

Isoprene rubber is a kind of rubber synthesized from isoprene. Because its structure and performance are similar to those of natural rubber, it is also called synthetic natural rubber and it is mainly used for tire production. In addition to tires, isoprene rubber can also be used in the footwear industry and the production of rubber products such as hoses and tapes. In addition to aviation and heavy-duty tires, almost all or even all of natural rubber can be replaced in almost all natural rubber rubber products.

Engineer Sun Lujing of the Jilin Design Institute of CNPC Northeast Refinery and Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. said that the prospect of China's isoprene rubber market is very promising. The shortage of raw materials has become a major constraint to the development of China's rubber industry. In 2009, China's natural rubber production was only 644,000 tons, imported natural rubber was 1.71 million tons, and imported composite rubber was 1.02 million tons. China's natural rubber external dependence has exceeded 80%. In 2010, China's tire industry is expected to be about 420 million, and the gap in natural rubber will further widen.

The isoprene rubber structure is not only the same as natural rubber, but also does not require plastic smelting. It has low energy consumption in production, and has advantages over natural rubber in terms of resistance to reduction, heat generation, etc. Therefore, isoprene rubber can not only make up for insufficient natural rubber resources. It can also improve the performance of products, and the application prospects are very promising.

Sun Lujing said that isoprene rubber is researched and developed as a substitute for natural rubber, and the supply and demand of natural rubber directly affects the development of isoprene rubber. Affected by climatic conditions, political situation and other factors, the world's natural rubber production growth has been lower than the consumption growth for several consecutive years, resulting in a decline in inventories and rising prices. From 2004 to 2009, China's annual self-sufficiency ratio of rubber is lower than the internationally recognized 30% safety and security line. Due to limited land resources available for rubber planting in China, the annual output of natural rubber is unlikely to increase production on a large scale. The peak of annual production is only About 750,000 tons will directly affect the economic security of China. Therefore, vigorously developing isoprene rubber and increasing the proportion of isoprene rubber have become an important strategy for the development of China's rubber industry.

The reporter learned that, due to raw materials and other reasons, China's isoprene rubber has not been able to produce industrially. The most advanced isoprene rubber production technology in the world adopts a rare earth catalyst system, and rare earth isoprene rubber was first developed in China in the 1970s. However, due to the fact that carbon 5 resources are not only difficult to collect, but also the total amount of resources has not formed an economic scale, the source of monomer isoprene cannot be solved, resulting in delays in the industrialization of isoprene rubber in China. The C5 fraction is a by-product of the ethylene production process and produces 1 ton of carbon 5 per 10 ton of ethylene produced. Therefore, the byproduct C5 fraction in ethylene production is an important source of monomeric isoprene. Due to the rapid development of China's ethylene industry in recent years, it can provide more carbon 5 resources, solve the source of raw materials for producing isoprene rubber in China, thus accelerating the industrialization of isoprene rubber in China.

At present, China isoprene rubber is in its infancy, but it is developing rapidly. The annual production capacity of isoprene rubber that has been completed or under construction from 2010 to 2012 will reach 285,000 tons. Among them, Maoming Luhua Co., Ltd. 15,000 tons/year and Qingdao Yikesi 30,000 tons/year have been put into production in April and July 2010, respectively. The Qingdao Yikesi Fushun Base has an annual output of 40,000 tons/year. , Liaoning Panjin Zhenao Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Annually Produces 50,000 Tons/year, Shandong Zibo Luhua Annually Produces 50,000 Tons/Year, Qingdao Depai New Materials Co., Ltd. Annually Annually Produces 30,000 Tons/Year Project Has Entered Its Early Stage Prepared or started, will be put into operation in 2012.

However, in 2010, China’s 18 million tons of ethylene production capacity, even if all of the cracked carbon 5 is used to produce isoprene rubber, can only produce 300,000 tons. In 2010, domestic demand for isoprene rubber reached 400,000 tons. Therefore, the development and production of domestic isoprene rubber in the next few years will still only play a mitigating effect on natural rubber, and it will not be able to meet the needs of the domestic market.