Zhejiang Daily Front Page | Juhua Skillfully Uses Upstream Waste to Reduce Costs Downstream, A New Project Connects a Circular Industry Chain

　　On March 15, Zhejiang Daily published an article on the front page titled "Juhua Skillfully Uses Upstream Waste to Reduce Costs Downstream: A New Project Connects a Circular Industry Chain," with the following content:

　　"Ningbo Yongshun needs 3,000 tons per month, Zhejiang Jianye needs 2,000 tons per month..." These days, as the sales season for propanol arrives, manufacturers are receiving orders one after another. Although the existing capacity of the world's first single-atom catalyst propanol unit developed by Juhua Company has reached 50,000 tons per year, production still cannot meet demand. Wang Dayou, sales manager of Ningbo Juhua Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary, is busy coordinating shipments.

　　It is understood that the downstream applications of propanol are very extensive. Besides being used in paint solvents, printing inks, cosmetics, and other products, it can also be used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, feed additives, plasticizers, and cleaning agents. In recent years, with the annual increase in consumption of environmentally friendly solvents, the market demand for propanol has also shown a continuous growth trend. However, due to insufficient domestic supply of propanol, a large part of the domestic demand relies on imports.

　　"The main raw materials for propanol are carbonyl synthesis gas, hydrogen, and ethylene. The Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technological Development Zone where we are located gathers many large petrochemical companies, and some of their by-products are exactly the raw materials for propanol production, which can be directly transported through the park's pipeline network." Zhou Qiang, general manager of Ningbo Juhua Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., said that developing propanol also opens new avenues for the company's growth. As a chemical enterprise, the company's main product, chlor-alkali, is in the midstream of the industry chain, constrained upstream by raw material supply and downstream by excessive market competition, affecting the company's development and expansion. "In addition, most of the main users of propanol are concentrated within the province, with the largest demand located in the park. Convenient transportation allows products to be delivered quickly and easily to downstream customers, significantly reducing their transportation and time costs," Zhou Qiang said.

　　Using local materials and turning waste into treasure, connecting the internal circulation between upstream and downstream enterprises, producing propanol has become the company's green "treasure trove" project anchored in high-quality development.

　　To ensure the smooth progress of the project, the company conducted extensive market research and reached cooperation agreements with research institutes such as the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to jointly research, design, and build. After three years of effort, the world's first industrial unit with completely independent domestic intellectual property rights for ethylene hydroformylation and its hydrogenation to produce propanol was finally built and put into operation, and the first batch of high-quality propanol products has been shipped and sold.

　　"This unit successfully solved the global problem that had persisted for more than 70 years of precious metal and ligand loss during the catalytic process, greatly reducing production costs and also reducing the discharge of the 'three wastes'." Tu Qihui, head of the Juhua propanol unit, once calculated that using this unit can save about 500 yuan per ton on average. Based on the current capacity of 50,000 tons per year, it can save the company 25 million yuan annually.

　　Ningbo Juhua Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. independently developed the chemical raw material propanol, achieving three major cycles of raw materials and products within the company, between companies, and within the region, also improving the passive situation of the domestic market's inability to be self-sufficient. "Currently, the market price for one ton of propanol is over 9,000 yuan, and one unit can increase our sales by nearly 500 million yuan. Next, we will consider increasing the production capacity of the propanol unit to gradually transform the company from basic chemicals to green petrochemicals," Zhou Qiang said.