Rapid Output Growth of Special Acrylic Esters    

By Wang Lianzhi   

Acrylic esters are usually classified into general-purpose varieties and special varieties. The production and application of general-purpose varieties is already quite matured in the world and their output growth tends to be flat. Owing to the development of coatings, electronics, automobiles, textiles, printing and construction sectors, especially the application of radiation curing technology in various sectors, special acrylic esters have developed rapidly.
   The capacity of special acrylic esters in China was around 80 000 t/a in 2006. Leading producers include Cytec (Shanghai) Surface Specialties Co., Ltd., Yantai Yunkai (YK) Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd., Eternal Chemical Materials (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd., Hontex Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Nantong Litian Chemicals Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Sanmu Group. China can produce nearly 50 varieties of special acrylic ester monomers and acrylic ester oligomers today. Besides commonly used varieties such as trihydroxymethyl-propane triacrylate (TMPTA), tripropyl glycol diacrylate (TPGDA), neo-pentyl glycol diacrylate (NPGDA), 1,6-hexandiol diacrylate (HDDA), dipropyl glycol diacrylate (DPGDA),  hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA), the second-generation acrylic ester monomers with low skin irritation such as ethoxyl bisphenol A diacrylate (EO-BPDA) have also made large-scale production. Varieties with special uses such as cyano acrylate (for the production of adhesives) and dimethylaminoethyl acrylate (for the production of water treatment agents) have also achieved commercial production. In acrylic ester oligomers, the output of bisphenol A exoxy-acrylate (EA) is more than 10 000 tons, the output of aromatic polyurethane acrylate (PUA) and fatty PUA is more than 3 000 tons and the output of polyester acrylate (PEA), modified EA and epoxy novolac acrylate (FA) is also growing rapidly. The total output of acrylic ester monomers reached 48 034 tons in 2006, an increase of 31.5% over the previous year. Of the total, the output of TMPTA and TPGDA was more than 12 000 tons. The total output of acrylic ester oligomers was 27 420 tons in 2006, an increase of 38.3% over the previous year. The output of special acrylic ester monomers and oligomers for radiation curing can not only meet the domestic market demand, but also be exported to overseas markets. The export amount of special acrylic ester monomers and oligomers in China was respectively 7 336 tons and 2 585 tons in 2006 and the export value reached US$320 million.

Table 1  Output of Major Special Acrylic Ester Monomers
           in China from 2001 to 2006          (t)
Year    2001    2002    2003    2004    2005    2006
TMPTA    3 681    4 130    8 786    9 301    13 650    13 145
TPGDA    1 769    4 450    8 121    6 950    9 329    12 782
NPGDA    357     370     447     790     1 090    1 949
HDDA    1 015    1 050    1 934    3 243    3 570    5 696
DPGDA    90      232     2 007    1 946    3 330    4 588
EO-TMPTA    138    505     200     600     1 930    3 681
Source: CNCIC

Table 2  Output of Major Acrylic Ester Oligomers
                  in China from 2001 to 2006       (t)
Year        2001    2002    2003    2004    2005    2006
EA          1 795    3 320    3 715    8 470    11 722    12 880
Modified EA    1 035    1 780    2 546    1 680    3 500    2 750
FA           -       -       270     320     324     500
Aromatic PUA    475    1 010    1 360    1 745    1 287    4 920
Fatty PUA     85      727     1 039    570     1 080    3 180
PEA          -       -       -       495     997     1 960
Source: CNCIC