Isopropanol: Rapid Expansion of the Capacity and Slow Growth of the Consumption

By Ma Jianping, Jiangsu Provincial Chemical Industry Association

Production

PetroChina Jinzhou Petrochemical Co Ltd used the propylene vapor-phase direct hydration process and constructed a 20 thousand t/a isopropanol unit in 1977. After its two expansions made in 1992 and 1999, the isopropanol capacity in the company reached 100 thousand t/a. PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Co ltd once used propylene indirect hydration process and constructed a 600 t/a isopropanol unit, however, the unit suspended production in June 1994 due to backward technology and high production costs. Shandong Hi-tech Chemical Group used special catalyst for propylene hydration and the propylene direct hydration process developed by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and constructed a 30 thousand t/a isopropanol unit. The unit went on stream by the end of 2005, and the products quality met the national first-class standard. Shandong Hi-tech Chemical Group expanded the capacity of its isopropanol unit to 60 thousand t/a in early 2011.
   Due to the successful application of acetone hydrogenation process, many enterprises started up their isopropanol production lines in 2011. These enterprises include Zhejiang Jiande Jianye Organic Chemical Co Ltd (30 thousand t/a), Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Group Co Ltd (10 thousand t/a), Zhejiang Xinhua Chemical Co Ltd (60 thousand t/a) and Spuer Chemical S&T Co Ltd (60 thousand t/a). China’s capacity of isopropanol was doubled to 320 thousand t/a in 2011 from 160 thousand t/a in 2010.
During 2012-2013, Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Feixiang Chemicals Co Ltd, Zhuhai Long Success Chemical Co Ltd and Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co Ltd will construct new isopropanol units, and Super Chemical S&T Co Ltd and Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Group Co Ltd plan to expand their capacities. Zhejiang Xinhua Chemical Co Ltd also plans to construct a 60 thousand t/a isopropanol unit in Yancheng, Jiangsu province. It is expected that China’s capacity of isopropanol will be more than 400 thousand t/a by 2015.
China’s output of isopropanol has grown year-on-year. The domestic output exceeded 100 thousand tons in 2006, reached over 120 thousand tons in 2007 and further increased to 150 thousand tons in 2011. With the startup of some isopropanol units in 2011, the output of isopropanol in China is expected to hit a new level in 2012.
   In spite of the rapid capacity expansion of isopropanol in recent years, the scale of isopropanol single units in China is still relatively small compared with foreign enterprises. PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Co ltd, which is the largest isopropanol producer in China, has isopropanol capacity of only 100 thousand t/a, and in acetone hydrogenation process, Super Chemical S&T Co Ltd simply plans to expand its capacity to 120 thousand t/a whereas the isopropanol capacity in Shell, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical and Sasol Olefins & Surfactants is 480 thousand t/a, 380 thousand t/a, 280 thousand t/a and 230 thousand t/a, respectively.

Slow growth of the consumption

Isopropanol in China is mainly used as solvent or extracting agent in the production of inks, coatings and medicines. The consumption of isopropanol in these sectors accounts for around 71% of the total.
   In the production of coatings, isopropanol is mainly used as an inert solvent to reduce inflammability in storage and transportation. It is expected that the average annual output growth of coatings in China will still maintain at more than 10%, and the demand for isopropanol in the coatings sector will grow rapidly during 2011-2015.
In the production of medicines, isopropanol is mainly used as extracting agent in antibiotics and vitamins and cleaning agent in medicinal capsules. China's output of chemical APIs (active pharmaceuticals ingredients) reached 2.8987 million tons in 2011, a year-on-year growth of 23.33%. In addition, the production of Chinese patent medicines maintained the highest growth rate. The output of Chinese patent medicines reached 2.385 million tons, a growth of 33.96% year-on-year.
   In the production of inks, isopropanol is mainly used as an assistant and diluting agent in water-borne inks. Alcohol-soluble inks can solve the human health threat of toluene inks and the food quality hazard of solvent residues. Alcohol-soluble ink has become a trend of development. The average annual output growth of inks in China was 19.73% during 2006-2010. With the rapid development of sectors like packaging product, advertisement and publication, China’s demand for inks will also increase significantly and the demand for isopropanol therefore will also grow constantly. It is expected that average annual growth of inks will still maintain at around 15% during 2011-2015.
   In the chemical intermediates sector, isopropanol is used to produce isopropyl amine, isopropyl ether and some esters, and the consumption here accounts for around 22% of the total. China’s demand for isopropanol in this sector will maintain a trend of stable growth.
   In addition, the consumption of isopropanol in other sectors including electronic industrial cleaning agents, automobile antifreeze fluids, disinfectants, detergents and daily chemical products accounts for around 7% of the total. The cleaning agent for electronic sector is one of the sectors in the world with the most rapid consumption growth. China has become a major production base of electronic/electric components in the world, and the application of isopropanol in this sector has a huge development potential.
   The application of isopropanol in many sectors has not yet been developed in China. For example, isopropanol has very strong sterilizing ability. Its sterilizing ability is stronger than ethanol. In foreign countries, it is mostly used in the sterilization of skins, hands and medical apparatuses and also in the sterilization of artificial limbs. In some countries isopropanol is the most popular antiseptic in public places such as beauty parlors, but it is seldom used in China
   From the regional perspective, China’s production and consumption of isopropanol are mainly concentrated in the coastal areas, especially East China and South China. The newly-built isopropanol units using acetone hydrogenation process are concentrated in East China’s Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces with developed downstream sectors like coatings, ink, pesticide, pharmaceutical, special chemical and electronic.
   China's isopropanol consumption increased to 230.9 thousand tons in 2007 from 134.6 thousand tons in 2001. Due to the economic crisis, the consumption reduced slightly in 2008. The average annual growth of the consumption was only 1.6% during 2007-2011,being far below 5% during 2002-2006. It is expected that China's isopropanol consumption will still maintain a trend of slow and stable growth during 2011-2015 and reach around 300 thousand tons by 2015.
   According to customs statistics, only 46 thousand tons of isopropanol was imported in 1998, increasing to 54.6 thousand tons, 76.1 thousand tons and 107.3 thousand tons, respectively in 2000, 2002 and 2004, and growing further to 111.9 thousand tons in 2005, hitting the historical highest level. Owing to the output increase, the import volume in China was reduced to 95.8 thousand tons in 2006. In 2011 domestic isopropanol capacity was double, so the import volume declined. The net import volume of isopropanol reached 45.1 thousand tons in the first half of 2012 and is expected to be more than 100 thousand tons once again in 2012. However, China’s net import volume of isopropanol will present a trend of decrease in the next few years.