Tianchen Qixiang's new HMDA plant commences: 100mln tons Nylon New Materials Project

On March 31, the hexamethylene diamine (HMDA) plant of the Tianchen Qixiang Nylon New Material project has been successfully started up at one time, and the first batch of qualified products are produced and sold out. This is another breakthrough made by the project following the successful start-up of the acrylonitrile plant in March 2022.

On March 22, the first phase of the acrylonitrile plant of Tianchen Qixiang was successfully started up and had yielded qualified products. Tianchen Qixiang adopted the butadiene hydrocyanation process. The acrylonitrile production, as the upstream of adiponitrile, lays solid foundation for the smooth production of qualified adiponitrile products in one step.

Tianchen Qixiang Nylon New Material project is invested and constructed by China Chemical Tianchen Company in Zibo, Shandong Province, and it uses butadiene method independently developed by Tianchen Company to produce adiponitrile (AND). It will become the landmark project in China of using the independent technology in the industrial production of adiponitrile (AND), which will completely break the technology bottleneck in China.

The global production capacity of adiponitrile is mostly used for the production of hexamethylene diamine, and the production capacity of hexamethylene diamine is mostly used for the polymerization of nylon 66. Due to the high monopoly on global adiponitrile supply, the development and promotion of downstream industries are seriously affected, resulting in special nylon, HDI, epoxy curing agent, hot melt adhesive, beauty joint agent, light stabilizer and other industries have less supply, slow development, high prices and large fluctuations, which restrict the process and development of domestic substitution in my country's high-end nylon market. The successful start-up of Tianchen Qixiang hexanediamine plant will play an indispensable role in alleviating the cost pressure of downstream enterprises, promoting the healthy development of the industry, making up for the shortcomings of China's nylon industry chain, promoting the upgrading of materials technology in the defense field, and changing the market supply pattern.

Important history of the project

On August 19, 2019, the first China domestic adiponitrile project, Tianchen Qixiang 1 million tons/year nylon new material industrial base, a joint venture between China Tianchen Engineering and Qixiang Tengda, was laid. The industrial base is located in Qilu Chemical Industrial Zone, Zibo, and includes a production plant with an annual output of 500,000 tons of adiponitrile. After completion, it is expected to become the first industrial production base of adiponitrile in China.

Tianchen Qixiang nylon new material project has a total investment of 20 billion yuan, with an investment of 10.4 billion yuan in the first phase, covering an area of 1,800 mu. It adopts the butadiene method independently developed by Tianchen Company to synthesize adiponitrile industrialization technology. The industrial base is to produce 1 million tons of new nylon materials, 500,000 tons of hexamethylene diamine, 500,000 tons of adiponitrile and 500,000 tons of acrylonitrile per year.