Main achievements of the hydrogen peroxide project

      In order to deeply implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on production safety, the Ministry of Emergency Management issues the "Key Points for Safety Supervision of Hazardous Chemicals" at the beginning of each year. It focuses on "one prevention and three improvements" (preventing major safety risks, improving intrinsic safety levels, enhancing personnel skills and quality, and improving information technology and intelligent control levels), requiring the strengthening of safety risk control and special governance in high-risk sub-sectors (including peroxide enterprises) when preventing major safety risks. In 2023, the "Guidelines for Safety Risk Hazard Investigation of Peroxide Enterprises (Trial)" was issued to further strengthen the identification and control of safety risks in peroxide process enterprises. In recent years, there have been multiple explosions of varying degrees in domestic hydrogen peroxide production facilities.The main causes of these explosions are due to the system being alkaline or the presence of metal ion impurities in the system, which trigger the exothermic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, leading to explosions.(1) When the working liquid configuration kettle of the hydrogen peroxide unit is used to recover the working liquid, a large amount of hydrogen peroxide is sucked in, and the kettle may be alkaline, causing violent decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and resulting in overpressure explosions in the configuration kettle; (2) The alkaline liquid tank shares a system with the heavy aromatic hydrocarbon tank, causing alkaline liquid to mix with heavy aromatic hydrocarbons, leading to an alkaline system and triggering hydrogen peroxide decomposition explosions; (3) The oxidation working liquid in the oxidation tower is alkaline (the oxidation liquid is required to be weakly acidic). After an emergency shutdown, hydrogen peroxide in the acidic storage tank rapidly decomposes and releases heat under alkaline conditions, generating high temperatures and combustible gas oxygen, causing a sudden increase in pressure in the closed storage tank and resulting in explosions; (4) During the hydrogen peroxide extraction process, the alkaline pure water used for extraction accelerates the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the extraction tower, and the oxygen generated from decomposition and residual air forms a flammable and explosive mixture with low boiling point materials, which can ignite due to static electricity not discharged from the system; (5) Palladium catalysts and alumina powder in the white clay bed enter the oxidation tower with the hydrogenation liquid, causing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, leading to increased pressure and temperature in the tower, resulting in explosions at the top of the oxidation tower; (6) After the discharge of the oxidation residue separator in the hydrogen peroxide workshop, the pressure generated by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the residual liquid of the oxidation residue separator is not effectively released in a timely manner, leading to extreme overpressure and explosions in the oxidation residue separator.

      The Chemical Institute adopts an advanced, intrinsically safe full-acid system hydrogen peroxide process (eliminating the alkaline treatment process for residual working liquid), fundamentally eliminating potential safety hazards that could cause the aforementioned explosions.With high hydrogen efficiency, high product quality, and a simplified and safe process, it avoids the defects of alumina powder contamination of the catalyst, significantly extends the catalyst usage cycle, and the small amount of external automatic alkaline washing of the working liquid effectively prevents the device from becoming alkaline. The process equipment has unique leading advantages in intrinsic safety.Based on the advanced nature of this process technology, the Chemical Institute was awarded the "New Technology - Engineering Design for Hydrogen Peroxide Production under Full Acidic Working Liquid Conditions" proprietary technology by the China Petroleum and Chemical Survey and Design Association in 2015 (Proprietary Technology No. ZYJS2015-027S) and the continuation of proprietary technology in 2020 (Proprietary Technology No. ZYJS2020-009SR).

      The advantages of the full-acid working liquid system for hydrogen peroxide production technology are mainly reflected in the preparation and selection of catalysts, formulation of new working liquids, improvement and optimization of process equipment, unique production processes and control system designs, and a complete and efficient safety and environmental protection system. Compared to traditional hydrogen peroxide production technology, the proprietary technology has significant advantages: (1) The alkaline treatment process for residual working liquid has been eliminated, preventing safety accidents that may arise from the presence of alkali during production, making the hydrogen peroxide unit intrinsically safe.(2) The use of highly active and selective new fixed-bed palladium catalysts significantly reduces the amount of catalyst used and decreases the generation of by-products; (3) The new working liquid system improves the production efficiency of working liquid per unit volume, thereby reducing energy consumption and investment in the unit; (4) The new efficient hydrogenation process fully utilizes the performance of the catalyst and effectively suppresses the occurrence of side reactions; (5) The design employs a high-efficiency extraction tower, ensuring high extraction concentration and low residual; (6) The use of vacuum dehydration technology for residual working liquid ensures that the moisture content in the working liquid meets standards; (7) The use of external washing and regeneration technology for working liquid ensures the relative balance of the components in the working liquid system.

      The company has rich achievements in the design of 29 completed hydrogen peroxide unit projects and three domestic and international general contracting project achievements: Shandong Jufeng New Energy 225,000 tons/year (27.5%) hydrogen peroxide general contracting project, Singapore Golden Eagle Group Indonesia RAPP Kolinqi 180 TPD hydrogen peroxide general contracting project, and Indonesia PRI Company 192 TPD hydrogen peroxide general contracting project.The full-acid working liquid system for hydrogen peroxide production technology has been successfully applied in the Guangxi Tiandong Dasheng Chemical hydrogen peroxide project, establishing the first domestic 20,000 tons/year (upgraded to 60,000 tons/year in 2014) fixed-bed full-acid working liquid system industrial production unit. After the project was completed and put into operation, it caused a sensation in the domestic hydrogen peroxide industry, attracting significant attention in the industry due to its unique core competitiveness and cost advantages brought by technological leadership. This proprietary technology has been successfully applied in Sinopec Changling Branch's 100,000 tons/year hydrogen peroxide-based propylene oxide industrial test unit (annual production of 300,000 tons of 27.5% hydrogen peroxide), Henan Hongda Chemical's 150,000 tons/year (27.5%) hydrogen peroxide project, Inner Mongolia Dakang Industrial's 100,000 tons/year (27.5%) hydrogen peroxide project, and the 80,000 tons/year hydrogen peroxide technology upgrade project (upgrading from 80,000 tons to 140,000 tons) at Liyuan Dongyang Photovoltaic Chemical Plant.