Clariant and Chinese engineering partner Wuxi Xiyuan have won contracts to supply their joint formaldehyde technology for two new plants in China. The deals, said Clariant, take the number of customers choosing the technology to six in a short period of time.

Shandong Yushiju Chemical, one of China’s largest producers of phenol formaldehyde resins, will build a 150,000 t/y plant, while Shandong Sunny Wealth New Materials, a leading Chinese antioxidant producer, will build a 130,000 t/y plant. Both facilities are scheduled to start operating in 2019.

“To successfully meet the continuously growing demand for phenol formaldehyde resins in China, we aim to strengthen and streamline our operations to stay at the head of our field. We are convinced that we can achieve this with the progressive technology and catalysts provided by Clariant and Wuxi Xiyuan,” said Jiatao Zhang, chief operations officer of Shandong Yushiju Chemical.

According to Clariant, the rapidly rising demand for the technology is because of its significantly higher efficiency and selectivity compared to the traditional silver-based method of producing formaldehyde.

The technology is based on Clariant’s Famax 200 DS next-generation iron-molybdenum catalyst. The Swiss company said the hollow and cylindrical shape of the catalyst reduces pressure drop over the catalyst bed by 10-15% compared to conventional catalysts while the special design gives producers the flexibility to reduce energy consumption when operating at the same capacity, or to increase capacity at the same energy costs.

The catalyst’s advanced chemical composition also improves low temperature activity and allows operation at reduced cooling medium temperatures. These characteristics, said Clariant, combined with higher reaction selectivity, further increase formaldehyde yields and the drastic reduction in by-product formation also gives a higher quality.

Wuxi Xiyuan has recently installed the technology in three plants in China and India. A fourth plant, located in Jiangsu province, China, is expected to start up during the current second quarter with a capacity of about 240,000 t/y formaldehyde.

After collaborating for many years, Clariant and Wuxi Xiyuan formed a strategic partnership in 2017 to advance formaldehyde production in China.