N-Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) has a wide range of applications and there is still room for growth for local companies in the future.

N-methyldiethanolamine, also known as methylaminodiethanol, N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)methylamine, MDEA for short, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C5H13NO2. It appears as a colorless or dark yellow oil. Liquid, miscible with water and alcohol, slightly soluble in ether. N-methyldiethanolamine is a raw material-end product that can be used to manufacture desulfurization and purification emulsifiers, acid-base control agents, acid gas absorbents, polyurethane foam catalysts, insecticides, fabric additives and other products. The end application involves petrochemicals, pesticides , medicine, textiles, coatings, exhaust gas treatment and other fields.

There are currently two main methods for producing N-methyldiethanolamine on the market, namely the ethylene oxide method, which uses ethylene oxide and monomethylamine as raw materials through chemical reaction, steam heating, dehydration, evaporation, Methods to generate MDEA through distillation and purification; the formaldehyde method refers to a method that uses methanol and cyanoethanol as raw materials and generates MDEA through a hydrogenation reaction in the presence of a nickel catalyst.

According to the“China N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) market monitoring and future development prospects research from 2023 to 2027″ released by the Industrial Research Center Report” shows that my country’s N-methyldiethanolamine industry started in the 1980s. It was first developed and applied as a new type of selective desulfurization agent with high selectivity and low solvent consumption. It has the advantages of less odor, strong degradability, and low corrosiveness, and can be widely used in desulfurization scenarios of natural gas, coal gas, and refinery gas, as well as decarbonization scenarios of industrial gases such as hydrogen sulfide and synthetic ammonia in fertilizer plants and synthetic ammonia plants.

Since then, with the deepening of research and continuous technological breakthroughs, the application fields of N-methyldiethanolamine have continued to expand. In the pharmaceutical field, it can be used as an intermediate in the production of the anti-tumor drug nitrogen mustard; in the textile field, it can As a raw material, it is used in the production of textile auxiliaries and fiber auxiliaries; in the field of coatings, it can be used as a raw material in the production of paint drying accelerators and urethane coating catalysts; in the field of environmental protection, it can also be used as a solvent in the carbon dioxide capture system.

Currently, driven by the continued development of the downstream market, the demand for N-methyldiethanolamine continues to increase, and the industry has good development prospects. Driven by demand growth, the number of domestic companies entering the N-methyldiethanolamine market is increasing. The main companies include Jiaxing Jinyan Chemical, Jiangsu Taihu New Materials, Jiangsu Innovation Petrochemical, Changchun Jiawei Technology, Shandong Ruinong Petrochemical, Zibo Guangruida Chemical, Maoming Yunlong Industrial, Hubei Zhongyou Bingshuo Environmental Protection Chemical, etc.

Industry analysts said that the number of domestic N-methyldiethanolamine production companies is still relatively small, and the products The categories are also relatively single, and there is still a big gap between domestic products and international leading companies in terms of technology and quality. Therefore, in the future, domestic N-methyldiethanolamine companies will need to continue to improve their technical level and increase product innovation, and there is huge room for industry growth.