The production of high-carbon α-olefins is difficult and my country’s self-sufficiency capacity is expected to continue to increase

High-carbon α-olefins are high-end polyolefins. They are α-olefins with more than five carbon atoms, usually within twenty carbons. The common ones are C6 and C8, such as 1-hexene and 1-octene. .

α-Olefin is a single olefin with a double bond at the end of the molecular chain. Depending on the length of the carbon chain, product performance and application fields are different. The most common products are C4 (1-butene), C6 (1- Hexene), C8 (1-octene). Globally, 1-butene is the most important α-olefin product, accounting for about 40% of its applications, but it is a low-carbon α-olefin.

1-Hexene (C6H12) is mainly used as a polyethylene comonomer, a raw material for the production of dyes, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and additives such as lubricants and fuels. It accounts for 20% of the α-olefin market and is the largest Common high-carbon alpha-olefins. 1-Octene (C8H16) is mainly used as a polyethylene comonomer, plasticizer, surfactant, synthetic lubricant and other production raw materials. Its application proportion in the α-olefin market is 15%, which is the largest proportion except 1- Another common high-carbon α-olefin besides hexene.

The three common α-olefins are important polyethylene comonomers. Compared with low-carbon α-olefins, polyethylene made of high-carbon α-olefins as raw materials has better mechanical properties, heat resistance, and processing properties. More advantages in other aspects. In addition, high-carbon alpha-olefins are key raw materials for the production of polyolefin elastomers (POE). POE is mainly used to produce photovoltaic adhesive films and is used in the field of photovoltaic module packaging. Against the background of the booming global photovoltaic power generation industry, the demand for POE is growing rapidly, which is beneficial to the development of the high-carbon α-olefin industry.

According to the“In-depth Market Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report of China’s High-Carbon Alpha Olefin Industry from 2023 to 2028” released by the Industrial Research Center It shows that the production of high-carbon α-olefins is difficult. Foreign companies have strictly blocked related technologies, and the price of imported high-carbon α-olefins is high. In order to meet the needs of my country’s photovoltaic power generation industry, domestic companies continue to accelerate the pace of independent research and development, and relevant technical bottlenecks continue to be broken. . At this stage, my country has achieved industrial mass production of 1-hexene, and 1-octene is in the trial production stage. my country’s high-carbon α-olefin-related companies mainly include Yanshan Petrochemical, Zhejiang Petrochemical, Maoming Petrochemical, Daqing Petrochemical, etc.

Industry analysts said that my country’s apparent consumption of high-carbon α-olefins is expected to reach 280,000 tons in 2023. In addition to the two common products, there is also room for development of other high-carbon alpha-olefins, such as 1-decene (C10H20), which is a key raw material for polyalphaolefin base oil (PAO), and PAO is the most common lubricating oil base. One of the oils, it can produce high-end lubricants. Generally speaking, my country’s demand for high-carbon α-olefins is rising, but domestic production capacity is still weak, and demand is highly dependent on external sources. In the future, as planned or under-construction projects gradually enter production, my country’s self-sufficiency in high-carbon α-olefins is expected to continue to increase.