The pilot test of the bio-based platform compound 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) of Ningbo Institute of Materials was successful

On August 23, the Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the pilot test of the bio-based platform compound 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was successful.

FDCA is a bio-based aromatic ring compound that has been researched and developed at home and abroad in the past ten years. Among many downstream polymers of FDCA, the polyester product – polyethylene furandicarboxylate (PEF) has excellent barrier properties of O2, CO2 and H2O , and the thermal and mechanical properties are superior to the current petrochemical-based aromatic ring polyester-polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The potential for packaging materials, bio-based fibers, etc. is huge. However, limited by the advancement of the industrialization technology of monomer FDCA, the progress of industrialization research and development at home and abroad is slow. The engineering and industrialization technology of monomer FDCA is currently one of the focuses of research and development and industrialization in the field of bio-based new materials at home and abroad.

The furan bio-based and application team of the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as one of the research and development teams at home and abroad focusing on the engineering compound industrialization of new furan materials, after more than ten years of accumulation, has developed a set of pollution-free, The FDCA oxidation preparation process with high safety factor, low energy consumption, high yield and engineering feasibility will start FDCA pilot scale-up engineering in early 2022. After 20 months of exploration and practice, independently designed and developed the first set of furandicarboxylic acid oxidation preparation system in China, and completed the installation and commissioning.

From June to July 2023, all members of the project team went through continuous debugging for more than one month under the high temperature and difficult conditions of 40°C. On a pilot scale, a trial run was successful, and the furandicarboxylic acid production rate was close to the industrial level. The pilot oxidation process of this set is environmentally friendly and pollution-free, with high safety factor and low oxidation process cost. The success of the pilot test marks that my country has made a substantial breakthrough in the engineering technology of new furan materials, and has laid a solid foundation for the further industrialization of furandicarboxylic acid, downstream PEF and related derivatives.

The furan-based bio-based material team was established in 2010. Under the leadership of researcher Zhang Yajie, the team leader, the research and development of furan-based bio-based new material engineering technology is the goal, aiming at the breakthrough of my country’s advantages in the field of bio-based new materials. The sword has broken through the FDCA pilot test engineering technology, which has important practical value for the development of my country’s subsequent advanced bio-based new materials and the transformation of petrochemical materials to bio-based materials.