n-hexane is widely used and my country’s high-end supply capacity needs to be improved

n-hexane, also known as hexane, mixed alkanes, and dipropyl, has a chemical formula of C6H14 and is an organic compound. N-hexane appears as a colorless liquid with a faint gasoline smell. It is soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform, ether, acetone, ethanol, etc., but is insoluble in water. n-hexane is flammable, low-toxic, and volatile, and is widely used in the chemical industry.

According to the “2022-2027 China n-hexane industry market in-depth research and development prospect forecast report released by the Industrial Research Center, crude oil It is the main raw material of n-hexane. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s crude oil production will reach 200 million tons in 2021, an increase of 2.4% over the previous year. my country’s crude oil fields are widely distributed and there are many production companies, but the output still cannot meet the market demand, and the import dependence is high. The shortage of raw materials has led to insufficient supply of high-purity n-hexane and 80% n-hexane in my country.

n-Hexane is mostly prepared by hydrodistillation process, including pre-hydrogenation and post-hydrogenation. The pre-hydrogenation process usually puts the raw materials into the hydrogenation reactor under high temperature conditions. Under the action of a catalyst, a desulfurization and aromatization reaction occurs, and then through separation, fractionation, cutting and other processes, n-hexane is finally produced. This method can make the raw materials It is fully utilized, but the production cost is high; the post-hydrogenation process requires the raw materials to be cut first, and then made into finished products through purification, hydrogenation and other processes. This method is suitable for the production of high-quality n-hexane, and has low production cost and high consumption. It has advantages such as small energy and is the mainstream preparation process of n-hexane in my country.

n-hexane has a wide range of applications, including adhesives, industrial solvents, vegetable oil extraction solvents, sealants, etc. Vegetable oil extraction solvents are the largest demand side for n-hexane. In the 1960s, developed countries such as Europe and the United States began to use the leaching method for vegetable oil extraction. As a raw material for vegetable oil extraction solvent, n-hexane has the advantages of high oil yield, improved food safety, and low solvent consumption, and has gradually been used on a large scale in the global market. Chinese vegetable oil production enterprises began to use vegetable oil extraction solvents with n-hexane as the main raw material in the late 1980s. Currently, this product accounts for 90.0% of the market.

Global n-hexane producers are mainly concentrated in Europe, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, including Exxon Mobil of the United States, Phillips 66 of the United States, CPCHEM of the United States, and SK Chemicals of South Korea. )wait. my country’s leading n-hexane companies include Tianjin Yufeng Chemical, Sinopec, Daqing Hongjunyuan Petroleum, etc.

Industry analysts said that n-hexane, as a petrochemical segmented product, is widely used in many fields. As the national health concept continues to deepen, the market demand for edible vegetable oils is increasingly strong, which will provide broad development space for my country’s n-hexane industry. At present, the development of n-hexane production technology in my country is relatively mature, but due to the shortage of raw materials, the supply of high-end products is insufficient, which is the main challenge facing the development of the industry.