The global chemical industry is looking for solutions to zero carbon emissions, of which the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide is the most important part. Carbon dioxide can produce many kinds of carbon-containing compounds. However, the current utilization direction of carbon dioxide is limited and needs to be overcome by factors such as existing technology and cost.
- Realized industrial applications of carbon dioxide
The industrial utilization of carbon dioxide has a history of several decades and is quite large-scale. The applications of carbon dioxide can be roughly divided into chemical, industrial, and food industries.
In the field of chemical production, due to the limitations of carbon dioxide in collection, production, transportation and storage, its application in chemical industry is limited. At present, carbon dioxide is used as a chemical raw material and is mainly used to produce urea, silica, carbon monoxide, barium carbonate, crystalline calcium carbonate, etc.
Carbon dioxide used in industrial applications is mainly used as a pH control agent for water treatment, welding gas, plant growth stimulant, and hardened film and core pneumatic devices in the casting process. It can also be used as a bactericide. Carbon dioxide used in industry has a wide range of applications and is currently the main application direction of carbon dioxide.
In the food industry, carbon dioxide can be used as an additive for carbonated drinks and beer, an inert protective gas in food processing, and a freezer in food transportation. The application scale of carbon dioxide in the food industry is small, but the quality requirements for carbon dioxide are relatively high.
- Application of carbon dioxide in new chemical materials
Carbon dioxide is a relatively economical way to use it as a raw material for new chemical materials, and it is also one of the focuses of current enterprise research. According to the survey, in the field of new materials, carbon dioxide can be used as the main raw material for products such as dimethyl carbonate, ethylene carbonate, and propylene carbonate.
Among them, dimethyl carbonate uses propylene oxide, methanol, and carbon dioxide as raw materials, and can be used downstream in the production of lithium battery electrolyte solvents, polycarbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, and other carbonates. In recent years, the new energy industry has developed rapidly, and the production of carbonate using carbon dioxide as raw material has received great attention. On the one hand, the development of new energy drives its consumption demand; on the other hand, it can consume the carbon dioxide produced by the company’s chemical activities to achieve supporting industrial chain and carbon reduction development.
Polyether ketone ester products can also be produced using carbon dioxide, which is currently a relatively advanced production method. Polyetherketone is prepared by copolymerizing carbon dioxide and alkenyl ether, and can be used downstream in high-temperature-resistant structural materials, special coatings, wear-resistant materials, and electrical insulation materials.
Carbon dioxide can be copolymerized with epoxy compounds to produce polyetherester polyols. Polyether carbonate polyol is a type of oligomer polyol with terminal hydroxyl groups and a main chain containing both polyester and polyether segments. Polyetherester polyol can be used in hydrolysis-resistant and acid-resistant polyurethane materials to replace polycarbonate diol (PCDL), polycaprolactone diol (PCL), etc., and has a wide range of applications.
Carbon dioxide can also be used to produce degradable plastics such as polypropylene carbonate and polyethylene carbonate, which are used in the fields of disposable lunch boxes, plastic wrap and mulch films. Among them, polypropylene carbonate is polymerized by carbon dioxide and propylene oxide, and polyethylene carbonate is polymerized by carbon dioxide and ethylene oxide. At present, China has realized the industrialization of polypropylene carbonate and is the world’s largest producer.
- Application of carbon dioxide in large-scale chemical production
Large-scale chemical production using carbon dioxide as raw material consumes huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which is also the current focus of the industry. This utilization method can effectively consume the carbon dioxide produced during the production process of integrated enterprises and improve the competitiveness of the project.
For example, carbon dioxide can be used as a carbon source supplement in the coal chemical industry, and is used in coal-to-olefins, coal-to-aromatics, coal-to-ethylene glycol, coal-to-oil and downstream chemicals. In the coal-to-olefins production process, its own integration project produces carbon dioxide as a by-product, which is used as a supplementary raw material for syngas to produce ethylene and propylene. It then relies on olefin raw materials to extend the industrial chain downstream to EVA, polyethylene, etc.
- Application of carbon dioxide in other chemical synthesis fields
With the advancement and development of chemical technology, the chemical synthesis of carbon dioxide as raw material is gradually expanding its application fields and product range.
Using carbon dioxide as raw material, ethanol, acetic acid, MDI, acrylate, long-chain dibasic acid, etc. can be synthesized. These areas have achieved industrialization and are gradually growing in scale. The downstream of ethanol is mainly used as industrial raw materials, and the downstream of acetic acid is mainly used to produce acetic anhydride, acetate, cellulose acetate and other products.
New chemical production using carbon dioxide as raw material, representative products include: polyhydroxy fatty acid alkyd, 1,3-propylene glycol, adipic acid, polylactic acid, lysine, butanol, succinic acid, caprolactam, ethyl acetate, etc. These products have achieved bio-based chemical production, and carbon dioxide can be used as an intermediate raw material.
With the development of the industry, the application of carbon dioxide in chemical industry has gradually increased, the scale of production has continued to expand, and the production costs of some processes have gradually reduced, slowly replacing other chemical production methods. In some subdivisions in the future, through the resource utilization of carbon dioxide, net-zero carbon dioxide emissions in the integrated production process can be achieved, allowing carbon dioxide to return to the value chain.
As the world’s leading B2B chemical platform, ECHEMI.com continues to introduce low-carbon chemical companies to our platform to promote the concept of green chemical industry. Carbon dioxide recovery is not only an important breakthrough point in achieving net-zero emissions, but also one of the important ways for chemical companies to create green and low-carbon products and enhance comprehensive competitiveness.
