Nippon Shokubai to Upgrade Ethanolamine Production Equipment.

Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd., under its president Hiroshi Yanagida, today announced that the Company plans to upgrade its ethanolamine production equipment in order to increase annual production by 10,000 metric tons. This initiative will take place concurrently with the regular maintenance of the Kawasaki Plant in Kawasaki, Kanagawa in the autumn of 2004.

The Kawasaki Plant currently has an annual production capacity of 40,000 metric tons of ethanolamine in its Chidori factory. To accommodate increasing ethanolamine demand, the company will eliminate bottlenecks in its equipment to raise annual production by 10,000 metric tons to a total of 50,000 metric tons.

In April 2003, the company adopted a new and improved production process employing an innovative proprietary catalyst to respond to the rising demand for ethanolamine (monoethanolamine, or MEA; diethanolamine, or DEA; and triethanolamine, or TEA). The company decided to undertake the upgrading of its production capacity in response to the prospect of continually rising demand for MEA and DEA primarily from Europe, North America, and China.

Advantage of the New Production Method

The greatest advantage of the new ethanolamine production method developed by Nippon Shokubai is the capability to control the production ratios of MEA, DEA, and TEA in order to meet demand. This capability is provided by results from the modifying zeolitic catalysts recently developed by the company.

With the conventional method, the ratio of ethanolamines generated (MEA:DEA:TEA = 1:1:1) cannot be modified significantly. However, the use of the new catalysts inhibits the production of TEA, a larger ethanolamine molecule, and instead increases the production ratio of MEA and particularly DEA, whose production can be doubled or even tripled.

Trends in Ethanolamine Demand

World demand for ethanolamine is predicted to rise from 1.1 million metric tons in 2003 to 1.25 million metric tons in 2005. Its main applications are as a surfactant, agricultural chemical (herbicide), wood preservative, raw material for ethylene amine, and gas absorbent.