Cooperation between CAS and Local Authorities

Milestone for Industrialization of Methanol to Olefins

With an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of olefins, the first commercial methanol to low-carbon olefins unit in the world successfully completed its first commissioning on Aug. 8, which is a significant milestone in the production of olefins from coal in China. This unit adopts the proprietary DMTO (DICP Methanol to Olefins) technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), CAS. With the efforts of several generations of scientists in more than 20 years, the industrialization of DMTO technology, a new process for production of chemical products via a non-petrochemical route, has been significantly accelerated in the past few years. The first 10,000 ton-scale commercial pilot plant production test with DMTO technology was completed in 2006 with the collaboration between DICP and relevant enterprises. The technology license contract for industrialization of the DMTO technology was signed between DICP and the Shenhua Group in September 2007. The construction work of the plant took about one and a half years and completed in May 2010. Relevant experts highly appraised the construction and successful commissioning of the first commercial DMTO unit in the world. On Aug. 8, Lu Yongxiang, President of CAS, wrote a congratulatory letter to DICP, offering DISP congratulations on the completion of construction and successful operation of DMTO unit with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of olefins under the Baotou coal to olefins project of Shenhua Group and expressing his heartfelt thanks to several generations of scientists engaging in the development of DMTO project.