Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical is about to start the production of high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC)
Sailboat entered the commercial operation with a carbonate plant in Jiangsu Province, Lianyungang in November 2024. It uses Asahi Kasei licensed technology to produce high-purity EC and DMC using carbon dioxide as the main raw material. Both carbonates are used as a solvent in electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Ushered into existence during a period spanning the early 2000s, Asahi Kasei pioneered for all other chemical products, waged CO2 to be the primary resource. The technology was licensed to chemical companies around the globe, with the first licensee producing co2 polycarbonate as of 2002.
At that juncture, Asahi Kasei has gone on expanding its competence in plastics and chemical production-accounting carbonates-based on CO2. The ongoing global energy transition towards the use of electric vehicles and the growing use of electrical energy storage systems is expected to bode well for sustained demand for lithium-ion batteries.
Due to the wide usage of propene-diol or ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate in producing lithium-ion battery electrolytes, the reduction of product carbon footprint (CFP) of the material and component poses a key challenge to manufacturers around the world.
In September 2021, Asahi Kasei and Sailboat signed a process technology license agreement allowing production at 38,000 tons a year of high-purity EC and 70,000 tons a year of high-purity DMC. The two parties will jointly plan, build and start the production plant.
The plant will actually be commissioned in November 2024 and utilize 54,000 tons of CO2 as feedstock every year. Several licensees are already utilizing the process technology on a commercial scale to produce high-purity carbonates using CO2 as a feedstock, the total amount of CO2 used as feedstock per year being about 300,000 tons, but also includes the production of polycarbonates and carbonates.
"By producing high-purity EC and DMC for lithium-ion battery electrolytes, Sailbon will further expand the industry's value chain and contribute to the sustainable development of society," said Jiale Xu, Sailbon's carbonate (EC/DMC) project manager.
Hiroyoshi Matsuyama, Asahi Kasei senior executive officer and president of SBU Environmental Solutions, added, "By licensing this technology to produce these important materials more sustainably, we will continue to focus on the practical application of our expertise in CO2 chemistry and contribute to the sustainable development of society by providing solutions to the world's environmental challenges."
