Uhde for Chinese hydrochloric acid plant
8 Jan 2010
Uhde has won an engineering and procurement contract for the construction of a hydrochloric acid electrolysis plant for Yantai Juli Isocyanate Co. Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer of polyurethane. The plant, with a production capacity of 100ktpa hydrochloric acid, will be constructed at Laiyang, Shandong Province, China, approximately 100 km north of Qingdao.
Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2011. Uhde’s scope of supplies includes the process licence, major components of the engineering package, supply of the electrolysers, and assistance with the construction and commissioning of the plant.
The membrane electrolysis plant will convert the by-product hydrochloric acid from a new production line planned by Yantai Juli. The hydrochloric acid is converted into high-purity chlorine by the oxygen-depolarised cathode technology (ODC).
The ODC principle is based on oxygen reacting with hydrogen ions at the cathode side of the cell. This cathode reaction takes place at a notably lower cell voltage than that needed in conventional diaphragm electrolysis. This allows an energy saving of up to 30 per cent. The anode reaction remains the same.
ODC-technology-based membrane electrolysis provides a wide operating window and maximum process flexibility and can so help to optimise the conditions prevailing at the site, claims Uhde.
