February 9, 2025 – A groundbreaking green production technology for diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), developed jointly by the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shaanxi Coal Technology Development Center, and Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Technology Research Institute, has recently completed the full-scale calibration of its industrial pilot plant. During the trial period, the plant operated smoothly, with outstanding performance across all metrics, fully meeting the anticipated objectives.
This non-phosgene MDI green production technology utilizes commonly available chemicals such as aniline, urea, and formaldehyde, eliminating the traditional phosgene-based route. This innovation fundamentally avoids the use of toxic substances and carbon emissions, aligning with the national strategy for green industrial upgrading and paving the way for the future development of MDI processes.
According to information obtained by AsiaMB, the project has been under the “Annual Science and Technology Innovation Engineering Plan” of the Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Department since 2016. After nearly a decade of arduous research, the scientific team has successfully overcome multiple core and key technologies, independently mastering the entire process of urea-based non-phosgene MDI green synthesis. This technology boasts high atom economy and inherent safety in production, providing robust support for constructing production facilities of various scales and diversifying product lines. Once this technology is successfully industrialized, it is expected to break the global technical and geographical monopoly of phosgene-based MDI, while contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to the low-carbon transformation of the global isocyanate industry.