At present, petrochemical based biodegradable plastics with promising development prospects include PBAT (co-polyester of terephthalic acid, adipic acid and BDO), PBS(co-polyester of succinic acid and BDO), and PBST (co-polyester of succinic acid, terephthalic acid and BDO). It is estimated that the demand for total biodegradable plastics in China is about 20 million tons/year, and the annual demand for terephthalic acid, adipic acid, succinic acid and BDO is about 1 million tons. At present, terephthalic acid, adipic acid and BDO already have the large-scale production technology, which can meet the large demand of biodegradable plastics in the future.  However, the yield of succinic acid is seriously insufficient in China, which severely limits the rapid development of biodegradable plastics industry.

Succinic acid, also known as succinic acid, is an important binary carboxylic acid, which is widely used in medicine, food, synthetic plastics, biodegradable plastics and other fields. Succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) are the core raw materials for PBS production. At present, the relatively mature maleic anhydride hydrogenation process has the advantages of low operating cost, intrinsically safe production process, no waste discharge, clean production and good environmental benefits. Now, it is the best method to produce succinic anhydride/succinic acid with efficiency and economic benefit.

In the process of exploration, the most important thing is to develop a kind of high efficiency, good selective hydrogenation catalyst, researchers have done a lot of research work, which theoretically reveals the influence mechanism of the catalyst active component existence form and carrier on catalyst activity, selectivity and life. What’s more, the team has mastered the core technology of the preparation of the catalyst. The best catalyst for the directional synthesis of succinic anhydride with high activity, high selectivity and long service life for the hydrogenation of maleic anhydride was obtained. Of course, in the process of catalyst filtration and application, Shinkai catalyst filter plays a great role. The catalyst filter developed by Shinkai can be fully automatic closed operation, safe and environmental protection, can maximize the protection of catalyst activity, increase the life of the catalyst, and improve the economic benefits of the device.