As an important monomer raw material in the plasticizing industry, ethyl acrylate has a wide range of applications.

Ethyl acrylate, also known as ethyl sulfate, has a chemical formula of C5H8O2 and is an organic compound. Ethyl acrylate appears as a colorless and transparent liquid with a pungent smell. It is easily soluble in ether and ethanol, and slightly soluble in water. Ethyl acrylate is easy to polymerize, flammable, and volatile, and is an important monomer raw material for the plasticizing industry.

The upstream of the ethyl acrylate industry chain supplies raw materials, including acrylic acid, 3-hydroxypropionitrile, sulfuric acid, ethanol, etc. Acrylic acid is the main raw material for ethyl acrylate. As the application fields of acrylic acid continue to expand, its production capacity continues to expand, driving the output to continue to grow. In 2021, my country’s acrylic acid production reached 2.986 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. Although the supply of raw materials is sufficient, my country’s ethyl acrylate production has been declining year by year due to factors such as the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and the tightening of national environmental protection policies. According to the “2022-2027 China Ethyl Acrylate Industry Market Supply and Demand Status and Development Trend Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, In 2021, my country’s ethyl acrylate production reached 61,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5%.

The production processes of ethyl acrylate include β-propiolactone method, ethylene cyanohydrin method, Raper method, acrylonitrile method and propylene oxidation method. β-propiolactone method, propylene oxidation method and acrylonitrile method are the mainstream production processes of ethyl acrylate. The acrylonitrile method mixes acrylonitrile with sulfuric acid, hydrolyzes it through heating to form acrylamide sulfate, and then reacts with alcohol to produce esterification, and finally produces ethyl acrylate. The propylene oxidation method requires the oxidation of propylene into acrylic acid, which is mixed with ethanol under the action of an ion exchange resin catalyst to form an esterification reaction to produce ethyl acrylate.

Ethyl acrylate is widely used in adhesives, plastics, textiles, medical treatment, coatings and other fields. In the field of plastics, ethyl acrylate can be copolymerized with other monomers to prepare important raw materials for plastics, resins and other polymer compounds. In the field of textiles, ethyl acrylate can be used as textile warp slurry, coating agent, etc. Latex made from the polymerization of ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, etc. can be made into a foam coating agent after adding other additives. It is widely used in cushion fabrics, blackout curtains and other products.

Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Yantai Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. and Shenyang Chemical Co., Ltd. are the main suppliers of ethyl acrylate in my country. Satellite Petrochemical is my country’s first listed company with a complete C3 industrial chain of over one million tons of ethyl acrylate.

Industry analysts said that ethyl acrylate, as an important monomer raw material for the plasticizing industry, is widely used in many fields. Affected by factors such as the tightening of national environmental protection policies, my country’s ethyl acrylate production has shown a gradual downward trend. As the severe epidemic situation is gradually brought under control and the national environmental protection policy takes effect, the market demand for ethyl acrylate will gradually pick up, and the industry’s development prospects will continue to improve.