On March 13, 2025, the Nantong Data Bureau released the acceptance announcement of the environmental impact report for Kersen (Nantong) New Material Co., Ltd.'s project to produce 1 million tons of bottle-grade polyester chips (800,000 tons of PET, 200,000 tons of RPET) and by-product 2,178 tons of acetaldehyde annually.

Project Name: Annual Production of 1 Million Tons of Bottle-Grade Polyester Chips (800,000 Tons of PET, 200,000 Tons of RPET) and By-Product of 2,178 Tons of Acetaldehyde

Construction unit: Kersen (Nantong) New Materials Co., Ltd.

construction nature: new construction

Construction site: South of Latitude Road 2, west of Longitude Road 2, Yangkou Port Lingang Industrial Zone, Rudong County, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province

land area: 138062.66m²

Total investment: Phase I total investment 102,676 million yuan, Phase II total investment 131,347 million yuan, total investment 234,023 million yuan: of which environmental protection investment is approximately 11,250 million yuan, accounting for 4.8% of the total investment.

Construction content: This project plans to build a total production capacity of 1 million tons per year of bottle-grade polyester chips (800,000 tons of PET, 200,000 tons of RPET) and a by-product of 2,178 tons of acetaldehyde. The project will be constructed in 2 phases, with the construction content for each phase as follows:

Phase I: 2 PET production lines with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons each (including esterification units and polymerization units), 1 by-product acetaldehyde recovery unit (with a Phase I annual production of 908.3 tons, and a Phase II annual production of 1,269.7 tons, resulting in a total annual production of 2,178 tons after the completion of Phase II), as well as corresponding utility and auxiliary facilities:

Phase II: 2 PET production lines with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons each (including esterification units and polymerization units), 1 RPET production line with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons (including bottle flake regeneration units and polymerization units), as well as corresponding utility and auxiliary facilities.

The project PET synthesis process adopts the currently most mature direct esterification and continuous polycondensation method with a five-reactor process to produce polyester, using terephthalic acid (PTA) and ethylene glycol (EG) as the main raw materials, generating polyethylene terephthalate (PET) through esterification reaction and polycondensation reaction.

Direct esterification has advantages such as low raw material consumption and short reaction time, and since the 1980s, it has become the main process and preferred technological route for polyester. At the same time, compared with the common three-reactor and four-reactor processes of current direct esterification, the five-reactor process has more uniform reactions at each stage and fewer by-products. The five-reactor process uses lower esterification temperatures and lower operating pressures, and its operational flexibility, stability, overall energy consumption, and product quality are all superior to other modes.

The PET production facility adopts the proprietary technology of the general contractor Oerlikon Barmag Huition (Yangzhou) Engineering Co., Ltd. (referred to as: OBHE). The aldehyde removal unit for PET production uses the patented technology of the construction company, KOKSAN Group, employing compressed air instead of conventional nitrogen to de-aldehyde high viscosity chips during the polymerization stage, significantly reducing operating costs and energy consumption, with notably advanced technology.

The project's RPET synthesis process plans to adopt the patented technology of the construction unit, KOKSAN Group, to chemically glycolize externally purchased crushed bottle flakes, then repolymerize them to produce high-viscosity chips (IV=0.820), which are ultimately fed into KOKSAN Group's unique de-aldehyding equipment for de-aldehyding treatment, achieving the regeneration of crushed bottle flakes, which is a first in the country.