According to Unisplendour, more than a year after the launch, the facility’s production lines are now running

Feedinfo News Service spoke to Luo Yucheng, President of Unisplendour, to find out more on the company’s DL-Methionine project and its future plans. 

[Feedinfo News Service] Chongqing Unisplendour Chemical Co., Ltd. is new to the feed additives industry. Mr. Zhan, could you provide us with a brief history of your company?

[Luo Yucheng] Unisplendour is a leading manufacturer of Hydrogen cyanide and its derivatives in China. Our company has 21 sub branches and has over 5,000 staff. The technical center of our company is a national level research base for hydrogen cyanide and its derivatives, formed by high level related intellectuals and technicians.

Unisplendour was founded in 2001. The initial founder was a sub branch company of Unis Science Group of Tsinghua University. In the past 11 years, our company paid great attention to technical invention, source saving, environmental friendly and safe production. We have been rewarded with national prizes for some products including N-Phenylglycinonitrile, Iminodiacetonitrile and DHP. Our TMOF product is listed in the National Torch Plan.

Finally, our feed grade DL-Methionine was rewarded with first prize of Progress of Science and Technology by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in 2011.

[Feedinfo News Service] Could you provide us with an overview of what you have achieved to date with regard to dl Methionine production?

[Luo Yucheng] The first phase of our DL-Methionine project started in March 2009. It ended and we started producing in June 2010. The whole processing has been stabilized for over 22 months.

The quality of our product has been confirmed and accepted by both local and overseas customers. The environmental control aspect has been approved by local related authorities. The production efficiency has reached designed requirements. The production facilities can be operated safely, on a long-term basis and can match full capacity properly. We have gained some important technical invention from the trial production of Phase one. These technical inventions will be used in our Phase two production.

[Feedinfo News Service] DL-Methionine is a complicated and dangerous product to manufacture. One of your strengths is the ability to produce HCN from natural gas. What is your status with regard to other key raw materials such as propylene, hydrogen sulphide, acrolein, etc?

[Luo Yucheng] Unis Chem is the largest manufacturer of HCN deriving from natural gas in China. Our annual capacity of HCN is over 200,000 MT. Our location in Chongqing was one of the first areas to derive HCN from natural gas in China. The city has rich reserves of natural gas and it is the most important production base of HCN and its derivatives in China. 

[Feedinfo News Service] Is Chongqing Unisplendour Chemical Co., Ltd. a fully integrated Methionine producer? Are all the key raw materials available from your production site or do some of them need to be transported from within the neighbouring region?

[Luo Yucheng] Unisplendour is indeed a fully integrated DL-Methionine producer. We manufacture the key intermediates, including hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, acrolein, TPMA and Sodium cyanide. Besides, the raw materials for producing the intermediates including liquid ammonia, methanol, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide are also manufactured by Unisplendour. Meanwhile, propylene is purchased from a reliable source and it will be self produced in the near future.