China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has commissioned a specialty polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) resin production line at subsidiary Chongqing SVW Chemical Co. Ltd., increasing the site's total PVA capacity to 210,000 metric tons per year.

According to the company, the new facility adds 50,000 metric tons of annual production capacity, making the Chongqing site the world's largest single-site production base for specialty PVA. The first shipment from the facility has already been delivered to Europe.

Sinopec said the additional capacity will strengthen supplies of specialty PVA used in photovoltaic materials, electronics, optical films, pharmaceuticals and other high-value applications. The company said the new production line uses advanced alcoholysis and precision purification technologies to manufacture high-purity specialty grades.

During construction, engineers implemented a new polymerization process that increased production capacity by 40% compared with previous-generation equipment, according to the company. The facility also incorporates exhaust gas and wastewater recovery systems and an automated packaging system intended to improve operational and resource efficiency.

The project was completed in 17 months and accumulated 1.98 million safe work hours during construction, Sinopec said. Following startup, the company reportedly optimized process parameters to achieve stable production and product quality.