With the release of new domestic NBR production capacity, China's domestic market competition will become increasingly fierce. In order to maintain the advanced nature of NBR products, we must improve the quality and safety of existing products, strengthen the research of NBR modification technology, and develop a series of functional NBR products.

1 high quality, environmental protection NBR products

Gradually improve the quality of NBR products, produce clean and safe high-performance high quality NBR products, and lead the development direction of the industry. Realize the environmental protection of additives such as antioxidants and terminators, and improve the safety of products.

2 Differentiation and serialization of NBR grades

The differentiation and serialization of NBR grades need to be realized from the synthesis method, key indicators, processing performance, application requirements and other aspects, first of all, improve the low nitrile and ultra-high nitrile grade products, and then further realize the differentiation and specialization of the grades within each nitrile content.

1) Development of low temperature resistant and low nitrile NBR

China Petroleum and Petrochemical Research Institute has carried out a series of low-temperature resistant NBR technology development, reserved small-scale test technologies for NBR1805, NBR1806 and NBR1807 products, completed the NBR1806 industrial technology development, and is expected to schedule production on a 50000-ton/year nitrile plant. From product development to application technology development, mainly through the combination of uniform distribution control of nitriles, Mooney viscosity stabilization and differential control, low nitrile NBR processing technology research (especially the processing of military models with technology) and other aspects of key research. Low nitrile NBR(17% ~ 20%) has a good balance between low temperature, elasticity and oil resistance, and can be widely used in aviation, packaging, gaskets, oil seals, belts and other oil-resistant fields that require low-temperature flexibility. It is one of the main series of major NBR manufacturers.

2) Super high nitrile NBR

Acrylonitrile content of more than 43% of the high acrylonitrile NBR with high oil resistance, low oil and gas permeability and elasticity, widely used in oil drilling and mining and other fields, is a high value-added high-end NBR products. PetroChina Petrochemical Research Institute and the company have carried out the development of ultra-high nitrile high oil resistance NBR products with acrylonitrile> 45%. Through the accurate control of the combined nitrile content and Mooney viscosity, the development of small-scale test technology has been completed. Now, the research on the processing technology of ultra-high nitrile NBR is focused on, mainly aiming at the research on the processing coordination technology of oil drilling and mining products. By completing the development of NBR with ultra-high nitrile content, the full range of NBR products will be realized.

3 Development of high value-added NBR products

1) Carboxyl NBR(XNBR)

The introduction of carboxyl modification in NBR can greatly improve the wear resistance, adhesion and aging resistance of NBR [3]. The products are mainly used to prepare rubber products, adhesives, and mechanical parts with high requirements for strength, oil resistance and wear resistance [4]. It is widely used in aerospace, equipment manufacturing and other fields. It is a special high-performance NBR.

PetroChina Petrochemical Research Institute is an early unit engaged in carboxyl NBR research, has developed liquid carboxyl nitrile and solid carboxyl NBR technology, the existing LXNBR-40,LXNBR-26 two brands of liquid carboxyl rubber, mainly supplied to aerospace, defense enterprises. In the face of increasingly fierce competition, we will further study the key technologies such as the introduction of multiple copolymerization of carboxyl groups, low gel control, demulsification and coagulation of carboxyl nitrile latex, and further develop high-performance carboxyl NBR series products. It is expected that industrial mass production will be carried out in 2015.

2) Hydrogenated NBR(HNBR)

Hydrogenated NBR(HNBR), also known as highly saturated NBR, is prepared by partial or complete hydrogenation of unsaturated double bonds on the carbon chain of NBR. There are three main preparation methods: NBR solution hydrogenation, NBR emulsion hydrogenation and ethylene-acrylonitrile copolymerization [5]. Its main manufacturers are LANXESS (10000 tons/year) and Rui Weng Chemical Company (12000 tons/year), with a total production capacity of 22000 tons/year in the world, which is the largest variety of special rubber. Mainly used in automobile oil seals, fuel system components, automobile transmission belts, drilling holding boxes and mud pistons, printing and textile rubber rollers, tank belt gaskets, aerospace seals, air conditioning sealing products, shock absorption materials and other fields [6-7].

The production and application of HNBR in China is still in its infancy. In the early stage, only the company built a 30-ton/year production unit, and launched the brand LH-9901 and LH-9902. Shanghai Zannan Technology Co., Ltd. introduced more than 10 brands of HNBR in 2011, with a combined nitrile range of 25% ~ 50%. On the basis of the original research, the Petrochemical Research Institute has achieved breakthroughs in hydrogenation catalyst preparation, heterogeneous hydrogenation and other technologies, and is expected to achieve breakthroughs in HNBR industrialization technology in 2015. At the same time, its processing technology has made some progress, which paves the way for the further promotion and application of PetroChina HNBR.

3) butadiene acrylonitrile isoprene rubber (NIBR)

Isoprene modified NBR technology (NIBR) is a kind of high strength, high elasticity, easy processing NBR, is a special high performance NBR. Mainly used in printing, aerospace and other fields [8]. The key technical points are the sequence structure control of isoprene in copolymerization or grafting reaction, the control of nitrile and Mooney viscosity, and the study of processing and coordination technology.

4) Liquid nitrile

The main development of terminal carboxyl, terminal hydroxyl, terminal thiol, terminal amino and other functional liquid NBR[9]. The introduction of various groups can improve the adhesion of NBR to the interface and the compatibility with the resin. Products are mainly used as adhesives, modifiers, for military and civilian materials modification and bonding. On the basis of the existing research, PetroChina Petrochemical Research Institute further carries out depth control to adjust the molecular weight, accurately control the viscosity and sequence structure, and develops a series of liquid NBR products.

5) Powder NBR

Powder NBR is characterized by its excellent processability, and its output is about 10% of NBR output, which is widely used in the field of resin modification. The company has built 3000 tons/year powder rubber plant, China Petroleum and Petrochemical Research Institute has a very mature rubber powder technology, the next step will focus on the development of serialized, specialized powder rubber grades.

6) Other

PVC/NBR co-sinking glue, plasticized NBR, nano-modified NBR is also the focus of the current research, can effectively enrich the NBR product brand, improve competitiveness.

NBR product brand is complete, stable performance, will further improve product quality and safety, the development of low nitrile, ultra-high nitrile series products, focusing on the development of high value-added NBR products. In recent years, fruitful results have been achieved in the transformation of old devices, the construction of new devices and the development of new products. The production capacity has been improved, and the product quality has been continuously improved. More than 10 new NBR product brands have been newly developed, which has effectively enriched the NBR product brands and improved the device's ability to resist risks. The products can now meet the needs of general-purpose and special-type NBR in different application fields in the domestic market.