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Kumho Petrochemical Yeosu
Entity
Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
Predominantly Chemicals Operations
/ Yeosu, Jeonnam
Jeonnam
1292, Hwachi-dong
http://www.kkpc.com
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Description


Kumho Mitsui Chemicals’ Yeosu Plant. Credit: Mitsui Chemicals, Apr 2021

The KKPC Yeosu facility, located within the Yeosu National Industrial Complex, is a fully integrated Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI) manufacturing site that:

  • Produces high-performance monomeric (4,4′-MDI) and modified MDI grades used in automotive NVH parts, elastic fibers, synthetic leather and CASE applications, as well as polymeric MDI for rigid and semi-rigid polyurethane foams.
  • Houses R&D laboratories and process development units for catalyst, crystallization and environmental technologies aimed at improving NCO-group selectivity and by-product recycling.
  • Expanded its annual MDI capacity from 410,000 t/y to 610,000 t/y in September 2024, making it one of the world’s largest single-site MDI producers, and incorporates closed-loop recycling to convert MDI by-product brine into raw materials, thereby reducing wastewater and greenhouse-gas emissions.
  • In June 2025, it began operating an on-site chlor-alkali plant (60,000 t/y capacity) utilizing thyssenkrupp nucera’s e-BiTAC v7 electrolyzers to generate chlorine and caustic soda from recycled MDI brine, replacing imported chlorine feedstock and minimizing effluent discharge.

MDI Manufacturing time line

Year Capacity (t/y) Expansion Method / Technology
1992 25,000 Start of commercial MDI production
phosgenation-based MDA conversion)
1996 30,000 (+5,000) Debottlenecking of reactor
and crystallizer units
2001 50,000 (+20,000) Addition of new phosgenation train
and expanded distillation column
2004 55,000 (+5,000) Further debottlenecking in isocyanate
synthesis and recovery systems
2005 65,000 (+10,000) Installation of improved solvent recovery
and MDI purification equipment
2009 140,000 (+75,000) Construction of a second MDI production line using proprietary KMCI phosgenation technology
2010 150,000 (+10,000) Fine debottlenecking in reactor heat integration
and by-product handling
2012 200,000 (+50,000) Third production train added;
enhanced crystallization section
2014 240,000 (+40,000) Installation of carbodiimide-modified MDI
reactor for specialty grades
2017 350,000 (+110,000) Fourth train: large-scale phosgenation
reactor and high-efficiency distillation
2019 410,000 (+60,000) Capacity boost via advanced process
control and debottlenecking
2024 610,000 (+200,000) Fifth train:
state-of-the-art phosgenation modules

 

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Modified by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 9/30/2025 2:20 PM
Added by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 8/9/2025 1:54 PM