Lansheng Biotech: Green chemical innovation drives fine chemical production to reach a new level

Editor：Mickey Shan

Feature : Showcase of China’s ″Specialized and Novel″ crop protection products/technologies/applications

▋ Special sponsor: Lansheng Biotechy 

▋ A total of 11 enterprises are introduced in this series; The Feature was first published in the latest "2023 China Pesticide Industry Watch" 

The overall industrial upgrading of Chinese manufacture industry happens to coincides with the unprecedented changes in the last 100 years.

In this new era full of opportunities and policy support, the Chinese pesticide enterprises have worked hard to achieve constant technical breakthroughs via innovation and upgrading, as based on the experiences gained in the past decades. Some enterprises have so far made preliminary achievements, having formed an advanced and sophisticated technology and product cluster.

In this Feature, we have selected 11 Chinese pesticide manufacturers that are characterized with professionalism, intensification, specialization and novelty, which is a presentation of Chinese pesticide enterprise’s research and development of new products, breakthroughs in technical innovation, upgrading of type of formulations and continued exploration of applications. The publication will exhibit the achievements in each individual sector, which is internationally advanced, revealing the new competitiveness of Chinese pesticide industry.

▉Series of special topics are released in succession → specially planned by AgroPages

• Lansheng Biotech：Green chemical innovation drives fine chemical production to reach a new level

• Eastlake High-Tech: Application of microreaction, continuous flow technologies to improve quality of plant growth regulators

• Qilu, industry leader of high quality spinosad

• KingAgroot – Innovative flagship integrating compound creation and biotechnical breeding

• CAC Nantong: Cyproflanilide, a created novel insecticide with unique action mechanism

• Yonon: Production of L-glufosinate on multienzyme

• Lier Chemical: 20,000-ton L-glufosinate production capacity to start running soon

• Red Sun: Diquat dichloride aims to create new burndown herbicide market trend

• Fosetyl-aluminium: Focusing on European wine grape market, Limin’s product concept upgraded

• Pilarbio: Working imaginatively on CS – an innovative cutting-edge formulation

• Chengdu New Sun: Making breakthroughs in industrialized application of plant growth regulation coronatine, first time in the world

 Lansheng Biotech: Green chemical innovation drives fine chemical production to reach a new level 

01. 

An innovative enterprise focusing on technical research and development

Hebei Lansheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd, established in March 2014, is located in Jinzhou Economic Development Zone, Hebei Province, and committed to research and development of high-efficient, low-toxic, green and novel pesticides.

Assuming responsibility for the production of green pesticides, the company focuses on technical research and development of the clean production of green pesticides, having made several breakthroughs in green chemistry-based product innovation. Since its establishment, the company has developed rapidly, ranking 61st on China’s top 100 pesticide sale list in 2022.

Lansheng Biotech owns a green chemistry-oriented research institute and four production bases, covering five pesticide series - insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators and pesticide additives. Its principal products include clethodim, spirotetramat, brassinolide, metribuzin, Isoxadifen-ethyl and Boscalid. Several products have filled the gaps in China, for which the EU technical equivalence is certified; several scientific and technological achievements have reached the internationally advanced or domestically leading level. The company’s products are regarded highly by customers at home and abroad.  

Lansheng Biotech has continued to invest in R&D activities. In recent years, its R&D spending has reached 4% or above. The company possesses a high-level R&D team and has achieved many technological achievements which have been industrialized, enabling the company's rapid development as driven by technical innovation. The company currently holds dozens of authorized patents, having participated in the drafting of many national industry standards, group standards and corporate standards. The company has actively carried out the school-industry-research to ally with universities and research institutions, facilitating the company’s fast development through resource consolidation. The company has successively won the ″high-tech enterprise″ title, and the ″special and professional little giant″ honor. A postdoctoral research workstation has been set up within the company.

At present, Lansheng Biotech has an annual production capacity of 8,000 tons of clethodim, which is planned to be added with another 5,000 tons in 2023 to have its industry-leading product quality and production capacity; Phase I of spirotetramat has an annual production capacity of 500 tons, which enables the company to be the first Chinese domestic manufacturer; Phase II is under planning to add another 1,500 tons. Production capacity of brassinolide and metribuzin will also be expanded as the market demand grows.  

02. 

Green chemistry representing social responsibility

Green chemistry, also known as pollution-free and environment-friendly chemistry, reduces or eliminates the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry involves organic synthesis, catalysis, biochemistry and analytical chemistry, covering many disciplines. Green chemistry advocates the use of chemical technologies and methods to reduce or terminate the use and generation of raw materials, catalysts, solvents and reagents, products and by-products that are harmful to human health, community safety and ecological environment.

Lansheng Biotech adopts green reactions such as green catalysis instead of the traditional process, which shortens the reaction step, reduces raw material consumption, reduces or avoids the use of toxic and harmful raw materials and completely avoids the generation of large amount of waste from the source.

Concerning traditional processes, technical personnel would continuously optimize of the production process to reduce raw material consumption and waste generation from the source. Meanwhile, various techniques are used for proper treatment, such that solvent and water are reclaimed while solid wastes are recycled and reutilized.

03.

Continuous production process leading agrochemical development

Most Chinese pesticide technical manufacturers adopt the traditional batch process, which has a long period of production, high labor requirement, high energy consumption, unsatisfactory working environment and generation of a large amount of waste. Today, continuous production is a breakthrough in the limited production in batch, providing a high degree of automation, stable product quality, improved yield and increased output.

In the context of the rapid and changing development of the industry, as driven by a strong sense of social responsibility and the sense of mission, Lansheng Biotech has utilized advanced technology and equipment at home and abroad to endeavor to develop a variety of new reaction equipment and separation device, having achieved the continuous production through its unremitting effort and hard try.

The traditional clethodim production process faces the problems of unstable product quality, low yield, generation of a large amount of waste as well as higher cost of production. Through persistent testing, the complex synthesis process of clethodim is brought into a continuous run, stabilizing product quality, making the production process safer and more dependable, allowing for stable operation and easy management of waste treatment facilities. The continuous process effectively improves work safety and the greenness of chemical production.

With the continuous production of clethodim technical, the product content is maintained stably at above 95%, whilst the degradation rate of downstream formulation products goes below 3%. To this end, Lansheng Biotech has become one of the few suppliers in the world capable of stable supply of high-quality clethodim in large quantity. The main product features are as follows:

1)      High content ≥ 95%; for formulating, it reduces the use of adjuvants, with good dilution stability and prolonged placement, free of tar.

2)      Less impurities; single impurity less than 1%, with higher certainty (stability, formulating, efficacy).

3)      Light color, slightly yellowish (gradually tending to colorless, as shown in the figure), presents an unmistakable appearance of formulations.

4)      Low degradation rate.

5)      Strong mixability, fit to mixing with other herbicides.

6)      Direct export of a high-quality pesticide technical, reducing costs of transportation, tariff and production.

7)      Fulfillment of foreign registration and procurement needs;

Lansheng Biotech’s clethodim technical 95%

Pirotetramat is a tetronic acid compound with a unique mechanism of action, and a bidirectional systemic insecticide that effectively controls piercing-sucking mouthparts. The R&D team of Lansheng Biotech has done in-depth research and design to develop a safe and environment-friendly production process fit for mass production based on continued running of key steps to ensure stable product quality and achieve the reclamation of wastewater.

Isoxadifen-ethyl is an Isoxazole safener, which can eradicate or reduce pesticide damage to crops without reducing the efficacy of pesticides, mainly used in corn fields and rice fields as a herbicide adjuvant. Since 2016, the company began its research and innovation process, having developed a high-efficient, low-toxic and environment-friendly synthesis process, which solves the problems of low yield, unstable product quality and waste treatment challenges. The process has realized zero discharge of wastewater, which also ensures the good quality of the product. At present, automatic control has been realized, and stable production is achieved. Formulators already use the product in mixing with nicosulfuron and Tembotrione, which ensure herbicide’s weed control effect in the field while also protecting crops from the possible pesticide damage.

04.

Making continuous innovation in advantageous industry sectors

Lansheng Biotech’s competitiveness stems from its deep understanding of innovation and development. The company’s R&D team is constantly working on chemical synthesis and engineering innovation. The company applies the atomic economy-based scientific thinking, the philosophy and methodology of green chemistry, to redesign the chemical reaction in pesticide production and the combination mode in chemical engineering, having achieved key technological breakthroughs.

The construction of the smart factory has contributed to the company’s rapid development. Up to date, the company’s four production lines have all been equipped with the MES system-supported automated manufacturing process, which plays a guiding role in intelligent manufacturing within the agrochemical industry.

Lansheng Biotech is prepared to continue its investment in green manufacturing to solve the bottleneck problems, striving to achieve the 2025 intelligent manufacturing initiative early.

As the company’s overseas market deployment continues, Lansheng Biotech is determined to promote more products to the international market to contribute to global agricultural production.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' 2023 China Pesticide Industry Watch magazine.