The production process of cellulose ethers mainly includes gas phase method and liquid phase method. The gas phase method has short reaction time, large production capacity, low cost and energy consumption; the liquid phase method has better reaction uniformity, but relatively high cost and energy consumption.
At present, China's major pharmaceutical-grade cellulose ether product manufacturers mainly include Shandong Heda, Tai'an Ruitai, Shandong Everbright, Shanhe Pharmaceutical Auxiliary, Huzhou Zhanwang and other companies. Shandong Heda Group Co., Ltd. was established in 1992. It is an ecological composite group company that connects the upstream and downstream industrial chains of cellulose ethers and runs through the fields of plant meat, plant capsules, etc. Its business covers mid-to-high-end cellulose ethers, plant capsules, plant meat, chemical equipment, trimethyl orthoacetate and diacetone acrylamide and other products. Shandong Heda's cellulose ether products are mainly non-ionic cellulose ethers, including hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ether (HPMC), hydroxyethyl methylcellulose ether (HEMC), ethyl cellulose ether (EC), hydroxyethyl cellulose ether (HEC) and nearly 100 varieties of cellulose ether products. In the medical field, they can be used to produce plant capsules (HPMC), coatings (HPMC) and sustained-release products (HPMC).