Yeosu DL Chemical Selected for MOTIE Materials and Components Technology Development Support

Securing 11.1 Billion Won in National Funding Over Four Years
AI-Based Eco-Friendly Polyolefin Technology Project Selected for Government Support

Yeosu City in South Jeolla Province (Mayor Jung Kimyung) announced on September 8 that DL Chemical has been selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's "2025 Materials and Components Technology Development Project (2nd round) New Support Target Project," securing 11.1 billion won (approximately 111 billion won) in national funding over four years.

The proposal selected from DL Chemical is titled "Development of AI-Based Eco-Friendly Porous Electrode Material Manufacturing and Process Technology Using Polyolefins." The project aims to develop technology that manufactures polyolefins-referring collectively to polyethylene and polypropylene-into eco-friendly porous carbon materials using artificial intelligence.

Yeosu City Hall Exterior View.

This project will be carried out through collaboration between the petrochemical company DL Chemical, HS Hyosung, Jeonnam Technopark, and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, among other research institutions in the chemical field. The total project budget, including national funding and private sector contributions, amounts to approximately 16.6 billion won (166 billion won).

Within the project, DL Chemical will focus on developing technology to manufacture porous carbon materials based on polyolefins, which will reduce domestic dependence on imported materials such as coal-based pitch and plant-based biomass like coconut shells. The company also plans to optimize the process by applying artificial intelligence.

In addition, HS Hyosung will undertake the development of "CO2 Net-zero" technology, which captures carbon dioxide generated during the activation process of polyolefins and recycles it back into the process.

A city official stated, "Since Yeosu was designated as a preemptive response area for industrial crisis in May this year, we will spare no administrative support to ensure that the petrochemical R&D project serves as a starting point for transforming local petrochemical products into high value-added products."

Meanwhile, the city expects that this project will contribute to the advancement of the secondary battery industry by promoting AI-based eco-friendly processes, energy savings, the development of high-capacity anode materials for secondary batteries, the high value-added transformation of general-purpose polymers, strengthening the competitiveness of the petrochemical industry, and the localization of porous materials.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.