Clariant introduces new liquid colors, additives for medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging

MOSCOW (MRC) -- – Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, is introducing MEVOPUR-LQ, a family of color and additive solutions that combines the benefits of the MEVOPUR 'controlled, consistent and compliant' formulation and manufacturing approach with Clariant’s Hi Former liquid-vehicle technology, as per the company's press release.

Initial product releases include a transparent amber color concentrate suitable for polyethylene terephthalate (PET and PETG) materials typically used in pharmaceutical packaging, and color and additive concentrates formulated for liquid silicone resin (LSR). The major benefit of these concentrates is that the ingredients used in the formulation of the concentrates, are evaluated according to USP<87>,<88> and ISO10993 and other relevant industry standards, thereby helping to reduce the risk of interaction with the body and/or the drug.

MEVOPUR-LQ concentrates have been developed for silicone elastomers, which have become materials of choice for a wide range of healthcare applications in sealing, wound care, tubing, catheters and, more recently, in personal monitoring devices. They offer strength durability and flexibility and are among the most tested polymers for biocompatibility and hypo-allergenic properties. In the widely used LSR process, components are molded by combining and cross-linking two liquid components. Therefore, colors and functional additives in liquid form are needed so that they can be conveniently introduced at the mixing station. Existing dosing equipment can be used or Clariant can offer a customized Hi-Former dosing and handling system that interfaces with existing processing equipment.

A wide range of opaque and translucent colors, including standard colors, are now available for LSR. In addition, Clariant plans to introduce a MEVOPUR LQ range of functional additives that is similar to those already available in solid form. The specific carrier systems have been developed by the Hi Former liquid masterbatches team for high compatibility with silicone resins. As with other products in the MEVOPUR range, the ingredients used to formulate the concentrates, are evaluated for extractables according to the medical device regulatory test protocols USP <87>, <88> (Class VI devices) and ISO10093-1. This data, along with a ISO13485-based manufacturing-quality process, full change control procedures, and documentation such as Device Master File, help support the risk-management process of medical device producers.

The same risk-management support is also available to manufacturers of pharmaceutical packaging and Clariant is introducing MEVOPUR-LQ-Amber, a liquid color masterbatch developed for PET and PETG polyester packaging.

Colors such as yellow, amber and red are often used in transparent packaging to protect pharmaceutical products from degradation by filtering light of specific wavelengths. Solid-based concentrates in the existing MEVOPUR range are often used, but liquid technology offers some advantages in transparent or translucent polymers like PET. The highly concentrated liquid is easily incorporated into the polymer matrix, ensuring excellent color consistency even at dosing levels as low as 0.5% and meeting the requirements of the USP <671> standard for light transmission (less than 10% at any wavelength between 290 and 450 nm).

Risk of leaching and drug interaction are significantly reduced, as confirmed in laboratory extraction testing. Samples produced using the new MEVOPUR-LQ liquid amber masterbatch were compared to a PET liquid color marketed by a competitor. The dosing level for both concentrates was set based on the ability to pass the requirements of USP <671> at the typical wall section of a PET bottle, since failure to block out light would mean failure of the packaging to protect the drug. Samples were subjected to extraction tests (based on ISO 10993 part 18) in various media, including polar, non-polar and mixed materials. In the polar media, (isopropanol) samples made with the competitive product surprisingly showed significant yellow extraction, whereas the MEVOPUR LQ showed no significant extraction, indicating a lower potential risk of drug interaction.

These new amber masterbatches, along with future products targeted at pharmaceutical packaging, offer regulatory declarations to US Pharmacopeia (USP) chapters <661.1> <87>, <88> and the relevant European Pharmacopeia 3.1 monograph (e.g. 3.1.15 for polyester packaging).

We remind that, as MRC reported previously, in February 2016, Clariant Masterbatches Saudi Arabia, a joint venture (JV) between Clariant and Rowad National Plastic Company, started construction of a new masterbatch production unit in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received a multi-year contract from Olin Corp (Clayton, MO), said Jacobs on its site.

Jacobs is one of several companies providing engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for facilities in Freeport, Texas; Plaquemine, Louisiana; St. Gabriel, Louisiana; and McIntosh, Alabama.

Olin Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls, based in Cleveland, Tennessee, is a North American manufacturer of chlorine, caustic soda, industrial bleach, hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide, hydrogen and related products.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2015, Olin completed merger with Dow chlorine products businesses.

Olin Corporation manufactures chemicals and ammunition products. The Company manufactures and sells chlorine, caustic soda, sodium hydrosulfite, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, sodium chlorate, bleach products, and potassium hydroxide. Olin also manufactures products that include sporting ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and industrial cartridges.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Taiwan’s state-owned CPC Corp is in plans to shut its No. 4 cracker for a maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the cracker is likely to be taken off-line on October 6, 2016. The planned maintenance is slated to remain in force for around 10-12 days.

Located in Linyuan, Taiwan, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 380,000 mt/year and propylene capacity of 193,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, CPC Corp. last restarted its No. 4 cracker following a maintenance turnaround on 1 February 2016. The cracker was shut on December 11, 2015.

CPC Corporation, Taiwan, is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, procurement, transportation, storage, and marketing of oil and gas. The company provides fuel oil, including automotive unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel, low-sulfur fuel oil, marine distillate fuels, marine residual fuels, and aviation fuel; petrochemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, para-xylene, and ortho-xylene; liquefied petroleum gas products comprising liquefied petroleum gas, propane, butane, and a propane/butane mixture; lubricants, motor oil, industrial oil, grease, and marilube oil; SNC products, including petroleum ether, naphtha, toluene, xylene, crude octene, methyl alcohol, normal paraffin, viscosity-graded asphalt cement, and sulfur; and natural gas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic)'s USD6.5 bln Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project has reached the stage of a detailed engineering phase, said Timesofoman.

The ground breaking ceremony for the Sohar part of the LPIC project is scheduled on October 10, according to a company release. The employees working on the project have been deployed at the engineering procurement and construction contractors’ offices in Seoul, Milan, The Hague and New Delhi and the overall project is on track.
Last year, Orpic awarded four contracts for engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) packages worth US$4.5 bln for Liwa Plastics Industries Complex Project to CB&I and CTCI Corporation joint venture (steam cracker and utilities), Tecnimont (Plastics unit), NGL Extraction GS Engineering and Construction and Mitsui joint venture (NGL Extraction) and Punj Lloyd (NGL pipeline).

The USD6.5 billion project is the largest of the three strategic growth projects undertaken by Orpic to fulfil its vision of building an Omani integrated refining and petrochemical business. This project will be the first-of-its-kind in the Sultanate and upon commissioning in 2020, will transform Orpic’s product mix and business model, double company’s profit, create new business opportunities, generate significant employment opportunities and support the development of a downstream plastics industry in Oman. "We are confident that once our plants are commissioned and completed in 2020, LPIC will change Orpic’s product mix by extracting more value from natural gas and crude oil. Being located in Sohar as part of an integrated complex that also houses the Sohar Refinery, aromatics plant, polypropylene and steam cracker unit for LPIC, Orpic’s operations will be one of the most integrated refinery and petrochemical operations in the region and will enable the company to extract the maximum value from Oman’s oil and gas," said Musab Al Mahruqi, chief executive officer of Orpic.

Last year, Orpic awarded four contracts for engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) packages worth $4.5 billion for Liwa Plastics Industries Complex Project to CB&I and CTCI Corporation joint venture (steam cracker and utilities), Tecnimont (Plastics unit), NGL Extraction GS Engineering and Construction and Mitsui joint venture (NGL Extraction) and Punj Lloyd (NGL pipeline).

LPIC is one of three strategic growth projects being delivered by Orpic namely Sohar Refinery Improvement Project, Muscat-Sohar Pipeline and Al Jifnain Terminal.

These projects will cement Orpic’s position as a market leader in Oman and the Middle East and the international oil and gas sector.

Orpic (Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company) is one of the leading companies in Oman and has two refineries in that country, in Sohar and Muscat. ORPIC is owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Oman Oil Company SAOC, the trading company created by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for managing investments in the energy sector.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Linde Group and the specialty chemicals group Evonik Industries have intensified their collaboration in the area of membrane-based gas separation within the framework of the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of Evonik’s membrane production facility held in Schorfling (Austria) on September 30, said Evonik in its press release.

The heart of the collaboration comprises Evonik's polymer-based membrane technology, which will be used in the gas separation and purification plants of Linde’s Engineering Division. With this, Linde completes its portfolio, combining all relevant gas separation processes within one company. Evonik’s SEPURAN membranes enable gases such as methane, nitrogen, helium, and hydrogen to be particularly efficiently isolated in pure form from gas mixtures, thanks to more selective separation and higher productivity.

Tobias Keller, head of the Adsorption and Membrane Plants Product Line at Linde’s Engineering Division, says: "Evonik's high-selectivity membrane in combination with our other established gas separation technologies, such as our world-class adsorption technology, allows us an extraordinary flexibility in the development and application of new and more efficient purification processes. We are thus strengthening our position as the leading company for gas separation technologies over the entire lifecycle of a plant."

Dr. Axel Kobus, head of Evonik’s Fibres, Membranes & Specialties Product Line, says: "The synergies arising from the collaboration between our two companies are evident: The translation of our profund polymer and technology expertise into a powerful and wide-ranging membrane product portfolio perfectly complements Linde’s high expertise in plant engineering and gas separation. The combination offers the ideal conditions to jointly develop new markets for gas separation."

For more than 50 years the High Performance Polymers Business Line of Evonik’s Resource Efficiency Segment has been developing and producing high-performance polymers that allow new resource-efficient developments in a very wide range of fields.

As MRC informed before, in 2015, Essen-based Evonik Industries, a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer, invested over EUR400 mln in its plants in Germany. Last year, Evonik once again demonstrated its considerable power to create at its German sites. Thus, according to a recent projection, the company invested more than EUR 400 million in its domestic production plants. The lion’s share of the funds (around two-thirds) was divided among Evonik’s five-largest sites in Germany: Marl (hundreds of millions of euros), Hanau, Essen, Darmstadt, and Wesseling (tens of millions of euros at each site).

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
MRC