Clariant to expand medical plastic compounds plant in Lewiston

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced it will expand its plant in Lewiston, ME, and install a new compounding line to help meet growing demand for pre-colored medical plastic compounds that are supplied under the MEVOPUR brand name, as per the company's press release.

The new capacity will come on-line in Q4 2017.

The new compounding line, built around a new 70-mm extruder, will be able produce larger batch sizes at high throughput rates. Production will focus on materials such as polyolefins, ABS, PC and PC alloys as well as specialty resins like TPU, and cyclic olefins. The EN-ISO13485 (2012) certified site in Lewiston is also being expanded to improve process-flow and material-handling.

"Over the last five years," says Steve Duckworth, Head of Global Segment Healthcare Polymer Solutions, "Clariant has pioneered the development of masterbatches for the healthcare sector. These are color and additive concentrates that are added to natural polymers during molding or extrusion of finished products. However, in some cases, medical processors may prefer to use a pre-colored compound instead, perhaps for ease of handling or because of technical difficulties in the molding or extrusion process. And yet, they have the same need for Controlled, Consistent and Compliant materials."

Clariant’s MEVOPUR materials are offered for applications in medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging, where strict regulations on materials and change control apply. The Lewiston plant is one of three global sites designed and operated to produce materials used in medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging. The other two facilities are located in Malmo, Sweden, and Singapore.

This new capacity complements equipment and plant investments aimed at compounding engineering resins and high-temperature polymers and, most recently, completion of a special installation in Lewiston for processing fluoropolymers such as FEP, ETFE, and PVDF.

Clariant already operates several smaller lines - in Lewiston and Clariant’s other MEVOPUR facilities - which produce masterbatches and pre-colored compounds in lot sizes ranging from 25 to 2500kg/50 to 5000 lbs. In addition, production capacity for compounds is also being added during the first half of 2017 in Singapore, to handle increasing demand of color compounds for local and international customers. These small- and medium-sized lots are in high demand, especially in the medical market, since many resin producers have discontinued or severely curtailed their custom-color offerings in anything smaller than full-truck or railcar quantities.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2015, Clariant announced the global availability of an expanded range of MEVOPUR standard masterbatches and compounds in the popular polycarbonate (PC) resin. The move offers medical devices manufacturers a consistent and traceable supply of products that support the acceleration of medical device regulatory approval processes.

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. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CB&I announced it has been awarded a contract by Shaanxi Yanchang Petrochemical Group for the license and engineering design of an alkylation unit in Yan'an City, Shaanxi, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The alkylation unit will use CB&I's CDAlky advanced sulfuric acid alkylation technology. "CB&I has previously provided licensed technology to Yanchang Petroleum for petrochemical projects, and we look forward to expanding our relationship by providing the alkylation technology license and engineering for this refinery," said Philip K. Asherman, CB&I's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Our CDAlky technology will help our customer upgrade gasoline quality and improve market competitiveness through the production of high-octane alkylate, with less environmental impact."

As MRC informed earlier, China-based Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery awarded a contract to CB&I to use its Catofin catalytic dehydrogenation technology for a grassroots propane and butane dehydrogenation unit to be constructed in Dalian of Liaoning Province.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay announces the acquisition of Energain Li-Ion high voltage technology from DuPont, said the company on its site.

Energain technology and formulations enlarge Solvay Special Chem Global Business Unit's existing portfolio of high performance salts and additives for electrolytes and strengthen its capabilities to develop further innovative high-voltage solutions for Li-ion batteries.

The advanced Li-ion battery market is rapidly developing, driven by more stringent regulations and continuous improvements in battery performance and cost. The power and durability of Li-Ion batteries determine the efficiency and reliability of eco-friendly transportation as well as electrical and electronic devices that have all become integral to our daily lives.

"Achieving high energy at an affordable cost, without compromising safety is a key objective of the Li-ion battery industry. With the addition of Energain to our portfolio, we are offering new solutions to our partners to reach their high voltage goals" states DU Hua, Solvay Special Chem GBU President.

"This acquisition also reinforces Solvay's competences in areas like modeling and formulations, thus boosting the execution of Solvay's technological roadmap in batteries." adds Nicolas Cudre-Mauroux, Solvay Group General Manager for Research & Innovation.

We remind, in December 2016, Solvay completed the sale of its 70.59% stake in Solvay Indupa to Brazilian chemical group Unipar Carbocloro, following the approval earlier this month of the Brazilian antitrust authority CADE.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers - fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair completed a new hydrogen recovery and processing plant at the company’s Freeport, Texas production complex, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The company held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the facility on Jan. 31 (FIG. 1). The new hydrogen facility will recover by-product hydrogen from Dow Chemical’s ethylene production facilities, and upgrade it into high-purity hydrogen by using a pressure swing adsorption process.

The plant began operations in December 2016, and now supplies high-purity hydrogen back to Dow in order to meet Dow’s needs across Southeast Texas. Dow is investing more than $6 B in Texas and Louisiana. These investments are strengthening the competitiveness of the company’s high-value Performance Plastics franchise and Performance Products businesses. Dow also will receive nitrogen from Praxair’s new air separation unit, which is presently under construction. Dow will utilize the hydrogen and nitrogen to support the production of specialty chemicals used in several diverse end-markets, including automobile manufacturing, coating applications and chemical intermediates.

Praxair also will supply its customers on the US Gulf Coast via the new hydrogen pipeline recently completed between Freeport and the pipeline terminus in Texas City, Texas. Additionally, Praxair is building two other manufacturing facilities at its Freeport complex, which will be completed by 2019. These units will supply manufacturers in the region with oxygen, nitrogen, argon and CO2. These investments, along with a nitrogen pipeline between Freeport and Texas City, represent over USD400 MM in total costs.

The process. It all begins with adsorption, which removes impurities from the feed gas, in this case, by-product hydrogen streams from Dow’s ethylene production. The adsorption takes place in a vessel packed with selected layers of adsorption materials. Once the major impurities are removed, the high-purity hydrogen is compressed for distribution. When the adsorption bed is fully loaded with impurities, it is taken offline for regeneration, and the feed gas is fed to another, already regenerated, vessel; and the cycle starts again. Altogether, Praxair’s system has 14 adsorption vessels operating in a complex cyclic pattern. The process produces on-specification hydrogen with higher recovery rates, less waste and lower CO2. By recovering the by-product hydrogen, rather than producing hydrogen through the reforming of natural gas, the process prevents 300 Mtpy of direct CO2 emissions versus other conventional means.

As MRC reported earlier, Dow Chemical's polyethylene (PE) expansion at its Freeport, Texas, complex is on track for a mid-2017 startup. The Freeport complex currently has a 640,000 mt/year of PE capacity and is expected to add 1,050,000 mt/year of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Scientific Design Company, Inc. (SD) has announced that Indian Oil Corporation LTD. has selected SD’s MEG technology for their complex in Paradip, Odisha, India, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This plant will have a capacity to process 180 KTA of ethylene. The award includes the license of process technology, the provision of a process design package, supply of proprietary equipment and resin, technical assistance and start up services, and the initial charge of SD’s ethylene oxide catalyst.

SD has licensed over 100 ethylene oxide/MEG plants in 25 countries around the world.

As MRC wrote before, Indian Oil Corporation's Rs 34,555-crore 15 million tonnes per annum Paradip Refinery will be commissioned in phases from March 2015 onwards. Indian Oil Corporation is conducting feasibility studies to set up a petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha for Rs 20,000 crore. The petrochemical complex would be built in the vicinity of the company’s to-be-commissioned 15-mln tpa greenfield refinery at Paradip. The petrochemical complex would be in addition to the already announced Rs 3,150-crore polypropylene project at the same location, the foundation stone for which was laid by MOS for petroleum and natural gas.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
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