Teijin Frontier claims 'world first' for sustainable tire cord

Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group's fibres and products converting company, has developed an 'eco-friendly' tire cord made from an adhesive that does not contain resorcinol formaldehyde (RF), said the company.

Designed for rubber reinforcement, the cord also delivers ‘low environmental impact’ through incorporating chemically recycled polyester fibre, said the company in a 12 Sept statement.

According to the company, this is the world's first commercialisation of a tire cord material that combines an RF-free adhesive and a chemically recycled polyester fiber.

Teijin Frontier said it would start test production of the product in 2023, targeting annual production of 200 kilotonnes per annum by 2030.

The company will also begin work on developing reinforcing-fibre applications for other rubber products, including belts and hoses.

According to Teijin Frontier, the new tire cord offers the same adhesion performance as that of conventional RF latex adhesives.

The fibres, which are made from polymers produced via chemical recycling, “maintain their strength, fatigue resistance, dimensional stability and heat resistance,” the company said.

The newly developed tire cord will be exhibited at the International Tire Exhibition and Conference in Akron, Ohio from 13-15 Sept.

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) and Teijin Ltd. (Toyko) jointly announced that they will become Japan’s first companies to develop and market biomass-derived bisphenol A (BPA) and polycarbonate (PC) resins, that will support efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout product lifecycles.

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MRC) -- Aemetis, Inc., a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, reported that the engineering work completed during the past year by CTCI for the Aemetis Riverbank Carbon Zero sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant is on schedule for filing permits and conducting procurement commencing in Q4 2022, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In October 2021, Aemetis announced that it had entered into an agreement with engineering and construction firm CTCI Americas to conduct permitting and engineering work for the Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel plant to be built in Riverbank, California. CTCI Americas is a subsidiary of USD2.3 B revenues CTCI Corp., a global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm with extensive technology and energy industry project engineering and construction experience in California.

In addition to CTCI, the engineering and project management team for the Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel plant includes ATSI, Inc. of Amherst, NY in the role of Owner’s Engineer to advise Aemetis on technical matters related to the project. ATSI is a firm with 40 years of engineering and project management firm with senior engineers who have extensive experience in the construction and commissioning of oil refineries worldwide, including commissioning of a $10 B refinery in Asia. ATSI has performed more than five years of owner’s engineer and project management work with Aemetis, including carbon reduction projects at the Keyes ethanol plant and the ongoing Carbon Capture and Underground Sequestration (CCUS) projects in Riverbank and Keyes, CA.

The Aemetis Carbon Zero plant is being developed at a 125-acre former U.S. Army munitions production facility. The process design utilizes renewable hydrogen and renewable hydroelectric electricity to hydrotreat renewable oils to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (RD). The Riverbank plant is designed for a capacity of 90 million gallons per year with full flexibility for either 100% SAF or 100% RD production.

"With the extensive engineering and construction experience of CTCI and ATSI, we are fortunate to have a team of engineers and construction managers with experience in building renewable fuels plants in California,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “The Aemetis plant process design for the Riverbank plant utilizes renewable oils, renewable hydrogen and renewable power to produce advanced renewable fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. There are a limited number of firms with an ability to execute large scale renewable fuels projects within California’s environmental requirements."

“CTCI brings an experienced EPC team of engineers, designers, supply chain, and project management to the Aemetis sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant,” stated Patrick Jameson, CEO of CTCI Americas. “We are currently working on several sustainable and renewable fuel projects including an EPC of a large renewable diesel plant in California."

“ATSI has worked closely with Aemetis for many years and we are comfortable with the high standards of project execution required to meet their expectations,” said Brian Fojtasek, President of ATSI, Inc. “Our role as the Owner’s Engineer firm on the SAF and RD project enables Aemetis to have an expert independent view of technology, engineering, construction, and project management to improve the speed, cost, and quality of project execution."

Sustainable aviation fuel has a significant environmental advantage over traditional jet fuel, with up to a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a lifecycle basis when utilizing low carbon energy and feedstocks along with carbon sequestration. SAF is a vital solution in the decarbonization of aviation.

We remind, California-based biofuels producer Aemetis has become the latest US ethanol producer to modify its operations to produce high-grade alcohol for the hand sanitizer and disinfectant market. CEO Eric McAfee told OPIS this week that upgrades are underway at the company's Keyes, California, plant to produce 65 million gal/year of US Pharmacopeia (USP) grade alcohol by the first-quarter of 2021. A new subsidiary, Aemetis Health Products, will blend gel and liquid sanitizer for delivery in bulk as well as packaged form to customers.

Also, Axens has signed a license agreement for its Vegan renewable hydroprocessing technology with Aemetis, Inc. for its “Carbon Zero 1” project in Riverbank, California. Axens is also providing the basic engineering, catalyst supply, as well as the proprietary equipment for the conversion of ultra-low carbon intensity, non-edible vegetable and other non-edible oils along with renewable hydrogen in partnership with Gulf Process Gases to produce a flexible mix of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel fuel.
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A fire broke out Saturday afternoon at the Long Son Petrochemicals Complex in Vung Tau town, southern Vietnam, during a test run, said the company.

At around 2:30 p.m., the fire created a column of black smoke rising several dozen meters from the project site in Long Son commune. Fire trucks and dozens of on-site fire fighting staff were deployed, and the blaze was extinguished after more than 40 minutes.

Colonel Bui Van Thao, chief of police in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, told local press that the fire happened when the contractor was carrying out a test run. There were no casualties and the cause was being investigated, he added.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) is the main investor in the Long Son Petrochemicals Complex. The project was 96.2% complete as of July, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. The Thai conglomerate started construction of the USD5.4 billion complex in the fourth quarter of 2018. It expects a partial start to operations this year, three years behind the original plan, and a complete start in the first half of 2023.

In August 2018, SCG signed loan agreements worth more than USD3.2 billion with six leading financial institutions to implement the project, namely Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Export-Import Bank of Thailand.

In a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh this February, SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash had said the group was eyeing two projects - upgrading production capacities in the complex and developing the second phase.

He said phase two would employ environment-friendly, advanced technology, and concentrate on the production of high-value added products such as SCG green polymer, an innovative eco-friendly polymer, to promote sustainable development. Vietnam now has two operational oil refineries - Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical complex in Thanh Hoa province, and the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical in Quang Ngai province, both in the central region.

Nghi Son is a USD9 billion refinery co-owned by state-run Petrovietnam, Kuwait Petroleum Europe B.V. (KPE) and Japan’s Mitsui Chemical and Idemitsu Kosan Co. The other complex, better known as Dung Quat Refinery, is a Petrovietnam subsidiary and has received more than USD3 billion in investments.

State-run Petrovietnam last month proposed the government consider investment for a USD19 billion oil refinery and national crude oil, petroleum reserve in the Long Son Petroleum Industrial Park of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Earlier it was reported that this year Vietnam may impose import duties of 3-5% on polyethylene (PE) imports ahead of the launch of the Long Son petrochemical complex. Vietnam is the most competitive polyethylene market in Southeast Asia and the largest polyethylene consumption market in the region. Among the reasons for this is its position as a major center for the production of finished goods and the lack of a local producer of polyethylene, which makes it completely dependent on imports to meet its needs for polyethylene.
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Saudi Aramco has notified at least three North Asian buyers that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude in October, said Reuters.

The world's top oil exporter has slashed its official selling prices (OSPs) to Asian buyers for the month, the first reduction in four months.

The price cut was overall in line with the market expectation as the spot premiums for the Middle Eastern crude dipped since mid-August amid an increasing number of arbitrage cargoes flowing into Asia.

"The market (in Asia) is still holding up. The pressure is now more on Europe instead of Asia," said a Singapore-based trader.

Spot premium for Dubai rebounded from as low as USD3.53 a barrel over the Dubai quotes on Aug.23 to stand at an average of USD5.6 a barrel in September.

The major oil producers last week has agreed to lower oil production by 100,000 barrels per day, or 0.1% of global demand, from October to bolster oil prices which have slid on fears of an economic slowdown.

We remind, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Aramco”) inaugurated the Aramco Research Center at KAUST (ARC KAUST), which aims to accelerate the development of low-carbon solutions for the energy industry using advanced analytics. Strategically located within the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the newly established research hub deploys artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop innovative ways to advance low-carbon solutions and enable a Circular Carbon Economy.
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Thai Oil PLC (TOP), Thailand’s largest oil refining company by capacity, will select Vietnam as one of three destinations for its investment expansion, along with Indonesia and India, said the company.

TOP will invest in the fields of oil refinery, lube oil, and high-value petrochemical products, according to the newswire Bangkok Post. The total investment capital for these projects has yet to be disclosed. The expansion of its operations overseas is to meet the growing demand for energy and petrochemical products.

Wirat Uanarumit, president and CEO of TOP, stated that these three markets have the advantages of high rates of economic growth and large numbers of young people, thus these nations offer the best potential for investment throughout the Asian region.

It is not its first investment in Vietnam. In 2009, TOP expanded its business network in Asia-Pacific by establishing the TOP Solvent (Vietnam) Co., Ltd in Ho Chi Minh City, which operates the business of distributing solvents and chemicals imported from Thailand and abroad. The main warehouse is located in Dong Nai in the south of Vietnam.

In April 2019, TOP Solvent opened its 27,000-square metre integrated solvent facility in DEEP C Industrial Zone, gearing up to extend its reach not only in Vietnam but all across Southeast Asia. The facility has the total investment capital of USD13 million.

As per MRC, The Map Ta Phut site of Covestro in Thailand recently received ISCC PLUS certification, an internationally recognized system for biomass and bioenergy sustainability certification. This means the company can now offer its customers in the ASEAN region large volumes of the high-performance plastic polycarbonate, including compounds and polycarbonate films, produced with alternative raw materials in the same good quality as their fossil-based counterparts.
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