A move in July 2001 will allow Erema North America Inc. to more than double its space and add a demonstration area for its recycling systems. The company is moving into a new, 10,000-square-foot facility in Ipswich, a short distance from its previous home in Topsfield. The move is under way and should be complete by July 23, according to Tim Hanrahan, vice president of sales.
A new crosslinking technology for styrene block copolymers which imparts higher temperature resistance has been developed by Kraton Polymers. SBCs produced by Kraton are ultraviolet or electron beam cured to give a crosslinked structure, but this is physical and not chemical, and so is reversible - when the polymer is heated above 90 degC it begins to soften.
The new technology uses aluminium acetylacetonate as a crosslinking agent, reinforcing the physical crosslinking and increasing the softening point to about 150 degC.
Chemical crosslinking now opens potential for Kraton SBC applications under the bonnet, and also adds resistance to solvents and PVC plasticisers, enabling them to be used in adhesives on PVC film labels.
Surface foils manufacturer Cova Products is part of an exchange of companies between Solvay of Belgium and Langbein-Pfanhauser Werke (LPW) of Germany.
Solvay is planning to buy Cova from LPW, while LPW takes over Solvay’s decoration business, which is operated through companies including Alkor Deco (Germany), Venilia (France), Veninov (France), Boekelo Folien (The Netherlands) and their commercial subsidiaries. The deal is scheduled to be concluded by the end of July.
Cova Products makes laminates which are used as coatings for furniture, electric appliances, leisure equipment, window frames etc under the Cova trademark. Sales last year were EUR 36 million with a total staff of approx. 240.
Basell is expanding its PE and PP capacity with two new plants, for HDPE in Germany and in a PP joint venture in Saudi Arabia. The new plant at Wesseling in Germany will make 320,000 tonnes/year of HDPE for pipe extrusion using Basell’s Advanced Cascade Process extension of the Hostalen slurry technology. Construction starts in October for start-up in the fourth quarter of 2003. Grades of black, blue and orange-yellow will be produced for water, sewage and gas distribution pressure pipe. Basell puts a figure of 5,5 per cent on the annual growth of the Western European pipe market.
The Saudi Arabian project is a joint venture with the National Petrochemical Industrialization Company and will be called Saudi Polyolefins Company. NPIC will hold 75 per cent of the equity and Basell the remainder. The 450,000 tonnes plant will be built at Al-Jaubail and will produce homopolymers and random copolymers using the Novolen gas phase process. An associated 450,000 tonnes hydrogenation unit for converting propane into propylene will use the ABB Lummus Global Catofin technology. PP from the plant will be sold both domestically and internationally.