Allnex has recently installed a new reactor at its plant at Rayong, Thailand.
According to Allnex, the investment is a
commitment to globalize the production
of its waterborne coating resins to Asia
Pacific. The new capacity is targeted to
operate in the first quarter of 2015.
“Waterborne resins that are produced
and supplied from Europe to Asia Pacific
require longer shipping time with higher
risks of delays and winter shipping requirements to our customers in Asia Pacific.
With our strategy to commence manufacture in Rayong, we will provide our
customers with shorter lead times and increased flexibility to address local needs,”
said Wim Vanderghinste, global business
director – Liquid Resins & Additives.
Allnex’s RESYDROL waterborne
resins for eco-friendly architectural
and industrial coating applications
will be key products of this new production capability.
EPA Grants VOC-Exempt
Status to ANGUS’ AMP
Multifunctional Paint
Additive
ANGUS Chemical Company has been
granted VOC-exempt status by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
for AMP, a multifunctional specialty
chemical that’s widely used in latex paint
formulations.
“As the coatings industry continues
to tackle challenges associated with de-
veloping high-performing, zero-VOC
paints, AMP becomes an even more pow-
erful tool that formulators can rely upon
to meet their current and future needs,”
said Mark Henning, president and chief
executive officer of ANGUS, a wholly
owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical
Company. “We’re pleased that the EPA
has appropriately classified AMP to reflect
its minimal impact on the atmosphere.
But most importantly, this is a huge win
for our customers, who now have much
greater flexibility in formulation.”
For paint formulators looking to
produce zero-VOC products, AMP
(2-Amino-2-methyl-1-propanol) offers
comprehensive benefits including scrub
resistance, optimal pigment dispersion,
low odor, effective pH control and a
positive safety and handling profile. The
compound, which is already being used
as a key ingredient in the majority of
water-based paints, now allows paint
companies to avoid reformulating with
less-favorable neutralizers such as caustic
soda or ammonia.
VOCs are compounds that react with
other chemicals and nitrogen oxides in
the atmosphere to form ground-level
ozone and ultimately, harmful smog.
ANGUS submitted a VOC-exemption
petition to the EPA in October 2012 after tests performed at an independent lab
confirmed that AMP meets or exceeds the
agency’s no-VOC benchmarks. The compound has low global warming potential,
low ozone-depleting potential, a favorable toxicology profile and is not considered a hazardous air pollutant (HAP) or
toxic under other federal rules.
AMP, a flagship molecule for ANGUS,
is used in multiple industries, including
paint and coatings, metalworking fluids
and personal care. AMP has been the industry standard in architectural coatings
for many years, as it yields many process
enhancements and product performance
benefits that cannot be achieved with
other commercial alternatives.
Clariant Increases
Production of Performance
Polymers
Clariant is increasing production capacity
for its Licocene Performance Polymers by
50 percent at its facility on the Frankfurt-Höchst Industrial Park in Germany. The
debottlenecking of Clariant’s existing
production line represents a low double-digit million Swiss Franc investment, with
the additional capacity scheduled to come
on stream in Q1 2016.
Licocene performance polymers
are metallocene polyolefins with low
molecular weight yet high mechanical
strength. Their low melt points and low
viscosities allow optimum processing at
lower temperatures and with lower dosage than alternative products, Clariant
said. Without compromising mechanical and other properties, even improvements in end-product performance such
as weight reduction can be achieved,
according to the company. Licocene’s
ability to support more sustainable processing is particularly valued by customers in energy-intensive sectors, such
as technical textiles for mattresses, furniture and carpets for automotive and
aerospace interiors. They are also used
in the manufacture of masterbatches and
engineering plastics, as well as in industrial coatings and in printing inks and
adhesives for packaging applications.
Kraton Opens Innovation
Center in Ohio
Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. has
opened its new Kraton Innovation Center
in Belpre, Ohio. This pilot facility allows
Kraton to manufacture a wide range of
SBC-type materials in quantities ranging
from 25 kilograms to 50 metric tons. The
facility and its high-technology process
equipment broadens the company’s abilities in polymeric chemistry by leveraging
unique, less traditional monomers and
building blocks to meet customer needs
and create innovative applications. This
new ability to generate developmental
polymer and processing technologies also
opens the door to applications and industries where traditional SBCs were unable
to participate, the company said.
As the first asset of its kind built by
Kraton, the pilot plant is located within
the company’s flagship commercial manufacturing facility in Belpre. This allows
the new facility to capitalize on the existing plant’s technical skills, talents and
infrastructure. Its fit-for-purpose volume
Allnex Installs New Capacity for Waterborne
Coating Resins to Support Growth in Asia Pacific
