Bayer MaterialScience to develope innovative and sustainable material solutions

(PlasticsToday) -- The key to solving this challenge lies primarily in even lighter weight automobile construction according to Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany), which is developing innovative and sustainable material solutions based on polycarbonate and polyurethane, which can be in the areas of glazing and the roof structure, for example. In these applications, these materials enable weight reductions of up to 50 percent compared to glass, as already demonstrated by the use of polycarbonate panoramic roofs or fixed side windows in series production.

A roof module with glazing and integrated solar modules developed as a prototype component and concept study by Webasto AG (Stockdorf, Germany) and exhibited in an electric car at the IAA (Frankfurt Auto Show), for example, weighs just 20 kg. The roof module's low weight is thanks largely to the lightweight panoramic panel that employs Makrolon AG2677 transparent polycarbonate, developed by Bayer MaterialScience for automotive glazing.

"Automotive glazing made using our polycarbonate can make a key contribution to offsetting the continuing heavy weight of batteries for electric cars," says Dr. Sven Gestermann, Key Account Manager for Automotive Glazing at Bayer MaterialScience. "A key aim of current developments is to significantly extend the travel range of vehicles. Automotive manufacturers are therefore showing great interest in glazing systems based on our plastic."

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Iran is hoping to pipe gas from its giant South Pars field to Oman, while the sultanate works on its domestic tight gas projects. Iran news sources are reporting that a research vessel from the Islamic Republic has begun conducting exploration of the Caspian Sea's southern shelf.

The work, which will continue until year-end, is aimed at identifying potential routes for an oil pipeline and fiber-optic cables, the Mehr news agency reported. The research will cover about 1,000 square kilometers in waters 500 meters deep.

Iran and a South Korean company recently signed a contract to construct a 1,680-kilometer overland pipeline to transport oil from the Caspian Sea to the Gulf of Oman. The pipeline, which will transport crude from the port of Neka in northern Iran to the port of Jask in the south of the country, is worth an estimated USD 3.3 to 3.7 billion.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asia's prices of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins are expected to decline further towards the end of the year because of an expected weaker demand for finished goods from the region and lower feedstock prices, market players said on Tuesday.

ABS prices have dropped to below USD 1,950/tonne (EUR 1,424/tonne) CFR (cost & freight) China this week - the lowest point in 2011 so far - with Chinese market players returning from the country's National Day holiday, according to ICIS data.

The prices were at above USD 2,150/tonne CFR China in September, the data showed. ⌠The prices are down again this week as raw material prices have fallen more, a trader in Hong Kong said.

Styrene monomer (SM) prices fell to below USD 1,350/tonne CFR China for the week ended 7 October, while acrylonitrile (ACN) prices dropped to USD 1,850/tonne CFR NE (northeast) Asia.
Butadiene (BD) prices declined by USD 250/tonne to around USD 2,500/tonne CFR NE Asia last week.


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(ICIS) -- Additional infrastructure in the US Marcellus shale region will be needed by 2016 to keep pace with growing ethane production and prevent a stall in the drilling of rich gas, an industry analyst said on Monday. ⌠I feel good about more announcements to come, said senior natural gas liquids (NGL) analyst Jennifer Brickle with Bentek Energy. By 2016, current processing and fractionation will be unable to absorb ethane production and more infrastructure will be needed, she said.

Ethane supplies in the Marcellus are expected to grow by 25% by 2016. Ethane production will exceed expected infrastructure capacities by tens of thousands of barrels, she said.

Shell and Dow Chemical have expressed interest in building fractionators in the US northeast.
Currently, gas processing capacity in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is 162m cubic feet/day (4.58m cubic metres/day), of which MarkWest owns 62% and Dominon owns 20%.

MRC

(Sibur) -- Within the framework of the working visit to China by Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, one of the world's largest energy and chemical companies, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) and Russia's leading petrochemical holding company SIBUR have entered into a Memorandum of Extended Cooperation on the possible formation of two joint ventures for the production of butadiene nitrile rubber (NBR) in Krasnoyarsk (Russia) and Shanghai (China). The Parties are also considering cooperating in the area of polyisopren rubber (IR) and in other areas, including the petrochemical feedstock supply and the supply of unconventional sources of feedstock to Russia and China. In addition they have agreed to hold talks about co-operation opportunities in upstream and downstream.

If joint ventures are formed, SIBUR will provide polymerization and finishing technology for two of them. The existing NBR assets of the Krasnoyarsk rubber plant in Russia will be expanded to 56,000 tons per year, and the Shanghai facility will have a production capacity of approximately 50,000 tons per year.


MRC