Sumitomo enhances all-electric credentials

(Plastics Today) -- Sumitomo Heavy Industries (Tokyo) has unveiled its latest all-electric series comprising 50, 75, 100, 130, and 180-tonne presses under the Sumitomo Demag EV Series banner at the IPF Show in Tokyo. Taking over from where the DUV series left off, Sumitomo says it has further upped the ante in terms of energy savings, environmental credentials and ease-of-operations with its latest offerings.


All-electric solution for thin-wall packaging beats hybrid performance (top), while 900-tonne all-electric press breaks new ground for injection-molded light guide panels (bottom). The performance enhancements on the servomotor side have also led to greater machine precision according to Sumitomo. At IPF, a 100-tonne SE100EV machine was molding coil bobbins from PBT in an eight-cavity tool. Comparisons with the previous DUV series of machines have shown that part weight standard deviation can be improved by up to 30%.


Mold opening and closing is also reportedly smoother than before. Another area that Sumitomo has focused on is energy consumed in heating the barrel, which has been reduced by half through using an insulating cover.


MRC

Bayer MaterialScience broke ground on its new PC solid sheet plant

(Plasteurope) -- Bayer MaterialScience on 20 October 2011 officially broke ground on its new PC solid sheet plant in Yonghe economic area, in Guangzhou's economic and technologic development district. The 12,000 t/y facility is due to start up by the end of 2012. Output will be equally split between optical panels and solid sheets, BMS said, adding that by 2015, the facility's nameplate capacity is to double to 24,000 t/y.


Once on stream, the facility will join BMS' existing PC sheet network in East Asia, including its multiwall sheet plant in Beijing / China and its solid sheet facility in Gimhae / South Korea. Typical applications for the solid PC sheet include optical application plates, machine covers, protection gear, architecture glazing, lighting applications and mass transportation.


Output of the new plant is geared towards meeting rising Asian demand for polycarbonate sheets, which BMS says is expected to grow at 10% a year. In China alone, the German group says, PC sheet demand currently stands at 110,000 t/y, equally split between multiwall and slid sheets. According to Michael Schmidt, head of Global Technology and Production at BMS PCS Semi-Finished Products, ⌠we forecast that by 2015 the annual growth rate for the market of polycarbonate sheets in China is around 10%. Therefore, our prediction is that in 2015 China will need 155,000 t of polycarbonate sheets - 65,000 t for multiwall sheets and 90,000 t for solid sheets.


MRC

Lanxess is presenting high-performance ion exchange resins

(Lanxess) -- Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is presenting high-performance ion exchange resins from its successful Lewatit range together with a complete line of services at Aquatech 2011, taking place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from November 1 to 4. Another focus of the event is on Lewabrane-brand membrane elements, produced at the new manufacturing facility in Bitterfeld, Germany. The first reverse osmosis membrane elements from Lanxess, they are scheduled for launch on the market in early 2012.


Lewatit is one of the leading brands in the field of ion exchange resins. Reflecting the relevant customer applications, the range of exchange resins, adsorbers and functional polymers is divided into three main segments: water, foodstuffs and catalysis/biotechnology/chemical processes. Lanxess offers new and established products from the Lewatit range for all these sectors. In combination with Lewabrane membrane elements, they meet the highest demands in the industry.


Ion exchange resins or membranes can be used to desalinate water for chemical processes or power generation. The decision to combine the two methods depends on the respective conditions. While membrane technology is very cost-efficient for water with a high salt content, only ion exchangers can purify water with low salt concentrations to the point where purely trace amounts remain. With both methods connected in series, water of the highest purity can be produced even from very poor-quality water.


MRC

Russia's Lukoil set to award further West Qurna 2 contracts

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Lukoil, Russia's largest private sector company, is on the cusp of awarding several contracts to engineering and services firms as part of its multi-billion dollar development of the supergiant West Qurna 2 oil concession.


Dow Jones Newswires, citing a senior Lukoil executive, reports that the company is in the final stages of evaluating commercial and technical bids for contracts competing to build the central processing facility, export pipelines, tank farms, and a 126-megawatt power station.


Lukoil, which operates the field for partners Statoil and Iraq's South Oil Company, is locked into a 20-year technical services contract to develop the field at fee-per-barrel remuneration of $1.15 before tax once a production capacity threshold is reached.


According to other sources, five companies had been shortlisted: Saipem , SNC Lavalin, Punj Lloy , Globalstroy and South Korea's Samsung Engineering. Two other bidders, Petrofac and Technimont, are reported to have been dropped, according to a Reuters report.


MRC

BP reported a 16.8% year-on-year drop

(ICIS) -- BP reported on Tuesday a 16.8% year-on-year drop in replacement cost profit before interest and tax at its refining and marketing division to $1.49bn (┬1.07bn) in the third quarter of 2011 on the back of higher crude prices and negative foreign exchange effects. The segment's profit before interest and tax fell by 34.7% year on year to $1.12bn in the third quarter of 2011, the UK-based oil giant said in a statement.


⌠The third quarter saw a return to strong operations, relative to the weather-related power outages that impacted our second-quarter results, the company said. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the results in the third quarter reflected an improved refining environment, partially offset by increased turnaround activity, it said.


BP's refining and marketing division also benefited from strong refining feedstock optimisation in the US due to BP's location advantage in accessing WTI-priced crude grades, the company said.


MRC