Mexican Petroleum Company restarted its LDPE unit

(chemmonitor) -- The Mexico City-based Mexican petroleum company Pemex restarted its low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit after the scheduled outage. The activities at the plant were suspended in April.

The company is operating two more LDPE units at the same site. The total nominal capacity of the three plants reaches about 300,000 metric tons annually.

April maintenance entailed a slight decrease in LDPE supply, in the local market.
MRC

Clariant developed new technology for polyolefin blow molding

(clariant) -- New liquid vehicle technology (LVT) developed by Clariant Masterbatches appears to eliminate many of the problems that have prevented wider use of liquid color and additive concentrates in extrusion blow molding of polyolefins (high- and low-density polyethylene and polypropylene).

Initial testing in monolayer containers shows that these highly compatible systems allow for higher pigment loadings and lower usage rates, while practically eliminating past challenges related to screw slippage. Improved resin compatibility results in stronger weld lines in the finished container as evidenced by scores in standard burst and compression-loading tests.

"Extrusion blow molders and brand owners in the personal care and household products markets often find liquid masterbatches to be an attractive alternative to solid concentrates," says Raymond Sloan, Head of Liquid Color, Clariant Masterbatches North America.

The new Clariant masterbatches use a liquid vehicle system that incorporates suspension aids and binders have been incorporated into the new LVT masterbatches to allow for higher pigment loadings and lower usage rates.
MRC

Bangkok Synthetics plant operates successfully after explosion and fire

(Pattayanews) -- Building structure of plants located in the proximity of Bangkok Synthetics Co (BST) petrochemical factory in Map Ta Phut industrial estate are unaffected, following last weekend's explosion and fire.

Officials from the Forensic Science Office had inspected six plants of BST Elastomers Co, a subsidiary of BST Group, which are located near the BST petrochemical factory.

The damage found at nearby plants were mostly in tiles, roofs, door panels, windows, mirrors, and ceilings, while other systems including safety, electricity, flare and vent, air pollution control, were not impacted by the explosion and fire and were functioning normally.
MRC

Kuokuang Petrochemical conducts feasibility assessment for project with Malaysia

(plastemart) -- The Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co. will complete a feasibility assessment by May 2013 for a planned cooperation project with Malaysia, as per CNA. CPC, which holds a 43% stake of Kuokuang, said that upon completion, the assessment report will be submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for approval.

Since a proposed petrochemical investment project in western Taiwan was scrapped in 2011, Kuokuang has been scouting for suitable overseas locations ever. Both Indonesia and Malaysia were options, and Kuokuang's board of directors chose the latter after careful evaluation. Additionally, CPC's fifth naphtha cracker in Taiwan will be closed in 2015 and that since the equipment in the plant still has a life expectancy of 20-25 years, the company will therefore consider relocating the equipment to Malaysia.

The other Kuokuang shareholders are Far Eastern Group, Chang Chun Group, the China Man-made Fiber Corp., Fubon Financial Holding Co. and Ho Tung Chemical Corp.
MRC

French-American collaboration developed thin-film bio-copolymer

(plastemart) -- The development of a new copolymer, combining sugar-based with oil-based macromolecules, makes it possible to design ultra-thin films capable of self-organization on a scale of just 5 nm. This opens up new horizons for increasing the capacity of hard discs and the speed of microprocessors.

The result of a French-American collaboration spearheaded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), published in ACS Nano, this work has led to the filing of two patents. This new class of thin films based on hybrid copolymers could give rise to numerous applications in flexible electronics, in areas as diverse as nanolithography, biosensors and photovoltaic cells. the team headed by Redouane Borsali, CNRS senior researcher at the Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolecules Vegetales (CERMAV), came up with a hybrid material, combining sugar-based and petroleum-derived (silicon-containing polystyrene) polymers with widely different physical and chemical characteristics.

This copolymer, formed of highly incompatible elementary building blocks, is similar to an oil bubble attached to a small water bubble. The researchers have shown that this type of structure is capable of organizing itself into sugar cylinders within a petroleum-based polymer lattice, each structure having a size of 5 nanometers, i.e. much smaller than the resolution of "old" copolymers, exclusively composed of petroleum derivatives.
MRC