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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay Specialty Polymers has unveiled an enhanced version of its Lavanta High-Performance Polyester (HPP) for production of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for televisions and backlight unit (BLU) applications, as per the company's press release.
The second-generation product – Lavanta 5115 WH 224 – provides significantly improved processability while maintaining its high heat and light stability.
Cupta noted the growing trend among television manufacturers to use fewer LEDs to reduce cost. This is accomplished by sending higher amperage (current) through the LED, resulting in significantly higher junction temperatures above 100°C (212°F) and greater brightness. Previously used materials are unable to withstand the higher heat and light output, discoloring prematurely in applications such as reflector cups.
Lavanta 5115 WH 224 is a 15% glass fiber-reinforced polycyclohexylene terephthalate (PCT) compound developed specifically for LED electronic packaging applications that utilize surface mount technology. The injection molding grade provides enhanced processability versus other available PCTs which results in higher yields and shorter cycle times for molders. It can be molded at a lower temperature (125°C/257°F) than competitive PCTs and still maintains 100% of its maximum crystallinity. Cooler molds enable cycle times to be reduced, resulting in lower energy use and reduced cost.
Lavanta 5115 WH 224 has high reflectivity (greater than 95%) with excellent whiteness retention even after thermal and light aging. This gives it excellent reliability for LEDs that operate at high junction temperatures up to 150°C (302°F). Lavanta 5115 WH 224 replaces competitive materials including polyphthalamides (PPA) like PA6T and PA9T, which can only operate up to 120°C (248°F). The new PCT grade also has lower moisture absorption and excellent dimensional stability compared to PPA.
The second-generation Lavanta HPP also boasts strong mechanical properties including tensile strength of 78 MPa (11,312 psi) and elongation of 1.6%. This mechanical performance allows for easy ejection from the tool and improved yields during assembly.
As MRC wrote before, Solvay has signed an agreement to buy the Ryton PPS (polyphenylene sulphide) business from U.S.-based petrochemical company Chevron Phillips Chemical Company for USD220 million, expanding its offering of high-performance polymers and entering a solid growth market.
Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
MRC
Solvay unveils scond-generation high-performance polyester compound
LG Chem to restart BPA plant in South Korea
MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korean petrochemical company LG Chem is in plans to shut a bisphenol-A(BPA) plant for maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.
A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is likely to be restarted towards end-November2014. It was shut on October 26, 2014.
Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
As MRC informed before, LG Chem is in plans to take off-stream its butadiene (BD) plant in South Korea for maintenance turnaround in March 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Daesan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 145,000 mt/year.
LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
MRC
Hengli Petrochemical restarts PTA plant in China
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hengli Petrochemical has restarted its No.2 purified terephthalic acid (PTA)plant following maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.
A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant restarted on November 15. It was shut on November 1.
Located at Dalian in Liaoning province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 2.2 million mt/year.
As MRC informed previously, in October 2012, Hengli Petrochemical commissioned the first phase of a world-scale PTA project in Changxing Island of Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. Hengli Petrochemical which is utilizing PTA technology from Invista, claims that the plant is the world's largest monomer production plant.
According to media reports, the first phase of the PTA plant will have a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per annum and after the entire project is commissioned, PTA capacity will reach 4.4 million tonnes per year.
PTA is feedstock which is used in production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
MRC
PVC imports in Belarus decreased by 15.1% in January - September 2014
September PVC imports in Belarus seasonally increased to 4,300 tonnes, compared with 4,100 tonnes in August.
Total PVC imports in the country decreased to 29,700 tonnes in January - September 2014, compared with 35,000 tonnes year on year.
The reduction in demand for PVC from local converters resulted from lower sales volumes of finished PVC products primarily in the domestic market (about 25-30% compared to the same period of 2013) and foreign markets, including Russia; the sales declined by around 14.2%. Total exports of profile-moulded products from the country were 18,300 over the reported period.
Key suppliers of PVC to the local market were producers from Germany, with their share increased to 56% from the total imports in the country over the reported period. The second-largest supplier was the Polish producer Anwil.
Total imports of Russian resin in Belarus were 1,300 tonnes in the first nine months; some Belarusian companies did not rule out an increase in PVC supplies from Russia, including from a new production site - RusVinyl.
MRC
PC production in Russia decreased by 6% in January - October 2014
MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's output of polycarbonate (PC) reduced to 52,200 tonnes in January-October 2014, down 6% year on year, according to MRC ScanPlast.
The only PC producer in the CIS, Kazanorgsintez (KOS), changed the production structure in line with the needs of the domestic market. So, for ten months of the year its share of PC granules for sheet extrusion in the total output has increased from 76% to 83% compared to last year.
At the same time the producer decreased the output of injection moulding grades. If last year the production of them occurred for 24% from the total output, then in the first ten months of this year it dropped to 17%, reaching 6,800 tonnes.
These changes in the production structure resulted from the suspension of the producer's exports and switching to the domestic market. Russian market of PC granules occurred for 86% of sheet extrusion and 10-11% for injection moulding. For this reason, production of injection moulding grades were reduced to the needed volumes, which are within 200-300 tonnes per month.
Russia's monthly consumption is 800-900 tonnes of injection moulding PC and 6,000-6,500 tonnes of extrusion PC. While injection moulding sector has been shrinking, and the extrusion sector consistently showed an uptrend.
MRC