Evonik launches new polymer powder for 3D printing applications in higher temperature range

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik is driving forward its commitment in the attractive 3D printing market, as per the company's press release.

The specialty chemicals company has developed a new polymer powder for applications in higher temperature range as part of its polyamide 6 series. The product further expands Evonik’s portfolio of high-performance materials for powder-based 3D printing technologies.

Evonik’s new polyamide powder features high mechanical strength as well as excellent chemical and temperature resistance. Its heat deflection temperature (HDT B) is around 195 C. Moreover, the powder material stands out for its low water absorption - below 3 percent -, which has a positive effect on processability in 3D printing and the dimensional stability of printed 3D components.

"New, ready-to-use materials that are optimally adapted to the individual printer and expand the range of application to higher temperatures move the 3D printing industry one step further toward series production," says Mark Zhao, founder and CEO of TPM 3D Chinese technology company for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). "We are seeing strong demand for 3D solutions in the higher temperature range - for example in the automotive and electronics industries. That’s why we were pleased to launch the new temperature-stable material together with Evonik."

The new polymer powder in Evonik's polyamide 6 series with its nearly round grain shape stands out for excellent flowability and application properties, making it suitable for all powder-based 3D printing technologies. A proprietary procedure of Evonik is employed to produce the high-temperature material at the company’s Marl site.

The 3D printing market is booming, posting double-digit growth rates. Evonik is a world leader in the production of polyamide 12 powders (PA 12), which have been used in additive manufacturing technologies for over 20 years. In addition to PEEK filament and PA 12 powders, the company's product portfolio includes flexible PEBA powders as well as a full range of additives such as dispersion agents, flow improvers or reactive modifiers.

As MRC informed previously, Evonik Resource Efficiency invested in a capacity expansion of its performance foams business at its production site in Darmstadt, Germany. The investment increased the output of the facility by about 20% as a first step. The Group will be adding production equipment to its operations complex that manufactures products marketed under the Rohacell brand. The expanded production capacity was expected to be operational by the second half of 2017.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PinnacleART, a global leader in designing, implementing, and maintaining asset reliability and integrity programs, announced its partnership with Solomon Associates, a performance improvement company that provides benchmarking and advisory services, to build comprehensive asset assessments for facilities in the energy industry, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The partnership will allow both companies to offer best-in-class reliability, maintenance, and integrity assessments to the oil and gas, chemical, and manufacturing industries.

"Our partnership with Solomon Associates will allow us to provide a more comprehensive assessment and overall offering to our clients,” said Nathanael Ince, Vice President of Client Solutions. “PinnacleART’s expertise in asset performance management (APM) solutions, paired with Solomon Associates’ industry-leading benchmarking data and expertise, will enable us to partner with our clients to get to best-in-class reliability and integrity more effectively and efficiently than ever before."

Practically, the partner-based assessment takes several weeks to complete, utilizes the benchmarking data from the International Study of Plant Reliability and Maintenance Effectiveness (RAM Study), includes 20 practice areas of qualitative measurement, and is coupled with an improvement plan with modeled financial returns in both increased production and optimized spend.

"We look forward to partnering with PinnacleART and delivering significant value to new and existing customers,” said Charles Reith, President & CEO of Solomon Associates. “The partnership will enable us to deliver data-driven insights and expert recommendations combined with the actions needed to deliver true and measurable value. The combination is exactly what our customers have been asking for."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Saudi Aramco’s trading arm plans to open an office in London soon as it expands its international business, sources familiar with the move saiв Reuters.

Aramco Trading Co (ATC) also opened an office in the bunkering hub of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates in December to trade oil products and hired two traders from Trafigura and PetroChina to run operations there, the sources said.

“Last June, a trading office was inaugurated in Singapore, and last December (another) in Fujairah and very soon in London, just like any trading house,” one of the sources said. Another source said: “They have moved a few trading desks to Singapore and Fujairah. London is surely next."

A third source said the London office might be inaugurated as early as next week during International Petroleum (IP) Week, an industry event held annually in the British capital. Saudi Aramco, the parent company, already has an office in Marylebone, London. The ATC London operations may be located in the same place as the parent company and are likely to start with a handful of crude oil traders, one of the sources said. ATC did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

The trading sector faces increased rivalry between national oil companies (NOCs), international oil firms and Swiss merchants. NOCs have cheap feedstock and strength in refining, allowing them to compete aggressively with oil majors and especially traders that lack their own production.

ATC aims to boost its trading volumes in crude and refined products to 6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 and the company’s headquarters will remain in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, ATC’s chief executive told Reuters last year.

The CEO, Ibrahim al-Buainain, also said the plan to open an ATC regional office in Europe - either London or Geneva - was set for the first quarter of 2019. Middle East oil producers are venturing into buying and selling oil to boost their incomes as a sharp drop in crude prices since mid-2014 has forced the industry to become more efficient and commercially focused.

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is establishing a new trading operation along with Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV. ATC was set up in 2012 initially to market refined products, base oils and bulk petrochemicals, but has since expanded into crude trading mainly to feed international Aramco joint ventures such as the U.S. Motiva refinery and S-Oil in South Korea.

Aramco, the world’s top oil producer and exporter, aims to become the largest integrated energy firm, with plans to expand refining operations and petrochemical output. It pumps around 10 million bpd of crude, of which it exports about 7 million bpd.

The company plans to raise its refining capacity - inside Saudi Arabia and abroad - to 8-10 million bpd, from around 5.4 million bpd now. Aramco is expanding its refining business at home as well as in new markets particularly in Asia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kraton Corp. is considering various initiatives to enhance shareholder value, including the possible sale of its Cariflex polyisoprene products business, said the company.

"The (Kraton) Board of Directors has initiated a process to review strategic alternatives for its Cariflex business, which may result in a sale of that business," the company said in a Feb. 19 news release. Separately, the board also authorized a repurchase program for up to USD50 million of Kraton's outstanding shares.

"We believe that the high-margin Cariflex business and its attractive growth prospects are not appropriately valued as part of Kraton," company President and CEO Kevin Fogarty, said in a statement. The company is focusing on enhancing its core businesses to drive value creation and strengthen its balance sheet, Fogarty said.

"We are extremely proud of our Cariflex franchise, developed and commercialized largely over the past 10 years by an extremely talented and dedicated global business team," he said. "Nevertheless, Cariflex is, for the most part, a stand-alone business at Kraton, with minimal revenue or cost overlap with our polymer and chemical segments.

"For this reason, we believe this segment could be a strong strategic fit with several players which are better positioned to realize valuable synergies associated with it and unlock its full value," Fogarty said. According to the Kraton website, Cariflex polyisoprene products are ideal for applications such as medical goods that require extreme purity, comfort, exceptional protection and consistent high quality.

"These products are superior alternatives to natural rubber since it is free of the naturally occurring proteins and eliminates Type 1 allergic reactions which can occur through frequent exposure to (natural rubber)," Kraton said. Meanwhile, Kraton's board has authorized the purchase of USD50 million of Kraton's common stock by March 2021.

"The repurchase program may be suspended for periods or discontinued at any time, and the amount and timing of the repurchases are subject to a number of factors, including Kraton's stock price," the company said.

Kraton will release its fourth-quarter and full year financial results Feb. 27, and follow up the day after with a conference call to discuss those results.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency has received 37 applications for small refinery waivers for 2018 from the US Renewable Standard (RFS) through mid-February, reported Reuters with reference to data released on Thursday by the agency.

The 37 applications matches the total the EPA received last year, when it approved waivers at small refineries owned by oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp.

None of the applications have been approved or rejected, according to the agency, which has until March 30 to rule on the applications.

The RFS requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into the fuel supply every year or buy compliance credits from competitors that do, a burden the refining industry says costs it hundreds of millions of dollars every year and threatens to put some refineries out of business.

The requests for exemptions have become a battleground between rivals in corn and oil industries after former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt greatly expanded the program, angering corn-belt farmers who say it hurts demand for ethanol and other biofuels.

As MRC informed before, in January 2019, ExxonMobil said that it had reached a final investment decision and started construction on a new unit at its Beaumont, Texas refinery that will increase crude refining capacity by more than 65 percent, or 250,000 barrels per day.
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