DSM and Shapeways partner to develop scalable 3D printing solutions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to make additive manufacturing more accessible for the manufacturing sector, Netherlands-based material supplier Royal DSM is partnering with 3D printing service bureau Shapeways to develop “custom and industrially scalable 3D printing solutions, said Canplastics.

In a statement, DSM said the partnership will allow it to utilize Shapeways’ technology to “harness the power of on-demand 3D printing at scale, with just a small line of code."

Called “DSM Powered by Shapeways”, the technology will be available for DSM high-performance materials, with the goal of providing businesses a lower barrier to entry and quicker access to new materials and additive manufacturing technologies.

"DSM’s partnership with Shapeways will allow DSM to grow its additive manufacturing ecosystem bringing customers fast, easy access to 3D printing materials and technology,” said Hugo da Silva, DSM’s vice president of additive manufacturing. “Shapeways’ innovative product creation solutions will greatly impact the way our customers are scaling additive manufacturing solutions and experiencing new technologies."

The partnership between the two companies was officially announced during the recent Formnext trade show, which ran earlier this month in Frankfurt, Germany. More detail about the collaboration will be released in the coming months, DSM said.

"We at Shapeways believe that the power of additive manufacturing and simplified product creation increases scalability and greatly enhances traditional manufacturing solutions,” said Greg Kress, CEO at Shapeways. “By collaborating with DSM, a highly esteemed science-based company, Shapeways’ B2B solutions will continue to scale the accessibility of 3D printing across a multitude of sectors."

As MRC informed earlier, Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, announced the strengthening of its leadership in high-performance specialty polymers with the operational launch of a new production line for Arnitel in Emmen, the Netherlands.

Founded in 2007, Shapeways is headquartered in New York City, with manufacturing facilities in Long Island City and the Netherlands.

Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has announced that Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical Co. Ltd. (QXTD) will use its UOP C3 Oleflex technology to expand production of propylene in response to growing demand for propylene derivatives, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Honeywell UOP also will provide licensing, the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation, catalysts and adsorbents for the project.

QXTD currently operates an existing C3/C4 Oleflex unit that coverts propane and isobutane into propylene and isobutylene. With the second C3 Oleflex unit, QXTD will produce additional quantities of polymer-grade propylene to make propylene oxide, a key ingredient for polyurethanes. Increased demand for polyurethane foam comes from the automotive, building and construction, textiles and furnishing industries.

"Customers including QXTD have been at the forefront of addressing the growing demand for propylene, which is the primary component in thousands of consumer products," said Bryan Glover, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Petrochemicals & Refining Technologies business. "This expansion in propylene capacity establishes QXTD as a major supplier while also diversifying its product portfolio."

Globally, most new dehydrogenation projects since 2011 have been based on UOP technology, including projects for propane (C3), isobutane (iC4) and mixed C3/ iC4 service. Global production capacity of propylene from Oleflex technology currently stands at approximately 7.8 million metric tons per year.

Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology uses catalytic dehydrogenation to convert propane to propylene and is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment among competing technologies. Its low energy consumption, low emissions and fully recyclable, platinum-alumina-based catalyst system helps minimize its impact on the environment. The independent reaction and regeneration sections enable steady-state operations, improved operating flexibility, and a high on-stream factor and reliability.

Based in Zibo, in China’s Shandong Province, QXTD researches, develops, produces, and markets various chemical products in China. It manufactures and distributes propylene, isobutylene, tert-butanol, butadiene rubber, carboxylated styrene butadiene, latex and other petrochemicals. The company exports to the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, and India, and is a subsidiary of Zibo Qixiang Petrochemical Industry Group Co., Ltd.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2019, Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co. started up a second propylene plant using Honeywell UOP's C3 Oleflex technology at a new petrochemical complex in China. The new unit has the capacity to produce 450,000 t/y of polymer-grade propylene.

Propylene is a feedstock for the production of polyprolypele (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 976,790 tonnes in January-September 2019, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Falling feedstocks prices for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in Asia have been pushing prices of material in the Russian market down, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Thus, LG Chem's import prices for November quantities were at the following levels for Russian buyers in November: natural ABS - at USD1,400-1,420/tonne FOB Korea, black ABS - at USD1,610-1,630/tonne FOB Korea, white ABS - at USD1,640-1,660/tonne FOB Korea.

December ABS prices might decrease by another USD30-50/tonne.

Natural grades of Korean ABS went down to Rb138,000-143,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the domestic market in mid-November, whereas black ABS was offered at Rb156,000-160,000/tonne and white ABS - at Rb158,000-163,000/tonne CPT Moscow , including VAT.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exports of polycarbonate (PC) via Belarus almost doubled year on year in the first three quarters of 2019, totalling 4,400 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 2,500 tonnes in January-September 2018.

Lotte and Sabic's PC is exported from Belarus.

Shipments of material to Russia accounted for 95% (4,200 tonnes) of the total exports in January-September 2019 versus the share of 81% (2,000 tonnes) a year earlier.

However, PC exports through the Republic of Belarus was 70 tonnes in September 2019, down by three-fold from August and by two-fold a year earlier.

The share of PC exports to Russia via Belarus was 100% in September 2019.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Two major explosions and fire hit the TPC Group's Port Neches butadiene and raffinate petrochemical plant east of Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, injuring three workers, reported S&P Global with reference to the company's statement.

The site produces 20% of US butadiene, a raw material used in the production of synthetic rubbers and resins, according to a source familiar with company operations. Market sources said they had yet to see immediate effects on prices early Wednesday, amid thin activity ahead of the US Thanksgiving Day holiday.

"There must be some impact in the market, but it still needs to be assessed," a butadiene trader said, as market activity was sparse during the holiday week. The trader noted that the December contract price was expected to settle next week, and the incident could push prices up. Market participants had expected the contract price to decline.

The site also produces MTBE, and MTBE traders similarly said it was too early to see market fallout.

The outage of the plant is expected to have a "limited impact other than a spike in butadiene prices and more propane feedstock and less ethane on the US Gulf Coast," said Rob Stier, senior lead of global petrochemicals at S&P Global Platts Analytics.

The first explosion occurred at 1 am CST (0700 GMT), and a second occurred about 12 hours later on Wednesday afternoon, according to officials from Jefferson County, which called for evacuations in multiple cities in the area.

Troy Monk, director of health, safety and security for TPC Group, said at a news conference in between explosions that the blast and ongoing fire occurred in a processing area that makes butadiene.

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said first responders were focused on "letting the materials burn themselves out" rather than extinguishing the fire while dousing surrounding tanks and equipment with water to keep them cool and contain the blaze.

Branick said at least three tanks were involved in the fire, but responders have not been able to get close enough to say what specific equipment was affected. The site's power shut down at the time of the explosion, he said.

Monk said first responders would continue those defensive actions to try to keep the fire from spreading while planning an offensive strategy to enter the "hot zone" and "eventually snuff the fire out."

Monk did not know how much butadiene had burned off or how much was left to burn. He said air monitoring was underway, but he had no information on levels of chemicals in the black plume of smoke emanating from the blaze.
Rain may help effort

He welcomed forecasts of impending rain in the area.

"Rain is going to be our friend in this instance," Monk said. "The plume is what it is, a byproduct of burning hydrocarbons that we have in the facility as well as burning metal and burning grass and anything else that the fire is consuming along the way."

The Sabine Neches Waterway was shut at 2 am CST Wednesday because of poor visibility as well as the TPC explosion, according to the Sabine Pilots, which oversees vessel traffic and safety on the channel that serves petrochemical and refining facilities in Port Arthur, Port Neches, Nederland and Beaumont. Vessel traffic resumed at about 10:30 am CST with a safety zone established in the area near the explosions. Ships could move through that zone if given permission to do so by the US Coast Guard's captain of the port, meaning traffic would move slowly between Port Neches and Beaumont, which could affect ships moving to and from ExxonMobil's refining and chemical complex in Beaumont and Energy Transfer Partners' oil terminal in Nederland.

A gasoline trader said no impacts from the waterway shutdown were expected "unless it really gets backed up in the ship channel, which it won't."

Located adjacent to the Sabine Neches River, which is part of the Sabine Neches Waterway, TPC's Port Neches plant can produce more than 900 million lb (426,000 mt) of butadiene and raffinate a year, according to the company's website. The source familiar with company operations said the site has two butadiene lines with capacities of 166,000 mt/year and 260,000 mt/year. The MTBE unit produces up to 400,000 mt/year.

Monk said an investigation of the cause of the fire and explosion would begin once it is extinguished.

Raffinate is a chemical building block used in the manufacture of MTBE and diisobutylene, which are both used as gasoline additives to improve octane performance. MTBE is a gasoline additive that boosts octane.

The infrastructure at the 218-acre Texas site includes pipelines, barges, and rail and tank cars. TPC, headquartered in Houston, was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.

Butadiene is one of the feedstocks for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Asia, the falling prices of feedstocks for ABS production have been pushing prices of material down in the Russian market. LG Chem's import prices for November quantities were as follows for Russian buyers: natural ABS - at USD1,400-1,420/tonne FOB Korea, black ABS - at USD1,610-1,630/tonne FOB Korea, white ABS - at USD1,640-1,660/tonne FOB Korea. December prices may drop by another USD30-50/tonn.
Natural grades of Korean ABS went down to Rb138,000-143,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the domestic market in mid-November, whereas black ABS was offered at Rb156,000-160,000/tonne and white ABS - at Rb158,000-163,000/tonne CPT Moscow , including VAT.

Headquartered in Houston, TPC was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.
MRC