Borealis and Borouge polypropylene solutions at VDI Conference

(Borealis) -- Pioneering developments in high performance polypropylenes (PP) under the bonnet and on the vehicle exterior take centre stage on the Borealis and Borouge stand at the annual ⌠Plastics in Automotive Engineering conference organized by the VDI Association of German Engineers in Mannheim, Germany on April 6-7. The innovations provide the latest proof of how award-winning materials made by Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, are increasingly used in automotive applications for their ability to provide both form and function while reducing costs.

Borealis and Borouge will exhibit the glass-reinforced PP Air intake manifold (AIM) now fitted to all 1.4 and 1.6 litre engines on Volkswagen (VW) Golf, Polo, Seat and Skoda models. The AIM is injection moulded in Xmod GB306SAF, a high performance 36% glass fibre reinforced compound that last year received the Frost & Sullivan 2010 Global New Product Innovation Award in the ⌠Automotive under the Hood Plastics category.

MRC

( Packaging & Converting Essentials) -- Phoenix Technologies, a long-time producer of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), is now making a small-capacity version of its proprietary compact, modular equipment available for those interested in self-manufacture.

The cost of entry for the new, small capacity system (4 million pounds of rPET annually) can be as low as $1 million. With a footprint of 1,000 square feet, the unit is also significantly smaller than any other commercially-available rPET production equipment and can be built in a record-setting 160 days.

The new system is based on Phoenix Technologies' patented technology which has been in use since 2000 for the commercial production of food grade LNO rPET. The resin has received letters of no objection at up to 100% use from both the Food & Drug Administration and Canada Health.

Phoenix Technologies is a global leader in recycled rPET manufacturing. The company produces clean, consistent and high-grade rPET resin pellets from post consumer recycled plastic flake shipped from all over the world.
MRC

(Bloomberg) -- Fina Antwerp Olefins NV, a petrochemical venture of Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp., will halt a naphtha cracker next month for planned maintenance, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Naphtha cracker 3 will be idled at the site in Belgium from the end of March, they said, declining to be named because the information is confidential. The shutdown will last for as long as six weeks, one of the people said. The cracker can produce 610,000 metric tons of ethylene a year, according to the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe. Ethylene is used in plastics products from car parts to carrier bags.

Naphtha cracker 2 at the same site in Antwerp was shut for a few hours on Feb. 25 because of pressure problems, one of the people said. The unit can produce 550,000 tons of ethylene annually, according to the association's website.

The Antwerp site has three naphtha crackers. Cracker 1 is the smallest with a capacity of 255,000 tons a year. Total and Exxon declined to comment on the crackers, referring questions to the joint venture.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Formosa Plastics Group is studying the feasibility of investing in Singapore, possibly a refinery and petrochem complex, at an estimated investment of USD 10.7 bln. FPG controls more than 100 companies making products ranging from semiconductors to detergents, and operates in China, USA, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Formosa Plastics has been considering construction of its plants overseas because of limited land in Mailiao, western Taiwan, where the group's refinery and ethylene plants are based.

MRC

(Bloomberg) -- Ineos Group Holdings Plc reported an upset with a demethanizer tower in the olefins unit 1 at its Chocolate Bayou chemical site in Alvin, Texas, according to a filing with state regulators. Emissions associated with the flaring began today at 5 a.m. local time and lasted for seven hours, the Lyndhurst, U.K.-based company said in the report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Ineos was ⌠stabilizing the unit to bring ethylene product back on spec and decreased feed to the furnaces, according to the filing.

⌠Operations are normal at Chocolate Bayou, Charles Saunders, a company spokesman based in League City, Texas, said in an e-mail.

The Chocolate Bayou plant includes two olefins units and has one of the largest hydrocarbon crackers in the U.S., according to the company website. The plant is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Houston.

MRC