Qixiang Tengda's to Sustainably Produce Propylene Oxide Using Evonik-Uhde Technology

Qixiang Tengda’s new propylene oxide complex in Zibo City, China, using technology from Evonik and thyssenkrupp Uhde have become operational, said Specialchem.

The technologically integrated setup offers significant ecological and economic benefits compared to conventional production methods for propylene oxide.

With the capacity to produce 300,000 tons of propylene oxide each year, the state-of-the-art complex involves two main plants: One is a world-scale HPPO facility to synthesize propylene oxide directly from hydrogen peroxide using a method licensed from Evonik and thyssenkrupp Uhde.

The other is a new hydrogen peroxide mega plant licensed from Evonik to provide the raw material directly on-site. Evonik is also supplying its catalyst specifically designed for the process.

HPPO, or “hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide,” is an efficient propylene oxide production method developed by Evonik and thyssenkrupp Uhde. Through HPPO, propylene oxide can be synthesized directly from hydrogen peroxide without generating any co-products other than water.

It is enabled by a catalyst developed and continuously improved by Evonik specifically for this purpose. Through this combination of streamlined chemical process and high-performance catalyst, HPPO slashes energy and resource use, saves emissions, reduces costs, and avoids unwanted co-products compared to conventional propylene oxide production.

In addition, the on-site hydrogen peroxide mega plant, licensed by Evonik and also running an Evonik catalyst, ensures the highest standards in terms of safety, supply security, and quality of the crucial raw material. More than a century of worldwide expertise in peroxides has made Evonik a global technology leader in hydrogen peroxide, as well as now the first company operating and licensing a hydrogen peroxide mega plant in China.

We remind, LANXESS has doubled its production capacity for benzyl alcohol at its site in Kalama, WA, US, to support the growth of its established customer base in the Americas. The capacity expansion is the result of various technical upgrades. LANXESS also produces benzyl alcohol at its sites in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany), Botlek (Netherlands), and Nagda (India).

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The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is promoting from within to fill the position of the head of its plastics division, said Canplastics.

Ross Eisenberg, the ACC’s vice president of federal affairs, will take the helm of the plastics division and lead the association’s plastics advocacy beginning on Sept. 18. The move fills a vacancy created in the plastics division when Joshua Baca left the Washington, D.C.-based organization in June.

“Ross is incredibly well-qualified to carry the torch on ACC’s plastics advocacy and bring us closer to a more circular and sustainable solution for plastics in society,” said ACC president and CEO Chris Jahn. “Ross knows the issues and the key stakeholders, he can run campaigns, and he embodies the diplomatic and strategic mindset needed to work across party lines and find common ground on policies that will maximize the value – and minimize the waste – of one of the most versatile materials on the planet."

Eisenberg joined ACC in early 2020 after nearly eight years leading energy and resources policy with the National Association of Manufacturers. According to ACC officials, he also served as counsel on environment and energy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Eisenberg has earned a spot among The Hill’s annual list of Top Lobbyists, The Washingtonian’s 500 Most Influential People in Washington, D.C., and was named a Leading Association Lobbyist by Association TRENDS and CEO Update in 2023 for his work on behalf of the business of chemistry.

“In total, he brings more than two decades of political, legal, and regulatory experience to ACC’s plastics division,” ACC officials said. ACC said Eisenberg would have the additional title of president of America’s Plastic Makers. The plastics division is a self-funded unit of ACC with 19 member companies.

We remind, Chemical industry trade association the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has appointed Joshua Baca as the new vice president of its plastics unit, effective Sept. 8. Baca replaces the longtime head of ACC’s plastics unit, Steve Russell, who announced his retirement in late 2019.

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Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo; President: Yasuhiko Saitoh) has determined that QST® (Qromis Substrate Technology) substrate 1 is an essential material for the social implementation of high-performance, energy-efficient GaN (gallium nitride) power devices, and the company will promote the development and launching on the market of these products, said the company.

Since QST® substrate is designed to have the same coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) as GaN, it enables suppression of warpage and cracking of the GaN epitaxial layer and resultant large-diameter, high-quality thick GaN epitaxial growth. Taking advantage of these characteristics, it is expected to be applied to power devices and RF devices (5G and beyond 5G), which have been rapidly growing in recent years, as well as in such areas as MicroLED growth for MicroLED displays.

In addition to sales of QST® substrates, Shin-Etsu Chemical will also sell GaN grown QST® substrates upon customer request. We currently have a line-up of 6? and 8? diameter substrates, and we are working on 12? diameter substrates. Since 2021, for each respective application for power devices, RF devices and LEDs, sample evaluation and device development are continuing with numerous customers in Japan and globally. Especially for power devices, continuous evaluation is underway for devices in the wide range of 650V to 1800V.

So far, Shin-Etsu Chemical has repeatedly made many improvements with regard to its QST® substrates. One example is the significant improvement in lowering defects originating from the bonding process, which has enabled the supply of high-quality QST® substrates. In addition, for the thicker GaN films that many of our customers have requested, we have promoted the provision of template substrates with optimized buffer layers, which enables our customers to realize stable epitaxial growth of more than 10 ?m thickness. Furthermore, various successful results have been produced and reported on, including the achievement of thick-film GaN growth exceeding 20 ?m using QST® substrates and the achievement of 1800V breakdown voltage*2 in power devices.

We remind, Shin-Etsu Chemical is investing Yen 100 bn (around USD720 M) in its silicones portfolio, one of its central parts of its Functional Materials business segment. The new investment will be used in its Naoetsu plant in Niigata Prefecture, Takefu plant in Fukui Prefecture and its Group company plant in Thailand. The company will also invest further in its present silicone plants in other Asian countries, Hungary, and the US.

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Ampacet introduces ProVital Permstat, a non-migratory antistatic masterbatch specifically developed to provide immediate and permanent antistatic properties to polyolefin films used in pharmaceutical processes, said Specialchem.

Ampacet ProVital™+ Permstat, when used in the external layers of packaging films, creates a dissipative polymeric network within the bulk layer of the film, allowing the electrostatic charges accumulated on the film surface to dissipate throughout the external layer.

The antistatic effect is immediate, consistent during the lifetime of the film and lasts as long as the film is in use. Thanks to its dissipative effect, ProVital™+ Permstat efficiently empties powder from packaging materials, preventing some particles from remaining inside of the bag due to the static effect.

In sealed bags, the use of ProVital™+ Permstat eliminates the presence of static powder in the sealing area. ProVital™+ Permstat can be incorporated into polyethylene cleanroom films, which are used to store and transfer pharmaceutical raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredients used in drug production.

ProVital™+ Permstat provides full consistency of formulation with a no-change policy for raw materials at the CAS and commercial level, with manufacturing under consistent process parameters and controlled-room production to minimize cross contamination risks.

We remind, LANXESS has doubled its production capacity for benzyl alcohol at its site in Kalama, WA, US, to support the growth of its established customer base in the Americas. The capacity expansion is the result of various technical upgrades. LANXESS also produces benzyl alcohol at its sites in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany), Botlek (Netherlands), and Nagda (India).

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North American chemical rail traffic rose for a third consecutive week, with railcar loadings for the week ended 2 September up 7.4% year on year to 47,935, according to Association of American Railroads.

For the first 35 weeks of 2023 ended 2 September, North American chemical rail traffic was down 1.9% year on year to 1,586,547 loadings - with the US down 3.3% to 1,090,574.

In the US, chemical railcar loadings represent about 20% of chemical transportation by tonnage, with trucks, barges and pipelines carrying the rest. In Canada, chemical producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail.

We remind, North American chemical railcar traffic rose for a third straight week as increases in Canada and Mexico narrowly offset a 2.6% decline in the USA. For the first 31 weeks of 2023 ended 5 August, North American chemical rail traffic was down 2.4% year on year to 1,401,493 - with the US down 3.7% to 964,646 loadings.

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