DATE : 2014-07-21
CPC Corp has restarted its butadiene (BD ) unit. A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant was restarted on July 16,2014. It was shut on April 24,2014 for a maintenance shutdown.
Located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the plant has production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
DATE : 2014-07-21
BMW has expanded its partnership with Samsung SDI, signing a memorandum of understanding under which Samsung will supply BMW with lithium-ion battery cells for the BMW i3, BMW i8 and additional hybrid models over the coming years.
In response to the growing demand for electric vehicle, the new agreement increases quantities delivered over the medium term, and calls for further technological development of battery cells.
BMW first partnered with Samsung in 2009. The German automaker says it chose Samsung in part lithium-ion battery cells play a role in environmentally friendly production and subsequent recovery of materials during product development.
Demand for lithium-ion batteries by the EV market will increase dramatically in the next seven years, moving from market earned revenues of $381.9 million to an estimated $7.60 billion in 2020, according to an analysis by Frost & Sullivan published earlier this month.
SOURCE Envionmental Leader
DATE : 2014-07-17
Idemitsu Kosan has planned to restart its Styrene Monomer (SM) plant. A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that Idemitsu Kosan plant was shut on July 7, 2014 following a technical glitch. It now plans to restart the plant early next week.
Located at Chiba, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 210,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Date: July 2014,18
Merck acquires dynamic glazing company Peer+
On June 30, German chemical company Merck announced that it has acquired dynamic glass developer Peer+. Even prior to the announcement, Merck had a 70% stake in Peer+ through a private placement round in 2012. In addition, Merck is also a supplier of liquid crystal material and a technology development partner.
Peer+ dynamic glass uses a combination of liquid crystals and a dichroic dye as the active ingredient that changes light transmission upon application of voltage. The company was producing 1.2 m x 1.5 m prototypes when we last spoke with the Chief Marketing Officer Teun Wagennar (see the August 4 2013, LRBMJ) at an annual capacity of 2,000 m2 per year. Although the dark and light state transmission is comparable to – and the switching speed, at 1 second – is considerably faster than electrochromic (EC) glass, like all dynamic glass technologies, Peer+ products suffer from high price points. Per our last conversation, the company estimates installed price point of $250/m2 to $600/m2, even at commercial productions scale. We estimate that even at the low end of this spectrum, simple payback based on energy savings and downsizing of HVAC units will be seven years, and at the high end of the spectrum greater than 15 years. A payback period this high means adoption will be driven by comfort factors, and hence will remain limited to a niche. Our market size projections of $418 million for the dynamic glass sector is reflective of this fact (see "Opening the Thermal Envelope: Emerging Innovations in Advanced Insulation and Dynamic Windows").
Despite the high payback and relatively small market size, it may make sense for Merck to chase new applications for its liquid crystal materials via investments like this, or for Saint-Gobain to use its expertise in sputter deposition on glass, to try to bring value to its recent acquisition Sage. However, clients who don't have an obvious value chain integration play should stay away from dynamic glass, and instead look into investing in technologies with short payback, such as after-market solar control films.
On June 30, German chemical company Merck announced that it has acquired dynamic glass developer Peer+. Even prior to the announcement, Merck had a 70% stake in Peer+ through a private placement round in 2012. In addition, Merck is also a supplier of liquid crystal material and a technology development partner.
Peer+ dynamic glass uses a combination of liquid crystals and a dichroic dye as the active ingredient that changes light transmission upon application of voltage. The company was producing 1.2 m x 1.5 m prototypes when we last spoke with the Chief Marketing Officer Teun Wagennar (see the August 4 2013, LRBMJ) at an annual capacity of 2,000 m2 per year. Although the dark and light state transmission is comparable to – and the switching speed, at 1 second – is considerably faster than electrochromic (EC) glass, like all dynamic glass technologies, Peer+ products suffer from high price points. Per our last conversation, the company estimates installed price point of $250/m2 to $600/m2, even at commercial productions scale. We estimate that even at the low end of this spectrum, simple payback based on energy savings and downsizing of HVAC units will be seven years, and at the high end of the spectrum greater than 15 years. A payback period this high means adoption will be driven by comfort factors, and hence will remain limited to a niche. Our market size projections of $418 million for the dynamic glass sector is reflective of this fact (see "Opening the Thermal Envelope: Emerging Innovations in Advanced Insulation and Dynamic Windows").
Despite the high payback and relatively small market size, it may make sense for Merck to chase new applications for its liquid crystal materials via investments like this, or for Saint-Gobain to use its expertise in sputter deposition on glass, to try to bring value to its recent acquisition Sage. However, clients who don't have an obvious value chain integration play should stay away from dynamic glass, and instead look into investing in technologies with short payback, such as after-market solar control films.
Source: Lux Research
DATE : 2014-06-27
Boulder Ionics Corp (BI) is developing a new class of ionic liquid-based electrolytes for batteries and ultracapacitors. The fully automated technology uses microchannel and thin-film reactors to integrate individual processes like alkylation, metathesis, separation, purification and drying. This reduces the cost of ionic liquids from nearly $1700/kg to less than $75/kg and enables production rate to reach as high as 20 tonnes/y. The solvent-free technology cuts synthesis time from days to only 20 minutes, while eliminating the risk of runaway reactions caused by local hotspots through the use of heat-removing flow channels. BI's LiFSI technology, a patented process for synthesizing the acidic form of bis(fluorosulfonyl)-imide (FSI), displays greater stability and conductivity than the standard lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) salt.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-17
SABIC Europe’s butadiene (BD) producing units at Wilton in the UK and in Geleen in the Netherlands are back online, a company source confirmed on Thursday.
“The units are running,” the source said.
Both of the units had been shut down for planned maintenance.
The UK unit, which has the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes a year of BD, was shut for maintenance in early May alongside that of SABIC’s nearby cracker. However, technical difficulties meant that the cracker ws only restarted successfully at the end of last week – it had been expected to restart around 22 June.
The 130.000 tonnes/year BD unit in the Netherlands was taken down in early June but maintenance was prolonged by about two weeks because of “unforeseen issues". Some overlap in the units’ downtime was intended.
The extended outages of the two units have had limited impact on the European market in general, save for creating some small shortfall cover interest from domestic consumers.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-15
Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co plans to restart its 210,000 tonne/year styrene monomer (SM) plant in Chiba early next week, a company source said on Wednesday.
The unit was shut on 8 July on a technical glitch and is currently undergoing maintenance, the source said.
Idemitsu Kosan also operates a 120,000 tonne/year and a 220,000 tonne/year SM units in Tokuyama.
Other Japanese producers of SM include Asahi Kasei Chemical, Nihon Oxirance Co and Denka.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-06
As Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturers are experiencing double-digit growth rates, Solvay Specialty Polymers is supporting the market with a range of innovative material solutions designed to meet the needs for next-generation high-energy and high-power Li-ion batteries. Beyond established Solef ? PVDF high-performance polymers for separators and electrode binders, the company also offers new Solef? 90000 solvent-free aqueous dispersions for use as anode binders in more environmentally-friendly Li-ion battery technologies. Solvay made the announcement at the 11th China International Battery Fair (CIBF 2014) in Shenzhen, June 18-20, 2014.
“The Chinese battery industry, which already has a world market share of 25%, is heavily investing in increased capacity, responding especially to a dramatic rise in demand for higher-performance lithium-ion batteries in consumer electronics as well as the fast-emerging segment of hybrid and fully electric vehicles”, says Dr. Luke Du, General Manager of Greater China & Southeast Asia for Solvay Specialty Polymers. “New-generation Solef? PVDF provides extraordinary adhesion and cohesion properties while also helping xEV battery manufacturers to reach the higher energy, power, safety and life cycle levels demanded by the automotive industry. Furthermore, our new Solef? PVDF latex technology represents an advanced organic solvent-free solution for anode preparation in a much more cost-efficient and greener process”, he adds.
Solef? PVDF is a partially fluorinated semi-crystalline polymer with excellent thermo-mechanical and chemical properties for lithium batteries. It shows outstanding electro-chemical stability across the full voltage range from 0V to 5V vs. Li/Li+, which guarantees its safe use in the electro-mechanical environment of lithium cells. As binders in the formulation of electrodes, Solef? homopolymer grades are selected thanks to their high crystallinity levels which are needed to resist the typical electrolytes used in lithium batteries. Solef ? copolymers in turn have lower crystallinity, are soluble in a wider range of solvents and show different levels of swelling in organic carbonates, which makes them highly suitable for flexible binders and gel polymer separators.
While Solef? 90000 is currently being evaluated in collaboration with major battery manufacturers, all other Solef ? PVDF materials for the lithium-ion battery market is commercially available, worldwide. To support customers in adopting and fine-tuning these advanced polymer technologies to the specific needs of each application, Solvay Specialty Polymers has evaluated and confirmed the superior performance of its PVDF binder and separator materials in extensive adhesion, cycling, impedance, immersion and swelling tests.
SOURCE China Chemical Reporter
DATE : 2014-07-13
China's Mengwei Technology plans to shut its 200,000 tonne/year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant and its downstream 100,000 tonne/year polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) plant in Inner Mongolia for maintenance in August or September, a company official said on Monday.
“The exact shutdown date [has] yet to [be] decided,” the company source said, adding that the shutdown is expected to last for two weeks.
Domestic VAM prices in northern China are expected to rise on the back of the tighter supply during the shutdown, traders said.
Mengwei Technology is a joint-stock enterprise between Anhui Wanwei Group and Inner Mongolia Baiyanhu Chemical.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-08-11
South Korea’s Samsung BP Chemicals plans to restart its acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plants in Ulsan by early next week following an unplanned outage on 8 July caused by a power failure, a company official said on Friday.
Samsung BP Chemicals operates a 600,000 tonne/year acetic acid plant, as well as a 210,000 tonne/year VAM plant which is operated by Asian Acetyl Co. (ASACCO) at the Ulsan site. Both are joint venture companies between BP and Samsung.
The plants were shut down due to a power failure caused by a thunderstorm, a company official said on Tuesday this week.
“We’re planning to restart the acetic acid plant by this Sunday or early next week while the VAM plant will be restarted early next week,” he said.
The official said the plant could not be restarted earlier due to “minor problems” adding that there was no damage at the plant.
The producer was seeking to buy a 3,000 tonne prompt loading VAM cargo to meet the shortfall in the domestic market resulting from the unplanned plant outage this week.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-11
China's Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Corp (ZRCC) has ramped up the operating rate of its 165,000 tonne/year butadiene (BD) unit at Ningbo in Zhejiang province to full rate, after resuming production recently, market sources said.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-11
South Korea’s Tongsuh Petrochemical plans to restart its 245,000 tonne/year No 4 acrylonitrile (ACN) line in Ulsan on 15 July, a company source said on Friday.
The unit was shut following a power outage on 8 july.
The company’s other 245,000 tonne/year No 3 ACN line is operating at full, while its 70,000 tonne/year No 2 ACN line has been shut since end-March and the company has yet to fix a restart date.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-10
Japan’s Nippon Steel Chemical (NSC) plans to restart its styrene monomer (SM) units in the second half of July, a company source said on Wednesday.
The 190,000 tonne/year No 2 and 230,000 tonne/year No 3 plant, both located in Oita, were shut on 8 July following an outage at Showa Denko’s cracker.
The Showa Denko cracker has been restarted on 9 July, while NSC plans to reart its No 3 unit on 20 July and its No 2 unit on 23-24 July, the company source added.
Other SM producers in Japan include, Asahi Kasei Chemical, Idemitsu Kosan Co and Denka.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-10
Japan’s Mitsubishi Rayon Co (MRC) plans to shut its 55,000 tonne/year No 1 butane-based methyl methacrylate (MMA) line in Otake at around end-July for a scheduled turnaround, a company source said on Thursday.
The turnaround is expected to be completed by early August, the source added.
MRC’s has another 55,000 tonne/year butane-based No 2 MMA line as well as a 107,000 tonne/year acetone cyanohydrin-based MMA line at the same site.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2014-07-10
Thailand’s PTT Asahi Chemical (PTTAC) is expected to shut its 70,000 tonne/year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant in Map Ta Phut on 20 July for a scheduled maintenance, a company source said on Thursday.
The plant will be offline for about 40 days until the end of August, the source added.
PTT Asahi Chemical is a joint venture of Thai oil and gas giant PTT and Japanese firms Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Marubeni.
SOURCE Icis News