Download - Pn august 2014 issue pdf

Volume No. 81 MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12- 14 Issue No. 8 Pages 74 August 2014 Rs. 75.00

SAY YES TO PLASTICS

P L A S T I C S N E W S A U G U S T 2 0 1 43


15...... AIPMA At Work... MSME-Meeting

... Meeting with Shri Ananth Kumar, Hon'ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, GOI at Hyderabad

... IPLEX 2014

... Srilanka Plast Exhibition on 14-16 August 2014at Bmich, Colombo

... Meeting to chalk out Growth Path for Plastic Industry and Road Map Ahead to remove setbacks for processing & converting industry, plastic machinery and the polymer industry – held on 19th August,2014 at AIPMA House

21...... Interview23...... Company News27...... Features... Battenfeld-cincinnati Foshan reworks to offer higher

energy effi ciency

... Liquiform- New technology molds plastic with consumable liquid

... Nordson’s new Extrusion coating technology for low melts strength polymers

... Thermoforming producing disposable plates

... Temporary tattoo biobatteries produce power from sweat

... Is 100% recyclable fl exible packaging possible?

... Plastivision Arabia to be held in January 2016

... “Walk the Talk” with Team SPE

48...... International News52...... Business News56...... Product News64...... Technology68...... In the News71...... Events

MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12-14 August 2014Volume 81 No. 8

Chairman - Editorial Board Mr. Anandilal Oza

Hon. Editor Mr. Ajay Desai

Members Mr. A. E. Ladhaboy Dr. Y. B. Vasudeo Ms. Poorvi Desai

Editorial Co-ordination: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications, Mumbai, Tel No: 00-22-2868 5198 / 5049 Fax No : 00-22-28685495 • email: [email protected]

Published by Ms. Umaa Gupta on behalf of the owners, The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ AssociationPlot No. A-52, Road No. 1, M.I.D.C., Andheri (E),Mumbai-400 093. Tel: 67778899 • Fax : 00-22-2821 6390E-mail : offi [email protected] : http://www.aipma.netand printed by her at Dhote Offset Technokrafts Pvt. Ltd., Goregaon (E), Mumbai-400 063.

Annual Subscription Rs. 1,000/-Single issue Rs. 75/-

Views/Reports/Extracts etc. published in Plastics News are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Editor. Furthermore except for copies of formal AIPMA communications no other matter in this journal should be interpreted as views of The All India Plastics Mfgrs. Association.

Mr. Sanju DesaiVice President (West Zone)

Mr. Rituraj GuptaHon. Secretary

Mr. Manoj R. ShahHon. Jt. Secretary

Mr. Haren SanghaviHon. Treasurer

OFFICE BEARERS

The Offi cial Organ of The All India Plastics Manufacturers AssociationEstd. 1945

Mr. Anandilal OzaPresident

Mr. R. K. AggarwalVice President (North Zone)

Mr. Anil BansalVice President (South Zone)

Mr. Ashok AgarwalVice President (East Zone)

IN THIS ISSUE...

CONTENTCONTENT


THE PRESIDENT SAYS


India celebrated its 68th Independence Day this month and we are all proud to be a part of it.

Also it was after so many years that we had had the Prime Minister addressing the nation (and not reading) through the extempore speech. The Prime Minister made it clear that he is all geared to change the state and revive the economy of the country. His call ‘come on’ and is all centered on the growth and development of India. Not merely in physical terms, but also trying to create a new paradigm for development. He has urged manufacturers to work on ‘Zero Defect’ so that the Indian products (exports) are not rejected and more over their manufacturing do not affect the environment in any way (i.e Zero Affect). I think he has shown us the way forward.

Keeping its promises the new government has also taken some new initiatives for the industry. The department of chemicals and petrochemicals proposes to set up chemical and petrochemical complex in overseas countries to ensure the availability of primary chemicals raw materials exclusively for the Indian companies. The feedstock complex will be set in a special economic zone to be set up by Indian government in these countries, part of which will be utilized for establishing the petrochemical and chemicals feedstock. According to offi cials, two countries that have been identifi ed for this purpose are Iran and Myanmar with whom it proposes to start the dialogue for setting up such chemical feedstock complexes. This endeavor is aimed at making India a export hub for processed and fi nished chemicals and not producer of basic chemicals. For Iran and Myanmar, it will bring in foreign investment and employment.

Team AIPMA had recently met Shri Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, during IPLEX-2014, Hyderabad. The minister has said on record that he will personally request Finance Minister for raising the Excise Exemption limit for SME’s from the current 1.5 Crores to 5 Crores.

Keeping the trend of ‘Acche Din’ alive, a new aater bottling plant at Ambernath near Mumbai was inaugurated by Minister of Railways Sadanand Gowda, earlier this month. A century-old water dam at Ambernath, near Mumbai, had been lying unused since 1997. As we know the tenders were already fl oated in last December by the Railways.

The full-fledged bottling plant include a water treatment facility, rinsing, fi lling and capping, coding, labelling and packing machines, besides conveyors, chillers and a cooling tower with storage facilities for four to fi ve days' production. This is the Indian Railways' fourth such bottling plant and the fi rst in the western region - the other three being those located at Nangloi (Delhi) in the north, Danapur (Patna) in the east, and Palur (Chennai) in the south The plant will produce about two lakh bottles of one litre capacity per day, which will be around 16,667 cartons with each having 12 bottles.

Well, it seems good things are working for the industry…

Anandilal [email protected]

The ‘Acche Din’ Effect

P L A S T I C S N E W S A U G U S T 2 0 1 411P L A S T I C S N E W S 11

FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN

A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

The Plastic additives market is expected to reach US$15.9 bln in 2019. The plastic additives

market was valued at US$11.16 bln in 2012, and is expected to reach US$15.90 bln by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2013 to 2019, according to latest fi ndings by a Research group.

The Plastic additive is a diversifi ed industry with various types of additives; it is set to demonstrate a high growth rate over the next few years. Interestingly we have two things to discuss: one, a revolutionary anti-bacterial additive for variety of applications and second, new masterbatches formulations with almond shell that helps to reduce the weight of the fi nal product.

BSafe™, is the new Revolutionary anti-bacterial additive brand developed by Aquatech Technologies, that offers an active and long lasting bacterial-killing layer to the surface of polymeric materials for variety of applications. An anti-bacterial additive forms part of the monofi lament used to the make a yarn from which the nets are manufactured and provides a permanent solution for fi sheries, anglers and conservationists. Working collaboratively with Biomaster, Silvergate Plastics developed a bespoke bacterial-killing additive in a masterbatch that can be engineered into yarn. The anti-bacterial additive works for the lifetime of the product, when wet or dry, to stop the transfer of disease between fi sh and fi sheries. The technology has been comprehensively tested by an independent laboratory. Comprehensive testing against fi ve key bacterial pathogens prepared by CEFAS showed a greater than 99% kill rate was achieved for each bacteria within 24 hours.

The New masterbatches formulations with almond shell have been successfully achieved on standard

The Additives Marketthermoplastic matrixes in the framework of a research project. These formulations have been effectively applied in two demonstrators: toy and auxiliary furniture with interest ing aesthet ic and mechanical properties fi tting the focused applications. With these new masterbatches, the weight of the fi nal product can notably be reduced, and with their large-scale introduction in the market, the consumption of plastic coming from non-renewable sources can be signifi cantly shortened, thus reducing the dependence most of the countries have on oil.

Also, you would agree that the transportation costs will be also reduced to the minimum while reducing the weight. The developments obtained have solved some of the problems arising in injection at industrial scale, which constitutes a most simple and reproducible technique to inject additives and colour pieces to create more attractive and lighter products, processed in a more effective and effi cient way which, additionally, will save painting and fi nishing costs. There are not almond shell-based masterbatches in the market that provides the products with natural aesthetic characteristics which resemble wood, what constitutes a great novelty.

This implies a great novelty and technological level as it will contribute to medium-term sustainability and enhance the competitiveness of the toy and auxiliary furniture industries in particular, and the injection industry in general.

Hon. EditorAjay Desai


Mr. Raja. M. Shah, Chairman of MSME-CELL at the request of Mr. Sanjay Shah-Hon. Secretary

of “Flexible Packaging Industries & Trader’s Association, Mumbai” organized MSME meeting on 25th July 2014 at AIPMA House.

Mr. Anandilal Oza, President of AIPMA presided over the meeting which was attended by 42 delegates.

Points of Discussion:-1 Financial Assistance from SIDBI, Banks, other Financial

Institutions, for its formalities to sanction the loan, terms/conditions, documentation and its expenses.

2 Claim of 15% CLCSS, its qualifi cations, procedures etc.

We had a panel of experts:-1 Mr. J. K Rajput - D.G.M, (MSME), Bank of Baroda

2 Mr. R. Chowdhury - ADBO, SIDBI

3 Mr. G. Velladurai - Asst. Director [L & F] MSME-Development Institute, GOI, Andheri East

4 Mr. Sumit Sharma - National Cluster Head, Reliance Commercial Finance

5 Mr. V Sirigudi - Zonal Sales Manager-SME, Reliance Commercial Finance

6 Mr. Asim Padhi - Zonal Credit Manager-SME, Reliance Commercial Finance

7 Mr. Soumya Ranjan - Regional Manager Reliance Commercial Finance

8 Mr. Atanu Biswas - RIL-PET

MSME-Meeting

Experts briefl y described procedures in the relevant fi eld.

It was stormy session, being raised many questions to the Experts which were clarifi ed by the Experts along with various case studies.

Mr. Raja Shah conducted the meeting. All the experts were honoured by Mementos.

On behalf of Mr. Kailash Murarka, Chairman-PVI 2017 and Mr. Harish Dharamsi, Chairman-PVA 2016,

Mr. Raja Shah projected details of PVI 2017 and PVA 2016 and invited Association, Reliance and the members to participate in the Exhibitions.

With a vote of thanks by Mr. Raja Shah the meeting was concluded.

AIPMA AT WORK

L TOR: Mr. Sanjay Shah – Hon. Secretary of FPITA, Bank of Baroda, Mr. Anand Oza – President AIPMA, Mr. Raja M. Shah – Chairman MSME Cell.

Mr. Anand Oza – President AIPMA felicitating Mr. J. K. Rajput – Asst. GM, Bank of Baroda.

Delegates present at the meeting.


AIPMA AT WORK

Mr. R. Chowdhury – ADBO, SIDBI, Mr. G. Velladurai – Asst. Director [L & F] MSME-Development Institute, GOI, Mr. Atanu Biswas – RIL, PET.

Mr. Sumit Sharma – National Cluster Head, Reliance Commercial Finance.

Team AIPMA led by Mr. Arvind Mehta, Mr. Harish Dharamsi and Mr. Kailash Murarka were honoured

by a meeting with Mr. Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mr. Indrajit Pal, Secretary, DCPC and Dr. S.K. Nayak, D. G., CIPET, on 8th August 2014 at Hyderabad during IPLEX 2014 wherein indepth discussions were held, to address issues relating to future growth path of Plastics Industry.

The Hon’ble Minister gave patient hearing and expressed his desire to meet group of hi-power delegates (Only 2 per National Association) of National Plastics Associations such as AIPMA, OPPI, Plastic Machinery Manufacturers Association and CPMA with complete input, for having an interactive meeting. Shri Ananth Kumar, Hon’ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, announced during inauguration of IPLEX that he will himself request Finance Minister for raising the Excise Exemption limit for SMEs from the current 1.5 Crores to 5 Crores

This Round Table meeting will take place in Mumbai, which can be in 3rd or 4th week of August’14, where Hon. Minister and DCPC Secretary has consented to chair and hear our views for future growth of plastics in India.

Prior to this AIPMA had called a meeting on 19th August an All India Plastic Associations’ Meet at AIPMA House.to

get views and suggestions from all the related Associations of India.

The Minister had been very supportive to industry.

This is a positive & favorable situation for AIPMA as the initiative has been entrusted to AIPMA.

Arvind MehtaChairman-AIPMA Governing Council

Meeting with Shri Ananth Kumar, Hon'ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, GOI at Hyderabad

Team AIPMA with the Minister at IPLEX-2014, Hyderabad.


AIPMA AT WORK

The 5th International Plastics Exposition, (IPLEX) 2014 on “Plastics", Jointly organized by “APPMA,

CIPET, TAPMA, KSPA, KPMA - India was held during August 8th to 11th 2014, at the Hitex Exhibition Centre, Hi-Tech City, Hyderabad. The exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Ananth Kumar (Honorable Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India ), and was supported by all the leading National level trade and industry bodies.

AIPMA Stall at IPLEX 2014:A stall (J-15 Hall No. 2) was allotted to AIPMA at IPLEX

2014.

From AIPMA, our Staff members , Ms. Sanjeevani Kothare, Mr.Ankit Upadhyay and Mr. Ramarethinam attended the Exhibition. Under the guidance of Chairman Mr.Kailash B Murarka & Mr.Harish Dharamsi AIPMA staff was motivated and encouraged to market space booking for AIPMA Exhibitions.

The basic focus was on promoting and booking space for Plastivision India 2017and Plastivision Arabia 2016 exhibition.

AIPMA & Plastivision dignitaries Mr.Anand Oza, Mr.Arvind Mehta, Mr.Kailash Murarka, Mr.Harish Dharamsi & Mr.Haren Sanghavi visited the AIPMA stall.

• In order to maintain the contacts and to follow up with prospective exhibitors, business cards and brochures were collected and their contact details entered into the ever growing database at AIPMA.

• A lot of Business to Business marketing was done amongst the participating exhibitors and visitors who visited the AIPMA stall.

• Enquiries were received from potential exhibitors for Plastivision India - 2017

It was a very good experience with encouraging result in terms of marketing PLASTIVISION INDIA 2017and Plastivision Arabia 2016.

SOME STATISTICS FOR VARIOUS SALES AT IPLEX 2014.The series of IPLEX exhibitions organized by Plastic Manufacturer’s Association of Southern States jointly with CIPET is a good exposure for Southern Indian customers and has generated good response. The exposition has grown from event to event in terms of growing number of exhibitors, visitors and business generated.

IPLEX 2014Report on AIPMA’s participation at the 5th IPLEX 2014

The exhibition was inaugurated by Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mr. Y. K. Sinha at 9.30

am on 14th August 2014 and also took part were Sri Lankan Economic Development Minister Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr. Rishad Bathiudeen,

Secretary Ministry of Industry and Commerce Mr. Anura Siriwardene, Chairman/CEO EDB Mr. Bandula Egodage, DG-EDB Ms. Sujatha Weerakoon and other dignitaries.

The three day exhibition was very vibrant with more than 100 industries from 15 countries. Every day there are

Srilanka Plast Exhibition on 14-16 August 2014at BMICH, Colombo


The above Meeting was held in presence of Raw Material Manufacturers, Machinery Manufacturers

and Converters and was extremely fruitful wherein discussion to draw road map and formulate strategies for Growth Path for Plastic Industry and remove setbacks which are holding back the growth of the industry were delibrated threadbare.

Issues addressed by the captains of the Industry weaved around Global Scenario of Plastic Industry, analysis of strength-weakness-opportunities and threats (SWOT), Industry objectives in terms of Needs of Plastic Processing Industry, Ficsal requirements, NTBT, Finance,Human Resources, Adoption of Technology Environmental- Recycling and

Meeting to chalk out Growth Path for Plastic Industry and Road Map Ahead to remove setbacks for processing & converting industry, plastic machinery and the polymer

industry – held on 19th August, 2014 at AIPMA House

AIPMA AT WORK

many visitors came to the stall and they have enquired about the business in Plastic industries. There are two more concurrent show was happened on the same duration.

Meeting held with Ms. Elaine Wang from Melink fairs on the fi rst day.

Distributed Plastivision India 2017 and Plastivision Arabia 2016 brochures to all the stalls and approached them for Plastivision India & Plastivision Arabia. I got more than 20 effective enquiries for PVI, PVA and Membership.

Introduction of AIPMA was given to the visitors at AIPMA booth and also did networking to promote our activities and exhibitions. Special emphasis was laid on the benefi ts of membership of AIPMA, the service to the industry working of policies for betterment of the plastic fraternity. Plastivision India, Plastivision Arabia, Chinaplas, Plastic Parks, Plastics

News Monthly magazine were duly highlighted with a request for stall visitors to enrol as members of AIPMA.

By: Sr. Manager (South) Mr A. Ramarethinam

many areas which can give take off status to the Industry.

The Meeting was call to order by AIPMA Hon.Secretary Mr Rituraj Gupta and Chaired by Chairman AIPMA Governing Council Mr Arvind Mehta.


JANDI'S promotes its bag making machine which can reach 100% waste plastics material recycling, making all the resources fully exploited.

As a bag making machine producer, JANDI'S accumulated precious experiences in not only bag but also waste plastics materials and now the

company presents the latest design which makes no waste plastics left during processing.

We have Mr. Jerry M. J. Huang, General Manager of JANDI'S, to talk about JANDI'S latest green design.

What are the advanced features of JIT-SD T-Shirt bag making machine line

GM Huang: In doing the T-shirt bag, there are three main general steps to follow. First is blow molding, second is printing, and third is fi lm sealing. This is then followed by the waste recycling, the last action. This is done by everyone as a cost saving measure. This is important to save cost because during the processing, spare plastics trimming is necessary for making the T-shirt form.

Accordingly, how to recycle those trimmed plastics parts is one crucial point to the manufacturing, which examines producers' technology.This is so because as you might be aware colors, materials, and other parameters of the recycled waste plastics would change the end product.

I have experiences in dealing with these parameters, so I integrated the above mentioned four steps into one machine, recycling the trimmed parts instantaneously during the processing.

This was one saves a great portion of raw materials. For people who use the old way it takes 95 tons of plastics materials to produce 80 tons of end product, but now by JIT-SD it takes only 82 tons of raw materials to produce 80 tons of end product. Moreover, as we melt the waste with the perfect timing, molecular chains within those end products are much better.

How did you develop this recycling integration design?

GM Huang: The concept exists for a while in the market but

INTERVIEW

people only use it in ordinary square form bags. That type of products are simple because it need not to be trimmed further. But in the T-shirt bag case, there is the sealing step which takes discontinuous movements during processing so many T-shirt bag producers encountered the issue of smoothing the procedures between blow fi lm machine and sealing machine.

They have problems in orchestrating machines together but we do not have. Because we do not do it. The core issue is not about orchestrating, but integrating everything into one. Our machine thus gained four patents in Taiwan and another four in Mainland China. We are applying now the patent of our excellent control system.

Now green manufacturing is the consensus of everyone. Do you have some of your opinions you want to share with us?

GM Huang: We invented JIT-SD because we treasure our land and our resources. This machine can save you material consumption. But more over than just materials, the machine also saves you cover areas as this one machine replaces four in the old time and purchasers can save about half of the cover areas for machines in their factory. Besides machines, semi-manufacturer storage is also saved for about half.

For instance, if one producer makes 80 tons of T-shirt bags every month, he might need about 300 sqm for semi-manufacturer storage. However, when you compare this with our machine you would be surprised. Yes if you are doing the same job with our machine JIT-SD it would take only 160 sqm. Moreover, JIT-SD saves about 25% electricity consumption, lowering your carbon footprint.

What are your plan for 2014?

GM Huang: In 2014, I have added more concepts onto the JIT-SD series and tried to extend the existing technology. We are also planning that We will add ICT technology for instant management so that administrative employees would acquaint the onsite information and make decisions with better knowledge.

In working with many excellent crews, I am confi dent that we can eventually make our product better than before.

Mr. Jerry M. J. HuangGM, JANDI


COMPANY NEWS

SK Global runs 350000 tpa Styrene Monomer Plant at Ulsan at full throttle South Korea's SK Global Chemical

is running its 350,000 mt/year styrene monomer plant at Ulsan at full capacity in July, similar to June and May, but is considering run cuts as margins are being squeezed. The plant, originally owned by German chemical major BASF, was idled in late 2008.

It was bought by SK Global in 2009 and restarted late this April. Due to the plant being relatively old and idle for several years, it was less cost-effi cient

than newer plants, the source said. The source said margins were not good at the moment, although SKGC is completely self-suffi cient in terms of feedstocks benzene and ethylene.

Several other SM producers in Japan and Southeast Asia have recently cut or considered cutting operating rates due to negative margins caused by relatively high benzene and ethylene prices while SM prices have been relatively stagnant due to a high inventory level in key market China.

CB&I and Clariant to begin production at US polypropylene catalyst plant

CB&I and C la r ian t have announced that the Ziegler-

Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst plant in Kentucky, US, is on track and would be able to commence operations in 2015.

The facility, which is located at Clariant's US production hub, will combine catalysts developed by both companies, to cater to the growing polypropylene industry.

The project is part of a strategic partnership between Clar iant 's catalysts business unit and CB&I's Lummus Novolen technology business. It will strengthen the companies' presence in polypropylene catalysts and technology by taking advantage of Clariant's catalyst R&D and production

expertise alongside CB&I's know-how in catalysts, process design and licensing of polypropylene plants.

Clariant and CB&I's R&D teams have recently developed a series of new ZN polypropylene catalysts, which will be produced at the Louisville plant. With improved technical and commercial features from Clariant and CB&I, the PolyMax and Novolen high-performance catalyst series are currently being tested in commercial polypropylene plants.

Clariant senior vice-president and catalyst business unit head Stefan Heuser said, "The sucessful joint-development of new generation polypropylene catalyst and progressing of Louisville plant are key milestones

for our catalyst business.

It strengthens greatly our competitive position in this attractive and fast-growing market." CB&I technology president Daniel McCarthy said: "Polypropylene producers will benefi t from this joint catalyst development effort. High productivity, versatility and quality consistency will be the major benefits coupled with competitive economics."

Samsung to build large ethane carriers for RIL

South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries has been awarded

a US$723 mln contract to build six very large ethane carriers for India's Reliance Industries Ltd.,The vessels of 87,000 cubic meters each, will be the world's fi rst very large carriers of ethane. RIL was targeting the long-haul US-produced ethane to feed its cracker at the Jamnagar refi ning and petrochemical complex in Gujarat on the west coast of India,

According to the company the cracker will be commissioned in the second half of fiscal 2016-2017, running from April to March, It will nearly double RIL's ethylene production capacity to 3.3 million m tpa.


GAIL signs MOU with Sumitomo Corp to pursue opportunities in natural gas Public sector gas major Gas

Authority of India Limited (Gail) announced the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sumitomo Corporation, Japan(Sumitomo). Under the MOU, GAIL and Sumitomo will pursue business opportunities in natural gas and LNG value chain business globally, specifically covering cooperation in petrochemicals, natural gas procurement, pipelines and LNG.

CMD Tripathi said, "We are happy to enter into this strategic relationship with Sumitomo with whom we are long-

term partners in Cove Point project. There are signifi cant opportunities in the North American gas markets and we are pleased to be partnering with Sumitomo in jointly developing this business."Gail and Sumitomo hold half of the capacity in the Cove Point LNG Liquefaction Terminal in the US respectively, and have also agreed to coordinate for ensuring smooth operation of the terminal.

Both parties view US market as a growth area for their line of businesses and would cooperate on businesses ranging from upstream to downstream.

Fire at PetroChina's Lanzhou refinery

A fi re broke out at a PetroChina refi nery and petrochemical

plant in Lanzhou earlier this month on Monday, August 4, 2014. The fi re has been extinguished. No casualties have been reported.

The plant near Lanzhou city in the northwestern province of Gansu is one of the country's oil refining hubs. It operates crude refining capacity of just over 200,000 bpd and also an affi liated petrochemical complex. Initial investigation showed the fi re, which broke out at 8.39 a.m. (0039 GMT), was triggered by a leak of propylene at a 300,000 tpa air separation unit.

The fi re was put out at 1:45 p.m., as per a government website. It was not immediately clear if other main production facilities at the plant were affected by the fi re.

COMPANY NEWS

AzkoNobel selects L&T Technology to increase engineering efficiency

L&T Technology Services has been selected by AkzoNobel

to provide technical services in a move to further drive engineering excellence and cut back costs in its capital expenditure (CAPEX). L&T Technology Services will provide engineering services for CAPEX projects by executing non IP-sensitive engineering activities in the Front End Engineering Design and in the Detailed Design phase.

In addition, this will also provide access to a large vendor network and support shortening of project lead times. L&T Technology Services will use AkzoNobel’s systems, tools and methods to provide engineering

services in order to safeguard the quality and incorporation of AkzoNobel’s engineering and Health Safety & Environment (HSE) standards. As an integral part of this association, L&T Technology Services will have a core team that will support and work closely with AkzoNobel’s Projects & Engineering Teams.

David Allen, Head of Supply Chain, Research & Development, AkzoNobel said, “In L&T Technology Services we have found a competent and an experienced engineering company with a global presence. We are confi dent to execute our capital projects safely, reliably and more effi ciently with them.” Also speaking on this occasion, Dr

Keshab Panda, Chief Executive, L&T Technology Services, said, “We are proud to be providing technical support to AkzoNobel. We look forward to closely work together to further align our engineering standards, tools and work processes and execute pilot projects in the next few months.”


COMPANY NEWS

Celanese to expand manufacturing capabilities at Brazil

Celanese Corporation wil l expand its manufacturing

capabilities at the company’s Suzano, Brazil, facility to include Celstran long fi bre reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT) production. The Celstran expansion is expected to be operational by mid-2015.

T h i s n e w C e l s t r a n L F R T production operation will be part of the company's manufacturing site in Suzano where Celanese already compounds Hostaform/Celcon acetal copolymer (POM) and Celanex/Vandar thermoplastic polyester (PBT) products for customers in Brazil and Latin America. Celanese long fibre reinforced thermoplastics, including

Celstran, Factor and Compel, offer a combination of stiffness and toughness unparalleled by conventional short-fi bre reinforced thermoplastics.

These products provide customers with outstanding value in meeting the needs of demanding applications that require metal replacement, weight reduction (resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions), impact strength, design freedom and easy processing in key end-user industries such as automotive, consumer appliances, industrial products and aerospace. “The addition of Celstran manufacturing capabilities to our existing site outside Sao Paulo is part of the Celanese growth strategy to

directly serve our customers in Brazil and Latin America, where we see a healthy growth potential, especially in automotive applications,” said Phil McDivitt, Vice President and General Manager of the Engineered Materials Business of Celanese. "By bringing this new production capacity to Brazil, Celanese will be the fi rst local producer of Celstran LFRT.

We wi l l leverage our loca l commercial and technical teams to deliver innovative polymer solutions to our customers and further support the growth of Celstran in Latin America,” said Stefan Kutta, Celanese Global Director, Automotive Industry.

Saudi Aramco, Sumitomo to transfer project ownership to PetroRabigh

Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo C h e m i c a l w i l l t r a n s f e r

ownership of a planned 32 billion riyal (US$8.5 bln) petrochemical facility to their joint venture PetroRabigh, as per Reuters. The new facility, known as Rabigh II, is to be built as an expansion of PetroRabigh's existing petrochemical plant, increasing output and introducing higher-margin products.

Rabigh II will produce ethylene propylene rubber, thermoplastic polyolefin, methyl methacrylate monomer and polymethyl methacrylate among other products. The project, located on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, received a formal go-ahead from

the parent fi rms in 2012; PetroRabigh has said previously it is due to come online in 2016, despite a string of maintenance problems at the existing facility. Ownership of the planned new facility will be transferred from Aramco and Sumitomo to PetroRabigh in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said on Sunday.

However, it added that both Aramco and Sumitomo would continue to guarantee finance needed to build the project. The two fi rms will each put in around 100 billion yen ($975 million), with the rest coming from project fi nancing, Sumitomo President Masakazu Tokura said last November.

Mitsubishi Chemical shuts naphtha cracker at Kashima complex

Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corp has shut its 539,000

tpa No.2 naphtha cracker at its Kashima complex in eastern Japan from July 19 for an unplanned inspection. The plant is closed for inspection.

According to reports the move comes as the cracker, whose capacity has recently been expanded by about 50,000 tpa to offset lost production from the mothballed Kashima No.1 unit, has been having a problem in the cracked gas compression process.


COMPANY NEWS

AIM Filtertech receives technology license for ‘valure’ in India BASF SE and AIM Filtertech

celebrated the offi cial start of production of valure™ in Pune, India. AIM Filtertech is the first company globally to receive a technology license for the commercial production of valure™.

The production plant, wholly-owned by AIM Filtertech, will have an annual capacity of about 1.7 million square meters of valure™, serving both the local and global markets. BASF supports its licensing partner with the chemistry, technology knowhow, joint development with customers as well as application-oriented services. valure™ technology is a special transfer coating technique that can be applied to a wide variety of high-quality fl exible substrates like leather, fabric, cardboard, paper or plastics without impairing the air permeability of the material – helping to achieve surfaces with a distinctive character that are soft, warm to the touch, and visually attractive.

“This is an important step for BASF to bring an innovative solution like valure™ to the market,” said Hermann Althoff, Senior Vice President, BASF Leather & Textile Chemicals. “As the leading chemical company, we believe in the power of innovation and its ability to shape our future. Through the collaboration with AIM Filtertech, we will be able to address the needs of the industry for fl exible surfaces and develop pioneering products for their markets. We look forward to working together to leverage each

other’s strengths and deliver the most unique and sustainable solution for our customers. ”“We are pleased to be the fi rst licensing partner globally for valure™ technology,” said Dhiren Shah, Founder of AIM Filtertech. “With this partnership, AIM Filtertech and BASF can leverage its respective areas of expertise and work together to deepen the collaboration in better serving the market.

With valure™ technology, our customers can expect newer fabrics and novel applications to help them broaden their business in India and also abroad.”

The polyurethane dispersion sprayed onto the desired surface is microporous and air permeable, improving the comfort of the coated materials.

The design freedom is almost limitless – regardless of whether technical, natural or soft-touch structures are involved. Quick design changes present no diffi culties enabling customers to produce different sizes on a smaller scale. Textures from leather graining to the appearance of velvet and even geometric patterns and impressions can be achieved with minimum effort.

Equistar declares force majeure on polyethylene Along with Chevron Phillips

Chemical Co., Equistar has declared force majeure production limits on polyethylene. Equistar,a unit of Houston-based LyondellBasell Industries, has experienced “signifi cant feedstock supply disruptions” at its PE plants in Matagorda and Victoria, according to reports.

Those two plants are massive PE production sites, with combined annual capacities of about 5.4 billion pounds of high, low and linear low density PE. LyondellBasell already had declared force majeure on ethylene feedstock made at its plant in La Porte, Texas. Market

sources said the situations at Chevron Phillips and Equistar could tighten supply in a North American PE market where demand has been lackluster so far in 2014. But the outages also could prevent regional PE resin prices from falling in July, as some buyers had anticipated.

Regional PE prices have not seen a decrease since late 2012. Since that point, fi ve price increases have taken hold, leading major PE fi lm extruders to take the rare step of trying to raise prices for their products even without an accompanying resin price increase.


At a t i m e w h e n e n e r g y costs, carbon footprint, and

economics are crucial issues across manufacturing industries, there is no other important technology than the one that is energy efficient. Bat ten fe ldc inc innat i (Foshan) Extrusion Systems, the Chinese arm of Austrian machinery maker battenfeld-cincinnati, has understood this and has reworked its machinery to offer energy effi ciency and this has been working well.

Focus on efficiencyAccording to the International

Energy Agency (IEA)’s 2013 report, energy efficiency is the world’s important fuel. Energy effi ciency holds the spotlight in the International Energy Efficiency Scorecard report by the

American Council for an Energy Effi cient Economy (ACEEE). This year, ACEEE’s second edition report cites Germany as leading the top 16 largest economies worldwide, which comprise more than 81% of global GDP and about 71% of global electricity consumption.

E n e r g y e f f i c i e n c y i s unquestionably a defi ning factor in today’s industries. It is also topmost in extrusion specialist battenfeld-cincinnati’s agenda.

Mark Feng, General Manager of battenfeld-cincinnati (Foshan) Extrusion Systems, said, “We place emphasis on energy effi ciency in our machines and processes by optimising the screw and die design, and using AC main motor as a standard offering.”

Feng went on to say that the company’s machinery is able to achieve about 30-50% energy savings per tonne for PO pipe processing when compared with locally produced machines.

“In addition, we offer an inner cooling system for large diameter/high output PO pipe extrusion and green pipe/profile downstream equipment for more energy savings. The energy saving feature is defi nitely one of the most important selling points for our machinery besides the high output,

high stability, automation and long life span,” he adds.

Stable salesFormerly known as B+C Extrusion

Systems (Foshan), the company changed its name in 2010 as a result of a rebranding exercise. It was founded in 1996 and is based in Foshan, China.

“We produce around 150 extrusion lines a year and have a turnover of US$45 million, 85% of which is from the local market, and 15% is from exports,” according to Feng.

The Foshan operation now has a production space of 130,000 sq. ft. and a workforce of 180. Nevertheless, the company does not see itself expanding over the next fi ve years.

Feng explains, “This is because the plastic extrusion machinery market is, comparatively, not a very big market, yet the competition is quite high. On

FEATURES

Battenfeld-cincinnati Foshan reworks to offer higher energy efficiency

Chinese arm of Austrian machinery maker battenfeld-cincinnati, has tweaked its machinery to offer energy efficiency


the other hand, by optimising the production/ management, we can manage to double the sales volume with the existing factory.”

New to the marketThe company manufactures and

markets extrusion equipment and systems. It offers single and twin-screw, parallel twin, and conical twin

extruders. Additionally, the company provides control and automation systems.

At the Chinaplas show, held in Shanghai this year, battenfeldcincinnati showcased the top billed solEX single-screw extruder series.

Following the success of the demonstration of a PE gas pipe extrusion line in September 2013 and the display of the soIEX60 series at Chinaplas last year, the solEX 75-40-C extruder was shown at Chinaplas 2014.

At battenfeld-cincinnati’s open house last year, on display was a line with a solEX extruder and the company’s green pipe downstream equipment. A PE gas pipe with a diameter of 250 mm was produced in co-operation with some long-term partner companies.

“The solEX extruder series for high-performance PE-HD and PP pipe extrusion was shown for the fi rst time at an exhibition in China. At our open house in Foshan in September 2013, we realised there was a lot of interest from our customers on the topics of energyeffi ciency and energy savings,” said Feng.

The highlights of the solEX extruder series are the higher throughputs with smaller screw diameters, a smaller footprint and improved melt homogeneity with low energy input.

Feng also says that the solEX 40 L/D ratio series PO pipe extruders have the highest output, compared with extruders with the same screw diameter from other suppliers.

Other productsAnother is the conEX 63 R-C

conical twin-screw extruder. This series is characterised by cost and material savings, especially in profi le production. The conEX extruder series comprises four models, featuring screw diameters ranging from 38 to 72 mm, with energy effi ciency due to the barrel insulation system and vacuum aggregate pumps, with reduced water volumes and a new vacuum filter complete with fi lter sump.

The series constitutes the sixth generation of conical twin-screw extruders from battenfeld-cincinnati, based on the proven predecessor series of konos extruders. The screw geometry has been further optimised to enable an output of up to 10% in both pipe and profi le extrusion (for pipes up to 550 kg/hour and for profi les up to 280 kg/hour). Patrons of the new lines include chemicals and building

supplier Wuhu Conch Profiles and Science (Anhui/China), which installed 24 extruders in 2012 to expand its PVC processing capacity.

Its helix VSI 250 pipe head, the company says, (VSI dies) are the only dies on the market with a two-step distributor concept consisting of a spiral mandrel for preliminary distribution and a lattice basket distributor for fi ne distribution. This, thus, allows for homogenisation, high outputs, a wide processing window and consistent, high product quality across all pipe dimensions.

Further improvement comes for the Alpha singlescrew extruder for technical profiles and small pipes, which has been on the global market for over 12 years with more than 750 units sold.

In contrast to the predecessor models, the revised Alpha extruders are now equipped with a new compact drive system, which offers the benefi t of small dimensions and substantially reduced oil requirements. Thanks to the smaller drive unit and a redesigned sub-structure, the extruder has also become more space-saving.

Other improvements include the high-quality frequency converters built in for a more accurate regulation

FEATURES


FEATURES

of screw speed and torque, and the temperature controllers. The latter are equipped with a fast self-tuning function and have an integrated on/off function as well.

Another feature is the warning light in traffi c-light colours. The green light signals that the extruder is operating trouble-free, orange stands for conditions requiring the machine operator’s attention and red indicates a need for immediate intervention.

The improvements cover all models of the standardised Alpha range, available in sizes 45, 60 and 75 with either smooth or grooved feed zones.

Way forwardThe Chinese fi rm is backed by the

parent company’s more than 100 years of experience in the extrusion industry.

“In China, our main markets are in f ras t ruc ture (a l l s ing le-

screw applications for pipes) and building/ construction (all twin-screw applications).”

Feng envisages the growth of the PO pipe market, thanks to the intensive investment in infrastructure by the government, especially in gas/water pipes as well as hot and cold water pipe markets.

“There is a vast potential in the pipe market since many residential and government buildings are updating their existing pipelines.”

Regionally, in China, he expects growth to come from north-west (Szechuan and Chongqing) apart from the traditional areas of Shandong, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.

He also noted that outside China, Southeast Asia and South America will provide the impetus for growth.

Nevertheless, China is an important market for battenfeld-cincinnati since it has a growing number of

manufacturers who are starting to recognise the advantage of improving product quality and processes.

“In China, we will introduce the latest technology from Europe, localise more non-key parts to bring the costs down, develop machinery fi t for the Chinese market and the overseas mid-market,” according to Feng, when asked about near-term plans for the Asian market.

A prime mover for promoting energy efficient technologies, battenfeld-cincinnati will continue to provide solutions that will meet the needs of its global customers.

“We have had a number of sales in China over the past few years and we expect to continue to grow as China’s demands for high output and energy effi cient machinery continue to grow,” concluded Feng.

(Courtesy : PRA)

Li q u i F o r m G r o u p t h e business development group

representing DISCMA — the joint venture between Amcor and Sidel has developed a new technology that could help reduce cost to form Plastics container.

By combining the bottle forming and fi lling processes into one step,

this technology eliminates numerous manufacturing steps, significantly reducing cost and waste, says the LiquiForm Group. Called as Liquiform the technology uses pressurized consumable l iqu id ins tead o f compressed air to form plastic containers.

Tiismann, president and CEO

Liquiform- New technology molds plastic with consumable liquid

A new blow molding and filling technology called LiquiForm has been announced that uses pressurized consumable liquid instead of compressed air to form plastic containers.

of Sidel Group says, “Sidel is committed to providing the beverage industry with the most sustainable packaging solutions. Where we see opportunities to develop innovative new technologies we will do so. Our participation in the development of LiquiForm is the latest example of this approach. Although still at a


FEATURES

developmental stage, the technology has the potential to address some key improvement areas for our customers in the years ahead, including potential signifi cant energy and cost savings. The LiquiForm technology is also the latest example of PET’s fl exibility as the most sustainable beverage packaging material.”

Acco rd ing to Ann O ’Hara , President, LiquiForm the technology represents a signifi cant opportunity for the consumer products industry by creating a step-change in effi ciency and flexibility. By partnering with

respected equipment manufacturers as well as international converters and leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, we are set up to have the technology achieve its full potential. And looking forward, we seek to make the technology widely available through a licensing and royalty system which encourages partners and licensees to invest in future innovation and development.”

The LiquiForm Group has signed agreements with Yoshino Kogyosho, Japan’s la rgest p las t ic bot t le manufacturer, to further develop the

technology, and with Nestle Waters, a leading bottled water company, to acquire their intellectual property in this new technology.

According to the company it is expected that more equipment manufacturers and FMCG companies will be able to purchase developer kits to accelerate their own product development in the near future. Full scale commercialisation of the LiquiForm technology is currently expected to occur by 2018.

(Courtesy European PlasticsNews)

Enhancements have been developed to extrusion coating

dies and internal deckles that make it possible for converters to reduce edge bead with low melt strength polymers while maintaining coat weight uniformity—two goals that have often been mutually exclusive with such resins, by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries.

While standard internal deckles with edge profi le control do a good job of reducing edge bead with the high melt strength resin LDPE, they have been less effective with linear polymers such as LLDPE and PP and with more expensive special-function copolymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene-acrylic acid (EAA), and ethylene-methyl acrylate

(EMA). Trimming the larger beaded edges developed with these materials is a costly waste of material, since the combination of substrate and polymer coating cannot be reused. Research by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries has led to development of a technology package that resolves the issue raised by low melt strength polymers.

The trials were carried out at SAM North America’s Extrusion Technology Center in Phoenix, NY. Components of the technology are:

*Dies with l ip lands that are substantially shorter than the industry standard. The lip land is the final portion of the fl ow channel leading to the die exit. In standard dies, a longer lip land plays an important role

in maintaining coat weight uniformity, but it also makes possible more of the lateral movement of the melt that generates edge bead. The research by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries has shown that the gauge profi le of the coating can be effectively controlled if the shorter land has been engineered appropriately.

* Suite of secondary internal deckle blades, sized for various polymers. Deckles are used to vary the width of the coating. An internal deckle consists of three independently adjustable components—located at each end of the die—that can be used to fi ne-tune the edge profi le of the polymer as it exits, minimizing bead formation. Tuning is accomplished by varying the positions of the manifold quill and

Nordson’s new Extrusion coating technology for low melts strength polymers

Research by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries has led to development of a technology package that resolves issues raised by low melt strength polymers


FEATURES

Italian machine maker Amut has recently developed the fi rst in-line

thermoforming machine producing disposable plates (in HIPS + GPPS material) with a weight of 3 g, which is able to save money as well as allow for quality. The machine is supplied to and supplied to Poly Er, one of the biggest Russian thermoformers.

Following the specific needs of the customer, Amut says it included a sophist icated control system and complete coordination and management of the production process from the raw material up to the fi nished product. The machine produces:

52,500 plates/hour with 3 g weight, 165 mm diameter and 135 micron thickness

34,500 plates/hour with 5 g weight, 203 mm diameter and 146 micron thickness

Both productions have very low

tolerances for the medium weight of the material and for the plate: from +/- 0.1 g to +/- 0.2 g.

Despite being very thin, the sheet is said to be in "absolutely" stable conditions in production thus assuring lack of fl aws on the fi nished product.

The line includes a raw materials loading and dosing system for the main extruder (four components) and for the co-extruder (two components). The thermoforming skeleton grinding is closed-loop made and is able to treat thin material (apparent specifi c weight lower than 0.2 kg/dmq).

Furthermore, the gr inder is equipped with a very fine tension gauge system. The extrusion unit is composed of a single screw main

extruder EA100 with plasticising capacity of 600 kg/hour and an under vacuum venting system complete with closed-loop water control and of a single screw co-extruder EA60 for external layers and suitable for different productions.

A high level of precision of die regulation parameters allows to maintain the thin thickness and the low weight and to avoid sheet edge fragility. The die fl ow box has required as well an accurate design. It is possible to

Thermoforming producing disposable platesThe first in-line thermoforming machine producing disposable plates in HIPS + GPPS material

secondary blade with respect to the lip fl ag and deckle rod (see schematic) In addition to the effects of these differing offset dimensions on the edge profi le, the research by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries has shown that the size of the radius of the secondary blade is another key determinant. While a short radius is effective for LDPE, longer radii do a better job of stabilizing the thickness profi le near the edges with polymers having less melt strength.

* Smallest-diameter deckle rod in the industry. The “micro-rod” designed by Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries—half the standard diameter—permits less lateral movement of the melt and thus less edge bead formation.

The short lip land and micro-rod are available in new dies specifi ed by converters focused on making substantial reductions in edge bead, noted Sam G. Iuliano, chief technologist for Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries. The suite of exchangeable secondary

deckle blades with varying radii is available from the company on a custom-designed basis.

“The new technology for coating with low melt strength polymers enables converters to obtain the cost savings of edge bead reduction without sacrifi cing coat weight uniformity,” said Mr. Iuliano. “This development is part of an ongoing research program at Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries to improve productivity and profi tability in extrusion coating.”


FEATURES

obtain the following sheet structure without stopping the machine: A/B, B/A, A/B/A.

The calender, complete with

thickness gauge system, a s s u r e s a g r a d u a l and uniform cool ing and consequently an optimisation of sheet i n t e r n a l t e n s i o n s . Additionally, there is a haul-off with tension control and a pressurised water diathermic unit with 3 circuits.

The stack control a t the ent ry o f the

thermoforming machine is carried out by means of both measurement optical system and a dandy roll.

Based on PA 1000 mode l , the thermoforming unit has been especially optimised to treat HIPS material and to avoid the breakage o f th is very f rag i le s t ruc tu re through special transport system, heating oven, machine movement, thermoregulation and thermodynamic loop performances.

A special packing unit is able to pack from 12 to 100 pieces, more plates with equal quantity of material. An integrated stacker system, where the intervention of the operator is minimum, is also supplied.

In the future, working up a sweat by exercising may not only be

good for your health, but it could also power your small electronic devices. Researchers at the American Chemical Society have designed a sensor in the form of a temporary tattoo that can both monitor a person's progress during exercise and produce power from their perspiration.

The device works by detecting and responding to lactate, which is naturally present in sweat. "Lactate is a very important indicator of how you are doing during exercise," says Wenzhao Jia, Ph.D.

In general, the more intense the exercise, the more lactate the body produces. During strenuous physical activity, the body needs to generate more energy, so it activates a process

called glycolysis. Glycolysis produces energy and lactate, the latter of which scientists can detect in the blood.

Professional athletes monitor their lactate levels during performance testing as a way to evaluate their fitness and training program. In addition, doctors measure lactate during exercise testing of patients for conditions marked by abnormally high lactate levels, such as heart or lung disease. Currently, lactate testing is inconvenient and intrusive because blood samples must be collected from the person at different times during the exercise regime and then analyzed.

Jia, a postdoctoral student in the lab of Joseph Wang, D.Sc., at the University of California San Diego, and her colleagues developed a faster, easier and more comfortable way

to measure lactate during exercise. They imprinted a flexible lactate sensor onto temporary tattoo paper. The sensor contained an enzyme that strips electrons from lactate, generating a weak electrical current. The researchers applied the tattoo to the upper arms of 10 healthy volunteers. Then the team measured the electrical current produced as the volunteers exercised at increasing resistance levels on a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes. In this way, they could continuously monitor sweat lactate levels over time and with changes in exercise intensity.

The team then went a step further, building on these fi ndings to make a sweat-powered biobattery. Batteries produce energy by passing current, in the form of electrons, from an anode

Temporary tattoo biobatteries produce power from sweat The first examples of epidermal electrochemical biosensing and biofuel cells that could potentially be

used for a wide range of future applications


FEATURES

The fl exible packaging market is considered to be one of the

most dynamic packaging markets exhib i t ing d ivers i f ied types of packaging and materials used across the regions. Also the fact remains that though India ranks lower down the order of countries like US and Europe, Food packaging dominates the market share in terms of value as well as volume. Given this the bigger question is 100% recyclable of fl exible packaging possible?

I n t h e c u r r e n t p a c k a g i n g environment, flexible packaging is an important packaging solution for a saturated industry. It plays a vital

role in protecting and extending the shelf life of end-products. Depending on the character is t ics o f the end-product and value to be offered by packaging, the selection of resins and packaging type is decided.

The r ight packaging type is essential to preserve the end-products such as food, beverage, personal care products and pharmaceuticals and prevent untoward chemical reactions endangering the consumer’s health.

Hence, an efficient and suitable packaging solution is imperative for every product.

Indian scenarioAccording to reports, India accounts

for around 27% of total emerging

Is 100% recyclable flexible packaging possible?Lots of flexible packaging is used for food products, another hurdle for recycling is food contamination.

Due to food contamination in most flexible packaging going through the current recycling system, a very small percentage is actually reusable...

to a cathode. In this case, the anode contained the enzyme that removes electrons from lactate, and the cathode contained a molecule that accepts the electrons.

When 15 volunteers wore the tattoo biobatteries while exercising on a stationary bike, they produced different amounts of power. Interestingly, people who were less fi t (exercising fewer than once a week) produced more power than those who were moderately fi t (exercising one to three times per week). Enthusiasts who worked out more than three times per week produced the least amount of power. The researchers say that this is probably because the less-fi t people became fatigued sooner, causing

glycolysis to kick in earlier, forming more lactate. The maximum amount of energy produced by a person in the low-fi tness group was 70 microWatts per cm2 of skin.

"The current produced is not that high, but we are working on enhancing it so that eventually we could power some small electronic devices," Jia says. "Right now, we can get a maximum of 70 microWatts per cm2, but our electrodes are only 2 by 3 millimeters in size and generate about 4 microWatts -- a bit small to generate enough power to run a watch, for example, which requires at least 10 microWatts. So besides working to get higher power, we also need to leverage electronics to store the generated

current and make it suffi cient for these requirements."

B i o b a t t e r i e s o f f e r c e r t a i n advantages over convent ional batteries: They recharge more quickly, use renewable energy sources (in this case, sweat), and are safer because they do not explode or leak toxic chemicals.

"These represent the fi rst examples o f ep iderma l e lec t rochemica l biosensing and biofuel cells that could potentially be used for a wide range of future applications," Wang says.

The researchers acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research.


FEATURES

market fl exible-packaging production. The $24.6bn worth Indian packaging industry has 22,000 fi rms comprising of raw material manufacturers, machinery suppliers, ancillary material etc of which 85% units are MSMEs. Experts feel India is at the threshold of explosive growth.

As India is the sixth largest packaging market worldwide. The packaging industry is expected to grow at 12.3% CAGR during next 4-5 years to become the fourth largest global market, with sales of $42.7bn.

H o w e v e r , t h e p e r c a p i t a consumption of packaging in India is merely 4.3kg per person per annum, as against Germany's 42kg and Taiwan's 20kg, which is very low compared to global standards.

The sector-wise break-up of packaging industry in India can be given as follows: processed food packaging is 48%; personal care packaging is 27%; pharma is 6%; and rest is 19%. The challenges that the Indian industry is facing today are lack of regulatory clarity in packaging, consumer awareness towards sustainable packaging and stress towards green packaging materials.

Also the plastic packaging is growing at 20-25%, rigid containers at 15%, PET bottles at 25% and tubes at 10-12%. The total fl exible packaging market is $671mn. The domestic demand for paper is 7.6mn tonnes, which is 40% of the total production that goes into packaging.

Things abroadAs the second largest packaging

segment in the United States, fl exible

packaging solutions account for 18% of the $145 billion American packaging market, according to the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA). Lighter weight flexible packaging includes fi lms and laminates, which allow for the transport of higher volumes of product and less materials needed for production. This has been a revolutionary movement for brands to adopt to save on energy costs and reduce capital spent on materials.

On the manufacturing end of the production/consumption loop, fl exible packaging makes sense because it has less of a negative impact on the environment than its rigid plastic bottle counterparts. It requires less material for production, generates less CO2 during transportation and taking up less space in the landfi ll.

According to the FPA, the fl exible standup pouch product to package ratio is 35 times greater than that of glass bottles with metal caps and 21 times greater than the aluminum can. This allows for more product to be shipped using much less packaging. Included in the association's statistics is the fact that fl exible packaging uses 50% less energy to produce and 60% less plastic than rigid bottles.

While sustainable packaging is a great talking point for the fl exible packaging sector, there is st i l l progress to be made to be entirely environmentally responsible. To any consumer, recycling plastics is the answer. Incidentally most of the websites states that recycling plastics uses 80% less energy than what it takes to create new plastic containers or bottles. But is recycling the only answer to environmental

consciousness? Is it applicable to fl exible packaging?

Flexible packaging recycling As it stands, there is no proper

closed-loop system even in US put in place to handle the recycling of fl exible packaging, especially multi-layer high-barrier materials, specifically structures composed of aluminum foil within a polyethylene (PE) laminate. Mono-layered packaging is more easily recyclable because it doesn't contain the aluminum foil center. But the process to recycle multi-layered fl exible PE packaging involves more steps than the traditional plastic recycl ing regimen by including separation of each layer. Each layer is then analyzed, identifi ed and recycled individually to further process the plastic fi lm into a recyclate resin.

Since a lot of fl exible packaging is used for food products, another hurdle for recycling is food contamination. Due to food contamination in most fl exible packaging going through the current recycling system, a very small percentage is actually reusable. The non-recycled polymers are sent into oxygen-free chambers for incineration, providing emissions-monitored energy to manufacturing plants.

There are great initiatives in the works from forward-thinking groups like the Flexible Packaging Association, who has a strong focus on sustainable packaging. The FPA is working with several producers for packaging that is safe for the environment. The Sustainable Plastic Coalition, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APPR); and The Flexible Film Recycling Group(FFRG), are


FEATURES

also promoting and increasing public education and outreach on plastic fi lm recycling.

Cradle-to-cradle design is another initiative that organizations such as Enval, Cambridge based modern environmental services company, are working toward. The philosophy of cradle-to-cradle design is to keep packaging products within the reusable system without downgrading or becoming 100% waste. Enval has found a way to fully recycle the aluminum foil between the layers of polymer laminate and keep it clean. Along with that, they can produce oils and gases from the plastic components, which can be used for electricity and heat. This is possible by using microwave-induced pyrolysis, which is not able to be done by incineration because of the inclusion of oxygen in the process.

Manufacturers are also moving toward the cradle-to-cradle concept by implementing the use of either eco-friendly materials that biodegrade, bio-based plastics that may also be biodegradable or techno-friendly materials that can be recycled without being down-cycled into low-grade materials. Using plant-based materials in flexible packaging would mean economic growth for agricultural industries. It would also push further agricultural development due to demand for crop growth.

Possible optimization of flex pack recycling

Enval is a Cambridge based modern environmental services company, focused on providing specialist solutions and addressing environmental and

regulatory challenges across industrial, commercial and municipal sectors to deliver value from waste for our customers today The Enval process can treat wastes which are diffi cult to recycle with conventional recycling processes. While Enval's process to completely recycle aluminum components and use pyrolysis for plastic components is currently the best solution for handling of multi-layered packaging waste, there is no solution to adequately recycle the plastic components into other plastic materials.

With pyrolysis, char residue formed from plastics contains inorganic materials, 80% liquid carbon and 20% carbon gas (CO2 gases are not created because of lack of oxygen in the chamber). The carbon can be transported to different locations for liquid fuel/energy needs. The ash can be used as ingredients in products such as concrete ready mixes. While the carbon can be used as fuel, companies tend to enter mixed waste materials into the pyrolysis chamber, producing fuel that may not have optimal usability.

W h a t n e e d s t o c o n t i n u a l l y b e r e s e a r c h e d i s a n effective way to turn this carbon liquid fuel into a more serviceable, high-integrity energy source.

Developing more effect ive end-of- l i fe processes (especially within pyrolysis) for f lex ib le packaging; t o h a v e a n e v e n lesser impact on the

environment is a challenging quest, but it is possible. With the innovations the fl exible packaging sector has already made, like using bio-based material,or the waste-to-energy process of pyrolysis, the building blocks of further development have been set in place.

Growing trends The Flexible packaging is to grow at

a CAGR of 5.1% till 2018 with growth thrust from 13 emerging markets and India being one among them.

The flexible packaging market is considered to be one of the most dynamic packaging markets exhibiting diversified types of packaging and materials used across the regions.

A report by Markets and Markets es t imates the g loba l f l ex ib le packaging market to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2013 to 2018. Food, beverage, personal care products and pharmaceutical industries are the most important constituents of consumer packaged goods. Food packaging dominates the market share in terms of value as well as volume. With a huge market potential and growing consumer preference, the


FEATURES

market is likely to witness substantial growth in the coming years. The companies enjoying substantial market share are Amcor Ltd. (Australia), Sealed Air Corporation (U.S.), Bemis Company Inc. (U.S.), Mondi (South Africa), HuhtamÃ¤ki Oyj (Finland) and Sonoco Products (U.S.). Key industry players are increasing their business and consolidating their presence by pursuing mergers and acquisitions in potential markets.

Top six players in this global packaging industry held a market share of around 58% indicating participation of a large number of players in this market. This fragmented industry structure is primarily due to the availability of number of pack types and raw materials used for fl exible packaging.

The fi gure above shows the growth trend from 2013 to 2018. The global fl exible packaging market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2013 to 2018. Polyethylene dominated this global market by material accounting nearly 32% of the total market share and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. Polypropylene accounted for the second largest share in the segment growing at a CAGR of 4.9% during the period under review. Polypropylene comprises of Biaxial ly oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and Cast polypropylene (CPP). Of these two, the BOPP segment holds a signifi cant share of around 80%, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2013 to 2018. Paper and Aluminum are growing at a CAGR of 5.5% and 5.4% respectively. Cellulosic is one of the materials which show potential growth in the future.

It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% through to 2018. The North American market is expected to show a modest growth trend, owing mainly to the saturated end-use markets in the region. The European market, which has also witnessed signs of maturity, is given a small boost by the East European nations. Environmental awareness among consumers has meant that there is a swing in market shares among the packaging materials. Changing consumer preferences and high disposable incomes in APAC economies drives the end-use market. The APAC region is leading in the flexible packaging market shares. Developing economies such as China and India are driving the growth in this region. Consumer preferences in convenience foods, westernized eating habits in terms of packaged food demands, and rising disposable incomes are some of the important factors infl uencing the trend.

In the same way, the growing food and beverage processing industry in Brazil and other Latin American countries drives the growth in ROW. The Olympic Games 2016 scheduled in Brazil will also act as a signifi cant b o o s t t o t h e tourism industry, and in turn the consumption of packaged food in the region. Most of the countries in the Asia-Pacifi c a r e e m e r g i n g economies that exhibit a strong economic growth in the future. With the growth in per

capita income, consumers have adopted trends and preferences from the developed western markets. The growing population and the consequential demand for packaged food, beverage, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals are driving the markets in these developing regions. China and India are heading these growth trends. The thriving food & beverage, personal care products and pharmaceutical processing industries and the increasing consumer awareness regarding benefi ts of these products and their packaging types are the key fundamentals driving the markets in these regions.

Total demand for fl exible packaging in the world’s emerging markets is valued at US$14 bln in 2011, representing around 20% of the global total of around of around US$70.6 bln, fi nds PCI's latest market report. Increasing use of flexible packaging and subsequent investment in converting capacity in many markets will expand the size of the emerging markets by at least 50% by 2016. Over the last fi ve years, average fl exible packaging growth has been 11% in the emerging markets; twice that of


FEATURES

the world average. India accounts for around 27% of total emerging market fl exible-packaging production, although Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia are also signifi cant production centers.

The report has identif ied 13 emerging fl exible packaging markets comprising of Poland, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Nigeria and South Africa. Collectively these markets, valued at US$14 bln, have grown by almost 70% since 2006 and currently account for 20% of total world demand. One of the key fi ndings is that although a number of these emerging markets have been affected by the global economic downturn, they have weathered the crisis well, with demand growth averaging almost

11% pa since 2006, led by countries including India, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia.

In general, all emerging markets have illustrated strong growth over the past fi ve years, with only 3 of the 13 posting overall growth of less than 30% between 2006 and 2011. The major driving forces in fl exible packaging demand within these emerging markets include strong GDP growth, high population growth, liberalisation in a number of markets, continued urbanisation and the development of mass retailing. In addition, changing consumer lifestyles and increasing disposable incomes have encouraged the development of new convenient packaged food and non-food products. While concentrating on supplying the

fl exible packaging needs of a growing domestic food-processing industry amid rapidly growing economies and increasing levels of disposable income, exports from many emerging markets are also rising. Although imports are expected to continue to increase in value over the coming fi ve years, the proportion of domestic consumption they fulfi ll has, and will continue to, decrease. Eight of the 13 emerging markets are expected to be producing over US$1 bln worth of fl exible packaging by 2016. Signifi cant opportunities exist in build converter expertise in the faster growing added-value sectors of the emerging market’s fl exible-packaging industry, with these materials currently being largely supplied by imported volumes.

The P las t i v i s i on A rab ia , international plastics exhibition

and conference, which is scheduled to be held at Expo Centre Sharjah in2016, is set to generate considerable buzz within one of the fastest growing sectors in the manufacturing industry in the Middle East – packaging. The show dates have been advanced from April to January, with the third edition of the biennial show now planned to be held from January 10-13, 2016.

“The third Plastivision Arabia will build on the impressive launch of the show in 2012 and its repeat performance in 2014. Taking into consideration the favourable market condition, we have also decided to advance the show dates, which will benefit both exhibitors and visitors

alike,” said Mr. Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, CEO, Expo Centre Sharjah.

Expo Centre Sharjah will continue to partner with All India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA), the oldest and the largest apex body of the plastic industry in India, for the upcoming edition of Plastivision Arabia.

Plastivision Arabia 2014 featured more than 150 exhibitors at 14,000 sq m of exhibition space registering an 40 per cent rise in exhibition space with 7,277. visitors. Manufacturers have benefi ted in a big way from bulk import and repackaging demand from the GCC given the tax-free, cheaper manufacturing costs and re-export advantage. The GCC is one of the

Plastivision Arabia to be held in January 2016largest re-export markets for food & beverages, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods, leading to a booming packaging market.

“The GCC packaging industry is at the threshold of attaining global importance and keeping this in mind, Plastivision Arabia 2016 will showcase processing, filling and packaging equipment & services, targeting the regional processing & re-packaging industry,” said Mr. Harish Dharmsi-The Chairman of Plastivision Arabia, AIPMA, India.

In te rna t iona l t rade fa i r fo r moldmaking Arabia Mold will be held alongside Plastivision Arabia 2016. The 3rd Arabia Mold will be held in association with DEMAT.


When I w a s

elected to be the 2014-15 pres ident o f this wonderful society, I got to thinking about how I, as the president of this vast community o f p l a s t i c s

professionals around the globe, would be different from my predecessors. How would I use my previous roles and past “hats” in leadership with various organizations to lead SPE into a brighter future?

“As president of the society, I am gifted with a good team. I am duty-bound to provoke new thinking as well as to ensure the path we are following is the correct one.”

The three most important mantras I believe in as a leader are trust, ability, and perseverance. I try to identify, at various networking events globally, potential volunteers in various functions and provide them with opportunities and exposure to the rigor of leadership challenges. This transcends all hierarchies and positions, and those who respond with matching vigor will rise well.

When good people make bad decisions, it is because they are part of a bad collective process. As president of the society, I am gifted with a good

team. I am duty-bound to provoke new thinking as well as to ensure the path we are following is the correct one. The next-, or I should say, the now-generation of leaders should have the perspective, the mentality, the confi dence, and the authority to call for radical change.

I will do my best to engage with members and make them feel valuable through interactive platforms which have been launched with SPE’s new website.

We are a society governed by bylaws, which is fi ne, but these need to be overhauled for current times and the situation of the business world, and decisions so taken should be able to move forward into action at lightning speed. There will be people with differences in opinions, as everyone has his or her own perspective, and often this creates a longer time to get ideas into action. I assure all that I will relentlessly infl uence people, which may be my toughest job, but I will remain persistent and work tirelessly to achieve consensus.

For my year in offi ce, I will continue to work on the long-term plans initiated by my predecessors, and priority will be given to…

• enhancing member value, by using simple formulas where

CONTENT = KNOWLEDGE = VALUE AND CONTACTS = NETWORKING = VALUE;

• accelerating bylaws and policy changes to empower the Executive Committee and make it more nimble and agile;

• continuing to work with the SPE rank and file and get feedback on how to derive more value from SPE’s spanking-new website—and how sections and divisions could take advantage of this platform;

• ensuring that SPE’s new connected community, called “The Chain” (a reference to polymer chains), is fully operational and tailored for content delivery by member preference;

• encouraging the carrying out of TopCons and Workshops by the SPE headquarters in collaboration with its divisions and sections and other plastic associations around the globe; and

• working towards completion of an online technical library.

To sum up, we, as SPE, have been at the forefront of technology and education in plastics and have to move faster in the sphere of sound scientifi c knowledge, keeping with the times and taking into account generational changes as well as geographical shifts in business growth.

SPE is and will remain the “go-to” place for all that I have stated and more. So come “walk the talk” with team SPE!

“Walk the Talk” with Team SPE

Vijay Boolani 2014-2015 SPE President

Walk the Talk is the column written by SPE President recently while addressing after taking the charge. We are carrying the same address just for good reading

FEATURES


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EU's benzene net imports for May rise 34.3% year on year

The European Union's net imports of benzene grew 34.3%

year on year to 92,972 mt in May 2014, following a signifi cant drop in exports, according to Eurostat data as reported. Over the fi rst fi ve months of the year, EU's net imports totaled 263,244 mt, a 48.3% year-on-year increase.

There was a signifi cant uptick in imports and a reduction in exports in May compared with previous months. Benzene exports dropped to just over 4,000 mt, with just about all of it going to the US. Benzene imports rose to 97,038 mt in May, up by 24.1% year on year and almost double imports in April. Europe became the highest-priced

region in April and in H2-May, month the reverse cross-Atlantic arbitrage opened. Light cracking and previous shipments out of the region left Europe scrambling for molecules, and parcels from Americas and Asia headed there to fi ll the gap.

The main recipients of benzene within the EU were countries in the Mediterranean region, with Spain and Italy taking over 70,000 mt. Imports into the ARA region were just under 20,000 mt. India (17,847), Turkey (13,509 mt), the US (12,905 mt), Thailand (9,690 mt), Ukraine (8,398 mt), Canada (8,055 mt), Algeria (5,234 mt) and Brazil (3,708 mt) were the main suppliers of

benzene to the region in May. Imports from Israel, which were cut in half in April following a fi re at the Gadiv's Haifa plant, returned to normal levels in May.

In fact, Israel was the second biggest supplier of benzene to the EU in May, exporting 14,989/mt. EU has a structural shortage of supply and is usually a net importer of benzene, with India, Israel and Turkey being usually its main suppliers, providing around 75% of total benzene imports to the block.

Mexico’s Polyethylene suppliers denounce oxo-biodegradable technology Me x i c o ’ s t h r e e b i g g e s t

po lye thy lene supp l ie rs have denounced oxo-biodegradable technology in a letter to the country’s national association of supermarkets and departmental stores.

According to reports the letter from Braskem Idesa SAPI, Dow Química Mexicana SA de CV and Pemex Petroquímica stated, “We consider that the use of degrading additives is not a sustainable way of tackling this issue [of waste management], as it has not been proven indisputably that materials containing such [biodegrading] additives really do biodegrade in landfi lls or can be recycled. In other words, degrading additives do not add value to plastic

waste, including polyethylene waste.” In the letter, all the three of PE suppliers said they had written to ANTAD after becoming aware that some of the association’s members had been specifying the use of oxo-biodegradable additives in their PE shopping bags and packaging.

The letter also stated “We believe that, together with the use of said additives, a message is being spread that [oxo-biodegradable technology] is environment-friendly, which confuses and deceives society and consumers, inducing them to dispose of waste inadequately, thus damaging the environment and efforts to recycle the material.”

Britain guarantees Grangemouth petrochemical loan

Britain is to guarantee a £230 mln pound loan

for Grangemouth petrochemical plant in Scotland, underscoring its commitment to the region ahead of a September referendum, as Reuters. The Treasury said the move would protect thousands of jobs in Scotland and would allow work to start straight away at Europe's largest ethane storage tank.

Ineos, the owners of the Grangemouth p lant , have invested more than £300 mln at the site. The Treasury said the loan guarantee from the government would enable it to raise financing on £230 mln to cover the import facility and storage tank to be built at the site.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

European Biodegradable plastics market to grow at 12% CAGREuropean Union's target of

80% reduction in plastic bag consumption by 2019 coupled with growing consumer awareness to create signifi cant growth opportunities for biodegradable plastics market. According to a recently published report by TechSci Research, the biodegradable plastics market in Europe is forecast to witness a robust CAGR of around 12% during 2014-19. The growth in the market is being supported by various factors such as increasing environmental awareness among consumers, strict implementation of environment friendly laws and growing R&D investments in the bioplastics sector by public as well as private sectors. European Union's decision to reduce overall consumption of thin plastic bags in the region by about 80% by 2019, compared to 2010 consumption levels, is expected to create huge growth opportunities for biodegradable plastics manufacturers over the next fi ve years. The reduction in the usage of conventional plastic bags is expected to directly boost the consumption of biodegradable plastic bags in malls, retail outlets and loose packaging applications.

Biodegradable plastics are largely used in some essential applications such as shopping bags, refuge bags, agricultural mulch fi lms, loose packaging, bottles, etc. Presently, the average annual per capita consumption of plastic bags in Europe stands at 200 units. However, general consumer acceptability and preference for biodegradable plastics is increasing across all European countries. This growth is expected to be driven by growing popularity of biodegradable

plastics in major end-user industries such as packaging, disposable plastic goods and textiles. Biodegradable plastics based on cellulose, starch and polylactic acid (PLA) dominate the biodegradable plastics market in Europe, accounting for more than 80% of the total market share, in volume terms, in 2013. With signifi cant technological advancements driven by publ ic private partnerships, biodegradable polymers have become cost-competitive with petroleum based products. These technology advancements have also facilitated improvements in various properties of biodegradable plastics over the recent years.

"The demand for biodegradable plastics is witnessing a signifi cant rise from conventional end-user industries such as packaging, agriculture

and textile. Nevertheless, use of biodegradable plastics, especially in European countr ies, is also increasing in other niche segments such as medical implants and drug delivery systems. In orthopedics, biodegradable plastics are fi nding use in joint replacements, fracture fi xation plates, bone defect fillers, artificial tendons, ligaments, bone cements, etc. Realizing the benefits offered by biodegradable plastics, several research studies are underway to improve the commercial viability of these niche applications. The future of biodegradable plastics in Europe is expected to be bright due to imposition of stringent laws mandating signifi cant reduction in plastic bag consumption in the region over the next fi ve years," said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director, TechSci Research.

Phillips 66, Chevron Phillips to fund new petrochemical academy at Texas

Phillips 66 and Chevron Phi l l ips Chemical are

teaming up with the Sweeny Independent School District in Texas to help fund the creation of a petrochemical academy, with an initial combined contribution of US$1.6 mln to the academy as part of their continued commitment to educat ion and workforce development initiatives in the communities where they operate. This occupat ional educat ion program will allow students the

opportunity to take dual credit college courses while attending high school. The US$1.6 million combined contribution by Phillips 66 and Chevron Phillips Chemical wi l l support the purchase of equipment, building renovations, and scholarships for juniors and seniors enrolled in Sweeny ISD and surrounding school systems. Subsequent contributions will be made in coming years to help cover ongoing maintenance and operation costs and additional equipment.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Confusion leads to lower plastic recycling rates in US

When it comes to confusion about plastics recycling,

there is one clear-cut reason that’s causing problems for most of the population. People are most perplexed about what’s acceptable in plastics recycling, according to a recent online poll.

The poll showed that in US 65 percent of the respondents do not quite get what is acceptable and what is not when recycling their plastics, the poll showed.The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and Earth911 recently released results of the poll that revealed that 37 percent of the respondents found that knowing how much food contamination is acceptable to be the most confusing aspect of recycling plastic.

That was followed by 28 percent responding they were most confused

by understanding what types of plastics are accepted in local municipal curbside recycling programs. And there’s your 65 percent confused over what’s acceptable. Another 18 percent were most perplexed by a more fundamental issue - fi nding where they can recycle plastics.

And 17 percent were scratching their heads the most by trying to fi gure out the resin identifi cation code, those sometimes hard-to-read numbers on the bottom of plastic bottles and containers and such.

Work is currently under way to change the code - commonly called the RIC - through the plastics recycling committee at ASTM, an international standards organization that took responsibility for the coding system from the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. SPI, a trade group, developed the

RIC back in 1988. The committee already has agreed to replace the chasing arrows that surround RIC numbers with a solid triangle.

That’s because the code originally was designed to identify different resins to help facilitate separation and marketing of materials after use, and not specifically be an indicator of recyclability, according to SPI. More changes could involve additional information contained in the abbreviations under the numbers to further identify variations and characteristics of the seven resin groups now identified through the coding system.

The online poll was conducted on the Earth911.com website between May 19 and July 23 and had 1,177 answering questions.

Pipeline closures in china due to explosion in Kaohsiung A series of explosions at four

pipelines in Koahsiung used to deliver chemicals such as ethylene and propylene killed at least 28 and over 300 injured. An investigation is underway to find the cause of the incident, Although this series of explosions left several petrochemical delivery pipelines closed, raw material supplies used in production by petrochemical manufacturers remain normal.

This news came as a relief to the market, which had feared that the

suspension of the four pipelines could lead to a shortage of raw materials and impact production at petrochemical companies in Kaohsiung, including USI Corp., China Petrochemical Development Corp., Oriental Union Chemical Corp. and LCY Chemical Corp.

Most local chemicals companies reassured that delivery pipelines outside of downtown areas are still functioning and there has been no supply shortage so far. The four closed pipelines belong to CPC Corp.

and USI's subsidiary, China General Terminal & Distribution Corp. (CGTD). USI said while some propylene deliveries have been affected by the shutdown, supply from other pipelines operated by CGTD in suburban areas remains normal and will have little impact on the company's operations.

China Petrochemical said it has added a number of deliveries by truck to offset the impact and ensure the company has suffi cient raw materials for production.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Montreal launches Post-consumer Polystyrene recycling pilot project

Wi t h t h e h e l p o f t h e Canadian Plastics Industry

Association, Montreal is taking another shot at recycling #6 polystyrene containers. Consumers will be required to thoroughly clean the insulative containers and transport them to a single location for processing.

This includes foam coffee cups, egg containers, trays used for fruits and vegetables, and styrofoam packaging from electronic products. The Post-Consumer Polystyrene Recycling Pilot Project runs until September 30, 2014. After the foam is dropped off and sorted at the centre, it will be shipped to a recycling centre in Granby, Quebec.

According to CPIA, the containers will be recycled by Quebec company Polystyrene Recyc Plus and made into new articles such as insulating boards, cushion packaging, and other fi nishing construction products made by fi rm polyform.

“Contrary to some preconceived ideas, polystyrene is 100% recyclable and other provinces such as Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia have already set up initiatives to this end,” says Paul Aucoin, Membership Development at CPIA. “By bringing their postconsumer polystyrene products to the Écocentre LaSalle, Montrealers, and especially those who

USEPA issues Greenhouse Gas permit for Formosa Petrochem

Th e U S E n v i r o n m e n t a l Protection Agency has issued

a greenhouse gas permit for an olefi ns plant and low density polyethylene unit at Formosa Plastics' Point Comfort, Texas, complex, allowing construction to commence, as per Platts.

The project wi l l involve the construct ion of the complex 's third olefins plant and a propane dehydrogenation unit, consisting of 14 cracking furnaces, four PDH reactors, four steam boilers, and other associated equipment, the company said in the permit application. The new Olefins 3 plant and PDH unit

will increase the high purity ethylene production capacity of the facility by about 1.75 mln st/year, according to the application.

Formosa applied for the permit December 11, 2012, as per EPA data. "Formosa is expanding its chemical complex and taking three actions with its turbines unit, olefi ns unit and low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit. The expansion alone wil l bring over $2 billion in capital investments, create 1,800 construction jobs and 225 long-term operations jobs in the local area," EPA said.

will be moving over the next few weeks, will be doing the responsible thing by diverting this material from the landfi ll sites and consequently allowing its recycling. We encourage all Montreal residents to be part of this activity and we congratulate them in advance for support of this important project from an environmental standpoint.

Chandra Asri offers assets of two subsidiaries for US$533 mlnPetrochemical producer

P T C h a n d r a A s r i Petrochemical (TPIA) has made the assets of its two subsidiaries, PT Styrindo Mono Indonesia and PT Petrokimia Butadine Indonesia, collateral for loans worth US$533 million.

Chandra Asri, along with its two subsidiaries, signed a security sharing agreement with nine lenders, including DBS Bank Ltd., Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Bank Danamon Indonesia.

Since last year, Chandra Asri has been looking for fi nancing to partly expand its naphtha cracker facility from 600,000 kilotons of ethylene to 860,000 kilotons.


BUSINESS NEWS

Songwon Industrial Group has completed the formalities and

has acquired SeQuent’s Specialty Chemicals business, which includes the polymer stabilizer business, the production site in Panoli and the local R&D division.

The acquisition places Songwon in a stronger position to better meet the needs of their current and future customers in India. “We are committed to helping our customers in India successfully grow their businesses and our goal is to be a leader in servicing this market,” said Giacomo Sasselli, EVP Manufacturing and Engineering. “This region is one of the fastest growing polymer markets in the world and has great potential for the future. We will

Songwon acquires SeQuent’s Specialty Chemicals, to expand activities in India

be able to expand Songwon’s offering to customers globally with strategic products such as the phosphite stabilizer, SONGNOX® PQ and other specialty chemicals. Leveraging the state-of-the-art facility, the knowledge of Songwon group and the local R&D team’s extensive experience and high level of competence, we will focus on the development of new products and solutions that give our customers globally, and especially in India, a competitive advantage.

The Panoli site is large and offers room for Songwon to expand its production base and its product offering. Commenting Nilesh Metha, Managing Director Songwon Specialty Chemicals India: “Songwon has always

Reliance Industries Ltd reported a record US$1 billion net

profit for Q1, fuelled by a strong petrochemicals performance. This is a 13.7% rise to Rs 59.5 bln from last year’s quarter.

Analysts believe good quarterly results and huge capex to augment its petrochemical facilities will lead to uptick in the stock over the next two fi scals. Standalone net profi t for the fi rst quarter stood at Rs 5,649 crore, almost fl at from the preceding quarter, but 5.5% higher from the corresponding

Reliance Industries posts record Q1 net profit ofUS$1 billion

period a year ago. Lower interest and depreciation costs along with slightly better refining margins were the key reasons for higher profit when compared with a year ago quarter. Its standalone revenue for the quarter was at Rs 96,351 crore, up 1.2% on sequential basis and 9.9% higher from the year-ago period.

The petrochemical major's interest costs dropped by a whopping 60% to Rs 324 crore, and depreciation cost declined to Rs 2,024 crore in the quarter from Rs 2,138 crore. RIL's

refi ning and petrochemical margins remained weak sequentially, as per the expectations. Gross refi nery margins (GRMs) fell to US$8.7 per barrel from US$9.3/bbl in the March in line with 6% sequential fall in benchmark Singapore complex margins.

The company's refi ning segment EBIT declined 3.7% on quarter to Rs 3,814 crore. Its petrochemical EBIT contracted 13.3% sequentially to Rs 1,863 crore due to weaker polyester chain margins which offset strength in polymer margins.

been dedicated to manufacturing innovative products that fi t customers’ unique needs, and to providing excellent service and support.

Having a stronger position in India means that we can offer the customized support our customers expect combined with all the advantages of an experienced, leading global supplier.” “We are excited and proud to become part of the Songwon global family”, said Ashish Pandey, General Manager of the Panoli site. “Our workforce in Panoli is well equipped and ready to take the challenge to further grow the site and to live up to Songwon’s stringent level of quality and safety standards”.


BUSINESS NEWS

Essar and BASF might sign a JV for PetrochemIn a b id to rev i ve i t s

diversification plan, Essar Industr ies is in ta lks wi th Germany's BASF, the largest chemicals player in the world, for a petrochemicals joint venture according to Economic Times.

The divers i f icat ion p lan had been put on hold for long, because of global factors and the company's high debt burden. Essar's refi nery currently has a 20 mln tpa capacity and is capable of refi ning a diverse range of crude. The total project cost is expected to be US$2 bln, inclusive of debt and equity. Both sides are still to sign a defi nitive agreement.

SBI Caps, the investment banking arm of the country's largest lender, is working as an advisor and is currently preparing a detailed project appraisal and fi nancial feasibility report. However the company has rejected the any such possibi l i ty and decl ined to comment further.

Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Mater ia ls

Sciences company, has announced plans to invest in a new polymerization plant in North America to manufacture Akulon® polyamide 6 polymer for fi lm grades used in fl exible food packaging and other segments.

The construction is scheduled to start in Q4 2014 and completion targeted for mid-2016, site locations for the plant are currently being evaluated. Flexible films based on Akulon polyamide 6, with its strong barrier against oxygen and aromas

DSM to invest in high viscosity polyamide 6 grades plant and exceptional mechanical strength and durability, will help to reduce food lost or wasted during its journey from farm to fork.

Roelof Westerbeek, President DSM Engineering Plastics, said, “This new plant is our fi rst polymerization plant for high viscosity grades in North America for Akulon polyamide 6, besides our existing infrastructure in Europe and Asia. It thus fits perfectly with our growth strategy for Materials Sciences, as it strengthens our global position in PA6 based fi lms. This investment is also a demonstration of DSM’s

strong commitment to both our global and North American customers and supports our further growth ambitions in the Americas for engineering plastics.”

Praxair, through a subsidiary, has expanded its presence in

China, signing a long-term contract to supply industrial gases to Nanjing Jinling Huntsman New Materials, a joint venture between Sinopec Jinling and Huntsman. Jinling Huntsman will use the gases to help build a propylene oxide and methyl tertiary butyl ether plant in Nanjing, China.

Propylene oxide is a compound used to make polyurethane materials, and methyl tertiary butyl ether is a clean fuel additive.Praxair will erect the air-separation unit, with a capacity of 900 tons per day of oxygen, in Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, a state-level interconnected chemical production facility. Praxair will also build a pipeline in the park to help meet the industrial

Praxair signs long term contract with Sinopec

gas requirements of Jinling Huntsman and other customers throughout the park. The air separation is expected to start up in 2016. Dr. Minda Ho, president of Praxair China, said , "The air separation plant that we will build will establish Praxair as the fi rst industrial gases pipeline supplier in NCIP, with great potential to supply more customers in the new phase of this top-notch chemical park."

Praxair, which has done business in China more than 20 years, has a strong track record of developing industrial gases supply networks in leading chemical industrial parks such as Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, Huizhou Daya Bay Chemical Industrial Park and Yangzhou Chemical Industry Park, according to Ho.


BUSINESS NEWS

LG International will allocate up to US$13 bln to build and

operate a petrochemical complex in the Bintuni industrial area in West Papua. The petrochemical plant would have the capacity to produce one billion tons of methanol a year.

However, LG would require a guarantee from the government to get enough supply of gas before starting the project. Before the three-year construction of the facility commences, Kang said that the company would require at least one year for “deeper study”, to decide on the appropriate licensing and to locate natural gas supply.

The conversion of 2,300 hectares (ha) of conservation land for the Bintuni complex is currently awaiting approval from the Forestry Ministry.

LG to allocate US$13 bln for petrochemical plant in Indonesia

The ministry’s manufacturing industry director, Harjanto said the common facility would be shared by LG, German petrochemical company Ferrostaal Industrial Projects and state-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Indonesia in order to cut infrastructure costs.

Building infrastructure is costly, so we see this as an opportunity for integration and optimization of investments among the companies,” Harjanto said, “If everyone builds their own power plants, it would take up all the land. If one power plant is shared among companies, it will be more effi cient.

The idea is to integrate the petrochemical and fertilizer industries so their byproducts can also be shared among them.” To support its operations, Harjanto said that LG

would need 91 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas, which would bring the total gas consumption of Bintuni up to approximately 202 MMSCFD.

There are about 48 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves that have already been identifi ed in the area.

He also said that the ministry would soon be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LG that would clarify the terms of their partnership, including those related to gas allocation.

LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB), the world’s biggest

maker of polypropylene, posted sales and record earnings for the second quarter that topped analysts’ estimates as margins widened on higher prices for its products.

Sales rose 9.1% to US$12.1 bln, exceeding the US$11.5 bln average projection. Margins at the domestic olefins and polyolefins unit, which

LyondellBasell posts sales and record earnings for second quarter

makes commodity chemicals for the plastics industry, were much wider than expected.

LyondellBasell has been riding the wave of cheap natural gas production in the U.S. while expanding its domestic plants.Cheaper raw materials have helped the company’s shares quadruple since it exited bankruptcy four years ago.

HPCL gets approval for proposed refinery and petroleum

The government of India has given the official

nod of approval to Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) to set up its proposed refi nery and petrochemical complex in Barmer district, Rajasthan. The planned refi nery, which will be established in collaboration with the government of the Indian state of Rajasthan, will have a crude processing capacity of 9 mln tpa.


BUSINESS NEWS

Borealis, a leading provider in the fields of polyolefins,

base chemicals and fertilizers, has signed an agreement with DuPont Holding Netherlands B.V. to purchase the company’s 67% shareholding in Speciality Polymers Antwerp N.V. Speciality Polymers Antwerp N.V., located in Zwijndrecht (Antwerp, Belgium) is a joint venture between DuPont Holding Netherlands B.V. (67%), Borealis Polymers N.V. and Borealis Kallo N.V. (together 33%).

Borealis to acquire Duponts 67% stake in Antwerp N.V.The transaction is subject to

approval by the relevant competition authorities and will be presented to the employee representatives concerned. “The acquisition of the full ownership of Speciality Polymers Antwerp is in line with our strategy to grow our polyolefin business in specific market areas”, says Mark Garrett, Borealis Chief Executive. “Acrylate copolymers, which are part of a broader portfolio of specialty polymers produced at Speciality

Yuhuang Chemical subsidiary plans US$1.85 bln methanol complex A subsidiary of China-based

Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd. plans to build a US$1.85 bln methanol manufacturing complex on the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, joining a booming petrochemical industry along the riverfront in Louisiana.

The project would be Shandong Yuhuang Chemical's f irst major investment in the United States. Yuhuang Chemical Inc. is a newly created North American subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. The three-phase project will begin with construction of a methanol plant next to the Plains All-American Pipeline terminal beginning in 2016.

The plant is expected to be operational after two years. In future phases, the company plans to build a second methanol plant and a methanol

derivatives plant. The two methanol plants will have a combined annual capacity of 3 million metric tons of methanol. Most of the methanol will be shipped by ocean vessel to China

Polymers Antwerp, are an important building block for our value-added products sold into our core Energy & Infrastructure market.

Under the proposed arrangement, DuPont will continue to serve the market with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and acrylate copolymers produced at the Speciality Polymers Antwerp facility.

for use in Shandong Yuhuang's other chemical operations. About 20 to 30% will be sold to North American customers and shipped by river barge and rail.

Total SA is discussing divestiture of 22.4% interest in with Chinese energy giant

Integrated energy fi rm Total SA is discussing the divestiture

of its 22.4% interest in China-based West Pacifi c Petrochemical refi nery with Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co Ltd.

The petrochemical plant, which can process and refine crude oil at a rate of 200,000 bpd, is being operated and managed

by PetroChina.The ref inery commenced operations in 1996. At that time, it was the fi rst and only refi nery in China that was allowed to export its product.

H o w e v e r , i t i n c u r r e d considerable losses after the Chinese government started levying heavy export taxes on its products.


Dave bags the National Award for Technology Innovation Dave Technica l Serv ices

has bagged the National Award for Technology Innovation in Petrochemical and Downstream Plastics Processing Industry. Mumbai based Dave Technical Services are manufacturers of Plastic Blow Molding & Injection molding machines, Moulds and Product Developments. M/s Dave Technical Services has won the award for their “Mini Blow Twin Station Form-Fill-Seal (FFS) Machine" in the Industry category of Innovation of Polymer processing Machinery & Equipments. The award was presented to Shri Niranjan C Dave, Proprietor of M/s. Dave Technical Services by Shri Ananthkumar, Hon'ble Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India and Shri Nihal Chand,

Hon'ble Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India at the award function held on 17 July, 2014, at New Delhi.The Awards are conferred by the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India for Technology Innovation in the fi elds of Polymeric Material, Polymeric Products, Polymer Processing Machinery & Equipment, Polymer Waste Management & Recycling Technology, Green Polymeric Materials & Products, Polymers in Agriculture and Water Conservation, Polymers in Public Health Care and Research in the field of Polymer Science &

Technology. The award consists of a Shield, a Citation and a cash prize to the Winners. The Award for the Runners up consists of a Shield and a Citation. Mr N C Dave, an engineer by qualifi cation has to his credit over 42 years of experience in field of Plastic Machines, products & material Processing.

PRODUCT NEWS

Teknor’s Low temperature compounds for wind turbine, electric vehicle charger cables Teknor Apex Company has

introduced Low temperature compounds for wind turbine, electric vehicle charger cables and will exhibit at Wire China. Two of the new developments to be highlighted are:

* Low-temperature compounds for electric vehicle (EV) charger cables- Latest in a growing portfolio of Flexalloy® insulation and jacketing materials for EV applications is Flexalloy 9612-75, a 75 Shore A jacket compound that exhibits a low-temperature brittleness value of < -60 ºC, is capable of complying with the -40 ºC Cold Impact test requirement specifi ed in CSA standards, and also

complies with the UL-62 oil resistance requirement. All of the Flexalloy products for EV charger cable are abrasion resistant, resilient, and tough even at very low temperatures, yet cost-effective for large-volume production. The durability and elasticity of Flexalloy PVC elastomers make them high-performance alternatives to standard PVC compounds while being less expensive than premium materials like thermoplastic polyurethane.

*Low-temperature compound for wind turbine and industrial uses- Flexalloy 9614-73 PVC elastomer is a 73 Shore A jacket compound that withstands frigid outdoor and

rugged industrial conditions while providing excellent fl exibility and fl ame performance.

The product is UV-stabil ized and exhibits a brittle point of -65 °C or below. It provides flexibility, tensile strength, and oil resistance and is designed to pass CSA’s FT4 vertical flame test. The property profi le of Flexalloy 9614-73 compares well with those of other soft, high-flexibility thermoplastic elastomers used for similar applications, yet it is more cost-effective. It provides cold temperature endurance similar to that of thermoplastic polyurethane.


PRODUCT NEWS

picture of easy handling and operation. Servomotors within the driving systems and a needle chain below the fi lm level are crucial for hygienic production. Two separate lubricating systems for index and motors and a punching delay timer, which reduces the angel hair effect, round off the package.

Technical Data KMD 90

Forming area max. 865 x 915 mm

Forming area min. 355 x 350 mm

Tool dimensions max. 890 x 940 mm

Tool weight max. per table 600 kg

Height of formed part above/below Film level max. 160/160 mm

Film width max. 925 mm

Operating pressure 5 bar

Dry-cycle speed max. 40 cycle/min

Kiefel’s SPEEDFORMER KMD 90 ensures higher productivity

Kiefel has in t roduced i ts SPEEDFORMER KMD 90, a

new pressure forming machine opens up a new dimension for the production of plastic packaging items ensuring a higher productivity due to faster cycle times and bigger forming surfaces.

It processes PS, OPS, PP, PE, PVC, PET, PLA or CPET, combines high performance with high quality and guarantees an excellent ROI. The elaborate design presents some special features: Black ceramic heaters in the heating station ensure a maximum of effi ciency. Due to the fi lm edge heater, even brittle material like PS and PLA and thick materials can be processed excellently. Plastic particles are avoided when the fi lm is pierced. Thus, the highest level of product hygiene and a longer service life of the needle chains are guaranteed. The new SPEEDFORMER owes its

exact cutting position to the accurate and reproducible width adjustment of the chain rails. The high cutting force of 480 kN is also a remarkable feature. Centric servomotor-actuated knee lever drives, which stand out due to their high stability and smoothness, and independent pre-stretching plugs on the upper and lower table assure fl exibility and a high product-quality. Another special feature is the fast and ergonomic operation assured by the separate tool change station.

This station is situated between forming and cutting station. The tool sets are changed in block, heavy tools being supported by big ball bearings. A Down Stacker places the fi nished products on a conveyor belt below the fi lm level. The unloading height of 1 m is ergonomically convenient. A Siemens Simotion control system and a touch screen complete the

NEUE HERBOLD offers system for pre-size reduction of various materials

NE U E H E R B O L D h a s introduced an effective system

for pre-size reduction of various materials has now been optimized: the guillotine GS. The GS is manufactured in a large number of various lifting heights and working widths, which offer a requirement-orientated pre-size reduction for a variety of feeding materials.

The potential application areas are remarkable: Ranging from the

portioning of fi bre- and fi lament bales right through to fi lms, start up lumps and rubber blocks. The GS is an energy-saving component of an overall management concept for plastic size reduction.

The successful application of this system is confirmed by a present project NEUE HERBOLD handles with the Norwegian company Gangstø Transport AS, for pre-size reduction of PA- and PP fi bers (like ropes, cords

and fi shing nets). The guillotine used for this project has a cutting force of 40 t. Looking at the technical features of the GS guillotine, it proves to be extremely rugged. A warp resistant welded frame construction allows an ideal stability during operation and provides excellent cutting results along with a long usability.

The solid, double sided knife support allows a smooth cut, as a result of the evenly partitioned cutting


PRODUCT NEWS

force. The guillotine knife is mounted in a double sided channel and operates with two oversized cylinders. The fully adjustable stroke of the vertical knife guarantees a complete abscission of the material portions: The stroke adjustment may be adjusted exactly to the requirement of the material consistency to achieve an ideal cutting result.

The material portions of the out-put material can also be determined ind iv idua l ly in accordance to customers requirements, realized by: A hydraulically controlled stroke, a manually adjustable stroke or by optical process, utilizing sensor technique. Last but not least, the GS is highly demanded in plastics recycling due to its user-friendly machinery qualities.

NEUE HERBOLD offers a specifi c range of machines and plants for size reduction and recycling of all kinds of plastics out of production- recycling- or waste collection. Combined with a large range of size reduction machinery along with washing-, separation and drying equipment, NEUE HERBOLD offers a requirement orientated selection of pre-size reduction machines.

Revolutionary anti-bacterial additive BSafe™, for variety of applications

Si l v e r g a t e P l a s t i c s h a s played an integral role in the

development of a revolutionary anti-bacterial additive that can be used in a variety of applications, including fi bre. This ground-breaking technology has been developed with Aquatech Technologies and will be used in next generation fi sh safe nets to prevent the transfer of bacterial disease. BSafe™, the brand developed by Aquatech Technologies, is the new technology that offers an active and long lasting bacterial-killing layer to the surface of polymeric materials.

As diseases pass on via fish nets, Derek Willan started to explore whether it would be possible to incorporate anti-bacterial properties into the manufacture of the nets. An anti-bacterial additive forms part of the monofi lament used to the make a yarn from which the nets are manufactured and provides a permanent solution for fi sheries, anglers and conservationists.

Working col laboratively with Biomaster, Si lvergate Plast ics developed a bespoke bacterial-killing

additive in a masterbatch that can be engineered into yarn. The anti-bacterial additive works for the lifetime of the product, when wet or dry, to stop the transfer of disease between fi sh and fi sheries.

The t echno logy has been comprehensively tested by an independent laboratory. Working on the project for CEFAS, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Jason Weeks stated, “The results were stunning”. Comprehensive testing against fi ve key bacterial pathogens prepared by CEFAS showed a greater than 99% kill rate was achieved for each bacteria within 24 hours.

A simple device can be used by fishery owners and fish farmers to detect the presence of the BSafe technology in any product to verify its presence, offer total peace of mind and provide a permanent solution to this major problem. Fish deaths have been rising and although the angling press has focused greatly on the transfer of viruses amongst

the fi sh population, the Environment Agency has confi rmed a small group of bacteria caused the greatest number of fi sh mortalities in 2013.

Keen angler Derek Willan was greatly concerned about the rising number of fish deaths and wanted to find an effective and permanent solution to curtail this growing problem.

Tecknor offers Polymer Neutral

Teknor Apex has restructured i t s e x t e n s i v e p r o d u c t

portfolio offering a multiplicity of raw material options spanning the broadest range of polymer chemistries employed by any cus tom compounder. The company will introduce this “polymer neutral” medical-market strategy. According to company, medical device manufacturers are keen on selecting plastic raw materials without sacrifi cing on quality.


PRODUCT NEWS

New sponge-like plastic that is capable of soaking carbon dioxide

A newly developed sponge-like plastic that is capable of

soaking up the notorious greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) could ease our transition away from harmful fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy, according to a new study.

The material - similar to the plastics used in food containers - could play a role in reducing CO2 emissions 30 percent by 2030, and could also be integrated into power plant smokestacks in the future, researchers say. Researcher Andrew Cooper, Ph.D, said, “The key point is that this polymer is stable, it's cheap, and it adsorbs CO2 extremely well. It's geared toward function in a real-world environment. In a future landscape where fuel-cell technology is used, this adsorbent could work toward zero-emission technology.”

CO2 adsorbents are most commonly used to remove the greenhouse gas pollutant from smokestacks at power plants where fossil fuels like coal or gas are burned. But Cooper and his team intend to do more than that; they hope this organic polymer can lead to reduced pollution entirely.

The new material would be part of an emerging technology called an integrated gasifi cation combined cycle (IGCC), which can convert fossil fuels into hydrogen gas. But the IGCC process yields a mixture of hydrogen and CO2 gas, which must be separated.

This adsorbent, just like a kitchen sponge swells when it takes up water, balloons when it soaks up CO2 in the tiny spaces between its molecules. When the pressure drops, Cooper

explains, the plastic deflates and releases the gas, which they can then collect for storage or convert into useful carbon compounds. Using these types of polymers also have many advantages, besides the promise of cleaner energy and reduced pollution.

The material can withstand harsh conditions, such as being boiled in acid, adsorb CO2 without also taking on water vapor - which can clog up other materials and make them less effective - and is inexpensive.

"And in principle, they're highly reusable and have long lifetimes because they're very robust," Cooper added. The report on the material will be presented at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Rajoo unveils MULTIFoil LITERajoo now unveils MULTIFoil

L ITE a 2 -ex t rude r / 3 layer (A-B-A type) blown film line, empowering its customers to remain aggressive in the highly competitive bag making industry, plagued with increasing costs of raw materials.

MULTIFoil LITE offers unparalleled fl exibility. While the machine is designed to run with A-B-A confi guration, it’s specially designed cross head provides the fl exibility to run A-B-B and A-A-B confi gurations as well, The extruder

sizes are 40 mm / 50 mm; machine output is 120 kg/hr; an LFW of 400 – 1150 mm with an oscillating haul-off for gauge randomisation.

With MULTIFoil LITE, it now becomes very convenient to use even up to 50% calcium carbonate or recycled material (in the middle layer) with virgin material in the skin layers. The abrasive materials would normally impact machine parts adversely.

MULTIFOIL - Multilayer Blown Film Lines are available as two layer

configurations for general purpose packaging fi lm to nine layer lines for barrier and technical grade fi lms

The system ensures minimal wear and tear even with this high percentage of fi ller material used, as the screw and barrel are especially designed to handle this high fi ller content. As an added benefi t, this machine can also conveniently be used to produce fi lms (for milk and water packaging) and lamination grade fi lms (with slip on one side and non-slip on the other).


PRODUCT NEWS

BASF together with AIM Filtertech to bring innovative transfer coating technology to India� AIM Filtertech is first licensee

g loba l ly for BASF va lure™ technology

� Unique surface material with manifold appl icat ions in the automotive, fashion, furniture and packaging industries

� Combined chemistry knowhow and manufacturing expertise to create pioneering solutions for customers

Pune, India – July 24, 2014 – BASF SE and AIM Filtertech today celebrated the official start of production of valure™ in Pune, India. AIM Filtertech is the fi rst company globally to receive a technology license for the commercial production of valure™. The production plant, wholly-owned by AIM Filtertech, will have an annual capacity of about 1.7 million square meters of valure™, serving both the local and global markets. BASF supports its licensing partner with the chemistry, technology knowhow, joint development with customers as well as application-oriented services.

valure™ technology is a special transfer coating technique that can be applied to a wide variety of high-quality fl exible substrates like leather, fabric, cardboard, paper or plastics without impairing the air permeability of the material – helping to achieve surfaces with a distinctive character that are soft, warm to the touch, and visually attractive.

“This is an important step for BASF to bring an innovative solution like

valure™ to the market,” said Hermann Althoff, Senior Vice President, BASF Leather & Textile Chemicals. “As the leading chemical company, we believe in the power of innovation and its ability to shape our future.

Through the collaboration with AIM Filtertech, we will be able to address the needs of the industry for fl exible surfaces and develop pioneering products for their markets. We look forward to working together to leverage each other’s strengths and deliver the most unique and sustainable solution for our customers.”

AIM Filtertech has a strong track record for over 10 years in supplying chemical bonded non-woven fabric especially for the automotive industry for application in filter systems, oil absorbents, acoustic insulations, inner linings for carpets, roof liners, door trims, and lining for IP console. With a strong market for automotive, packaging, furniture and fashion industries in India, AIM Filtertech is the ideal licensing partner for the valure™ business.

“We are pleased to be the first licensing partner globally for valure™ technology,” said Dhiren Shah, Founder of AIM Filtertech. “With this partnership, AIM Filtertech and BASF can leverage its respective areas of expertise and work together to deepen the collaboration in better serving the market. With valure™ technology, our customers can expect newer fabrics and novel applications to help them

broaden their business in India and also abroad.”

The polyurethane dispersion sprayed onto the desired surface is microporous and air permeable, improving the comfort of the coated materials. The design freedom is almost limitless – regardless of whether technical, natural or soft-touch structures are involved. Quick design changes present no diffi culties enabling customers to produce different sizes on a smaller scale. Textures from leather graining to the appearance of velvet and even geometric patterns and impressions can be achieved with minimum effort.

About BASFBASF is the world’s leading

chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of about €74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the


stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

About Aim Filtertech Pvt. Ltd (AFPL):

AFPL en joys the t rus t and confidence of eminent clients, and manufactures the products after receiving valuable inputs from the team of research and development professionals. We, at AFPL endeavor to

blend expertise with latest technology to provide faith, innovation, safety and stability to our esteemed clients. Our team of experienced scientists and engineers contribute immensely for the design and development of products.

We make sure that the top quality products reach to the clients, and put maximum effort from raw materials to finished product. Our relentless attempt to offer top-notch products has given us an edge over the other players in this segment.

At AFPL, innovation is not a concept – it’s a constant initiative. Our engineers, technical professionals and manufacturing experts have produced the most competitive and advanced line of products for the markets we serve.

Media Contacts:BASF

Kanchan NabarPhone: +(91) – 022-266618240

Mobile: +(91) – [email protected]

Foil Is getting thinner with Amut Thermoforming MachinesSaving money and keeping a

good level of quality: this is what customers want and what AMUT is able to guarantee with its cutting-edge technology and wide knowledge of the extrusion of plastics. Custom-made solutions are always developed.

AMUT has lately supplied to Poly Er, one of the biggest Russian thermoformers, the f irst in l ine thermoforming machine producing disposable plates (in HIPS + GPPS material) with a weight of only 3 gr.

Following the specific needs of the customer, AMUT has studied personalized solutions to realize all of the parts of the machine: highly sophisticated control systems and complete coordination and management of the production process from the raw material up to the fi nished product.

The machine produces:52.500 plates /h with 3 gr weight,

165 mm diameter and 135 μ thickness

34.500 plates /h with 5 gr weight, 203 mm diameter and 146 μ thickness.

Both productions have very low tolerances for the medium weight of the material and for the plate: from +/- 0.1 g to +/- 0.2 g.

Despite being very thin, the foil can keep absolutely stable conditions in production thus assuring lack of fl aws on the fi nished product.

The line includes a raw materials loading and dosing system for the main extruder (4 components) and for the co-extruder (2 components).

The thermoforming skeleton grinding is closed-loop made and some sophisticated systems have been realized to treat thin material (apparent specifi c weight lower than 0.2 kg/dmq).

Furthermore, the gr inder is equipped with a very fine tension gauge system.

The extrusion unit is composed of a single screw main extruder EA100 with plasticizing capacity of 600 Kg/h and an under vacuum venting system complete with closed-loop water control and of a single screw co-extruder EA60 for external layers and suitable for different productions.

A high level of precision of die regulation parameters allows to maintain the thin thickness and the low weight and to avoid foil edge fragility. The die fl ow box has required as well an accurate design. It is possible to obtain the following foil structure without stopping the machine: A/B, B/A, A/B/A.

PRODUCT NEWS


The calender, complete with thickness gauge system, assures a very gradual and uniform cooling and consequently an optimization of foil internal tensions.

Additionally, there is a haul-off with tension control and a pressurized water diathermic unit with 3 circuits.

The stack control at the entry of the thermoforming machine is carried out by means of both measurement optical system and a highly precise dandy roll.

Based on PA 1000 model, the thermoforming unit has been especially optimized to treat HIPS

mater ia l and to avo id the breakage of this very fragile structure through special transport system, heating oven, machine movement, thermoregulation a n d t h e r m o d y n a m i c l o o p performances.

A special packing unit consents to pack from 12 to 100 pcs, more plates with equal quantity of material. An integrate stacker system, where the intervention of the operator is minimum, is also supplied.

Polystar...In June, Polystar successfully

installed a new recycling line HNT-100VS in Kolkata, India. The Indian-based FIBC bags/woven sacks manufacturer supplies PP woven jumbo/FIBC bags to various countries all over the world. The company is equipped with excellent machines for production of good quality PP woven bags. The newly-acquired Polystar pelletizing line is currently processing rejected raffi a waste (tapes,

fabric, film, lumps) generated from in-house product ion p r o c e s s e s . T h e recycled pellets are put directly back into the tape extrusion lines for processing. T h e s e r e c y c l e d pellets can be loaded in high percentages and st i l l produce

excellent fabric with good tensile strength and elongation.

Apar t f rom Ind ia , Polystar has been very successful in installation of recycling machines for recycling PP raffia scrap all over the world including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria,

Poland, Chile, Colombia and many others.

Features:The HNT-V and VS models are

ideally suited for recycling of PP/PE woven bags and have the following features:

1. Cutter compactor for faster and more stable material feeding

An improved design of the cutter

PRODUCT NEWS


Polytech promoting Co-extrusion WPC Foam Board Extrusion LineIndia is one of the fastest

economies of the world. With its continuous growth, construction sector is also witnessing rapid growth, with Interiors, Furniture’s, partitions, shuttering, etc. made from wood & wood based materials. However, to reduce logging to preserve the forests, artificial board such as plywood, a particle board etc. seems to resolve the problems, but the emission of benzene and formaldehyde had limited their development.

Now, with the concern of depleting forest & need for environmental protection, concept of Wood Plastic Composites are rapidly accepted and are been increasingly used in such applications.

PVC foam board available with various names like WPC foam board, WPC sheets, Shuttering board, etc. is now the proven alternative to wood and is the new solution in this century.

PVC Foam Board possesses remarkable characteristics of light-weight; fl ame retarded, strong water repellant and chemical resistance. It is a perfect substitution of timber but will

not warp, swell or decay in wet area. The surface hardness of PVC Foam Board is excellent when compared to wood and its compressive strength is greater to traditional timber. Also depending on the pigment used, PVC Foam Board comes with different colors and patterns only limited by the imagination of the designer.

PVC Foam Board is light weight but strong. The board contains no formaldehyde and is a green product which can be recycled. The board is easy to work with by traditional wood working machine such as drilling, nailing, screwing, planning and grinding and can be decorated by painting, printing and decorative PVC fi lm.

Importantly in comparison to conventional plywood and MDF boards, WPC board doesn’t need a compulsory lamination for end user applications. These boards can be directly used with beautiful and technical hardened surface properties compared to even high pressure laminate applied surfaces.

Hangzhou Poly tech Plast ic

Machinery Co. Ltd., a national high tech enterprise in China, expertise in manufacturing of WPC Foam board extrusion line, is supporting high technology demands for Indian markets.

With successful installations worldwide and in India, Polytech is enjoying well known Credit from emerging Indian players and it continues to deliver high quality solution at competitive pricing. Formulations playing a major role in manufacturing WPC boards, Polytech envisages a strong support to the end customers to meet their fi nal requirement.

World, embracing towards a Green Revolution, PVC Foam boards is contributing towards achieving the goal and is been used as a sustainable material to save energy, environment & nature.

To learn more about our products f rom HANGZHOU POLYTECH PLASTIC MACHINERY CO LTD. Please visit us at www.polytech.net.cn and reach us locally on [email protected] (Mumbai) ph.no +91 - 22-26867230/29.

compactor now works superbly with PP raffi a scrap. The compactor cuts, dries and compacts the material that enables a fast and stable feeding from the compactor directly into the extruder

2. Degassing with vacuum pump ensures a superior degassing

effect, providing excellent quality pellets from even heavily printed material.

3. Minimal changes in MFI ensures high loading of recycled pellets in the tape extrusion process with excellent tensile strength and elongation.

4. Additive feeder for adding master batch and compounds

This feature is very helpful in homogeneously blending the recycled polymer melt with color master batch or additive master batch to give the desired quality to the recycled pellets.

PRODUCT NEWS


TECHNOLOGY

Ne w m a s t e r b a t c h e s formulations with almond

shell have been successfully achieved on standard thermoplastic matrixes in the framework of a research project. These formulations, which are ready for the market, have been effectively applied in two demonstrators: toy and auxiliary furniture with interesting aesthetic and mechanical properties fi tting the focused applications.

With these new masterbatches, the weight of the fi nal product can notably be reduced, and with their large-scale introduction in the market, the consumption of plastic coming from non-renewable sources can be signifi cantly shortened, thus reducing

New masterbatch formulations with almond shell on standard thermoplastic matrixes

the dependence most of the countries have on oil. Therefore, transportation costs will be also reduced to the minimum while reducing the weight these consumer goods have in the logistics required for their distribution and marketing.

With the aim of achieving its fi nal implementation in the market, the materials exploitation route and the know-how IPRs distribution of the developments achieved have been determined among the partners. Thus, the project coordinator, IQAP masterbatches (plastic colourants and additive manufacturer) will carry out the actions previously established to put into the market these new

materials; the toy company INJUSA, which manufactures mountable big vehicles, wil l introduce the masterbatches within its products; and the company PEREZ CERDÁ PLASTICS, devoted to plastic injection services, will advise their customers and apply the new masterbatches in those articles that, by including these masterbatches, can achieve an added value and improve their aesthetic and mechanical properties.

The protection of property rights has also been considered. AIJU, technological centre that has held up research activities, keeps the knowledge developed for future potential research actions. The

A small-scale polymer solar cell with a conversion efficiency

of 11.5% has been developed by a research team in USA – eclipsing the previous best of 10.6% set by the same team but lower than the 12% mark with small-molecule organic technology set by Heliatek last year.

Yang Yang’s research group at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) improved the performance of its earlier tandem cell by incorporating an additional junction. The new triple-junction design is similar in principle to the high-effi ciency multi-junction cells used to power satellites, and is considered by the team to be the

Polymer solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 11.5% best demonstration so far of such technology with organic material.

UCLA graduate student Johnny (Chun-Chao) Chen said: “Our work is not the first demonstration of a triple-junction polymer cell, but it should be considered as the first ‘successful’ demonstration.” That is because earlier demonstrations have disregarded important features such as optical interference in triple-junction designs, and the suitability of interconnecting layers. Following detailed analysis of each sub-cell inside the triple-junction polymer cell and extensive optical simulation work, the UCLA team were able to optimize

the photocurrent gain with virtually no voltage loss – the key to improving the cell’s effi ciency to 11.5%.

I n t e r m s o f p o t e n t i a l commercialization, Chen says that the group – which collaborates with Sumitomo Chemical on materials development - is open to other licensing partners. In the meantime, further work will focus on reaching higher efficiencies and introducing the t r ip le- junct ion concept to developers of other novel solar cells, for example in hybrid cell designs incorporating perovskite and CIGS materials.


TECHNOLOGY

developments obtained have solved some of the problems arising in injection at industrial scale, which consti tutes a most simple and reproducible technique to inject additives and colour pieces to create more attractive and lighter products, processed in a more effective and effi cient way which, additionally, will save painting and fi nishing costs.

Moreover, its potential translation to other industries will constitute a global advantage of great impact within the plastics fi eld. In fact, its translation has been initiated through

Inyectados Peke’s, a reference company in the manufacture of soles, using a demonstrator applicable to different models and colours of shoes manufactured by Wonders. There are not almond shell-based masterbatches in the market that provides the products with natural aesthetic characteristics which resemble wood, what constitutes a great novelty.

This project has been developed for the last months in parallel to another similar project based on biodegradable plast ics, whose

research is still ongoing with good expectations for a little more than a year.

NATURMASTER project, funded by CDTI within the Research and Development programme (Expedient IDI-20120212) and co-funded with FEDER funds, implies a great novelty and technological level as it will contribute to medium-term sustainabil i ty and enhance the competitiveness of the toy and auxiliary furniture industries in particular, and the injection industry in general.

Heat-responsive polymers that do not breakdown in water

may lead to new antifouling coatings and enhanced oil recovery. A*STAR Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences in Singapore has now developed zwitterionic polymers based on water-stable monomers that incorporate nitrogen-containing derivatives known as imidazoles. Thanks to the positively and negatively charged units in their monomers, zwitterionic polymers have a high affi nity for water—a property known as hydrophilicity.

This property helps prevent fouling, namely the build-up of contaminants. Current zwitterionic polymers are not effective in water as they use monomers such as commercially available acrylamide and methacrylates that tend to decompose and lose their electrostatic characteristics when wet. To solve this issue, a team led by Vivek Vasantha from the A*STAR

Heat-responsive but water stable PolymersInstitute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences in Singapore developed zwitterionic polymers based on water-stable monomers that incorporate nitrogen-containing derivatives known as imidazoles. The team introduced the zwitterions to readily accessible, hydrophobic polystyrene to boost its hydrophilicity in water by forming a hydration layer through electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding.

To synthesize the monomers, the team reacted styrene precursors with positively charged imidazoles before attaching the negatively charged sulfonate functional groups. The monomers produced polymers with intact zwitterionic properties, meaning that they retained their positive and negative charges. These new imidazole-based polymers exhibited some novel solubility characteristics: unlike their conventional water-soluble counterparts, they swelled in water and dissolved only in highly concentrated

brine. These differences stem from dipole–dipole interactions and the more hydrophobic nature of the new polymers compared to acrylamide and methacrylate. With high tolerances to salt, pH and temperature, these polymers became increasingly viscous when subjected to higher shear forces in brine.

This characteristic—similar to 'silly putty', which is malleable in one's hands but is unchanged when hit with a hammer—makes the polymers attractive for enhanced oil recovery and marine antifouling coatings. Another advantage of the new polymers is their reversible phase change: between 5 °C and 95 °C, the polymers formed gels that become clear fl uids when heated above the so-called critical temperature in brine and that revert to their stable cloudy state on cooling. "This phase transition results from the disruption of the equilibrium between salt, water and zwitterionic species,"


TECHNOLOGY

says Vasantha. The polymer chains expand on heating and collapse below the critical temperature. The researchers can control the critical temperature by simply varying either the brine or polymer concentration.

For example, the transition occurred at 20 °C at a low polymer concentration but at 40 °C at a higherpolymer concentration. "We are currently designing new zwitterionic polymers and copolymers with salt- and heat-

responsive behavior for a wide range of applications, such as enhanced oil recovery, low-temperature protein separation and antifouling," says Vasantha.

PM M A ( p o l y m e t h y l me thac ry la te ) , used i n

biomedical applications has been given the ability to completely self heal underwater by researchers.

T h e m e t h o d , w h i c h t a k e s inspiration from the self-healing abilities of adhesive proteins secreted by mussels, could allow for longer lasting biomedical implants. 'Polymer

Underwater self-healing polymerself-healing research is about 10 years old now and many different strategies have been developed,' says Herbert Waite, who conducted the work with colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The idea of mimicking the biological self-healing ability of mussel adhesive proteins is not new, and previous attempts have involved polymer

networks functionalised with catechols – synthetic water-soluble organic molecules that mimic mussel adhesive proteins – and metal-ion mediated bonding.

However, how mussel adhesive proteins self-heal remains poorly understood, which has l imited attempts to synthesise catechols that accurately mimic biological self-

A new genera t ion o f h igh performance membranes for

clothing made from its Arnitel® VT, a very fl exible thermoplastic polyester-based elastomer has been developed.

Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences Company, has announced introduction by Toyota Tsusho of the new membranes that contain no perfl uorinated chemicals (PFCs), and are 100% recyclable, waterproof in all circumstances despite being only a few microns thick, and highly breathable.

Toyota Tsusho is a leading global supplier of high-tech functional materials for clothing and footwear.

PFC-free waterproof breathable membranesThe spotlight is currently focused on avoiding the use of PFCs, which are found, for example, in PTFE-based membranes.

With Arnitel VT, moisture vapour can pass from the inside to the outside of the garment, but the membranes are 100% waterproof under al l circumstances, so they keep the wearer comfortable and dry. Unlike competing products, Arnitel VT does not rely on perforations to make it breathable.

Perforated membranes can have their waterproofness compromised when they are washed or come into contact with liquids such as alcohols

or fuels. Perforations also reduce the strength of the membrane, making it easier to rip. Perforations can get clogged too, causing the membrane to lose its breathability.

Arnitel VT has been used for many years in membranes for clothing. Because it is not perforated, it acts as a barrier not only to liquids, but also to bacteria and viruses. For this reason, Arnitel VT is used in surgical gowns with the highest level of protection. The collaboration between DSM and Toyota Tsusho has led to a drastic reduction of the carbon footprint in the production chain compared to that for PTFE-based membranes.


TECHNOLOGY

Researchers have created an unusual polymer that can

change color and return to its original color in less than a second by changing its temperature. Such polymers could promise applications in biological sensors and smart windows that adjust sunlight or heat exchange.scientists in China, the UK and the Netherlands have engineered this polydiacetylene polymer that reversibly changes colour within 1 second of being heated or cooled.

Thermochromic polymers have a wide range of potential uses, from biological sensors to smart windows. However, the irregular structure and weak molecular interactions in established thermochromic polymers results in long response times, slow reversibility and a narrow working temperature range.

A team led by Zhengzhong Shao of Fudan University in China report that introducing peptide side chains into the polymer gives fi bres that are strong

Polymer that can change color reversibly and exhibit a remarkably rapid colour change even at temperatures up to 200 °C. The critical temperature of the transition can be tuned by varying the length of alkyl chains in the polymer. The peptide linkers are stable, while the conjugated bonds within the alkyl chain undergo a reversible conformational transition

Not only do the peptides stabilise the diacetylene but they also enable the material to self-assemble into continuous fibres. Heat disrupts the coplanarity of the polymer by introducing more motion into the polydiacetylene side chains and the resulting change in conjugation length changes the polymer’s colour by affecting which wavelengths are absorbed.

The presence of the peptide localises the disruption and also acts as a stabilising agent, re-establishing the conjugation and the original colour as soon as the heat is removed so the process can be repeated whenever

heat is applied as long as the peptide is not disrupted. ‘The colorimetric response maintains a stable value even after scores of thermal cycles,’ says Shao.

‘There is hardly any loss of sensitivity or colour change with repeated use, as long as the organisation from the peptide remains.’ If the temperature exceeds 200 °C, the peptide is irreversibly damaged and the material no longer presents the thermochromic properties.

The team is now looking into adjusting the temperature range at which the colour change takes place. Polymer chemist Dmitriy Paraschuk of Moscow State University in Russia agrees that this is a priority. For the system to be a suitable biosensor, ‘the thermochromic change needs to be closer to that of the human body.’ However, he adds that the team ‘has managed to combine strong thermochromism with excellent processibility’.

healing underwater. Now, Waite and colleagues have discovered a new aspect of catechols after they were simply 'goofing around' in the lab and found a new way to modify the surface of (polymethyl methacrylate), or PMMA, with catechols.

This led them to explore the material's properties and discover that hydrogen bonding enables the polymer to self-heal underwater after being damaged. 'Usually, catechols in wet adhesives are associated with

covalent or coordination mediated cross-linking. Our results argue that hydrogen bonding can also be critical, especially as an initiator of healing,' he says.

The heal ing process begins because catechols provide multidentate hydrogen-bonding faces that trigger a network of hydrogen bonds to fi x any damage – the interaction is strong enough to resist interference by water but reversible. Acting a bit like dissolvable stitches, hydrogen bonding

between the catechols appears to stitch the damaged area, which allows the underlying polymer to fuse back together.

After about 20 minutes, the h y d r o g e n b o n d e d c a t e c h o l s mysteriously disappear leaving the original site of damage completely healed. 'We don't know where the hydrogen bonded catechols go,’ Waite says. ‘Possibly back to the surface, dispersed within the bulk polymer, or some other possibility.'


IN THE NEWS

A century-old water dam at Ambernath, near Mumbai,

that had been set up by the British-era Great Indian Peninsula Railway (Central Railway as we know it today), has been revived and turned into a Railway water bottling plant that will produce two lakh bottles a day. Built around 1915, the dam was originally used to store and supply water for steam locomotives.

Since 1997, however, it has been lying unused. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation said that the Ambernath dam facility will have a full-fl edged bottling plant. This will include a water treatment facility, rinsing, fi lling and capping, coding, labelling and packing machines, besides conveyors, chillers and a cooling tower with

Water bottling plant at Ambernath storage facilities for four to fi ve days' production. Branded as 'Rail Neer', the bottles will be sold in trains and at all stations. This is the Indian Railways' fourth such bottling plant and the fi rst in the western region - the other three being those located at Nangloi (Delhi) in the north, Danapur (Patna) in the east, and Palur (Chennai) in the south.

The plant will be inaugurated by Minister of Railways Sadanand Gowda, via remote control at 4 pm on Wednesday. According to offi cials, Laboratory facilities with all instruments and equipment for inhouse testing and analysis have also been set up. The plant will produce about two lakh bottles of one litre capacity per day, which will be around 16,667 cartons with each having 12 bottles.

A Brazilian start up developed Rivesti 0 environmentally

friendly mosaic tiles. Produced from a mixture of recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET (85%) and recycled mineral additives (15%), Rivesti tiles are 100% recycled and recyclable.

The manufacturing process is also sustainable: it consumes less energy, emits no pollutants and generates no waste. Each square meter of Rivesti mosaic tiles prevents the release of 3kg of CO2 into the atmosphere and removes 66 PET bottles from the environment.

Recycled PET tiles for environment friendly construction

The tiles also have protective properties. They provide a perfect seal (0% water absorption) for surfaces where they are fi tted, and are made with additives that combat the action of UV rays and chemical agents. Because Rivesti mosaic tiles are up to 66% lighter than conventional ones, CO2 emissions during transport are also reduced.

In fact, Rivesti’s effi cient design ensures the individual tile pieces will not detach from the surfaces where they are installed. The company claims this is a welcome solution to the usual problem with mosaic tiles, which tend

Promoters of Haldia Petrochemicals reassure lenders

Th e W e s t B e n g a l government and The

Chat te r jee Group (TCG) , c o - p r o m o t e r s o f H a l d i a Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), gave fresh assurances to the company’s lenders at a board meeting that they were taking steps to resolve their dispute in their bid to secure funds to restart operations.

According top reports, the government has agreed on the terms for the sale of 520 million of its 675 million shares to TCG, and lawyers are preparing the documents for the deal. Lenders are unwilling to stake more money on HPL unless its co-promoters end their spat over ownership and control.

TCG and the government are asking lenders to restructure HPL’s loans and infuse working capital so that the firm could restart operations suspended on 7 July due to a technical problem.

to come loose after a while, leaving gaps. Another advantage is that Rivesti tiles can be applied to masonry or drywall in both indoor and outdoor areas, such as kitchens, bathrooms, facades or even swimming pools.


IN THE NEWS

HPCL revives its plan for Vishakh refinery

Hindustan Petro leum Corporat ion Limited

(HPCL) has revived its plan to set up Rs 10,000 crore for upgradation of Vishakh refi nery from 7.5 to 15 MMTPA. Now the new Andhra Pradesh government has assured new land allotment either at Nakapalli or In the Kakinada Special Economic Zone ( SEZ). HPCL is also in talks with new foreign investors for this project specifi cally from the West Asia and Saudi Arab region. It has re-started the feasibility study with the help of another partner Gas Authority of India Ltd ( GAIL) and Engineers India ( EIL).

The pro jec t env isaged expansion of the refi nery from its present 8.4 MMTPA capacity to 15 MMTPA. Besides it proposes to set up new 15 MMTPA refi neries cum petrochemical Complex at a cost of Rs 32,000 crore. The new Andhra Pradesh government has decided to allot new land to the PCPIR as the old area has run into environmental problems.

Austrian petrochemical company Borealis has signed a long-

term contract to receive ethane from US gas fi elds, making it the second European fi rm to sign deals to buy US shale gas for cracking.

The 10-year deal has been signed to buy the gas from US fi rm Antero Resources to crack in its flexible steam cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden. The gas will be sourced from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. Borealis Chief Executive Mark Garrett said, "We need to take advantage of the signifi cant shift in ethane availability triggered by the US shale gas boom in an increasingly challenging environment in Europe this is an exciting opportunity to increase

Borealis signs long term deal for US ethane the competitiveness of our integrated polyolefi ns business." Borealis said it has signed a shipping agreement with LNG shipping company Navigator Holdings to transport the gas from Marcus Hook in the US to Sweden

To fulfill the contract Navigator will build a new 35,000 cubic meter ethane vessel. The first shipments are expected to arrive in late 2016 after Borealis completes a multi-million pound investment to upgrade its steam cracker and build an ethane storage tank. Borealis is the second company to sign a long-term deal to buy and ship ethane from the US in a bid to improve profit margins in Europe's battered petrochemical industry. Last year, Switzerland-based

Ineos said it had signed a contract to buy ethane from US shale gas fi elds to crack in its Rafnes and Grangemouth petrochemical plants.

The proposed grassroot refi nery by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd

at Paradip Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Odisha will be further delayed and is now likely to be commissioned in 2015. According to reports the project was to be commissioned by end of 2014 but is getting delayed due to logistics problem. For the Paradip refi nery, the proposed project would cost around Rs 30,000 crore in the fi rst phase.

A petrochemical complex will be set up at a later date depending on the market conditions.. IOCL has already

IOCL delays commissioning of Paradip plant

invested Rs 22,000 crore. The total investment of the project is around Rs 2,80,000 crore is expected out of which committed investment is of the tune of Rs 29,777 crore.

The state government of Orissa has already invested Rs 1,800 crore and private participation has been around Rs 11,000 crore. The government of India has already approved viability gap funding of Rs 716 crore. Paradip PCPIR is a brown fi eld project where a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Paradip Investment Region Development Ltd. has been formed to implement the project.


IN THE NEWS

Jinming the first Chinese manufacturer to master PVDC

Gu a n g d o n g J i n m i n g Machinery Co. Ltd. is

to become the first Chinese machinery manufacturer to master polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) processing technology. Guangdong Jinming Machinery Co. Ltd has signed a licensing agreement with Dow Chemical Co. Under the agreement, Dow will license its early encapsulation and die channel design technologies for processing PVDC.

Jinming will have rights to manufacture and market products using the licensed technology as well as to sublicense it to third parties. The licensing deal signals longer-term cooperation between the two companies. Michigan based Dow has agreed on exclusivity of the license until March 1, 2017.

The agreement was signed on August 05, 2014 with a fi ve-year term. It is Dow's fi rst licensing agreement for the technology in Asia. Jinming will pay 14 percent of the fair market value of all products using Dow’s early encapsulation technology and 5 percent of the fair market value of licensed products that do not use the technology.

Sintex Wausaukee Composites Inc. is bringing its light resin

transfer molding expertise to India, opening a fiber reinforced plastic production cell for original equipment manufacturers at a plant operated by its sister company, Bright Autoplast Ltd. Sintex Wausaukee joined in a joint venture with Bright Autoplast Ltd. at its facility in Pune, India.

Both are subsidiaries of Sintex Industries Ltd., a manufacturer of structural plastics and textile headquartered in Kaloi, India. The JV is the fi rst phase of a global supply plan developed by the company’s special projects vehicle group to expand the use of FRP composites. Ed Trueman,

Sintex Wausaukee Composites opens manufacturing plant in India

President and CEO of Wausaukee said, “It is a global synergy play the JV has trained the work force and taken about 15,000 square feet to install the cell, using U.S.-sourced equipment.

It is aimed at customers in markets including industrial, agricultural truck and tractor, mass transit, medical imaging, commercial furnishings, therapeutic systems, recreation and corrosion-resistant materials h a n d l i n g . Tr u e m a n s a i d t h e arrangement allows customers, especially multi-nationals, to take advantage of composites in their products. They can also uti l ize Bright for injection molding and other services.

Egypt has proposed three petrochemical projects to the

UAE for a total investment of US$540 mln. According to reports the projects included establishing a factory to produce bio-ethanol from molasses, the output of which would reach 100,000 tons of molasses annually, with investment in the project totaling $250 mln.

The project would be implemented in the next fi scal year (FY), according to the ministry’s plan. Another proposal focused on building a plant for production of bio-ethanol from rice straw, with annual capacity of 100,000

Egypt proposes three petrochemical projects at an outlay of US540 mln

tons of rice straw. The investment in this project would be US$240 mln and would be implemented through the FY 2016-2017.

The third project would increase polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production, used in making pipes, with the target implantation date as FY 2016-2017. Close to 40,000 would be produced annually, while the investment in the project is estimated at US$50 mln. The UAE has expressed its willingness to invest in the petroleum sector and is currently evaluating which project to go forward with in the coming period.


Events and Exhibitions

EVENTS

CPRE 2014 China (Tianjin) International Plastics & Rubber Industry Exhibition 2014Date: August 21-24, 2014

Venue: Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, 5th Avenue, TEDA,Tianjin

PRE 2014 - China (Tianjin) International Plastics & Rubber Industry Exhibition 2014 (formerly named CPE), as the most infl uential plastics & rubber industry expo in China, will take place on Aug. 21-24, 2014 at Tianjin Binhai Convention & Exhibition Center (BICEC).

The organizer is Tianjin Zhenwei Exhibition Co., Ltd.

InterPlas VietnamDate: August 27-29, 2014

Venue : Vietnam’s Int'l Plastic and Rubber Technology Trade Exhibition, I.C.E. Hanoi (Cung Van Hoa), Hanoi, Vietnam

“InterPlas Vietnam,” Vietnam’s International Plastics and Rubber Technology Trade Exhibition and Conference, is a part of “Vietnam Manufacturing Expo,” Vietnam’s most comprehensive show for manufacturing and supporting industries.

It will also feature Technology Presentation sessions to transfer new knowledge to participants.

Asian Pacific Plastics Rubber Industry ExhibitionDate: September 3-6, 2014

Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre(SNIEC), Shanghai, China

Asian-Pacific International Plastic & Rubber Industry Exhibition has been successfully held 12 versions since 1997 at Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing.

As a result, it has developed into the most important plastics and rubber exhibition in China.

Indoplas 2014Date: September 3-6, 2014

Venue: Jakarta International Expo

INDOPLAS, INDOPACK, INDOPRINT 2014 gearing for growth amidst Indonesia's buoyant plastics, packaging and printing sectors. With 12,931 high-quality trade visitors at INDOPRINT and another 8,061 at INDOPACK and INDOPLAS spanning across 31 countries, the 2012 editions saw a signifi cant increase from previous years, further illustrating the importance of the three synergistic exhibitions as a vital business platform for the Indonesian market. In line with the exhibitions' 2012 theme "going global" the exhibitions also saw participation from national groups and pavilions from Austria, Germany, Singapore and Taiwan that contributed to further raising the international standard of the exhibitions.

Propak Myanmar 2014Date: September 4-6 2014

Venue: Myanmar Convention Centre (MCC), Yangon

Plastics & Rubber Myanmar 2014 is the debut international plastics and rubber exhibition in Myanmar and the perfect platform to access a market with a GDP forecast to grow 7% on average per annum over the next 5 years. Myanmar has seen the easing and lifting of international sanctions over the past 2 years. This relatively swift and smooth change of policy has caused Myanmar, a previously untapped market.

Exhibitor Profi le Machinery & equipment for the Plastics & rubber Industries: Auxiliary / Ancillary Equipment, Extruders & Extrusion Lines, Injection & Blow Moulding, Finishing, Decorating, Printing & Marking, Welding, Foam, Reactive or Reinforce Resins, Preprocessing, Recycling, Measuring Control & Test Equipment, Moulds & Dies, Parts & Components, Post Processing Machines, Presses.

Products of plastics & rubber, Semi-fi nished Products & Technical Parts. Raw materials: Additives, Adhesive & Glues, Coating Compounds, Composites, Colourants, Blends, Fillers, Foams & Intermediates, Masterbatches, Paint Resins, Reinforcing Fibres & Materials, Rubber & Synthetic Fibres, Starting Materials & Intermediates, Thermoplastics & Thermoplastic Elastomer Thermosets and many more.


Neejtech India................................................................................................................................................cover

Madhu Machines & Systems ...............................................................................................................inside cover

Anupam Heaters and Controls .............................................................................................................................3

Polymechplast ......................................................................................................................................................4

Plastlink Technologies.. ........................................................................................................................................6

Ferromatik Milacron. .............................................................................................................................................7

Neejtech India.......................................................................................................................................................8

Satellite Plastic Industries ..................................................................................................................................10

Power 2SME.......................................................................................................................................................12

KABRA Extrusion Technik Ltd.. ..........................................................................................................................13

PASL Windtech.. .................................................................................................................................................14

Mold Masters ......................................................................................................................................................19

Taiwan Machinery. ..............................................................................................................................................20

Reliance Polymers..............................................................................................................................................22

Plastic Technologies ...........................................................................................................................................39

Millturn CNC India .............................................................................................................................................40

e3 Plastech Marketing Pvt. Ltd. .........................................................................................................................41

C&G Extrusion Machines ...................................................................................................................................42

Plastic Park.........................................................................................................................................................43

Jandi's Industrial Co. Ltd.. ..................................................................................................................................44

Chaun Lih Fa Machinery Works Co. Ltd. .. .........................................................................................................44

Jingcheng Times Group .....................................................................................................................................45

Fu Chun Shin Machinery Manufacture Co. Ltd. .. ..............................................................................................46

Carbon India .......................................................................................................................................................47

Zambello Riduttori Group ...........................................................................................................Inside back cover

Rajoo Engineers ...................................................................................................................................Back cover


Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. 22731/72Postal Registration No. No. MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12-14Date of Publication: 25th of every month (as per declaration in Affi davit form)

Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Offi ce, Mumbai 400 001Posting date : 25th - 26th of every month

Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. 22731/72Postal Registration No. No. MH/MR/N/200/MBI/12-14Date of Publication: 25th of every month (as per declaration in Affi davit form)

Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Offi ce, Mumbai 400 001Posting date : 25th - 26th of every month