intERviEw
7
Development of specialist quality
materials will dominate in 2009
Europe’s focus on bulk
chemical manufacture
may have faded in
recent times, but 2009 is
proving to be the year of
new advanced materials
launches – particularly
where high-performance
and specialist qualities
are demanded by
customers. Sean Ottewell
reports.
Même si l’Europe se
concentre moins depuis
quelques temps sur la
fabrication de produits
chimiques en gros, 2009
semble être l’année des
lancements de nouveaux
matériaux, notamment là
où les clients demandent
une haute performance et
des qualités
particulières. Reportage
de Sean Ottewell.
I
n March, Dow Europe announced Fig. 1. Laboratory synthesis is crucial to
the start up of a new solution styrene development of new lithium ion battery
butadiene rubber (SSBR) plant in systems at BASF.
Europas Schwerpunkt auf
Schkopau, Germany. The new facility
der Fertigung von includes a capacity rights agreement with JSR polyurethane (PUR) foam with the enhanced
chemischen Grundstoffen Corporation, based in Japan. Dow owns and
fire resistance of PIR. Designed for commercial,
ist vielleicht in den letzten
operates the new asset. This new plant is a industrial and residential building applications,
Jahren rückläufig, aber
world-scale facility with a production capacity including cold rooms, clean rooms, warehouses
2009 stellt sich als das
of 60 000t/y. and office space, VORATHERM can help
Jahr der Einführung neuer
weiterentwickelter
SSBR is a key component used in the manufacturers meet a variety of fire safety
Materialien heraus,
manufacture of high performance tyres, as requirements for both insurance and national
insbesondere in
well as technical rubber goods. The new plant regulations.
Bereichen, in denen
produces the latest generation of synthetic “Changing market requirements and
Kunden hohe Leistung rubber – a key component in the manufacturing evolving legislation pose challenges for panel
und besondere
of tread profiles in high performance tyres. manufacturers,” said Brian Powers, global
Eigenschaften verlangen.
“Our new products enable our tyre market manager for construction polyurethanes
Sean Ottewell berichtet.
producing partners to implement significant at Dow Polyurethane Systems. “They have to
advantages in areas like rolling resistance (fuel maintain the insulating effectiveness of their
efficiencies and carbon dioxide emissions) and products, meet increasingly stringent fire safety
grip performance, while increasing their supply codes and remain a preferred supplier to their
security,” says Ralf Irmert, global business customers.”
director synthetic rubber at Dow. In addition, the company has announced the
The company has also launched commercial availability of four polypropylene-
VORATHERM polyisocyanurate (PIR) rigid foam based products for rigid packaging converters
for use in metal-faced sandwich panels. This in Europe, expanding its family of INSPIRE
new product family combines the excellent performance polymers with differentiated
thermal insulation properties of conventional grades that offer performance and processing
➠
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