news Asahi Kasei invests in the US
Asahi Kasei Plastics North America (APNA) has officially opened its second North American plastics compound- ing facility at Athens in Alabama, US.
The Athens operation will
employ about 50 people and will make PP and PA com- pounds for OEMs and suppli- ers in the automotive, industrial, furniture and trucking markets. Two production lines are already in operation and a third is expect- ed to commence operation later this year. APNA selected J-Tec
Material Handling and Katoen Natie Supply Chain Engineer-
IQAP adds more lab capacity
The IQAP Masterbatch Group in Spain has opened new facilities at Egüés, near Pamplona in the Navarre region, comprising a labora- tory and additional office space covering around 1,100m2
. IQAP said that its
expanded R&D team now amounts to some 20% of its workforce, adding that the function “is vital in an intrinsically dynamic sector where end product improvement and cost reduction are under pressure, prompted by the constant creation of new polymers, pigments, additives and properties”. ❙
www.iqapgroup.com
www.compoundingworld.com
over three process levels; raw materials are collected and stored into buffer hoppers on the upper level, dosed by feeders located on the second level, and compounded on the ground level before being granulated, cooled, classified and delivered to dedicated packaging lines.
A subsidiary of the Japa- J-Tec handled process engineering for the Athens site
ing to implement the $30m turnkey project. J-Tec was responsible for process engineering and Katoen for civil and infrastructure work. J-Tec designed and erected
a railcar unloading system and installed raw material storage, conveying, recipe dosing system, compounding lines, and product packaging system. The installation is arranged
nese corporation Asahi Kasei, APNA is the largest supplier of glass-reinforced PP in North America, which it markets as Thermylene. It also supplies compounds based on PA 6,6, POM, mPPE and ABS. ❙
http://akplastics.com ❙
www.j-tec.com
Albemarle exits HBCD FRs
Albemarle is discontinuing the production of its hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)-based flame retardants (FRs) so that it can focus on supply- ing the GreenCrest brand of polymeric FRs, which it describes as “a sustainable alternative” to HBCD. The company said it will continue to support
customers using HBCD in accordance with contractual obligations. GreenCrest is based on technology licensed
from Dow Global Technologies. Albemarle has supplied it since 2013 and now offers both powder and compacted grades for use in EPS and XPS foam applications. Other major suppliers of brominated FRs, including Chemtura and ICL-IP, have also licensed the Dow technology and supply the same polymeric flame retardant under different trade names. ❙
www.albemarle.com
Under Armour opts for 3D TPU
Sportswear brand Under Armour has launched a new sports shoe using a 3D printed midsole produced in Luvosint TPU powder supplied by Lehmann&Voss. The shoe is claimed to be the first commercially
available sports shoe to use a 3D printed midsole and marks a collaboration going back to 2013. According to the development partners, the new
design features a novel geometric structure only possible through the use of 3D print technology. “The printed midsole uses a new way of combining cushioning and stability for indoor training”, they claim. ❙
www.lehvoss.de
May 2016 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 5
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