MATERIALS | HIGH TEMPERATURE PLASTICS
its plant in Leuna, Germany. Since the deal with Solvay, Domo has been selling the well-established Technyl PA 6 and 66 brand in Europe and, since the start of 2022, has been able to sell the materials in global markets too. “We deeply believe in the future of the Technyl brand, and crossing this important milestone will help us to keep growing with our global customers with particular focus on the automotive, E&E and industrial and consumer goods market segments,” says Ludovic Tonnerre, Chief Commercial Of- ficer International Markets at Domo. Technyl forms a central part of Domo’s strategy
Above: Domo Chemicals has been busy promoting the Technyl brand of PA 6 and 66 materials for the consumer goods and electronics segment, which combine excellent electrical and mechanical properties with sustainable fire safety and reliable colour stability, it says
employees at seven production sites and seven research locations. This wave of new ownership in the engineering plastics sector really got going in 2019 when Domo Chemicals took over Solvay’s European Perfor- mance Polyamides (PA 66) business, following BASF’s acquisition of Solvay’s non-European PA business. The creation of larger production groups is a positive for engineering plastics, says Wilfried Debus, Chief Corporate Development Officer at Domo. Historically, it has been a fragmented market, and he says consolidation is “extremely good for the industry”. One reason is the pressing need to address sustainability challenges in the industry. Domo, like other plastics producers, has a series
of sustainability goals, including a plan to double the share of circular products in its Engineering Materials business from 10% now to 20% by 2030. In addition, the group is working to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% at its facilities. Debus says a newly announced project at its Belle-Étoile site, France will result in a “massive” reduction of 84,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. In the HyDom project, the group will build an 85MW hydrogen produc- tion plant that uses a water electrolysis process, with the hydrogen output meeting all its needs for hexamethylene diamine (HMD) raw material for PA 66 by 2027. The plant will be powered by the French low-carbon electric power mix (largely from nuclear reactors). Domo is co-investing in the hydrogen plant with Hynamics (a subsidiary of EDF), which Debus said is important for Domo as it enables other hydrogen-consuming companies to take part in the project and contributes to the growth of a low-carbon economy in the chemical sector in the Lyon region. Domo has also started discussions regarding new hydrogen production at
14 INJECTION WORLD | September 2022
to expand its customer base. Debus says: “The first step is leveraging the customer base in Europe to create critical mass, and in parallel we are develop- ing local customers [globally].” In April, the group said it will increase production capacity for Technyl PA 6 in China by building a new plant in Haiyan which will have 35,000 tpa capacity, gradually increasing to 50,000 tpa. Key applications for Technyl PA materials include high thermal and chemical resistance components, lightweight parts and flame retardancy for electrical protection. Technyl Red is Domo’s range of heat resistant polyamides designed specifically for automotive applications operating at continuous temperatures between 200°C and 220°C. Automo- tive will continue to be a key market for Technyl due to its high performance being suited to the shift from hydrocarbon to electric power trains, says Debus. At K2022, Domo will show new grades in its Technyl Earth range of sustainable PA materials. Speaking at a pre-K2022 media event in
Rotterdam in June, executives at DuPont were confident about the outcome of creating a larger engineering plastics business through the combi- nation with Celanese. “We will have a very strong joint portfolio of complementary materials,” says Jeroen Bloemhard, Chief Commercial Officer. The automotive market will account for about half of sales in the new combined business, he says. Giacomo Parisi, Marketing Director for Auto Electrification at DuPont, says performance challenges for engineering plastics vary in parts developed for electric vehicles. He says DuPont’s Zytel HTN high performance PPA material “has very well balanced properties” suited to new drive trains (xEV is the abbreviation to include hybrid cars as well as fully-electric vehicles). Zytel HTN is modified to withstand extreme conditions such as long term exposure to heat, chemicals, and moisture. Bus bar thermal insulation provides a good illustration of the material’s benefits. “Although small, bus bar components are
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IMAGE: DOMO
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