Polymers Petrochemicals Carbon fibre 22-03-2019 - Arhive

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NOVA Chemicals expects to make a final investment decision (FID) on a possible new polyethylene (PE) unit in Geismar by the end of 2019, an executive at the Canada-headquartered chemicals producer said on Thursday.

NOVA would build the plant at its Louisiana site, where it has a cracker that it acquired from Williams in 2017. The cracker has a capacity of 885,000 tonnes/year and currently sells all of its output on the merchant market. Polymers Petrochemicals Carbon fibre 

If NOVA does choose to build the PE plant, then operations could start in mid-2024, said Naushad Jamani, senior vice president, olefins and feedstock at NOVA Chemicals.

The company is still considering which technology it will use for the plant, he said, but it is leaning towards the Advanced SCLAIRtech (AST) technology that it used for its new linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Joffre, in Canada’s Alberta province.

Polymers Petrochemicals Carbon fibre

Crude Oil Prices Trend

Washington, D.C., can lead the horse to the well, but the well doesn’t always pump.

The oil cartel formally known as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced this week that it would cancel its planned meeting in April, delaying the decision to June on whether to stick to its plans to curb production by 1.2 million barrel a day.

The decision to wait for its regularly scheduled meeting is “one more sign of Saudi Arabia’s resolve” to continue its planned cuts and “ignore the noise from Washington,” notes Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets in a report published Wednesday.

The company notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that it couldn’t file its annual report on time. It gave three reasons.

What happened

Shares of Amyris (NASDAQ:AMRS) fell more than 22% today after the business filed a form NT 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That’s the ominous filing code for the “notification of inability to timely file form 10-Kreport for a business.

Believe it or not, this is the seventh consecutive year (!) the synthetic biology pioneer has been unable to submit its annual report to the SEC on time.

The explanation given for the delay this year isn’t reassuring markets.

Decision on CLP entry delayed again amid questions over waste forms

The European Commission is looking to amend hazardous waste guidance for titanium dioxide after its proposal to classify only powder forms as a category 2 carcinogen hit a fresh hurdle over waste.

The Commission is taking the action following concerns raised at the 7 March REACH Committee meeting over waste containing titanium dioxide. Notably these included: how to handle waste containing the substance when it can be in powder, solid or liquid forms.

In its latest update of the proposal from late January, the Commission restricted the classification mainly to mixtures in powder form, arguing that titanium dioxide-induced carcinogenicity is only associated with inhalation.

Northern Ireland-based Blow Moulding Technologies (BMT) has been awarded £40,000 ($52,000) for winning the semi-final of the Shell Springboard Aberdeen Awards with its Preview Bio-Plastics Simulation software.

BMT’s software can carry out a series of fundamental tests and generate data on all types of polymers – from PET blends, to bio-sourced polymers to biodegradable. This validated data is then used to create a representation of the plastics bottle blowing process.

BMT’s chief executive said the award will help fund the global commercialisation of the company’s software

Speaking at the awards, chief executive Yannis Salomeia said: “Our simulation software enables plastics bottle manufacturers to confidently design bottles made from alternative materials.

At European Coatings Show 2019, Clariant launched the first bio-based version of Pigment Red 254 – the automotive’s industry most widely-used red pigment for exterior coatings.

Clariant is the only pigment producer to offer high-performance Diketopyrrolo Pyrrole (DPP) pigments, such as Pigment Red 254 and other red, pink and violet shades, based on renewable raw materials.

It is pioneering the use of succinic acid derived from renewable resources rather than from crude oil for manufacturing all of its DPP reds.

Asia’s naphtha prices touched their highest in over three months, riding on the back of firmer crude oil benchmarks and demand, even as supply is set to stay adequate in the short term.

Spot open-specification naphtha prices for first-half May delivery on Thursday morning were at $575.25/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Japan basis, marking a $21.25/tonne increase from week-earlier levels, ICIS data showed.

Prompt-month naphtha spot prices were last this high in early November 2018 averaging at $576.50/tonne CFR Japan, according to ICIS data.

Strong gains in crude oil futures at above $60/bbl amid tightened oil supplies in the US lifted sentiment as a whole. ICE Brent May crude oil futures at $68.50/bbl, in part, helped drive up the prices of petrochemical feedstock naphtha.

If there has been any concern about the environment in our part of the world, it is in official circles not among the individuals who make up the country Ghana and generate the tons of plastic waste.

The European Union and indeed other organised groupings in the other hemispheres have shown sufficient worry about the rate of production and use of non-biodegradable materials such as polythene bags and straws – not forgetting lately plastic cutleries.

The foregone are massively produced yet the products are disposed of immediately after their use as receptacles for food and varied items. What makes it scary is the fact that, according to scientific analysis, such stuff takes hundreds of years to biodegrade.

Keystone Folding Box Co., a designer and manufacturer of paperboard packaging solutions, has responded to calls for reduced plastics in packaging. The company’s Ecoslide-OTC™, a paperboard pack for Over-The-Counter medication eliminates the need for larger plastic peel/push blister packs. Ecoslide-OTC™ allows manufacturers to eliminate up to 50% of plastics used in conventional blister packs.

Walmart, the EU, and global consumer product companies have all annouced plans to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable packaging by 2025. In the nearer term, the global retail giant will work with suppliers to eliminate non-recyclable packaging materials in general merchandise packaging by 2020 and to reduce the overall amount of plastic used in its private brand packaging.

New from Macpac is Breakdown PET, a resin that naturally decomposes after just a few years, rather than centuries.

The material is both fully recyclable and biodegradable; it boasts all the same characteristics as standard r-PET (with at least 90% recyclable content), but has the added benefit of and end-of-life solution.

A UNIT of D&L Industries, Inc. (DNL) has received international certification for its biodegradable plastic products, in line with the company’s goal to provide sustainable and environment-friendly materials.

The listed plastics and oleochemicals manufacturer said in a statement that its subsidiary, D&L Polymers & Colours, Inc. (DLPC) was given a certification by Berlin-based organization DIN CERTCO, which provides conformity assessments based on several international standards.

For a product to be certified, it must meet several standards including a heavy metal limit, 90% biodegradation within six months, and eco-toxicity that ensures the soil can still be used for plant growth after the product was used for compost, among others.

By Matt Egan, CNN Business America’s once-robust imports of crude oil from Venezuela have ground to a halt because of Trump administration sanctions and chaos gripping the OPEC nation.

America’s once-robust imports of crude oil from Venezuela have ground to a halt because of Trump administration sanctions and chaos gripping the OPEC nation.

The United States imported exactly zero barrels of crude from Venezuela last week, according to government statistics. That’s never happened since the US Energy Information Administration began tracking this weekly metric in 2010.

A new process has been developed by researchers in China that turns plant waste, derived from agriculture and timber harvesting, into aviation fuel. This new, more sustainable fuel could be the key to reducing CO2 emitted by air travel.

Published in Joule, the process revolves around cellulose, an abundant polymer found in the walls of plant cells. Chain alkanes pulled from cellulose have been previously used in the production of jet fuel, however, the researchers say their new process produces more complex polycycloalkane compounds that can be used as high-density aviation fuel.