Sibur opens styrenics complex

Sibur-Khimprom, the Perm-based subsidiary of the Sibur Holding petrochemical company, has inaugurated its styrenics integrated facility. The complex including facilities for manufacturing ethyl-benzene, styrene and expandable polystyrene was officially opened on November 9. Total investments in the upgrading project and new capacities surpassed 8 billion roubles, according to Sibur. The ethyl-benzene with a capacity of 220,000 tpa uses a license from the U.S. firm The Badger Licensing LLC. The existing 120,000 tpa unit using outdated technologies will soon be decommissioned, Sibur said on its website. The upgrading of the styrene manufacturing facility added 100,000 tpa. The current capacity of the unit is 135,000 tpa. The new plant for the Alphapor™ expandable polystyrene with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year will use a technology from the Austro-Norwegian company Sunpor.

Plastics processors to discuss key market issues

On the 22nd and 23rd of November 2010 the 4th Russian Congress of Plastics Converters will take place in Moscow. The forum, which is being held in the Small Conference Hall of the Moscow Government building, is organised by the Russian Association of Plastics Converters, the RCC Group media and consulting company and supported by the Government of Moscow. Key market players will discuss developments in promising sectors of the polymer industry: TPEs, composites, flame retardants, modifying additives, food polymers, plastic recycling.

A special panel discussion on the tense relations between domestic producers and processors of polymer feedstock (Kazanorgsintez, Sibur, Nizhnekamskneftekhim and others) will be held at the congress. Representatives from the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state bodies involved in investigating alleged monopoly abuses by Russian producers of base polymers, have been invited to take part in the panel discussion.

As at the previous conferences, this year’s forum will present unique Russian developments intended to replace imported products. Some of these developments have already been commercialized, some will be offered to market players for commercialization. For example, a Russian facility for manufacturing montmorillonite-based additives will be presented during the congress. A unique design of closing valve allowing the replacement of metal parts with plastic ones will also be announced.

A meeting entitled «Experience of Russian cities in MSW recycling – problems and solutions» will be held as part of the congress on the 23rd of November. The session will be devoted to issues related to the creation of the municipal solid waste collection and recycling system. The lack of landfills forces municipal authorities to use new waste treatment technologies, in particular, large-scale collection with subsequent pyrolysis of residues. Requirements to thermal recycling, ways to develop the waste treatment industry, specifics of the implementation of new technologies in Russia’s MSW sector will be discussed at a meeting to be attended by heads of the Industry Department and the Housing and Communal Department of the Moscow City Government, municipal services from across Russia and companies involved in MSW collection and recycling.

A detailed report on the results of the congress, with the review of the market situation and market players’ proposals, will be made once the event ends. All the documents are planned to be published in print and online by mass media companies. They will also be sent to Russia’s governmental authorities and the State Duma (Parliament).

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Основные области применения ПЭТФ и полиолефинов

Человек каждый день сталкивается с искусственными полимерами в повседневной жизни. Не менее 50 % мощностей химической промышленности ориентировано именно на выпуск полимеров.

The Chemical Journal № 8, 2010

Rafinat Yarullin, director general of OAO Tatnentekhiminvest-Holding
Directions for innovations in the polymers manufacturing industry of the Republic of Tatarstan

Tatarstan, the leading Russian region in petrochemicals, keeps surprising the industry with its numerous polymer projects – both in the polymer manufacturing and polymer conversion sectors.

Together with new facilities for base polymer production and capacity expansions in the plastics conversion sector, the republic has been developing science projects. A growing number of innovations have been implemented in the republic. Gaps are numerous though, which opens immense prospects for the development of the plastic conversion industry.

Mikhail Katsevman, director, Science and Development, of the Polyplastic group
Thermoplastic polymers market in Russia.
Analysis and forecasts

The production and consumption of thermoplastics have been growing in line with Russia’s GNP. However, the amount and share of these materials in the total consumption are still considerably lower than those in developed countries.

Our approach to the product range, quality management and pricing of polymer materials must be further revised. Localization of production facilities by international leaders of the consumer market will either eliminate these drawbacks quickly or reduce Russia’s output.

Vsevolod Abramov, chairman of the Russian Plastics Converters Association
Report on results of K 2010.
The latest European technologies and equipment

The 18th international plastic and rubber exhibition K is being held in D?sseldorf this November. It is a major event in the global industry. Technologies presented at K set development directions for the plastics industry for at least 10 years. Participation in the event is a must for all companies in the sector. The results of the exhibition will be discussed in the report of the chairman of the Russian Plastics Converters Association.

Petr Malina, deputy director, Science, of ZAO Bioenergetik
Plan of establishing a manufacture of newly designed polymer valves. Investment project

?The most significant number of ruptures and leakages occur near check valves during transportation of liquid products. For example, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would be impossible if the hydraulic pressure on the check valve of the system had been several times lower.

Setting a valve at an angle of 45° to the pipe instead of 90° and other engineering solutions could reduce the pressure, make hydraulic impact impossible and allow opening and closing valves without a hydraulic rotation booster. Such a solution allows the substitution metal with polymers in those valve designs that excluded such replacement thus far.

Our new check valves possess such advantages as resistance to corrosive environment and low cost in comparison with metal analogs. They are protected by over 10 invention patents. The technical characteristics of the valve and its competitiveness against foreign analogs have been confirmed by tests conducted by NPP Mashtest (Korolev, Moscow region), Tyazhprom-Armature (Aleksin, Tula region), Hydromash Plant (Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo region) and Neftepromremont (Strezhevoi, Tomsk region).

The Russian Congress of Plastic Converters scheduled for this November will present the feasibility study of this project to potential investors describing the amount of investments needed, market size, equipment capacity, project payback period. If implemented, the project will prolong the service life of check valves used at numerous residential and industrial objects, including chemical facilities. The goal of the project is to gradually replace the old valves of currently operating pipeline systems and install the new valves on newly built plastic pipelines.

Aslanbek Balov, director general of Polykhimgroup On substitution of existing flame retardants with new-generation products

Recent statistics show that the number of fires in the Russian Federation stays at about 250,000 events per year. Annually, 20,000 deaths and direct damages of 4 billion roubles are caused by fires in Russia. The production of fireproof materials is being actively developed in Russia. A legal framework making the use of fire retardants in compounds mandatory is being created in parallel. There are clear distinctions between processes and ingredients meant for electric, electronic, construction, aircraft, and automobile industries.

Refusal to use halogen fire retardants that contaminate the environment becomes a major trend. The recently adopted REACH and WEEE standards restrict, and in certain cases forbid the use of halogen fire retardants. Actually, this means a redistribution of the European market for fire retardants.

Russian manufacturers have to react to the new market situation in a timely manner and choose an optimum feedstock to enter this market with. Aslanbek Balov, CEO of Polykhimgroup reviews basic kinds of feedstock and technologies for manufacturing fireproof materials in his report prepared for the second session of the Russian Congress of Plastic Converters to be held at the Moscow government building in New Arbat.

Ekaterina Kraeva, director general of RCC Group.
Yuri Frei, representative of OAO Tatneftekhiminvest-Holding in the EU.
On possible adoption of EN-DIN standards in the Russian Federation and outlooks for the expansion of the domestic polymer products market

About 90% of DIN standards developed by the German Institute of Standardization have been recognized by the international community. Those standards cover residential and industrial construction, road building, pipelines, packaging and transportation, principles of facility operation in Germany and across the EU.

The Association of Plastic Converters, the organising committees of the Moscow International Chemical Summit and the 4th Russian Congress of Plastic Converters address the Russian government with a proposal to adopt DIN standards in long-distance and municipal road-building and pipeline laying. This measure could result in an essential increase of sales of high performance polymers and composites in the domestic market, thus giving a powerful impetus to plastic processing.

Valery Kulichikhin, director of the polymer rheology laboratory of the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis. Thermoplastics-based nanocomposites: first steps to commercialization.

Nanocomposites based on polymer matrix are being developed by many scientific centers, but their commercialization in the engineering polymers market, with few exceptions, failed despite their functional properties. On the one hand, it damaged reputation of the “nano” prefix, and on the other hand, compelled researchers to investigate why this happens to understand whether the introduction of true nanoparticles yields a nanocomposite.

The report will discuss new ways of introducing nanoparticles of layered silicates and nanodiamonds into a polymeric matrix, which were developed by a group of scientists as part of an ISTC project and attracted the interest of LSP Access International LTD and Milena Trading Ltd.

Nikolai Petov, OOO Infomine
Estimation of volumes of food-grade PET recycling in Russia

Polymer recycling is at its initial stage of development in Russia. The use of recycled polymers holds much promise in view of continuous environmental restrictions. The growth of polymer recycling capacities that began in 2005 continued in 2008-2009. At least eight waste selection and recycling facilities are under design or construction at present, with four of them to be commissioned in 2011.

The current demand for recycled PET exceeds the supply. Delegates of the Russian Congress of Plastic Converters will be informed of the experience in the creation of polymer recycling enterprises and industrial chains in Russia, growth trends and market prospects, basic polymer recycling technologies.

A group of young scientists, the Kazan State Technical University (Department of New Developments)

Polymer additives – fungicides in buildings

Major factors that affect human health include the microbiological state of living quarters, namely, microclimate problems and mold growth. A group of young scientists and specialists from the Kazan State Technical University will present an innovative method of mold killing. Timofei Kalinin will analyse the problem of mold growth and present an original invention – Antimold fungicide preparation.