Chemical Engineering July 2012 - 18

Dow Chemical
Newsfront
Equipment News Roundup
DEVELOPMENT SPEEDS
UP IN CATALYSIS
BASF Catalysts
R&D headway is
helping traditional
processes keep pace
and newer ones get
into the race
T
here might be as many
categories of catalysts as
there are chemical processing
applications. And,
no matter what the specialty or
application, most catalyst producers
are in a constant state
of research and development in
order to meet the demands of
their chemical processing customers,
as well as to develop
innovative catalysts for new
applications and growing market
areas. Recent efforts of some of the
top catalyst producers are improving
resin properties, helping narrow the
economic disadvantage of oil-based
polymers and speeding up new possibilities
in biorenewables and microchannel
reactors.
Consista C601 catalyst, a 6th
generation, non-phthalate-based
technology offers resin manufacturers
the ability to produce more
differentiated, higher performance
resins with broader applicability,
while helping to produce lighter,
faster, cleaner and clearer resins
BASF offers a portfolio of catalysts and adsorbents that
cover a range of oleochemical processing needs. In addition
to existing products, research and development continues
to design new technologies for these markets
Polyolefin catalysts
Resin manufacturers are always look
for resins that are lighter, cleaner,
faster and clearer, says Cheri Wrenn,
global product market manager with
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland,
Mich.). " Lighter resins are desirable
because they allow down gauging,
which means manufacturers can use
less resin to obtain the same strength
and stiffness characteristics of packages
that traditionally used more
resin. This saves resin and reduces
transportation costs because the load
is lighter, " she says.
Technologies that improve the
resin processing speed are also in demand,
for their potential to eliminate
bottlenecks in the process or simply
move product through the machinery
quicker. Cleaner resins are also desirable
because they reduce VOC (volatile
organic compound) emissions,
lower catalyst residue and improve
taste and odor for food and beverage
packaging applications. And, clearer
resins are always in demand for product
packaging applications.
In response to these trends, Dow recently
introduced Consista C601 catalyst.
This sixth generation, non-phthalate-based
technology offers the ability
to produce more differentiated, higher
performance resins with broader applicability,
while helping to produce
lighter, faster, cleaner and clearer
resins. Consista C601 catalyst, along
with Consista donors, improves reactor
operability and on-stream time, according
to Wrenn. It is also compatible
with Dow's SHAC catalysts, allowing
for simplified transitions to this new
generation of catalyst.
" When we talk about polyolefins,
18 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM JULY 2012
resin manufacturers want a
catalyst that can make a broad
range of resin products, " says
Wrenn. " They want a catalyst
with broad flexibility in that it
can make a variety of different
types of resins and make them
well. And, Consista C601 has
that ability. "
Wrenn says Consista C601
customers can use one type
of catalyst to produce different
products without switching
out catalysts. " Dow is developing
catalyst donors for Consista that
allow resin manufacturers to tweak
the characteristics they are looking
for in their product by using different
donors, which is more straightforward
than switching out catalysts for
each product, " she says. " The donors
can help the catalyst make a broader
range of resin products. "
In addition, Consista C601 is applicable
for use in all types of gas phase
processes. " That's a desirable trait for
resin manufacturers, as well, if they
are operating multiple technologies,
because you can have one catalyst that
works in all of them, " notes Wrenn.
Chemical catalysts
For chemical processors in a variety of
sectors, fast innovation time is critical
because the market environment and
process requirements change quickly.
For example, low cost shale gas is
currently flooding the U.S. market,
boosting all processes that are based
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Chemical Engineering July 2012

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