News NatureWorks broadens portfolio Sulzer Chemtech (Winterthur, Switzerland) has shipped proprietary production equipment to NatureWorks (Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA) facility in Blair, Nebraska that will enable NatureWorks to increase production of Ingeo PLA biopolymer and produce new, highperformance resins and lactides. Nameplate production capacity will rise by 10,000 to 150,000 tonnes per annum. Commissioning is expected in the first quarter of 2013 with capacity increases and new products becoming available in the second quarter. Both companies have been working on the project for more than a year. Each company has contributed to the project with NatureWorks bringing its operational experience and intellectual property in lactides processing, and Sulzer bringing its proprietary equipment and engineering design expertise in this field. NatureWorks owns patents to the new process, to which Sulzer has exclusive sublicensing rights worldwide. Technical and financial details, however, were not disclosed. magnetic_148,5x105.ai 175.00 lpi 15.00° 75.00° 0.00° 45.00° 14.03.2009 10:13:31 Prozess CyanProzess MagentaProzess GelbProzess Schwarz Magnetic www.plasticker.com for Plastics • International Trade in Raw Materials, Machinery & Products Free of Charge • Daily News from the Industrial Sector and the Plastics Markets • Current Market Prices for Plastics. • Buyer’s Guide for Plastics & Additives, Machinery & Equipment, Subcontractors and Services. • Job Market for Specialists and Executive Staff in the Plastics Industry Up-to-date • Fast • Professional New polymer grades With the new technology, NatureWorks will be introducing new high-performance Ingeo PLA grades in the injection molding and fibers arenas. New injection molding grades Ingeo 3100HP and 3260HP are designed for use in medium and high flow nucleated formulations to provide an excellent balance of mechanical and thermal properties, while delivering up to 75% time savings over formulations based on current grades. Heat distortion temperatures (HDT/B @ 0.46 MPa) are expected to be 15°C higher than what is achievable today. Fibers and nonwoven products made from the new Ingeo grades 6260D and 6100D will have reduced shrinkage and better dimensional stability. These improved features are expected to enable Ingeo use across a broader range of fiber and nonwoven applications and provide larger processing windows in fiber spinning and downstream conversion processes. NatureWorks also will assess new market and application opportunities for the technology in other processes, including thermoforming, film extrusion, blow molding and profile extrusion. New lactide NatureWorks will be the world’s first and only company to offer commercial quantities of a high-purity, polymergrade lactide rich in the stereoisomer meso-lactide. Identified as Ingeo M700 lactide, this unique, new commercial material will be used as an intermediate for copolymers, amorphous resins, grafted substrates, resin additives/modifiers, adhesives, coatings, elastomers, surfactants, thermosets and solvents. Several producers have addressed the functionality requested by the market with what are described chemically as racemic lactides. “Compared to these, the high-purity Ingeo M700 will be easier to process and an overall cost effective alternative to racemic, L- and D-lactides in a host of industrial applications,” said Dr. Manuel Natal, global segment leader for lactide derivatives at NatureWorks. MT www.natureworksllc.com www.sulzer.com 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/12] Vol. 7
Polylactic Acid Uhde Inventa-Fischer has expanded its product portfolio to include the innovative stateof-the-art PLAneo ® process. The feedstock for our PLA process is lactic acid, which can be produced from local agricultural products containing starch or sugar. The application range of PLA is similar to that of polymers based on fossil resources as its physical properties can be tailored to meet packaging, textile and other requirements. Think. Invest. Earn. Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Strasse 157–159 13509 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 43 567 5 Fax +49 30 43 567 699 Uhde Inventa-Fischer AG Via Innovativa 31 7013 Domat/Ems Switzerland Tel. +41 81 632 63 11 Fax +41 81 632 74 03 marketing@uhde-inventa-fi scher.com www.uhde-inventa-fi scher.com Uhde Inventa-Fischer
