Chemical Today Magazine PDF June 2022

June 2022 | Volume VI | Issue XIV

Association

Specialty Chemicals Event Coverage OPR Summit 2022

Insights

Rethinking R&D India: War Impact

IT In Chemicals Oil & Gas Adoption IIoT in Oil & Gas

ALTERNATE FUELS:

POWERING SUSTAINABLY

Opportunities for greener petrol I

n order to reduce oil imports and achieve green targets as a country, the Indian Union Cabinet approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018. The amendment advanced the date by which fuel companies have to increase the percentage of ethanol in petrol to 20 percent to 2025 from the earlier 2030 deadline. The policy of introducing 20 percent ethanol will take effect from 1 April, 2023, it mentioned.

The new policy would allow more feed stock for producing biofuel and foster the development of indigenous technologies, stated a government press release.

To this effect, India has achieved the target of supplying 10 per cent ethanol-blended petrol five months ahead of schedule and is aiming to double the blend by 2025-26 in order to cut oil import dependence and address environmental issues.

The original target for mixing 10 per cent ethanol, extracted from sugarcane and other agri commodities, in petrol originally was November 2022 but this has been achieved in June, owing to the efforts of the state-owned fuel retailers - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. With the current global economic trade & logistics scenario, Russia-Ukraine war, environmental issues among others, it is definitely a good proposition to consider use of Alternate Fuels. Read all about it in our Sector View as we explore the various options of Alternate Fuels and their benefits.

Further, with higher levels of scrutiny, the oil & gas Industry is adopting digitalisation ins a much more aggressive way. The digital adoption is on rise helped along by the dramatic fall in oil prices that began in 2014 and seem to have stabilised at a “lower-for-longer” price. This has forced operators to look closely at costs and performance, and to become finely attuned to opportunities to reduce operating and capital costs, drive efficiencies and increase production. The industry is also increasingly seeing digitalisation as fundamental to a more sustainable way forward.

Moreover, the oil & gas Industry which is already facing pricing pressures is furthermore aggravated by the Russia-Ukraine war impact. This is increasingly creating a ripple effect for the global economy. Russia’s invasion has made a tenuous situation much worse for energy markets, particularly in Europe. The imperative for oil & gas companies, working in concert with governments, is to mitigate the potential disruption of oil & gas supplies from Russia. Over the longer term, the industry needs to strengthen its resilience and relevance in a fast-changing energy world.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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Chemical Today

is a monthly magazine focused on chemistry & the chemical industry.

CONTENTS QUOTES NEWS

ASSOCIATION INTERVIEW

SPECIALTY CHEMICALS 26

NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAKE A DIFFERENCE NEWS MERGERS NEWS ACQUISITIONS & JVS

CHEMICAL SECTORS

ROOT EXTRACT SKINCARE SMMA MATERIAL DRINKWARE PLASTICS 5G NETWORK POLYMER ODOR-FREE TEXTILES MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS WEARABLE PATCH SENSORS

ASSOCIATION INTERVIEW Vinay Patil,

President, Indian Specialty Chemical Manufacturers’ Association (ISCMA)

SECTOR VIEW

ALTERNATE FUELS

37

GREEN CHEMISTRY

29

SECTOR VIEW ALTERNATE FUELS

37

SUSTAINABILITY FERTILISERS 40 43

RETHINKING R&D OIL & GAS: WAR IMPACT INDIA: WAR IMPACT

47 50 54

AUTOMOTIVE PLASTICS EPOXY RESIN INDIA OIL & GAS INK SOLVENTS VAPOR RECOVERY UNITS OIL MARKET

56 59 62 55 68 71

REPORT

43

19 21 22 23 24 26

INSIGHTS

ASIA PACIFIC FOCUS

04 08 12 14 16

SPECIALTY CHEMICALS

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS ASIA PACIFIC FOCUS

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

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EVENT COVERAGE CURTAIN RAISER 74

ACADEMIC R & D IT IN CHEMICALS

OIL & GAS ADOPTION IIOT IN OIL & GAS OIL & GAS DIGITALISATION

83 85 88

JOBS

91

PRODUCTS

93

EQUIPMENT

95

Hermann Althoff,

Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals, Asia Pacific, BASF

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Published for June 2022.

QUOTES

The rise of e-commerce and access to new technologies has accelerated counterfeiting and other forms of illicit trade. That makes fighting counterfeit medical products an ever-more urgent priority for pharma companies both in terms of patient safety and brand reputation.

Yann Ischi Director, New Channels and Partnerships, SICPA

Within the Volkswagen Group, we have a clear strategy for how we want to put battery-electric vehicles into series production across our brands and in many different market segments. However, a major qualification for success in the volume market is more powerful battery concepts. In Volkswagen Group R&D we are focusing on close cooperation, not only with industrial partners but also with the smart minds of the scientific community.

Dr Ulrich Eichhorn Head, Group R&D, Volkswagen AG.

India is a very important market for polyurethanes and has a wonderful potential for growth. When leaders of the industry from all over the world get together under one roof, it leads to better production and faster growth of the industry R C Bhargava Former CEO and current Chairman, Maruti Suzuki.

Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) members have expressed positive sentiments as manufacturing and Make in India initiative gathered momentum. The phenomenal growth opportunity of Renewal Energy is unparalleled in the world today, looking at current and future energy consumption in India over the next 2-3 decades.

All stakeholders have immense opportunities especially those who make and develop products in India.

K N Subramaniam CEO, Moserbear Solar Ltd and Treasurer, Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA)

NEWS NATIONAL GACL, GAIL TO SET UP BIOETHANOL PLANT IN GUJARAT

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ADODARA, INDIA: Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) and GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL) said they have joined hands to set-up a bioethanol plant of 500 KLD capacity. A Term Sheet for the setting up of a bioethanol plant in Gujarat was signed by Harshad Patel, IAS, managing director of GACL and R K Singhal, ED (BD & E&P) of GAIL, in the presence of M V Iyer, director (business development) of GAIL, at New Delhi, on 10th May, reported PTI. This step is taken in response to the Prime Minister of India’s call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. The Prime Minister has launched a roadmap for 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, with a view to reduce import of crude oil and save valuable foreign exchange.

This plant will be using corn/broken rice as feedstock with eco-friendly technology with a likely production capacity of 500 KLD bioethanol, which will be used for blending in petrol. As by-products from this plant, 135 KTPA protein-rich animal feed and 16.50 KTPA of corn oil while using corn as feedstock are also expected to be produced.

Dahod, Panchmahal, Aravalli, Mahisagar and Sabarkantha are major corn-producing districts in Gujarat and hence, the project is likely to come up in this part of Gujarat.

Corn is also produced in nearby states of Gujarat viz. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. A detailed feasibility study through a third party is in progress for the project.

The estimated project cost is to the tune of Rs.1,000 crore and it is expected to generate annual revenue of approximately Rs.1,500 crore.

An estimated savings of $70 million per year in foreign exchange outgo is expected through this project. Beyond the savings, this project will also generate direct and indirect employment for around 700 persons.

Long term supply contract for corn would encourage corn farming with sustainable, multi-fold income for farmers through increased productivity and assured market. Steps will also be taken to improve the productivity of corn in the state with the help of the Maize Research Centre in Godhra and other institute(s).

INDIAN PARTNERSHIP AEGIS VOPAK TERMINALS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

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UMBAI,

INDIA/ROTTERDAM,

THE

NETHERLANDS:

Vopak, a leading independent tank storage company announced

that in partnership with Aegis Logistics Ltd, it has successfully completed the Aegis Vopak Terminals Ltd, which will become the largest independent tank storage company for LPG and chemicals in India.

LPG is earmarked by the Indian government to provide cleaner and safer cooking fuels for households. Since the announcement in 3 July 2021, additional terminals with an additional capacity of 490 thousand cbm are being included in the partnership. The partnership operates a network of 11 terminals that are located in five strategic ports along the east and west coast of India with a total capacity of approximately 1.5 million cbm. The joint venture is well positioned for further growth, which targets mainly LPG but also chemicals, LNG and industrial terminal opportunities.

“This joint venture with Vopak will accelerate the growth of Aegis in the terminals business and has the potential to allow Aegis to diversify into new areas of gas storage such as LNG and other energy projects including renewables in partnership with the world’s leading independent tank storage company. We expect the deal to be significantly earnings enhancing for Aegis shareholders due to the deployment into growth opportunities of the combined financial firepower of the two groups and management in the terminals business,” said Raj Chandaria, chairman of Aegis Logistics Ltd. “This is an investment in a growth market and by joining forces with Aegis we aim to deliver growth over the next ten years in line with the new joint ventures’ and India’s ambition for LPG. We are excited for this new partnership. Aegis is a reputed local partner with a ready organisation and proven track record of conceiving and executing tank farm assets in strategic locations along the Indian coastline,” commented Eelco Hoekstra, chairman and CEO, Royal Vopak.

Vopak, an independent tank storage company, in partnership with Aegis Logistics Ltd, has successfully completed the Aegis Vopak Terminals Ltd, to become the largest independent tank storage company for LPG and chemicals in India.

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BASF, INFLEXOR TO INVEST $8 MILLION IN INDIAN FIRM BELLATRIX AEROSPACE

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ENGALURU & MUMBAI, INDIA/LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY: Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt Ltd is raising a series A round led by BASF Venture Capital GmbH, the corporate venture company of BASF SE, and Inflexor Ventures, an early stage deeptech/IP focused VC Fund. The round also includes participation from StartupXseed, Pavestone Capital, Mankind Pharma family office, Survam Partners, Karsemven Fund and other prominent family offices and angel investors.

In the past ten years, the number of satellites in space has increased almost tenfold – 1) and based on announced private-sector missions is likely to multiply rapidly in the next ten years.

2) In-space propulsion systems that save costs and use more environmentally friendly technologies are increasingly relevant to the growing satellite market. Orbital Transfer Vehicles are becoming the new means of reaching orbit on rideshare missions for micro and small satellites.

Founded by Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam in 2015, the Bengaluru-based company has pioneered several firsts in the industry, including the world’s first commercial Microwave Plasma Thruster, India’s first privately built Hall Effect Thruster system, and India’s first High-Performance Green Propulsion system. The company is committed to ESG compliance and sustainability with its impetus on greener technologies. The Microwave Plasma Thruster uses water as a propellant and the Green Monopropellant Thruster uses a proprietary high-performance fuel and catalyst, that is not only more eco-friendly but also easier to handle than conventionally used fuels for satellite propulsion systems.

The company aims to utilize the funds for the development and testing of its 4 thruster modules and go to market by the end of the year with its technology. The funds are also used towards the company’s evolution

into a full-fledged space transportation technology company with its unique Orbital Transfer Vehicle with capabilities to deploy customer satellites to their orbits quickly as well as perform missions to the geostationary orbit (GEO) and beyond. Bellatrix has bagged contracts from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other undisclosed customers. The space qualification testing is expected to be completed in the coming months.

“We are elated to onboard new investors on our journey to become a key player in the global space-technology industry. Pre-Series-A funding helped us successfully complete the development of numerous critical technologies in-house. With this investment, we will be expanding our product portfolio, adding to our existing talent pool to broaden our expertise, augment our state-of-the-art infrastructure and focus on validation of our products in space,” said Rohan Ganapathy, CEO & CTO, Bellatrix Aerospace.

“Inflexor has always taken a keen interest in technological advancements affecting the space sector, and this is evident from our investment in Bellatrix from our first fund, right from their seed round. We see the space industry is growing exponentially, and Bellatrix’s products will play a major part in democratizing access to the space industry with their cost-effective and power-efficient thruster systems, ideal for small satellite manufacturers,” said Venkat Vallabhaneni, managing partner, Inflexor Ventures.

“The technologies being developed for use in space have the potential to offer many opportunities for the chemical industry, for example in new materials and for innovative application cases of chemistry on earth and in orbit. In India in particular, this industry is currently experiencing an unprecedented upturn,” explained Markus Solibieda, managing director of BASF Venture Capital GmbH. “It is BVC’s task to invest in young companies with disruptive technologies. We are pleased to be able to support Bellatrix, an up-and-coming company with promising technologies for the space industry, and look forward to exploring opportunities for collaboration.”

BASF Venture Capital GmbH and Inflexor Ventures will invest in Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt Ltd. Rohan Ganapathy, CEO & CTO (left), and Yashas Karanam, COO (right) of Bellatrix, at the high vacuum test facility of Bellatrix, where the thrusters will be tested.

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NEWS NATIONAL MEGHMANI FINECHEM STARTS EPICHLOROHYDRIN PLANT IN GUJARAT, INDIA

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Indian consumption story, indirect demand for ECH is expected to grow significantly.

Meghmani Finechem Ltd is the first company in India to commission an ECH plant – a currently fully imported product. MFL’s entry into this product is in line with the Government’s initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India. This will reduce the dependence of ECH consumer on imports thereby helping the country save its foreign exchange reserves.

Currently demand for ECH in India is around 80 KTPA, but considering the increase and new capacities of Epoxy resin in coming years, we see a significant surge in demand of ECH in next 2 – 3 years, plus the normal demand for ECH is expected to grow around 10 percent in coming five years. Globally, the demand for ECH is expected to grow by 4 to 5 percent. ECH is a high value product and considering the current prices of ECH, it is expected to have asset turnover ratio to be above 2.5x, which will improve the absolute EBITDA and will end up providing higher ROCE, ultimately creating value for the shareholders, the company mentioned.

HMEDABAD, INDIA: Meghmani Finechem Limited (MFL), a leading manufacturer of chlor-alkali and its value added derivatives, announced the successful commissioning of Epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant of 50,000 TPA capacity. Despite a challenging external environment, the plant is commissioned on time and without any cost overrun, a testimony of the company’s strong project execution skills.

ECH can be manufactured through propylene or glycerin process, with glycerin process being the most environmentally friendly. MFL has opted the glycerin process, where key raw material being used is a fully renewable resource. This process significantly reduces the energy and water consumption thereby reducing the company’s carbon footprint.

In India, approximately 80 percent of ECH goes into epoxy resin manufacturing, which is further used in industries such as paint, automotive, construction material, windmill, adhesives, electronics etc. The remaining 20 percent of the ECH is consumed by the pharmaceuticals industry, for water treatment and paper chemicals, demand for which is also expected to grow significantly. With increased GOI focus on Infrastructure development and expected pick up in

“I am very happy to announce that we commissioned India’s very first ECH plant based on Glycerol process where major raw material, glycerine, is 100 percent renewable resource. Owing to this process, there will be lower consumption of energy and water and will be saving on carbon footprint,” said Maulik Patel; chairman and managing director, MFL. “On commissioning of ECH plant, we are moving in the direction of being a multi-product company and this will increase revenue contribution from the derivative segment. Also, this will further strengthen our fully integrated complex, as part of the raw material for ECH will be available within the plant itself. We are in line with our long term vision and are confident to achieve the same,” added Patel.

BIRLA CARBON TO EXPAND CARBON BLACK CAPACITY IN EUROPE, INDIA & CHINA

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UMBAI, INDIA/MARIETTA, US: Birla Carbon announced an additional 200 kMT capacity expansion across key markets.

Based on customer demand and feedback, the expansion will cover strategic markets in Europe, India and China in support of both rubber and specialty applications. The expansions are expected to be completed in 2024.

“This investment marks yet another milestone in the transformational journey of Birla Carbon in recent times, from sustainability to circularity and finally, to its net zero carbon emissions aspiration. Birla Carbon will continue to focus on building new capabilities and enhancing the availability of carbon black across key regions, further consolidating its global leadership,” said Dr. Santrupt Misra, group director, Birla Carbon and director, chemicals & director, group HR, Aditya Birla Group.

“We have been listening to our customers expressing their desire to grow around the world. The availability of our unique products is a

critical component of their growth plans as we all seek to simplify and secure supply chains. The new capacity will enable us to sustainably serve growth in a range of segments including tire, rubber goods, plastics, coatings and other specialty markets,” said John Loudermilk, chief executive officer, Birla Carbon.

Birla Carbon’s expansion will include 80 kMT in India, 40 kMT in Hungary and 80 kMT in China aligned with customer growth plans.

The company will also be adding capacity for surface treatment of high-value specialty materials in India, serving customers in critical applications like water-based coatings in line with sustainability-driven industry trends.

Birla Carbon will continue to evaluate additional expansions in various geographies in line with its purpose, to ‘Share the Strength,’ driven by customer needs, industry trends, and our ambition to be the clear sustainability leader in the industry.

Birla Carbon announced an additional 200 kMT capacity expansion across key markets, in Europe, India and China. The new capacity will enable it to sustainably serve segments including tire, rubber goods, plastics, coatings and other specialty markets.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

BASF TO EXPAND AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS APPLICATION CENTER IN MANGALORE, INDIA

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UMBAI, INDIA: BASF has expanded its Automotive Coatings application center at the Coatings Technology Center in Mangalore, India. As an integral part of BASF’s existing research and development (R&D) facilities for automotive coatings solutions, the automotive coatings application center covers over 400 square meters of floor area and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, such as high precision climate-controlled spray booth and electrostatic rotary bell applicators, and advanced quick connection system for electrostatic applications. The facility is meticulously designed to enable customeroriented R&D activities coupled by accurate simulation of OEM paint shops.

BASF also operates Automotive Coatings application centers in Shanghai, China, Totsuka, Japan, and Bangpoo, Thailand, in Asia Pacific.

“The expansion of the application center is an important addition to serve the Indian market with high-quality coatings solutions. It symbolizes our strong commitment to supporting the automotive industry’s long-term growth in India,” said Narayan Krishnamohan, managing director, BASF India Ltd and head, BASF Group Companies in India.

“This investment is a significant milestone in our effort to further strengthen our R&D footprint in Asia Pacific, as well as improve our proximity to customers in one of the fastest growing regions for our automotive coatings solutions,” said Patrick Zhao, senior vice president, BASF Coatings Solutions Asia Pacific. “With the expanded automotive coatings application center, we aim to not only continue our investment in OEM coatings in India, but to also support long-term growth in the automotive market in the region going forward.”

BASF has expanded its Automotive Coatings application center in Mangalore, India. The facility covers over 400 square meters of floor area and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.

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NEWS INTERNATIONAL BP, LINDE TO DEVELOP CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGE PROJECT IN TEXAS GULF COAST

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OUSTON, US: bp and Linde announced plans to advance a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Texas that will enable low carbon hydrogen production at Linde’s existing facilities.

The development will also support the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from other industrial facilities – paving the way for large-scale decarbonization of the Texas Gulf Coast industrial corridor.

The overall development, expected to be operational as early as 2026, will also enable capture and storage of CO2 from other large industrial facilities in the region and could ultimately store up to 15 million metric tons per year across multiple onshore geologic storage sites – the equivalent of taking approximately 3 million cars off the road each year.

Upon completion, the project will capture and store CO2 from Linde’s hydrogen production facilities in the greater Houston area – and potentially from its other Texas facilities – to produce low carbon hydrogen for the region. The low carbon hydrogen will be sold to customers along Linde’s hydrogen pipeline network under long-term contracts to enable production of low carbon chemicals and fuels.

As part of the project, bp will appraise, develop and permit the geological storage sites for permanent sequestration of the CO2. bp’s trading & shipping business aims to bring custom low carbon solutions to the project, including renewable power and certified natural gas, along with commodity trading and price risk management expertise.

Linde will use its proprietary technology and operational expertise to

capture and compress the CO2 from its hydrogen production facilities for the project.

“The energy expertise in Texas and strong supply chains have been generations in the making. This new low carbon energy project will help us leverage those strengths for the next chapter of the energy transition.

In particular, it can help decarbonize hard-to-abate industries for the greatest potential impact on emissions while protecting jobs,” said Dave Lawler, chairman and president of bp America.

The project will be a further important step in the development of bp’s low carbon business. bp is evaluating large-scale CCS and hydrogen projects for industrial clusters in the US and already is in action on Teesside, the industrial heart of the United Kingdom.

“Linde is committed to lowering absolute carbon emissions 35 percent by 2035 and reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Capturing the CO2 from our hydrogen production plants in the Houston area will be a significant step towards achieving these goals,” said Dan Yankowski, president, Linde Gases North America.

“We are excited to bring Linde’s leading technology portfolio and infrastructure to support this project and make low carbon hydrogen available to our customers in the Gulf Coast. More broadly, Linde is well positioned to enable similar projects, be it in the Gulf Coast where we operate two hydrogen pipelines and a hydrogen storage cavern or elsewhere in the US.”

COVESTRO STARTS NEW ELASTOMERS’ PRODUCTION LINE IN BARCELONA, SPAIN

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EVERKUSEN, GERMANY: Covestro said it launched the production of Desmodur® 15 prepolymers at its Spanish site of Barcelona. With this new production line, the company addresses the growing demand for its high-performance elastomers and can serve an ever wider range of very demanding applications.

“With this strategic investment, Covestro aims to further enlarge the capacity and improve the reliability of its global supply of Desmodur® 15 based products,” said Philip Bahke, head of operations at Covestro Elastomers.

“On top of addressing our customers’ demand, Covestro’s Barcelona site has been operating entirely on renewable energy since the beginning of 2022,” said Sucheta Govil, chief commercial officer at Covestro.

“This approach is part of our ambition to reduce our environmental impact while offering our customers greater access to our solutions and specialties products.”

“We are opening the new production unit for our Desmodur® 15 prepolymers in Barcelona in parallel to the ongoing expansion of our

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

naphthylene diisocyanate (NDI) capacities in the Asia-Pacific region with the Map Ta Phut plant in Thailand,” explained Thomas Braig, head of Covestro Elastomers. “This new production unit will help us to support our customers’ growth in the cast polyurethanes high-end applications segment.”

“Thanks to this new production line, our Vulkollan® licensees, as Desmodur® 15 prepolymers processors, will be able to further develop their business,” said Abdel Arhzaf, head of NDI-Vulkollan®. “Through these investments, we intend to support the demand for ultra-highperformance elastomers used for superior applications as eg. in the material handling industry and also for a growing number of engineering applications.”

Combining the highest mechanical characteristics with dynamic loadbearing capacity, elastomers based on Desmodur® 15 prepolymers are not only one of the most powerful cast polyurethanes in the market, they are also as easy to process as conventional prepolymers.

TOTALENERGIES TO ACQUIRE 50 PC STAKE IN US RENEWABLE ENERGY CO CLEARWAY

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ARIS, FRANCE: TotalEnergies announced it has agreed with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to acquire 50 percent of Clearway Energy Group (CEG), the 5th US renewable energy player.

This constitutes its largest acquisition in the renewable energy in the United States, one of the top 3 renewable markets in the world. With such transaction, TotalEnergies is further accelerating its growth in the renewable energy sector by partnering with GIP, a leading global infrastructure fund.

CEG is a developer of renewables projects and controls and owns 42 percent of economic interest of its listed subsidiary, Clearway Energy Inc (CWEN), into which projects are dropped when they reach commercial operation.

With this acquisition, TotalEnergies is establishing a major position in the US renewable energy and storage market. Clearway has 7.7 GW of wind and solar assets in operation through its listed subsidiary CWEN and has a 25 GW pipeline of renewable and storage projects, of which 15 GW are in an advanced stage of development. Headquartered in San Francisco, Clearway has approximately 760 employees.

In the frame of this transaction, GIP will receive $1.6 billion in cash and an interest of 50 percent minus one share in the TotalEnergies subsidiary that holds its 50.6 percent ownership in SunPower Corporation, leader in residential solar in the US. The transaction takes into account valuations of $35.1 per share for CWEN and $18 per share for SunPower.

As part of this partnership, TotalEnergies will contribute to enhance Clearway’s growth prospects by providing CWEN in the US with access

to its power trading capabilities and will give it priority on the farm down of its own developed projects.

The acquisition brings TotalEnergies’ renewable portfolio in the US to more than 25 GW and contributes to the objective that the US account for at least 25 percent of the Company’s global target of 100 GW by 2030.

“We are delighted with this partnership with Global Infrastructure Partners, which is a major player in renewables, particularly in the US. It allows TotalEnergies to scale up in the US market, one of the most dynamic in the world, benefiting from operating assets and a 25 GW high quality pipeline, in wind, solar and storage, with a wide geographic coverage with a presence in 34 states. This transaction perfectly fits with our strategy to make renewable electricity one of our main growth drivers along with liquefied natural gas that we have recently reinforced with the launch of Cameron extension,” said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with TotalEnergies to continue leading the energy transition in the US. With this, Clearway will be able to accelerate the deployment of cost competitive renewable power in the US. At the same time, GIP’s investment in SunPower is our initial commitment in the distributed generation space, which we believe will provide critical solutions to facilitate the nation’s clean energy future.

GIP and TotalEnergies partnership will support our shared vision to build industry-leading utility scale and distributed renewables platforms in the US,” said Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman and CEO, Global Infrastructure Partners.

NYNAS TO FOCUS ON EUROPEAN NAPHTHENIC AND BITUMEN MARKETS

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TOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: The world is changing at a rapid pace, and Nynas is now taking strategic steps to strengthen its competitiveness in core markets. Nynas will create a business footprint focusing on customers in the naphthenics and bitumen market in Europe, and significantly improve efficiency to deliver a competitive customer experience. Furthermore, Nynas will focus on four sustainability areas: sustainable products, environment and climate change, health and safety as well as people and society.

“We will now create a more focused and efficient business while maintaining our innovative leadership within the industry. I am convinced that a more focused company will give us the capacity to invest in what matters most for the future of Nynas and the customers in our core markets,” said Simon Day, vice president, Nynas Naphthenics.

In line with the Nynas strategic choices, the Naphthenics business will refocus on a smaller profitable core business, and on developing its sustainable offering. The Naphthenics business will optimise its channel to market solutions with the objective of providing best value to its customers.

As a result of this decision, Nynas has informed its customers in the Americas and in Asia Pacific, that it will reduce its direct sales presence focusing on selected markets and product segments. Nynas is now working with the relevant customers to achieve an orderly transition. In the Asia Pacific region Nynas will centralise and create a more efficient operation based out of the Singapore office, and in the Americas, Nynas will reduce direct sales to a smaller streamlined operation based in Argentina.

Nynas will focus its sales and marketing operations on its European Plus customers, which includes Europe, India, Middle East, South Africa and Turkey. Nynas will continue to deliver the highest quality products, supported by the highest level of customer service and support, in order to deliver value for its customers.

“Nynas remains the number one naphthenic oil producer in Europe, and we intend to maintain the leadership that we have in several market segments. With the current transformation, Nynas will become a stronger and more focused enterprise, better fit to tackle the new business realities,” said Day.

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NEWS INTERNATIONAL CLARIANT, LUMMUS TO LICENSE TECHNOLOGY FOR WORLD-SCALE PDH PLANT IN CHINA

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UNICH, GERMANY: Clariant and its process partner Lummus have been awarded a major contract by Fujian Meide to supply CATOFIN technology and catalysts for a new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Fuzhou, China. Already operating one PDH unit at its Fuzhou petrochemical complex, Fujian Meide is now building one of the largest PDH units in the world and has selected the CATOFIN process and catalysts for the project’s second phase. The new unit will produce 900,000 metric tons of propylene annually and is scheduled to commence operation in 2023.

“This strategic collaboration exemplifies our dedication to product innovation with ground-breaking chemistry, such as our Heat Generating Material (HGM). As a result, HGM, together with new Lummus process technology, reduces energy consumption of the CATOFIN process by one-third, making it a low-carbon route to propylene production,” said Stefan Heuser, senior vice president & general manager at Clariant Catalysts.

“Our close partnership with Clariant has continued to improve CATOFIN over the years to the benefit of our customers. The process has a proven track record of excellent productivity, often even beyond design capacity (up to 110 percent on average), giving producers a

significantly higher return on investment and more profitable daily operations. This has made it a global leader for propylene production,” said Leon de Bruyn, president and chief executive officer, Lummus Technology.

“With an annual capacity of 900,000 tons, our second PDH unit will be among the world’s largest. No other PDH technology is proven at such scale, and we needed outstanding performance. CATOFIN was our first choice because it is widely recognized as one of the most advanced solutions in the PDH industry,” said Zheng Chaohui, president at Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co. The CATOFIN process combines Lummus’s advanced technology with Clariant’s tailor-made catalysts and Heat Generating Material (HGM) to convert propane to propylene with exceptional reliability.

Fujian Meide Petrochemical Co, is a fully owned subsidiary of Zhongjing Petrochemicals Group, which is headquartered in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China. Specialized in energy, petrochemicals, logistics and packaging, Zhongjing Petrochemicals Group is the largest producer of BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) films in China, with an annual capacity of 1 million tons of BOPP and 4 million tons of polypropylene.

Clariant’s CATOFIN catalyst is tailor-made for propylene production via CATOFIN technology. Clariant and its process partner Lummus bag a major contract by Fujian Meide to supply technology for new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Fuzhou, China.

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NEWS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

COLDPLAY TO USE NESTE’S RENEWABLE DIESEL FOR TOUR TRANSPORT AND STAGE POWER E

SPOO, FINLAND: Coldplay said it is partnering up with Neste to take steps towards the band’s target of reducing CO2 emissions from the Music Of The Spheres World Tour by 50 percent compared to the band’s previous world tour. Neste will provide Coldplay with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce emissions from air travels, while the company’s renewable diesel will help cut emissions from the band’s tour transports and stage power generation.

“We’re really happy to partner with Neste to make our Music Of The Spheres World Tour as sustainable as possible. Their low-emission renewable fuels will play a major part in our efforts to minimise the tour’s climate impact,“ Coldplay said.

In 2019, Coldplay pressed pause on their touring until it could be done in a more sustainable way. To achieve its ambition for more sustainable touring, Coldplay has explored eg. lower-emission alternatives to power aircraft, power generators and road vehicles necessary for a successful world tour. Sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel proved the best option for these.

“Coldplay is one of the world’s most popular touring bands, and their ambition to make their Music Of The Spheres World Tour as sustainable as possible is extremely inspiring. The world needs these kinds of changemakers to lead the way towards a more sustainable future,“ said Minna Aila, senior vice president for Sustainability and Corporate Affairs and member of the

As the leading producer and supplier of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel globally, Neste is uniquely positioned to supply Coldplay with the necessary volume of renewable fuels – produced from 100 percent renewable raw materials, such as used cooking oil – to reduce emissions from the North American and European legs of the Music Of The Spheres World Tour.

Neste Executive Committee at Neste. “We at Neste are excited and proud to join forces with Coldplay to help reduce emissions from their world tour concerts and tour-related transports with our renewable fuels.”

“We’ve tried to put sustainability at the center of this tour because it just feels like the only option,” said Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Neste helps Coldplay work towards reducing touring-related carbon emissions with Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™, which can reduce carbon emissions on flights by up to 80 percent when compared to conventional jet fuel use. Coldplay will also use Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ for the trucks transporting the band’s equipment from one concert location to another during the tour.

Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL refining technology enables it to process low-quality waste and residues into renewable products. The company’s annual production capacity of 3.3 million tons (1.14 billion gallons) of high-quality renewable fuels and other renewable products will be increased to 4.5 million tons (1.56 billion gallons) in early 2023, and it is expected to increase further to 5.5 million tons (1.9 billion gallons) by the end of 2023.

Neste’s renewable diesel will be additionally used in stationary power generators, creating renewable, low-emission electricity for the concert. Coldplay will use Neste’s renewable diesel on stage or in the logistics in altogether seven Coldplay concerts in the US and in 22 concerts in Europe. It is estimated that with Neste-produced renewable diesel and SAF, Coldplay will be able to reduce their tour transport related carbon footprint during the North American and European legs of the tour by around 50 percent.

“While many solutions to combat climate change are still in early stages of development, Neste’s renewable fuels are already available and widely used by cities and municipalities, companies, airlines, consumers – and now even by Coldplay, one of the most popular bands in the world – to reduce their transport-related carbon footprint. We hope their example inspires many others to start doing what they can to create a healthier planet for our children,” said Aila.

Coldplay will use Neste’s renewable diesel for the Music Of The Spheres World Tour, to help the band towards 50 percent reduction in its world tour related carbon emissions in tour transports and stage power generation.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

BMW USES BASF’S AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS T

he BMW Group has chosen to use BASF Coatings’ CathoGuard® 800 ReSource e-coat at its plants in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Africa, and the iGloss® matt ReSource clearcoat throughout Europe. Using these more sustainable product versions for vehicle coatings enables CO2 avoidance of around 40 percent per coating layer; this will reduce the amount of CO2 emitted in the plants by more than 15,000 metric tons by 2030. The BMW Group produces an average of around 250,000 vehicles every year at its plants in Leipzig and Rosslyn.

The BMW Group is the first carmaker to place its trust in more sustainable automotive OEM coatings certified according to BASF’s biomass balance approach.

“As the largest provider of chemical products to the automotive industry, we are aware of our responsibility to support our customers with innovative, eco-efficient solutions. The biomass balance approach allows us to make our coatings solutions even more sustainable while retaining the same quality. We are delighted that the BMW Group has chosen to play a pioneering role in the automotive industry and that our products play a key part in helping it achieve its ambitious sustainability goals,” said Dr. Markus Kamieth, member of the board of executive directors of BASF SE.

“By reducing our use of fossil raw materials, we can conserve natural resources and lower CO2 emissions at the same time. To achieve this, we are increasingly relying on sustainability innovations in our supplier network,” said Joachim Post, member of the board of management of BMW AG, responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network. “Innovative paints based on renewable raw materials are an important step in this direction.”

As a corrosion protection technology with optimum protection of edges, the CathoGuard 800 e-coat helps millions of cars live longer. Its biomass-balanced version, CathoGuard 800 ReSource, adds a reduced carbon footprint to the e-coat application’s material efficiency, without changing the product’s formulation.

In BASF’s biomass balance approach, renewable raw materials like bio-based naphtha and biomethane from organic waste are used as raw materials when manufacturing primary chemical products and are fed into the production Verbund. The proportion of bio-based raw materials is then arithmetically assigned to certain sales products according to a certified method. This attribution model is comparable with the principle of green electricity. An independent certification confirms that BASF has replaced the quantities of fossil resources required for the biomass-balanced product sold with renewable raw materials.

The matt clearcoat of the new BMW i4 M50 in Frozen Portimao Blue was produced without fossil raw materials and is based on organic waste.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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NEWS MERGERS DSM, FIRMENICH MERGE FOR NUTRITION, BEAUTY, WELL-BEING BUSINESSES

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EERLEN, THE NETHERLANDS/GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Dutch specialty chemicals maker, DSM and Swiss ingredients maker, Firmenich, have joined hands to become a leading supplier of nutrition, beauty and well-being products. The deal involving shares and cash is expected to be finalised in the first half of next year. It could have a mid-term organic sales growth of 5-7 percent per year and annual cost savings of 350 million euros ($376.15 million) and an expected 500 million euros annual sales uplift.

DSM-Firmenich will benefit from complementary capabilities across fragrance, taste, texture and nutrition, fueled by world-class science, access to unprecedented network of R&D, creation and application capabilities, digitally powered business models and sustainability across the value chain.

The merger will have an integration of DSM’s Food & Beverage and Firmenich’s Taste & Beyond businesses and the new company will have four complementary businesses including Perfumery & Beauty, Food & Beverage, Health, Nutrition & Care and Animal Nutrition & Health

segments. At inception, DSM shareholders will own in aggregate 65.5 percent of DSM-Firmenich and the various shareholders of Firmenich will own in aggregate 34.5 percent.

“DSM-Firmenich will bring together leading creativity and cuttingedge science and innovation. Together we will be able to better serve the needs of customers and deliver compelling growth and returns. My colleagues and I are convinced we have all of the elements, and thus the Supervisory Board of DSM concluded that this is truly a merger which is in the interest of all stakeholders,” said Thomas Leysen, chairman, DSM Supervisory Board.

“The combination of DSM and Firmenich is transformational, and brings together two culturally aligned and iconic businesses. Our shared purpose, combined with our highly complementary capabilities gives me confidence we can accelerate our growth further through new creations. I am confident that for all stakeholders of the future DSMFirmenich business, the most exciting times are still to come,” said Patrick Firmenich, chairman, Firmenich.

PETRONAS CHEMICALS TO ACQUIRE PERSTORP FOR $2.4 BILLION capture new growth opportunities, whilst enabling us to future proof our business against market cyclicality and volatility,” said PCG managing director/chief executive officer, Ir. Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof.

Perstorp Sweden.

Holding

AB

headquarters

in

Malmo,

“Perstorp is an outstanding strategic fit for PCG and enables us to participate in attractive end-markets such as paints & coatings, construction, automotive, personal care and animal nutrition that share a robust growth outlook.”

PCG MD/CEO, Ir. Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof; and PAI Partner, Fabrice Fouletier; standing from left PCG chief financial officer, Mohd Azli Ishak; Perstorp president and CEO, Jan Secher together with, PAI Partner, Ragnar Hellenius.

K

UALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) said it has agreed to acquire the entire equity interest in Perstorp Holding AB, a leading sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company with Financiere Foret Sarl, a company under PAI Partners, a European private equity firm. The acquisition values Perstorp Group at an enterprise value of EUR 2,300.0 million, which is equivalent to RM 10,496.1 million ($2.4 billion).

PCG looks to strengthen its basic petrochemicals portfolio and to selectively diversify into derivatives, specialty chemicals and solutions.

This acquisition marks the creation of a significant specialty chemicals portfolio, while enhancing PCG’s overall earnings.

“This landmark acquisition is a major milestone for PCG in establishing a key platform to diversify into the specialty chemical industry and

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Perstorp is a leading niche specialty chemicals player that develops sustainable solutions with focus on the Resins & Coatings, Engineered Fluids and Animal Nutrition markets. With seven state-of-the-art manufacturing sites and three research and development (R&D) centres worldwide, Perstorp has presence in 26 countries including US, Europe and Asia Pacific. It has approximately 1,500 employees and serves more than 2,600 customers globally with its 130 product offerings within 30 product groups. It has global #1 position in several products such as Trimethylolpropane (TMP) and Pentaerythritol (Penta). Perstorp is recognised for its proprietary oxo and polyol chemistries. In FY2021, Perstorp recorded approximately EUR1,334 million (RM6,540 million) in revenue and EUR248 million (RM1,214 million) in EBITDA with an EBITDA margin of 18.6 percent.

“Perstorp will add up to 2.3 million metric tonne per annum to PCG’s production capacity and immediately contribute about 28 percent incremental revenue to PCG based on 2021 results as well as support PCG’s medium-term goal of establishing 30 percent revenue generated from non-traditional businesses by 2030. In addition, this acquisition will also contribute towards strengthening Malaysia’s specialty chemicals industry, benefitting the economy in the long run,” added Yusof.

“By tapping into the PETRONAS strong global brand and PCG’s strength as a reputable industry and market leader in the Asia Pacific region, we are confident that Perstorp can continue to expand into its next phase of growth,” said Jan Secher, president and CEO of Perstorp.

AKZONOBEL TO ACQUIRE KANSAI PAINT’S PAINTS & COATINGS BIZ IN AFRICA

A

MSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS: AkzoNobel said it is to further strengthen its African footprint after agreeing with Kansai Paint to acquire its paints & coatings activities in the region. Completion is expected during the course of 2023. Present in 12 countries in Africa, Kansai Paint has regional consolidated revenue of around €280 million.

The transaction includes the Plascon brand, which has more than 100 years of heritage in South Africa. Together with AkzoNobel’s Dulux brand, they’re the longest-established paint brands in the region. The intended acquisition also includes automotive and protective coatings and coatings for wood & coil.

“Acquiring Kansai Paint’s activities in the region will help us to further expand our paints & coatings business in Africa and provide a strong platform for future growth,” said AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker.

“Kansai Paint shares our commitment to innovation and sustainability, and we look forward to combining our expertise, which will result in a wider range of innovative products and more sustainable solutions for our customers.”

“We are convinced that AkzoNobel is the best owner as AkzoNobel considers the decorative paints business as a core business and will therefore be able to unlock the full potential of the business, thereby contributing to the development of the African economy,” said Kunishi Mori, Kansai Paint president.

”For Prejay Lalla and Arvind Shekhawat, CEOs of KPAL and KPEA (the respective Africa entities being sold by Kansai Paint in this transaction), this agreement is an opportunity to further enhance growth. We believe that AkzoNobel will be the owner who will elevate the business to the next level as AkzoNobel is willing to invest in ESG, is committed to innovation, workforce development and broader career opportunities, as well as the long-term success of its paint businesses in Africa.”

“Kansai Paint Africa is a beautiful addition to our existing strong business, which spans across nine countries in the region. The acquisition will complement our portfolio of leading positions in attractive markets and world class brands in Africa, while driving growth in relevant emerging markets. It also offers us the unique opportunity to welcome another strong brand with a heritage of more than 100 years and a wide distribution network,” said Jan-Piet van Kesteren, managing director, AkzoNobel’s Decorative Paints Europe, Middle East and Africa business.

The intended acquisition follows on from a series of recent acquisitions

by AkzoNobel across paints and coatings over the last two years, including Titan Paints in Spain and Portugal, New Nautical Coatings in the US and, most recently, Grupo Orbis in Latin America.

SOLENIS TO ACQUIRE SPECIALTY CHEMICAL MAKER NEU KIMYA IN TURKEY

W

ILMINGTON, US: Solenis said it has closed the acquisition of Neu Kimya Anonim Sirketi (Neu Kimya). Located in Istanbul, Turkey, Neu Kimya serves the heavy/light water treatment and oil & gas markets in Turkey, Southeast Europe and the Middle East. The acquisition of Neu Kimya fits well with Solenis’ direct-to-market strategy and will offer customers in the region improved product and service offerings.

“We are excited to combine Neu Kimya’s talented commercial team

and technical capabilities with Solenis’ world-class solutions to create enhanced value for our customers,” said Andrea Natali, vice president and general manager, EMEA Industrial Solutions, Solenis.

“This new acquisition adds to our strategic growth plan following our recent ownership change to Platinum Equity,” said John Panichella, CEO, Solenis. “With the ongoing support from the Platinum Equity team, we continue to proactively seek other opportunities for similar acquisitions that enhance our ability to serve customers.”

SIKA TO ACQUIRE LIQUID WATERPROOFING COMPANY UGL IN THE US

B

AAR, SWITZERLAND: Sika said it has acquired United Gilsonite Laboratories (UGL) in the US, a well recognized manufacturer of products for consumer and DIY waterproofing applications. Their product portfolio is sold through the distribution channel and can be found in major retailers in the US. The acquired business is a perfect complement to Sika’s high value-added systems for concrete and masonry waterproofing and refurbishment. In 2021, UGL generated sales of CHF 65 million.

UGL offers consumer and DIY liquid waterproofing products with a strong presence in the distribution channel. With headquarters and production in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and two additional production sites in Illinois and Mississippi, UGL is well situated to efficiently supply its products to customers in every region of the country. For Sika, the acquisition will increase its presence with major retailers and other

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

building material stores by widening the offering and opening up crossselling opportunities.

In the large US residential housing segment, demand for watertight basements is anticipated to grow at above-average rates in the years to come, as homeowners refurbish and create more valuable living space with basement finishing. In commercial construction, the need for watertight basements to maximize building utility and protect valuable assets and investments continues to grow. With the combined offerings of the two companies, Sika can take advantage of the growth trends in both the residential and commercial construction segments.

“UGL is a perfect complement to Sika’s current portfolio. The UGL brands are well recognized in the US, and their consumer and DIY waterproofing solutions allow Sika to extend its business in the US construction industry,” said Christoph Ganz, regional manager Americas, Sika.

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NEWS ACQUISITIONS & JVS LG CHEM, HUAYOU COBALT JOINT VENTURE TO PRODUCE CATHODE MATERIALS

S

EOUL, SOUTH KOREA: LG Chem announced a joint venture with Tianjin B&M Science and Technology, a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (Huayou Cobalt) that specializes in cathode materials, a key component in battery manufacturing.

LG Chem signed the joint venture agreement with B&M at LG Twin Towers in Seoul, attended by key stakeholders including LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol, Huayou Cobalt chairman Chen Xuehua, vice president Chen Yaozhong and other officials.

B&M’s capital investment in LG Chem’s Gumi cathode production plant will result in a 49 percent stake in the JV with the remaining 51 percent to be held by LG Chem. Both partners have committed KRW 500 billion (approx. $403 million) toward the initiative by 2025. The joint venture will be led by Kim Woosung, current president of LG Chem’s Gumi site.

“The establishment of the joint venture further cements our vertical integration system with key raw materials to produce affordable, high quality cathode materials. We will continue to strengthen our efforts to supply best-in-class battery materials to our customers,” said Hakcheol.

With an intense focus on manufacturing NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) cathode materials for next-generation electric vehicle (EV) batteries, LG Chem plans to begin initial mass production at Gumi in the second half of 2024. The annual production capacity of 60,000 tons will be enough to power approximately 500,000 highperformance EVs, each with a driving range of 500 kilometers.

“This partnership is another critical step in the expansion of B&M’s cathode business in the global market, a key component of our metal supply strategy. The combination of LG Chem’s competitive technological edge and dominant market share with the strong value chain capability of Huayou Cobalt will contribute greatly to advancing the global lithium battery sector,” said Xuehua.

DSM SELLS ENGINEERING MATERIALS BIZ TO ADVENT & LANXESS FOR €3.85 BILLION

H

EERLEN, NETHERLANDS: Royal DSM announced that it has agreed to sell its Engineering Materials business to Advent International and LANXESS for an enterprise value of €3.85 billion.

DSM Engineering Materials will become part of a newly created joint venture, together with LANXESS’s High Performance Materials business, which will be co-owned by Advent International (60 percent) and LANXESS (40 percent). Completion of the transaction is expected in H1, 2023.

DSM Engineering Materials represented €1.5 billion of DSM’s total annual net sales and €334 million of DSM’s total Adjusted EBITDA for 2021. DSM expects to receive about €3.5 billion net in cash following closing. The proposed transaction marks the conclusion of DSM’s review of strategic options for its two Materials businesses and, following the agreement to sell DSM Protective Materials to Avient Corporation in April, the transformation of DSM into a focused science-based leader in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience.

“In reviewing possible futures for DSM’s Materials businesses, we have found tremendous new homes where they will be core to each new owner’s growth ambitions. We are certain Advent International and

LANXESS will be good new owners in a transaction that is strategically attractive for all parties as we focus DSM on improving people’s health and well-being,” said Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, coCEOs, DSM. “We are convinced that, together with LANXESS HPM, the combination of both firms will be in the best position to enact sustainable long-term growth in the engineering materials sector. At Advent International, we are very excited to contribute our deep chemical industry expertise and together we will create a global engineering materials industry leader,” said Ronald Ayles, managing partner, Advent International.

“With the new joint venture, we are forging a strong global player in the field of high-performance plastics. The portfolios, value chains and global positioning of the two businesses complement each other perfectly. With its innovative products, the joint venture will be able to play a key role in shaping future developments - for example in the field of electromobility,” said Matthias Zachert, CEO, LANXESS. Advent International will be the majority owner of the newly created joint venture and has extensive investment experience in the global chemical sector.

Royal DSM will sell its Engineering Materials business to Advent International and LANXESS for an enterprise value of €3.85 billion.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

ARKEMA, NIPPON SHOKUBAI JV TO PRODUCE ELECTROLYTE SALTS IN FRANCE

C

OLOMBES, FRANCE: Nippon Shokubai and Arkema said they will partner to develop an industrial plant for production of LiFSI (Lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide) ultrapure electrolyte salts, a key component of battery cells for electric mobility. To support the exponential growth in demand for battery cell materials, Arkema and Nippon Shokubai will conduct feasibility studies and establish a joint venture to enable the mass-production of LiFSI electrolyte salts at Arkema’s Pierre-Benite site in France by end-2025.

Ultrapure and high performance LiFSI electrolyte salts, a key component of car battery cells, will speed up the development of new electrolyte formulations for the next generations of batteries, including semi-solid and solid state batteries, by significantly increasing their

power, stability, cycle life and recyclability, while reducing charging time in high or low temperature conditions.

This industrial project will support the development of the European battery value chain and participate in the global need for carbonneutral mobility.

Combining Arkema’s fluorochemicals expertise and Nippon Shokubai’s unique know-how in the industrial-scale production of high-purity LiFSI, both partners will form a strategic partnership that has led to the development of an innovative and integrated process. Based on this cutting-edge patented technology, a LiFSI fluorinated pilot production line has been installed on the Pierre-Benite site and successfully came on stream in 2021.

SOLVAY TO INVEST IN SUANFARMA; LOOKS TO BOOST NATURAL VANILLIN CAPABILITY

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RUSSELS, BELGIUM: Solvay announces an investment in Suanfarma’s Cipan manufacturing site located in Lisbon, Portugal to develop its biotechnological capabilities and support the development of natural ingredients. This transaction, to be completed by mid-2023, is the first step of a long-term strategic alliance with Suanfarma, held by ArchiMed, a leading global life science investment firm. It will enable Solvay to grow its capabilities for natural ingredients in food, flavors & fragrances industries.

“Solvay is already a leader in natural ingredients - now with this exciting investment we will pave the way for further growth in Naturals. The investment is in line with our newly formed renewable materials and biotechnology growth platform, and will boost our ability to meet our customers’ long-term needs and enable the switch to bio-sourced and natural ingredients,” said An Nuyttens, Aroma & Silica global business units president.

“This first step of our collaboration with Suanfarma provides access to efficiently raise our existing capacities on natural ingredients, including our flagship natural vanillin, Rhovanil® Natural CW. Produced through a natural fermentation process with the highest standards of quality control and traceability, Rhovanil® Natural is manufactured in Europe and offers reliable and future-proof supply to our customers,” said Jo Grosemans, Solvay Natural growth director.

Solvay is committed to playing an important role in sustaining the world’s ever-increasing demand for food by reducing environmental impact and resource consumption while meeting consumer desires for healthier, safer, tastier, and more natural foods. This aligns with Solvay’s newest growth platform “Renewable materials and biotechnology” which aims to meet growing demand for sustainable solutions by increasing the share of renewable carbon in Solvay’s product offering and developing new business opportunities enabled by biotechnology.

Solvay will invest in Suanfarma’s Cipan manufacturing site in Lisbon, Portugal to develop its biotechnological capabilities. The company also looks to grow its natural ingredients capabilities in food, flavors & fragrances industries.

Chemical Today Magazine | January 2022

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

ROOT EXTRACT SKINCARE

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

19

ILLUMINATE EYE CONTOURS USING ROOT-POWERED EXTRACT R

educe dark circles and under-eye bag formation

Rootness Awake counters the fragility of the eye

with the help of the latest premium root power

contour by focusing on key aspects: decreasing

skincare active from Clariant Natural Ingredients.

Recently launched Rootness Awake is an enriched extract

of

inflammation-fighting

compounds

reduce the microvascular network, and ensuring

obtained from sustainably-grown Ipomoea batatas

skin

(sweet potato) roots. It offers science-backed

strengthened. All of these combine to reduce under-

efficacy in reducing discoloration and ensuring

eye pigmentation and edema (fluid build-up). It

firmness, promoting a revitalized more youthful eye

achieves this as a result of the high concentration of

contour.

The eye contour area is one of the first places where signs of fatigue and aging appear. The skin here is

thickness,

integrity

and

firmness

are

active compounds Dicaffeoylquinate esters (DCQE).

The extract’s activity is demonstrated in in vitro, ex

exceptionally thin which means the bluish-red hue

vivo and also clinical evaluations. In tests over 28

of the vascular network is easy to see. Low contents

days on women aged 18-35 years showing constant

of collagen and elastic fibers also make the area

signs of fatigue, Rootness Awake is shown to improve

more sensitive to shadowing due to skin laxity and

and smooth out dark circles, reduce puffiness, and

sagging. Inflammation in cells caused by pollution and UV radiation, stress, chronic lack of sleep, and an unhealthy lifestyle is known to exacerbate

strengthen eye contour stiffness. The overall result is a lightened, more “awake” eye contour.

disruption to this area and the visible effects.

Through Rootness Awake, formulators and brands

“Dark circles and puffiness accentuate a tired

have the assurance of an active based on valuable

appearance and are common beauty concerns

plant compounds that could not be economically

regardless of gender and age,” commented Julie Droux, Senior Technical Marketing Specialist, Clariant Natural Ingredients. “Plant Milking

extracted from traditionally cultivated plants. Plant Milking Technology respects biodiversity and the

Technology has enabled us to use an eco-friendly

environment by focusing on soilless aeroponic

process to discover active molecules with potent

cultivation, which is non-destructive to plants

properties in sweet potato roots, and to create

and which has multiple benefits compared to

an enriched extract with high efficacy in tackling

conventional methods in relation to land use, water

many of the biological pathways responsible for alteration of the eye contour. Rootness Awake gives formulators new, unique opportunities to develop

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the release of inflammatory mediators, helping

use, and maximizing harvests. Plant cultivation and production of the active take place at the same

effective targeted care and eye contour products that

location, enabling 100 percent traceability from

contribute to progressing sustainability in skincare.”

seed to active ingredient.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022 Chemical Today Magazine 20 | June 2022

SMMA MATERIAL DRINKWARE

FRATELLI GUZZINI SELECTS SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR NEW DRINKWARE

F

ratelli Guzzini announced it has selected a range of INEOS

to deliver sustainable solutions to end users,” commented Mark Beitz,

Styrolution’s sustainable NAS® ECO materials as materials of choice

Head of Sustainability, R&D and Regulatory, INEOS Styrolution.

for its new range of drinkware solutions. NAS ECO is a styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) material, which is the result of a cooperation

(Bio)mass balanced styrene

between INEOS Styrolution and BASF. It is built on BASF’s production

To produce BMB styrene, BASF replaces fossil resources like naphtha

of styrene monomer derived from renewable feedstock based on mass

or natural gas by renewable feedstocks derived from organic waste

balance based processes. INEOS Styrolution uses the material as

or vegetable oils. It is one way to produce styrene via a mass balance

feedstock in its production of new sustainable styrenics solutions.

approach. Mass balance is a chain of custody model that keeps track

First customer in tableware and household appliances to benefit from

of the total amount of (eg, circular or other alternative) feedstock

the new solutions is Fratelli Guzzini, a world leading company in this

throughout the production process and ensures a proper allocation to

sector.

the finished goods.

“We are pleased to respond to the growing demand from our

Raw material and plastic producers like INEOS Styrolution and BASF

customers to deliver solutions with a significantly reduced impact on the environment,” commented Domenico Guzzini, President, Fratelli Guzzini.

NAS ECO with significantly reduced CO2 footprint BASF’s biomass balance (BMB) based styrene is used by INEOS Styrolution in the production of bio-attributed styrenics specialties, mainly transparent styrenics materials such as the company’s NAS®

can thus offer products with a better environmental profile but the same properties as those manufactured from fossil feedstock. The allocation process via the mass balance approach as well as the products are certified by independent auditors.

“Using biomass-balanced based (BMB) feedstocks instead of virgin fossil resources contributes directly to an improved CO2 footprint

family of SMMA (styrene methyl methacrylate) products and the Luran®

of subsequent products,” said Klaus Ries, Vice President for BASF’s

family of SAN (styrene acrylonitrile copolymer) products. The end-to-

Styrenics Business Europe. “Next to raw materials based on chemically

end mass balanced based production of the new solution portfolio is

recycled feedstock, BMB is the second strong pillar for us when it comes

certified by ISCC during BASF’s and INEOS Styrolution’s processes.

to using alternative feedstock and contributing to the replacement of

“The joint approach with BASF allows us to offer our customers

new fossil resources. It is of utmost importance for us to cooperate along

solutions with a significantly reduced CO2 footprint that help them

the whole styrenics value chain.”

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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PLASTICS 5G NETWORK

NEW COMPOUND OFFERS GOOD PERFORMANCE FOR 5G DIPOLE ANTENNAS dipole antenna design, offering advantages over traditional printed circuit board (PCB) assembly and the selective electroplating of plastic.

Across-the-board performance benefits The new LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V compound is formulated for potential use in metal plating using LDS. The material offers a wide laser processing window and both ease of plating and uniformity in plating line width to help ensure stable and consistent antenna performance. Strong adhesion between the plastic and metal layers avoids delamination, even following thermal aging and lead-free reflow soldering. Improved dimensional stability and lower warpage compared to competitive glassreinforced PPS grades help achieve smooth fixation of the metal plating during LDS, as well as accurate assembly.

Thanks to these attributes, LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V compound has been listed by LPKF Laser & Electronics, a German provider of laser

S

manufacturing solutions, as an approved thermoplastic for LDS with

electrical/electronic applications. This new compound can help the

“All-plastic dipole antennas made with glass-reinforced PPS are

industry develop lightweight, cost-effective, all-plastic antenna designs

replacing traditional designs because they can reduce weight, simplify

that facilitate deployment of 5G infrastructure. In an era of increasing

assembly and deliver higher plating uniformity,” said Jenny Wang,

urbanization and smart cities, broad availability of 5G networking is

Director, Formulation and Application, APAC, Specialties, SABIC.

urgently needed to provide fast, reliable connectivity for millions of

“However, conventional PPS materials need a complex metallization

residents.

process. To address this challenge, SABIC developed a new, specialized

ABIC introduced LNP™ THERMOCOMP™ OFC08V compound, a material well suited for 5G base station dipole antennas and other

“To help achieve 5G’s promise of faster speeds, increased data loads

the company’s systems.

PPS-based compound with LDS capability and high-strength bonding.”

and ultra-low latency, RF antenna manufacturers are revolutionizing

Compared to the current complex selective electroplating of plastic,

their designs, materials and processes,” said Joshua Chiaw, Director,

which is a widely used process involving multiple steps, LDS-enabled

Business Management, LNP & NORYL, Specialties, SABIC. “We are

LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V compound offers greater simplicity

helping our customers simplify the production of RF antennas, which

and higher productivity. After injection molding of the part, LDS only

are used by the hundreds in arrays within active antenna units. Our

requires laser structuring and chemical plating. In addition, the new

latest high-performance LNP THERMOCOMP compound not only

LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V compound delivers all the performance

helps streamline manufacturing by avoiding post processing, but it can

benefits of glass-filled PPS, including high heat resistance for PCB

also deliver exceptional performance across multiple, critical areas. By

assembly using surface mount technology, and inherent flame retardancy

continually developing new materials for 5G infrastructure, SABIC aims

(UL-94 V0 at 0.8 mm). Low dielectric values (dielectric constant: 4.0;

to accelerate expansion of this next-generation networking technology.”

dissipation factor: 0.0045) and stable dielectric performance, together

LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V compound is a glass fiber-reinforced

with good RF performance under harsh conditions, help optimize

material based on polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin. It features

transmission and extend useful life.

excellent plating performance using laser direct structuring (LDS),

“The availability of this advanced LNP THERMOCOMP OFC08V

strong layer adhesion, good warpage control, high heat resistance, and

compound can contribute to improved antenna designs and consistent

stable dielectric and radio frequency (RF) performance. This unique

performance in the field, simplify the metallization process and lower

combination of properties could enable an injection moldable new

system costs for our customers,” Wang added.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

POLYMER ODOR-FREE TEXTILES

BIOCIDE-FREE PRODUCT FOR DURABLE, ODOR-FREE TEXTILES

S

ANITIZED AG, the specialist for hygiene function in textiles, is expanding its Sanitized® Odorex™ portfolio for odor-neutralizing

technologies. The new OX20 product is usable on cotton, viscose or synthetic fibers. It does not contain any biocides, is highly wash-resistant

Versatile and highly cost-efficient The new product can be applied in extraction, pad, and spray. It can be used on all common substrates and is compatible with other textile effects. These properties increase the flexibility and efficiency during

and can be combined well with other effects.

product design, and they reduce production costs. As the first such

Early on, SANITIZED identified the market need for textiles with an

technology worldwide, OX20 can be applied to synthetics in the dye

odor-neutralizing effect. Sanitized® Odorex™ is the product of several

bath.

years of experience with environmentally friendly textile treatments.

Feel and wearing comfort

SANITIZED focuses heavily on the causes of, the production of, and the fighting of unpleasant sweat odor in textiles. The basis for the newly introduced biocide-free OX20 product is a metal-free polymer that neutralizes odors. It meets market requirements regarding washresistance with excellent results after up to 50 household washes.

Binders and particle systems negatively affect the textile’s feel and moisture management. OX20 is a particle-free product with a longlasting effect that does not change how the textile feels, nor does it affect the textile’s moisture management.

“Sanitized® Odorex™ is the technology of the future that makes odor-free

“We are convinced that biocide-free solutions that fight sweat odor are

textile products a reality. It meets industry standards as well as consumer

on their way to becoming the new market standard. And this fact mainly

standards regarding durability and sustainability,” explained Zihlmann.

applies to outdoor, sports, and workwear,” remarked Urs Zihlmann,

“Since it is a biocide-free system, OX20 is not subject to any regulatory

Product Manager of Textile Additives at SANITIZED AG.

restrictions. The textile industry greatly appreciates this property.”

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

23

MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS WEARABLE PATCH SENSORS

MATERIAL SOLUTIONS FROM WOUND CARE TO WEARABLE SMART PATCHES

C

ovestro recently showcased its innovative material development related to wearable smart patches and wound care in Paris, France.

prevention dressing that addresses the three most important factors for bedsores: Pressure, friction and shear. A highly breathable prototype is

More comfortable and sustainable wearables

made exclusively from Covestro polyurethane materials.

Wearable patch sensors (smart patches) are rising in popularity, as they offer a wide range of options for medical diagnosis. Current trends include enhanced convenience, even more functions, and ongoing miniaturization. What’s more, the public is demanding more sustainable solutions and a move away from disposable products. Together with its partner accensors, Covestro has developed a smart patch consisting of two elements: The disposable patch, which contains the sensors, and the ReUse patch, which contains the electronics. This makes it possible to reuse the valuable electronic parts.

The key features of this prototype wound care dressing made from

Efficient production of wound dressings The production of wound dressings and plasters, as well as medical wearables, involves a multi-stage process. The combination of a polypropylene (PP) backing with blown films from the Platilon® range made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), in particular, is now proving to be well suited to satisfying today’s high demands for process efficiency and ease of use in wound care. In comparison to the production of paper backings, the generation of dust in the production process is significantly reduced.

Breathable wound dressings to prevent bedsores In the case of prolonged disease progression, it is important to prevent bedsores (pressure ulcers). Covestro has developed a concept for a

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Baymedix® and Platilon® materials are: • Optimized friction, shear and pressure management • Excellent moisture management to support a healthy microclimate • Application- and skin-friendly polyurethane adhesive • Efficient and sustainable manufacturing technology

Extra matte films for increased wear comfort The PP backings can also be combined with multilayer Platilon® TPU films, for example, to achieve individual properties such as a specific surface finish. TPU blown films offer a wide range of surface qualities from silky to extra matte. In particular, Platilon®XM films offer an extra matte, skin-like surface and a soft feel that offers increased comfort for patients. Medical products made with the low-friction Platilon® XM films adhere to the skin longer because friction against textiles is minimized. This, in turn, prevents premature changes of dressings and plasters. Owing to its soft surface feel, the film feels like a second skin.

It is used in wound dressings, plasters and other medical products that require high breathability.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

25

ASSOCIATION SPECIALTY CHEMICALS

MAKING INDIA A GLOBAL MANUFACTURING HUB FOR SPECIALTY CHEMICALS

Vinay Patil, President, Indian Specialty Chemical Manufacturers’ Association (ISCMA) asserts that the Indian specialty chemicals industry captures 4 percent of the global market

and that it is the optimum time for India to expand its presence, to make most of the current anti-China sentiments among global manufacturers.

BY SHIVANI MODY pportunities for specialty chemical industry in India & Asia Pacific.

O

Indian specialty chemical industry to compete globally.

The specialty chemicals constitute 22 percent of the total chemicals and

Due to the recent pandemic, global firms are shifting from China

petrochemicals market in India. Indian manufacturers have recorded

to India. This trend is anticipated to benefit India significantly. In

a CAGR of 11 percent in revenue between FY15 and FY21, increasing

addition, the tightening of environment norms in China since January

India’s share in the global specialty chemicals market to 4 percent from

2015 has led to increase in operating costs, closure and relocation of

3 percent, according to the Crisil report. A revival in domestic demand and robust exports will spur a 50 percent year-on-year increase in the capex of specialty chemicals manufacturers in FY22 to Rs. 6,000-6,200 crore ($815-842 million). From April 2021 to February 2022, exports of organic & inorganic chemicals increased 33.75 percent YoY to reach $26.48 billion. Revenue growth is likely to be 19-20 percent YoY in FY22, up from 9-10 percent in FY21, driven by recovery in domestic

manufacturing facilities. Rising labour cost in the country has further impacted the dominance its dominance in the sector. A combination of all these factors has resulted in creating an opportunity for India. To capitalize on this opportunity, the Government of India has undertaken various policy interventions to attract companies looking to shift their manufacturing base to India in the post COVID-19 scenario.

demand and higher realisations owing to rising crude oil prices and

Due to its strategic geographic location, India has many advantages

better exports.

when compared to China in terms of becoming specialty chemical

The India & Asia-Pacific specialty chemicals market is projected

manufactures’ hub. Apart from the low cost of labour, India offers

to reach $361.0 billion by 2023. The rapidly growing population;

lower operating costs, competitive infrastructure, special economic

increasing growing middle-class population in the region; and rising

zones (SEZs) that offer duty free exports among other benefits,

industrialization in the field of food, agriculture, cosmetics, and many

incentives to boost domestic manufacturing, and business-friendly

other manufacturing sectors, are propelling the demand of specialty

policies. Furthermore, China’s situation has worsened by the trade war

chemicals in the region.

with the United States of America (US), however India has very good

India & Asia-Pacific specialty chemicals market is categorized into

relationship with the US. Also, India’s improving rank in the ‘Ease

agrochemicals, construction chemicals, specialty coatings, surfactants,

of Doing Business’ index has also helped attract global attention and

food additives, polymer additives, electronic chemicals, cleaning

consider it as an alternate manufacturing destination.

chemicals, plastic additives, paper and textile chemicals, adhesives and

Improving international business activities in India.

sealants, lubricants and oilfield chemicals, and others. The other types include advanced ceramic materials, rubber processing chemicals, water treatment chemicals, and mining chemicals. Of these, the fastest growth during the forecast period is expected from construction

Chemical Industries are facing lot of challenges such as availability of raw materials, logistics issues etc post Covid period. Ukraine and Russia war has further added to the problems. Under these circumstances

chemicals, with a CAGR of 7.4 percent. This can be attributed to the

we have to be less dependent on China and in longer term we have to

increasing domestic demand for residential and commercial buildings

become ‘Aatma Nirbhar,’ that is make products in our country as an

from the massive population of the region.

import substitute.

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

We also need to talk with various trade associations like Spain Chemical

end-use industries, difficulties with funding, government regulations

association, US Consulate, for better understanding and needs of

regarding disposal, cost of production, among several others.

each other in terms of R&D activities, joint ventures or any other collaboration for mutual benefits.

Raw material requirements and sourcing in India.

Along with the specialty chemicals manufacturers, the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has exposed several challenges for various end-use industries. Around 80 percent of the automobile and

Raw material procurement is one of the major challenges for

related industries reported a direct impact of the pandemic on their

specialty chemicals manufacturers post Covid-19. The majority of

2020 revenues. In China, car sales plunged by 18 percent in January

the manufacturers operating in the specialty chemicals market were

2020. More than 70 percent of the world’s supply chain is connected to

dependent on China for raw material procurement prior to the 2019

China. The inception of the virus in the country caused major hassles of

pandemic.

inventory management for major OEMs across the globe.

Since, the virus originated in China, there is a fear for such uncertainties

However, the shortage of feedstock supply and the majority of players

from the nation in future, hence manufacturers are decreasing their

operating on a smaller scale which cannot overtake the sales of Chinese

dependency on China for raw material sourcing. Manufacturers are

counterparts acts as one of the limiting factors in this segment. This

expected to apply the 1+1 theory (alternative sourcing strategies)

remains as one of the major reasons for India to import chemicals.

for raw material procurement. However, it has become very critical

Role of ISCMA in supporting specialty chemical manufacturers in India.

for manufacturers to identify alternative supply scenarios as viral transmission emerged in various nations across the globe.

Post Covid-19 there is a chance of shortage in the production of raw materials used in the specialty chemical industries. This is due to the shutting down of various plants during Covid-19, instability of crude oil and the cut down of production and supplies of crude oil from various Middle East nations which resulted in an immediate price spike of

ISCMA does many activities for their members such as professional networking where members discuss the present challenges faced by them and find out suitable solutions. ISCMA also arranges technical interactive session by experts which keeps our members updated on global technological trends.

between 10 to 12 percent. All these factors will have a significant impact

ISCMA has partnered with Deputy Director of Vocational Training and

on the specialty chemicals market.

Education regional office, Mumbai for skill development of students

About one-fourth of the global specialty chemical manufacturers are operating in China. Hence, there will be a great challenge for the specialty chemicals manufacturers operating in China to maintain a strong customer relationship with the end-user industries such as automotive, paint and coatings, among others. This is due to the fear

from ITI Panvel, Mahad, Nagathane & Ambernath. We design ITI courses on Prevention, Pollution & Industrial Safety” & Boiler Training” with the help of Industry experts. Candidates will be absorbed in specialty chemical industries. ISCMA is also associated with IITBombay for training its members on Safety Data Sheet.

of disruption and instable supplies among the end-use industries

ISCMA also organizes meetings with various local and global trade

manufacturers.

associations to help promote exports, comply documentation at various

Also, it is expected that the demand for products such as disinfectants,

stages, support in R&D and find out import substitute.

surfactants, and personal protective equipment will remain high post

Impact of the pandemic and changing market dynamics of specialty chemical industry.

Covid-19. Hence, the evaluation and management of inventory and raw material stock is expected to become a crucial part of the specialty chemical industry post covid-19 to meet future demand.

Challenges faced by the specialty chemical industry in India.

The pandemic outbreak had a mixed impact on specialty chemical manufacturers. Low crude prices reduced raw material costs for some product lines due to shutting down of Chinese plants even helped manufacturers based out of Europe, the US and India to fill the void

The specialty chemicals are particular chemical products which provide

and increase order intakes. However, supply chain disruptions have

a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely.

led to procurement issues for several manufacturers. Companies

Industries that depend heavily on it are automotive, aerospace, food,

dependent on Chinese raw materials are also facing significant logistical

cosmetics, agriculture, manufacturing, and textiles in the form of

challenges.

formulation or single chemical entities whose chemical composition

India’s specialty chemicals segment may have a new opportunity in the

influences the end product.

wake of Covid-19. Consumers across the globe are diversifying away

Specialty chemicals are made with extensive research and development

from China (which holds close to 36 percent global market share) and

differentiating them from commodity chemicals. They have only one or

the country has cracked down on many segments to cut down pollution.

two core applications, unlike commodity chemicals which have dozens of different applications.

India has quite a few companies which are well placed to pick up some market share, and there could be acceleration in export growth as well

Covid-19 has changed the outlook of the chemical industry and the way

as stable local double-digit demand. Despite this, the Indian specialty

manufacturers operate in it. Specialty chemicals manufacturers may

segment is expected to return to a robust performance in the upcoming

face several challenges post covid-19 such as raw material sourcing,

year, with China decreasing its market share in the Chemical sector and

price fluctuations, market liquidity, concern regarding workforce,

US-China trade war, leaving Indian companies with a good opportunity

reduction in productivity, decrease in consumption, revival period for

to scale up.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

GREEN CHEMISTRY

REVOLUTIONARY WATER PACKAGING THAT REDUCES CARBON FOOTPRINT BY 21 PERCENT

Amcor Rigid Packaging and Danone launch a 100 percent recyclable bottle. The bottle can be recycled over and over, helping to create a circular economy.

A

mcor Rigid Packaging (ARP) and Danone have launched a 100 percent recyclable bottle for the Villavicencio water brand, made exclusively for the Argentinean market. The new label-less bottle is made from 100% recycled content and has a reduced carbon footprint of 21% compared to the previous bottle.

“As longtime partners, we are excited to support Danone’s mission to have a positive impact on the environment and our health,” said Juan Cazes, general manager of Amcor Rigid Packaging Argentina. “Over the last two years, we have worked closely to produce a bottle that fully represents the Villavicencio brand, keeping the same visual elements.

We used top-quality materials, helping to ensure the safety of the container and the consumer in the process, while we manufacture a bottle that, with the help of the consumer, will become another bottle once recycled.”

The Villavicencio bottle can be recycled over and over, helping to support a more circular economy. Like this new bottle, many of the containers ARP designs are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is easily recycled with mechanical or chemical recycling in most markets, even when that container uses a label. Removing the label, like in the

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Villavicencio design, provides a greater opportunity to increase yields of recycled PET resin.

Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care and other products, has committed to making all its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Partnering with Danone, a global food and beverage company dedicated to inspiring a healthier world through food, was a natural step.

“As one of our flagship brands in Argentina, Villavicencio upholds the ideals that we are all connected to nature,” said Pablo Colombo, Danone procurement director. “If the environment is healthy, we are too. So, in addition to serving our customers with high-quality products, we must do the same for our planet. The alliance with Amcor has allowed us to take another step in our commitment to sustainability, creating a bottle that, in addition to being 100% recyclable, has a lower carbon footprint.”

Villavicencio is the only brand of natural mineral water from a protected reserve that, after thousands of years of filtering by nature in the Andes of Mendoza, emerges with 23 minerals.

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NEW CIRCULAR COSMETIC PACKAGING

The tube and cap are designed for full recyclability and made of 93 percent recycled polyethylene (PE) content.

L

yondellBasell, Albea Tubes and L’OCCITANE en Provence have launched groundbreaking cosmetic tubes and caps for L’OCCITANE en Provence’s “almond” range, supporting the circular economy. The packaging is made by Albéa Tubes with CirculenRevive polymers from LyondellBasell.

The protection of biodiversity and the reduction of waste are at the heart of the international beauty brand L’OCCITANE en Provence.

Therefore, when re-designing two tubes of its “almond” product range, L’OCCITANE was seeking a resource-friendly solution and teamed up with cosmetic tubes specialist Albéa and polymer supplier LyondellBasell.

“We are excited to work with Albea Tubes and L’OCCITANE en Provence on this project and to contribute to circular cosmetic packaging solutions,” said Richard Roudeix, LyondellBasell senior vice president of Olefins and Polyolefins for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. “Our CirculenRevive products, which are part of our Circulen product range of sustainable solutions, are polymers based on advanced (chemical) recycling technology from our supplier Plastic Energy who converts end-of-life plastic waste streams into pyrolysis oil feedstock.”

Plastic Energy is at the forefront of the use and development of advanced recycling technology. Plastic Energy’s recycled oils, branded under the name TACOIL were the source material for LyondellBasell, which was then allocated to the product for tubes and caps using a mass balance approach.

“Advanced recycling can effectively process contaminated or multilayered plastics and films that pose challenges for mechanical recycling, making it a complementary solution to help address global plastic waste,” said Carlos Monreal, founder and CEO of Plastic Energy. “Our advanced recycling process transforms these difficult to recycle plastics

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

into TACOIL, a virgin quality feedstock meeting standards for use in food-grade, medical-grade and cosmetic packaging.”

Packaging specialist Albea manufactured the actual cosmetic tubes and caps for L’OCCITANE en Provence. As an early signatory to the Ellen McArthur Foundation’s Global Commitment, Albea has pledged to make all its tubes recyclable by 2025, and increase the use of postconsumer recycled resins.

“The Almond Shower Scrub is the holy grail in terms of responsible packaging today. The tube and cap are designed for full recyclability and made of 93% recycled polyethylene (PE) content. On top, both are made of PE for higher-quality recycling, confirmed as recycling-ready by recycler associations in both Europe and the US. This packaging is in effect closing the loop, and that’s quite a breakthrough!,” added Gilles Swyngedauw, VP of sustainability and innovation with Albea Tubes.

Regarding L’OCCITANE, the company believes consumption must evolve into regeneration. As an international beauty company, they have committed to ‘cultivating change’ at every level, starting with the design and production of their packaging. As part of these efforts, in 2019 L’OCCITANE signed up to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Global Commitment for a new economy for plastic.

“We are accelerating our circular economy journey and are engaged to reach an overall 40 percent recycled content in all our plastic packaging by 2025. The use of advanced recycling technology in our plastic tubes is an exciting step forward. Collaborating with LyondellBasell and Albea was key for success. The new tubes strictly follow ISCC Plus guidelines with a mass balance approach in order to satisfy our two clients: Customer and Nature,” said David Bayard, R&D packaging director, L’OCCITANE en Provence.

GREEN CHEMISTRY

ECO-STRIPPED” TUBE WITH 30 PERCENT LESS PLASTICS

Eco-Stripped Tube result in is a 30 percent reduction in overall virgin materials without sacrificing product protection, haptics or esthetics.

H

offmann Neopac, a global provider of high-quality packaging for pharma, beauty and oral care, has “capped off ” its commitment to reducing plastics in its tube designs. The company has introduced Eco-Stripped Tube, which combines a significantly reduced sleeve wall thickness with a comparable materials reduction in the shoulder and cap. The result is a 30 percent reduction in overall virgin materials without sacrificing product protection, haptics or esthetics.

For cosmetics and personal care product customers, the benefits of Eco-Stripped Tubes are several. For starters, the trimmed-down tubes substantially reduce carbon impact; in fact, four Eco-Stripped Tubes can be made with the amount of materials it takes to produce three conventional tubes of the same size. Less overall plastics also means lower Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees – so-called “plastic taxes” – as well as lower shipping costs.

For Neopac, reducing overall materials to create lower-profile shoulder and cap represents a materials science breakthrough. For size D50 tubes, for example, the sleek Eco-Stripped tubes sit 9.4mm lower with a 3.75g weight reduction without sacrificing performance.

The latest in Neopac’s EcoDesign series, Eco-Stripped Tube is an evolution of its LIGHTWEIGHT TUBE, which reduces sleeve wall thickness from 0.5mm to 0.35mm. The next-generation EcoStripped Tube builds upon this sleeve weight reduction to create a comprehensively trimmed-down tube construction. An eco-conscious

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

substitute for standard PE, PP and coextruded tubes, Eco-Stripped Tubes are available in diameters ranging from 30-50mm, for volumes from 40-300ml. For enhanced protect protection and safety, tamperevident (first-opening) options also are available.

Neopac estimates that, in its own packaging manufacturing operations, the new tubes will eliminate the need for as much as 7.7 tons of HDPE and PP materials per one million tubes produced. This translates to an overall carbon footprint reduction of over 29 tons of CO2 per million tubes manufactured.

“The concept behind our new Eco-Stripped Tube is ‘undress to progress’, meaning a key tool in moving toward a circular economy is overall materials reduction – and virgin plastics reduction specifically,” said Cornelia Schmid, head of marketing for Neopac. “As a company, we’re continuing to push our sustainability efforts further without sacrificing product protection, haptics, esthetics or other qualities brand owners hold dear.”

Other solutions in Neopac’s EcoDesign portfolio includes RECYCLED TUBE featuring 70 percent recycling material, 64 percent of which is PCR; Sugarcane Tube, made from renewable raw materials; and PICEA™ wood tube, comprised of 95 percent renewable material in the tube body and shoulder – including 10 percent of spruce wood from wood waste in sawmills.

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IN A FIRST - TETHERED CAPS ON CARTON PACKAGES

Tethered caps play an important role in preventing litter, as the cap stays attached to the package.

J

oining forces with leading beverage producers, Tetra Pak is launching tethered caps on carton packages. Marking a significant milestone in the company’s long-term work on design for recycling, five new tethered cap solutions are currently being introduced across Ireland, the Baltics, Spain and Germany in different product categories – a market first for these geographies. As part of a wider programme, this development paves the way for Europe-based customers to stay ahead of schedule and meet the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive coming into force by 2024.

“We are delighted to be supplying a number of customers with tethered cap solutions, helping them to ‘walk the talk’ towards their sustainability ambitions. Understanding our customers’ needs and having collected consumer insights through multiple pieces of research across various markets, our new tethered caps have been designed to enhance convenience. For instance, they are easy to open and re-close for subsequent consumption, while featuring carefully sized diameters for smooth pouring and drinking,” said Julia Luscher, vice president marketing, Tetra Pak. Tethered caps play an important role in preventing litter, as the cap will stay attached to the package. They could also help reduce the carbon footprint of the carton when they are chosen by food manufacturers as plant-based options, made from polymers derived from responsibly sourced sugarcane, thereby increasing the renewable content of the package. Additionally, a majority of Tetra Pak’s tethered cap portfolio features a reduced amount of plastic. Depending on the various solutions, the company achieved a plastic content reduction ranging between 7 percent and 15 percent.

“Starting with these five new introductions, we are planning to equip approximately 300 packaging lines with tethered caps in Europe by the

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

end of 2022. Considering the scale of change required across the value chain, early collaborations like these are putting the food and beverage industry on a fast track to accelerate the transition to a low carbon circular economy,” added Marco Marchetti, vice president, packaging materials, Sales and Distribution Solutions, Tetra Pak. In May, Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd (BBL) is set to start commercial production of the new plant-based C38 Pro tethered cap on Tetra Top® 330 and Tetra Top® 500 carton packages. Based in Ireland, BBL is an experienced and awarded water producer, who’s seeking ‘to lead the industry towards a more responsible and sustainable future’.

The company has also heavily invested towards an improved manufacturing experience for customers. Tetra Pak’s new high quality, automated production lines for tethered caps utilise Artificial Intelligence technology for increased efficiency.

“We are on a journey towards creating the world’s most sustainable food package, a carton that is fully made from responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials, is fully recyclable and carbon-neutral. We are ramping up investment in the development of alternative solutions across our packaging portfolio such as tethered caps and other drinkfrom systems, to reduce littering while increasing the renewable share of our cartons,” Marchetti concluded.

“In total, we are investing around €400 million in the development and roll-out of tethered cap solutions, including a €100 million investment last year in our Chateaubriant plant in France to accelerate the production of tethered closures. By working seamlessly across multiple project streams and covering approximately 40 different packages with tethered caps, we expect to sell over 1.5 billion such closures by year end.”

GREEN CHEMISTRY

RECYCLABLE TOOTHPASTE TUBE WITH “RECYCLE ME!” PACKAGING IN THE US

Recycling Colgate-Palmolive tube requires no extra steps of rinsing, cutting or cleaning before tossing it into a recycling bin.

C

olgate-Palmolive’s tube, the first to be recognized by external recycling authorities as recyclable, is made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), the same No. 2 plastic used for milk and detergent bottles. Recycling the tube alongside plastic bottles requires no extra steps -- no rinsing, cutting or cleaning before tossing it into a recycling bin

toothpaste tubes a part of the circular economy. The Recycle Me! tube is designed to educate and engage consumers and the recycling community who are both essential to progress, and we are excited to initiate and learn from our upcoming pilot program,” said Dana Medema, vice president & general manager, Oral Care for ColgatePalmolive in North America.

But making a toothpaste tube that is recyclable is only half the battle.

Traditionally, since most of the world’s toothpaste tubes are made with a mix of materials, they have not been recycled. Globally, that adds up to 20 billion toothpaste tubes a year that are tossed in the trash.

Colgate-Palmolive has taken other important actions to build momentum for the adoption and acceptance of recyclable tubes.

To alert shoppers that the Colgate tube is now recyclable, Colgate is bringing it out in a “Recycle Me!” tube. The bold, limited edition graphics will be found on select tubes of Colgate® Optic White Advanced Sparkling White, Colgate® Cavity Protection, Colgate® Max Fresh Cool, and Colgate® Total Whitening, with the transition of the rest of the Colgate toothpaste line to be completed by 2023.

The goal of “Recycle Me!” is to build awareness of recyclable tubes not only among consumers, but also the operators of the Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) that sort plastic, reprocessors that make resin from recycled plastic, and other recycling stakeholders.

“As the global toothpaste leader with a brand found in more homes than any other, we want to lead in waste reduction and, in particular, making

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

One was to use HDPE. Colgate chose it because the HDPE bottle stream has one of the highest recycling rates, at about 30 percent in the US. It wasn’t easy to work with; HDPE is rigid and not well suited for squeezable tubes. But by combining different layers of HDPE laminate at varying thicknesses, Colgate engineers were able to produce a soft, easy-to-squeeze recyclable tube that will also protect the product across roughly 150 brushing occasions during the life of a typical 6 oz. tube.

The other was to share its recyclable tube know-how with other companies, including competitors, through some 50 packaging forums and 1-on-1 meetings to promote the transition to recyclable tubes. For recyclable tubes to be a success, it requires a critical mass of tubes on shelf that meet recycling standards. That will encourage the recycling community to add tubes to their lists of acceptable materials and support a new habit among consumers to recycle tubes.

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NEW MACHINE IMPROVES MATERIAL RECOVERY FROM TRADITIONAL ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Daisy can disassemble up to 1.2 million phones each year, helping Apple recover more valuable materials for recycling. The company has offered to license the patents related to Daisy for researchers and other electronics manufacturers developing their own disassembly processes.

A

pple released new details on the increased use of recycled content across its products. For the first time, the company introduced certified recycled gold, and more than doubled the use of recycled tungsten, rare earth elements and cobalt. Nearly 20 per cent of all material used in Apple products in 2021 was recycled, the highest-ever use of recycled content.

our teams use today’s products to build tomorrow’s, and as our global supply chain transitions to clean power, we are charting a path for other companies to follow.”

Apple released new details on this progress, its recycling innovation efforts and clean energy in its 2022 Environmental Progress Report.

Apple has pioneered innovations in the recycling and sourcing of materials to spur industry-wide change. To help its recycling partners build on this momentum worldwide, Apple announced its newest recycling innovation, Taz, a machine that uses a groundbreaking approach to improve material recovery from traditional electronics recycling.

The company also shared new ways customers can celebrate Earth Day, including supporting World Wildlife Fund by using Apple Pay. With educational resources, curated content and engaging activities across platforms, Apple customers can take opportunities to appreciate the beauty of nature from wherever they are, learn about key issues like climate change, and support causes and communities working to protect the planet.

“As people around the world join in celebrating Earth Day, we are making real progress in our work to address the climate crisis and to one day make our products without taking anything from the earth,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “Our rapid pace of innovation is already helping

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

More Recycled and Responsibly Sourced Materials Across Apple Products

In 2021, 59 per cent of all the aluminium Apple shipped in its products came from recycled sources, with many products featuring 100 per cent recycled aluminium in the enclosure. Apple has also made significant progress toward the company’s goal to eliminate plastics from its packaging by 2025, with plastics accounting for just 4 per cent of packaging in 2021. Since 2015, Apple has reduced plastic in its packaging by 75 per cent.

Additionally, Apple products in 2021 included: 45 per cent certified recycled rare earth elements, a significant increase since Apple introduced recycled rare earth elements in its devices.

30 per cent certified recycled tin, with all new iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Mac devices featuring 100 per cent recycled tin in the solder of their main logic boards.

13 per cent certified recycled cobalt, used in iPhone batteries that can be disassembled by Apple’s recycling robot Daisy and returned to market.

Certified recycled gold, featured — for the first time in any Apple product — in the plating of the main logic board and wire in the front camera and the rear cameras of iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. To achieve this milestone, Apple pioneered industry-leading levels of traceability to build a gold supply chain of exclusively recycled content.

At the Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas, engineers and experts use a pilot-scale industrial electronics shredder for research and development. Apple’s newest recycling machine, Taz, was developed out of this process, designed to help conventional bulk electronics recyclers recover more precious materials.

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SECTOR VIEW ALTERNATE FUELS

ALTERNATE FUELS: POWERING SUSTAINABLY

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BY DEBARATI DAS

F

or centuries, natural energy sources including crude oil, natural gas, coal, etc have played a crucial role in fuelling the global economy. But this has come at a very high cost where the planet’s health has paid the price. These natural resources, have undoubtedly been the primary choice for fuel and energy requirement across the globe. However, the carbon emission caused due to burning of fossil fuel has escalated global warming to an irreparable level. The UN climate experts have warned that the world will face catastrophic levels of warming if emissions from fossil fuel use is not drastically reduced.

To add to this, depleting levels of natural resources have sky rocketed fuel prices sending the global markets into a frenzy. According to the IEA Oil Market Report (OMR), the global oil demand in 2022 is projected at 99.7 mb/d, an increase of 2.1 mb/d from 2021. But the high fuel cost has had a massive impact on every commodity.

The vulnerable energy markets constantly keep the global economic stability susceptible.

Last but not the least, Russia’s invasion on Ukraine has worsened the energy market. Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of petroleum and other liquids after the United States and Saudi Arabia with an annual average of 10.5 million barrels per day (b/d) in total liquid fuels production.

However, sanctions on Russia from various countries has led to a sudden disruption of oil and gas supplies from Russia, thereby upsetting the global demand and supply ratio. With only Saudi Arabia and UAE having spare capacity of oil to substitute the Russian shortfall for a limited period of time, the current economic turmoil is just the tip of the iceberg.

These three major issues of climate change, exhaustion of natural resources and over dependence on fossil fuels are crippling the world in one way or the other, giving a clear indication that we need to move over to fuels which are more sustainable and feasible to power up the planet and the economy.

Today, 80 to 85 percent of the world’s energy requirements are met by fossil fuels. The only way to reverse the impact and dependence of fossil fuel is by strategically shifting towards sustainable alternate fuels. According to IEA, the demand for fossil fuels will peak by 2025 and then rapidly decline thereafter if countries meet their net-zero and other new climate goals.

There is a lot being talked about alternate energy from renewable sources like wind and solar energy but they still meet only a tiny proportion of the world’s total energy demand and cannot completely replace the fossil fuels reliance.

However, unlike the oil wells, our options for sustainable fuel replacement haven’t dried up yet. All we need to do is to make a smarter choice, fast.

Making the Switch …. Sustainably Although oil and gas are the key requirement for every industry, one of the major areas which heavily depends on fossil fuels is the automobile segment. According to reports, as of 2019, there were over 1.4 billion motor vehicles in the world making them the major consumer of fuels and major contributor to global pollution.

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Downscaling centuries of fossil fuel dependence will not be an easy

with gasoline to increase octane levels and improve emissions

task. However, taking cognizance of the alarming situation, various

quality. Ethanol has a widespread acceptance. As per reports, more

countries have mandated for advanced vehicles which supports

than 98% of gasoline in the U.S. contains some ethanol. The most

alternate fuels. There are several alternative fuels in production

common blend of ethanol is E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline). India

or under development to support next gen advanced technology

has already achieved 9.99% ethanol blending and aims to take it to

vehicles which can significantly conserve natural fuel and lower

20% by 2030.

vehicle emissions.

Propane

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global alternative fuel vehicles market is projected to grow from $330.45 billion in 2021 to $1,681.80 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 26.2%. This growth validates the technological investment in making alternate fuels the

Propane is also known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) which is a byproduct of natural gas processing and crude oil refining. It has been used worldwide as a vehicle fuel for decades.

sustainable choice for the market in future.

Methanol

Here is a list of some of the alternate fuel technology which aims at

Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is made from natural gas,

taking the automotive industry to the next level:

coal, and biomass. It can be used in vehicle concentrations as high as

Biodiesel

M85. Methanol could become an important alternative fuel in the

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel manufactured from vegetable oils,

future as a source of the hydrogen needed to power fuel-cell vehicles.

animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease which can be used in diesel

P-Series Fuels

vehicles. Since biodiesel has similar physical properties as petroleum

P-Series fuels are a blend of ethanol, natural gas liquids and

diesel, vehicle engines can be modified to burn biodiesel in its pure

methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF), a co-solvent derived from biomass

form, or biodiesel can be blended with petroleum diesel to be used in

like paper sludge, wastepaper, food waste, yard and wood waste,

unmodified engines.

agricultural waste. P-Series fuels are renewable, non-petroleum,

Hydrogen

liquid fuels. The feedstock is not incinerated, but chemically digested

Hydrogen can be mixed with natural gas to create an alternative

hence has no toxic air emissions.

fuel for vehicles. It can also be used in fuel-cell vehicles to provide

Way Ahead

electricity when hydrogen and oxygen are combined in the fuel “stack.”

Although the world is still fixated on petrol, the auto industry must look into making more vehicles which can run on alternate fuels

Ethanol

minimizing the dependence on fossil fuels. This will give an impetus

Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel made by fermenting

to various other industries try become more sustainable in their

and distilling crops such as corn, barley or wheat. It can be blended

energy solutions.

Alternate Fuels: Pros • Safe

Biodiesel

• Biodegradable • Reduces air pollutants in vehicle emissions

Hydrogen

Ethanol

Propane

Methanol

P-Series Fuels

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• No harmful emissions

• Cost effective • Easily available raw material • Fewer emissions than gasoline • Well-developed infrastructure for transport, storage and distribution • Reduces emissions • Methanol blended with gasoline increases automobile performance • Can be used alone or mixed with gasoline • Addresses solid waste management

Cons • Limited production and distribution infrastructure • High cost • Lack of fuelling infrastructure • Might spike food prices • Difficult to obtain ethanol in its purest form due to its high-water affinity

• Leakage can cause explosion • Propane poisoning can lead to death • Automakers no longer manufacture methanol-powered vehicles • High amount of formaldehyde emissions • Automakers do not manufacture flexible fuel vehicles • Hydrocarbon components can lead to soil contamination

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SUSTAINABILITY FERTILISERS

Nitrogen fertilisers show higher GHG emissions and raises climate risks

Nitrogen fertiliser producers face the greatest long-term climate risks, despite solid demand drivers. This is mostly due to emerging pressure from regulatory measures to tackle inefficient use in some emerging and developed markets, and pressure from compliance costs, (Image © Pixabay GmbH)

N

itrogen producers are the most exposed among fertiliser peers to long-term climate risks from growing regulatory pressures as they account for at least 80 percent of sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as per a report. This greatly exceeds the production emissions of phosphate and potash fertiliser manufacturers, which will experience less pressure to decarbonise.

Fertiliser production is associated with roughly 2 percent of global GHG emissions. Fertiliser application to soils results in further nitrous oxide (NO2) emissions and urea-specific carbon dioxide release, sometimes exacerbated by fertiliser overuse.

Nitrogen fertiliser producers face the greatest long-term climate risks

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in the sector, despite solid demand drivers. This is mostly due to emerging pressure from regulatory measures to tackle inefficient use in some emerging and developed markets, and pressure from compliance costs related to the impact of the EU’s Emissions Trading System and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. These pressures will intensify, exacerbated by calls to reduce land use for agriculture, according to the UN IPR forecast, which could affect aggregate demand.

Production of ammonia, the input for all nitrogen fertilisers, is by far the largest emissions contributor as it is energy-intensive. Its carbon footprint is almost twice as high in China as in other countries because China uses coal rather than natural gas for ammonia production.

Two major alternatives to carbon-intensive conventional ammonia production are carbon capture utilisation and storage (‘blue’ ammonia) and the use of water electrolysis fed by renewables and water (‘green’ ammonia). The latter eliminates fossil fuels as an energy source, but so far such projects have been limited in scale and entail higher investments and operating costs than conventional ammonia, even accounting for the carbon tax, which will rise for conventional ammonia.

Phosphate fertilisers’ solid demand drivers largely offset rising pressures from climate policies in most jurisdictions. However, tightening measures to curb agricultural emissions and land transformation will begin to take effect after 2035, although regulatory risks are lower

for phosphate fertilisers than for nitrogen fertilisers given their lower emissions intensity. Adjustments to the production processes will therefore be less costly and disruptive to producers over the long term.

Potash fertilisers benefit from the lowest emissions intensity compared to other segments. We also project their demand growth to be the highest due to underuse in most regions. Potash’s vulnerability to climate risks will increase somewhat in the very long term as its use will be optimised, while efforts to decarbonise potash mining and processing will spread, although it will remain limited compared to nitrogen and phosphates.

Source: Fitch Ratings Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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INTERNATIONAL FOCUS ASIA PACIFIC

Asia Pacific: A Business Magnet For Plastic Additives Industry Over the last two decades, Asia Pacific has been a strong business contender for the global market providing innovation, technology and operational excellence. This region is growing from strength to strength making it one of the most favorable regions to grow business. BASF executive shared few key pointers with Chemical Today magazine, on how the Asia Pacific region provides a favorable environment for the Plastic Additives industry to flourish.

BY HERMANN ALTHOFF

I

n May 2022, BASF inaugurated the new production line for its antioxidant Irganox® 1010 at its plant in Singapore that is completely integrated into the existing production facilities.

This expansion is in response to the strong organic growth we see in the market, especially for polyethylene and polypropylene. We expect the polymer additives market to show attractive growth rates in the medium to long term in line with the expected polymer growth of 3 – 4 percent per annum, driven by the continuous replacement of other materials with plastics. Virtually all end use industries contribute to

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the plastic additives growth, with packaging, building and construction as well as automotive showing the highest potential for growth. With respect to regions we see the strongest market growth in Asia, especially China and India, as well as in the Middle East.

With this new production line, we pursue our strategic purpose: we want to continue expanding our position as the leading producer of antioxidants in the growing markets of Asia Pacific and provide a reliable supply of high-quality products to our customers.

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There are three key aspects of our strategy that I wish to highlight:

First is Excellence in Operations Our plant in Singapore has been on a journey of continuous improvement and expansion making it one of the best performing of similar plants in the BASF production network. BASF acquired the plant from CIBA in 2009 and in 2013 we expanded our antioxidant capacity in this plant by adding the production of Irganox 1010.

In 2018, we expanded the production of formgiving and powder blending. We also installed three new automated packaging lines to in-source packaging which was previously done by an external service provider.

In the last six years, the plant has reduced its specific energy consumption by almost 40% per ton product produced. This was achieved by measures such as, steam reduction by bypassing heating and cooling steps in the crystallizers; electricity savings by reducing pump and agitator service time through process optimization and the replacement of the water chiller with a unit that operates on highly efficient screw compressors and plate heat exchangers.

production technologies and processes.

We also focus on opportunities through digitalization. For example, all inventory-related transactions take place in the field using barcoding that allows the operator to update the production situation in real time. This supports system-generated order confirmation for customers. Digital checklists provide a new layer of safety interlocks to increase our production safety and quality management. Furthermore, online sensors monitor operating conditions for vibrations, corrosion and integrity for preventive maintenance

At the Singapore plant, we have significantly reduced our CO2 emissions by optimizing the plant’s production processes.

experience

In 2019, for the first time we reached an overall asset availability of over 90% through operational excellence measures Another aspect of Operational Excellence is low-emission

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Our second strategic focus is to deliver an excellent customer

We offer an unmatched portfolio of antioxidants, light stabilizers and other additives to the plastics producing and processing industry.

Innovative and sustainable solutions, often developed in close collaboration with our customers, differentiate us from competition.

We have technical centers in all regions of the world. We are based on a global production network, which increases the robustness of supply security. We manage the business by focusing on our clear market approach, defined growth platforms and operational excellence. In other words, we help our customers improve the performance of their products.

Products from our plants meet global product specifications. It also means each product complies with the same classification and has the same product stewardship approvals. Hence our customers in India get the same global quality and same certification as our customers in other regions.

Our third strategic focus is Innovations Innovations are the basis of our success. Process innovations are helping us to reduce manufacturing cost, gain competitiveness and reduce the carbon footprint of our processes.

Our innovation pipeline is geared towards sustainability. Our plastic additives bring significant sustainability value to plastic applications by improving durability, reducing waste and emissions, and saving energy.

Last year, we also strengthened our commitment to create new value for plastics in the era of sustainability by launching our VALERASTM portfolio. Now we can combine our extensive additive experience, exceptional regulatory support, and customers’ need for innovation to bring sustainable and circular plastics to the market.

We also introduced the new IrgaCycleTM product range for mechanical recycling to support the development towards a circular economy.

These solutions have been formulated based on our extensive experience with plastic applications. Our researchers are working closely with our customers providing additivation know-how for better plastic products.

Recycling in all forms (organic, chemical, and mechanically) will undoubtedly grow in many ways in the next decade. With that in mind there are at least three clear growth areas for mechanical recycling alone.

First, we should improve the recycling of mono-material waste streams.

For instance, mechanical recycling is effective and economically viable for clean deposit PET bottles. Here there are opportunities to increase the number of loops a single material can make before it must be removed from use by carefully monitoring and adjusting additives to maintain high performance. In fact, even more plastic products should be ‘designed for recycling,’ by either smart construction or with fewer mixed materials to secure cleaner and more recyclable waste streams.

At BASF’s antioxidants plant in Singapore, all inventory-related transactions take place in the field using barcoding that allows the operator to update the production situation in real time. This supports system-generated order confirmation for customers.

There are also opportunities to improve the existing sorting and separation of materials to generate cleaner and more usable waste streams.

Lastly, when plastics are not able to be separated, we need to improve the recycling technology and processes. Multi-material products or heterogenous waste streams can cause the mixing of incompatible polymers which can prevent the re-use of the recycled content because the properties of the plastics can change. Consequently, this material often ends up in less demanding applications like waste bags or flowerpots. BASF is developing additive solutions that improve the properties of recycled content to that of virgin material.

Author: Hermann Althoff is Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals, Asia Pacific at BASF.

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INSIGHTS RETHINKING R&D

A “LIFT AND SHIFT” APPROACH TO R&D MAY PUT YOUR WHOLE OPERATION AT RISK

Research & development (R&D) divisions are charged with pushing boundaries—making breakthroughs that will propel business forward. The potential for fires and explosions, unexpected chemical reactions, hazardous waste, and exposure to toxic chemicals is inherent in R&D operations.

R

esearch & development (R&D) divisions are charged with pushing boundaries—making breakthroughs that will propel business forward. This is likely to be even more pronounced following COVID-19.

However, despite well-publicized incidents around the world, many organizations fail to recognize the significant and unique operational risks associated with R&D activities.

and shifting” a manufacturing approach for R&D, develop a custom approach to risks that are unique to the R&D process.

The potential for fires and explosions, unexpected chemical reactions, asphyxiation, hazardous waste, and exposure to toxic chemical, biological or radioactive materials is inherent in R&D operations. There is also a high level of IP-related risk, as well as challenges associated with regulatory compliance, supply chain management and business continuity.

• R&D labs work with small volumes of materials, so the potential

Manufacturing organizations are perceived as having reliable processes for managing operational risk across the value chain, but this does not necessarily hold true for risks associated with R&D. Rather than “lifting

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The impact of existing mindsets Widespread misconceptions have caused risk related to R&D to be largely underestimated. It is generally believed that: for catastrophic incidents is low or non-existent.

• Labs are often staffed by well-qualified people with master’s degrees and PhDs, so they are insusceptible to errors and can manage risks as they arise.

• Smaller setups and lower-capacity equipment do not present the same integrity risks as manufacturing facilities.

• Creating and complying with risk

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R&D risks are unique While corporate leadership has a clear understanding of manufacturing processes, they may lack the experience to appropriately advise R&D on how to manage risk. What’s more, low perceptions of R&D risk can lead to a lack of field implementation and hands-on support for scientific teams. R&D divisions are often left alone to determine how to comply with a variety of complex processes, from hazard identification and risk assessment to trade secret management, business continuity and security processes. R&D personnel may not have the knowledge or skills to maintain the integrity of complex equipment or even have the depth of knowledge to operate it safely. In addition, country-specific regulations and enforcement levels indirectly impact the operating culture and behaviors.

As a result, R&D has received far less risk management focus than other business units. Instead, processes established for manufacturing are often overlaid onto R&D the lift-and-shift approach—without

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considering whether they are relevant or effective. In reality, the challenges and risks faced by R&D are quite different from those in manufacturing operations. In fact, because the nature of R&D is to deal with unknowns the potential for incidents may at times be greater than on the manufacturing floor.

The cost of ignoring R&D risk The effects of an R&D incident can extend well past the lab, rippling across the whole organization. An R&D incident can happen in the form of fires, explosions, gas leaks and more, causing injuries, loss of life, asset damage and business loss. For instance, prior to the dss+ engagement, one our clients with large R&D operations in Asia Pacific incurred a revenue loss of 3 percent in a financial year following an incident. In another case, a fire in the R&D facility of a medical equipment manufacturer in India resulted in loss of assets, including the intellectual property of the company, estimated at –$20 MM.

Comparing Processes and Risk Manufacturing

R&D

Processes are mostly fixed, with limited change management required.

Management of change is frequent even daily– as teams complete hundreds or thousands of experiments.

Material is handled in large volumes and the materials used vary only periodically.

Materials are handled in small volumes, and a wide range of regularly changing materials are used.

Process conditions tend to be fixed.

Process conditions are always changing.

Incidents can be catastrophic and may impact the community.

Incident severity may be lower than in manufacturing, yet can impact the pipeline, business and community in different ways.

Teams are fairly qualified and risk understanding has evolved over time.

Teams are highly qualified, with advanced degrees, and tend to view activities from a core R&D process perspective rather than through a safety or business risk lens.

Equipment and facility integrity management processes are in place.

Equipment integrity is addressed from a quality perspective, not a safety, perspective—often leading to high annual maintenance contracts.

A streamlined approach to unique risks

specific exposures while continuing to perform at an optimum level.

Managing R&D risk cannot be the sole responsibility of those working in the lab. After all, R&D is a core process in the value chain. Rather than treat R&D as a discrete entity and expect scientists to understand how to manage processes, facilities and equipment organizations must involve all corporate functions in order to coordinate as a team.

The Lab Hazard Analysis (LHA) methodology provides:

To support this shift toward integration while assessing and mitigating unique R&D group capabilities and risks, dss+ has developed an excellence model for Lab Hazard Analysis (LHA). Not only does this approach drive increased visibility and reduced risks, it contributes to lower operational costs as well.

The dss+ Lab Hazard Analysis (LHA) model As a global consulting firm, dss+ has developed extensive knowledge of R&D risk management processes and best practices through our own experience working with clients across multiple industries and geographies.

Further, in developing this R&D Risk model, multifunctional dss+ teams have worked with the scientific community to better understand, appreciate and identify R&D pain points. The resulting LHA methodology has been tailored precisely for R&D needs while encompassing a holistic view of management, processes, capabilities and culture.

LHA is unique in that it is a single, harmonized process for managing all risks, including occupational health and safety, process safety, and environmental risks, as well as business continuity and trade secret protection. What’s more, it can be applied to R&D operations as well as pilot plants. LHA has already been successfully deployed within dss+ and numerous client operations, allowing teams to focus on their

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- An integrated solution that cuts across risk management silos and requirements, including safety, security, asset integrity, intellectual property supply chain, product stewardship and more.

- A strong risk management program that minimizes risks while supporting business continuity plans and the organization’s reputation.

- Elimination of duplicate processes, as documentation can be leveraged for new experiments, materials or processes.

- A technology-guided solution with user friendly tools that help scientists recognize and mitigate hazards and share best practices.

- Improved productivity through enhanced equipment integrity and integration with existing processes and supports.

As a result, LHA helps protect people while improving operations.

The LHA decision tree Implemented using a straightforward decision tree, LHA helps scientific staff identify risks and choose the appropriate hazard level, then review processes and determine resource requirements before beginning any new experiment.

Naturally, the higher the potential risk, the more involved the process.

As experiments or processes with moderate or high potential risk are evaluated, lab workers are directed to reach out for the support of line managers, safety teams, maintenance experts and facility managers.

Together these teams can review data, consider mitigation actions and agree on engineering controls, standard operating procedures personal protective equipment and any necessary training before activities begin.

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INSIGHTS OIL & GAS: WAR IMPACT

T H E WAR I N U KRAINE : A MOMENT OF RECKONING FOR OIL & GAS INDUSTRY

Russia’s invasion has made a tenuous situation much worse for energy markets, particularly in Europe. The imperative for oil & gas companies, working in concert with governments, is to mitigate the potential disruption of oil & gas supplies from Russia. (Image © Unsplash)

BY MUQSIT ASHRAF, VIVEK CHIDAMBARAM, OGAN KOSE, FILIPPOS KAPONIS, SIMONE PONTICELLI & LASSE KARI

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ussia’s invasion has made a tenuous situation much worse for energy markets, particularly in Europe. The imperative for oil & gas companies, working in concert with governments, is to mitigate the potential disruption of oil & gas supplies from Russia. Over the longer term, the industry needs to strengthen its resilience and relevance in a fast-changing energy world. We believe six priority actions will help oil & gas companies—and, by extension, the governments and industries they serve—become stronger, more agile, and more responsive to global circumstances.

An industry’s vulnerability exposed For the oil & gas industry, pre-war does not mean pre-crisis. Before the invasion, global energy demand was starting to outstrip supply.

With the recovery of demand following the COVID-19 pandemic, the imbalance between supply and demand was expected to grow to 2

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percent in 2022. The supply shortfall the world is now experiencing is historic. And it can’t be quickly remedied.

There are several reasons for the lack of immediate practical solutions to close the gap. This includes the time it will take to increase the capacity of alternative energy sources, such as renewables, nuclear energy and natural gas; and particularly liquified natural gas OPEC’s spare oil capacity is already stretched thin; and while coal could be used to meet some energy needs, it would jeopardize the industry’s—and the world’s—commitment to decarbonization.

The reliance on oil & gas The transportation sector is particularly dependent on liquid fossil fuels. Per our analysis, these fuels make-up 94 percent of the sector’s energy demand. Heavy industry, residential and commercial buildings and electric power providers are other end users with significant demand for liquid fuels.

From a geographic perspective, developing economies are expected

countries between August 2020 and March 2022). Together, these

to be the main drivers of global oil demand moving forward. Their

factors will ensure that oil prices remain high and markets tight—

growing populations and transportation sectors, coupled with lower

despite the recent 260,000 boe/day drop in estimated oil demand in

investment in clean energy, means that there are few alternatives to oil.

Since 2021, daily oil demand has exceeded supply by more than one million barrels. By 4Q21, the excess demand peaked at 2 million barrels/day. However, several factors have made those assumptions obsolete. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raises concerns that Russian supplies may be curtailed. The recent unplanned supply disruption in

2022, especially from China.

The reliance on Russian oil & gas As the world’s third-largest oil producer (and second largest exporter of crude oil) and second-largest natural gas producer (and largest exporter), Russia supplies nearly a sixth of the global oil & gas supply.

Russia’s dominance is particularly evident in Europe, where it supplies more than 20 percent of the continent’s oil and more than 30 percent

Libya (resulting in almost 550,000 barrel of oil equivalent (boe)/day

of its gas. Several countries in Europe, including Germany, Austria,

being taken out of the supply mix) adds to the concern. As does the

Finland, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary are dependent on Russia for

steady depletion of existing inventory (a 19 percent decline for OECD

50 percent to 100 percent of their oil & gas imports.

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With the recent invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s dependence on Russian oil & gas presents a potential existential crisis. Sanctions to limit oil and gas imports have not yet been enacted. But there are myriad other threats. We’ve already seen Russia take actions to halt gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Additionally, Russian pipelines to the EU may be at risk of supply disruption—either through unilateral decisions to limit gas imports or infrastructure damage. Given that Ukraine’s transit pipelines can carry more than a third of Russian exports to Europe, the latter risk is concerning.

In the face of a sudden shortfall of gas supply, Europe would be hard pressed to find alternatives. LNG imports may be considered as part of a longer-term solution. But Europe’s liquefaction and terminal capacities are quite limited. The earliest they could be ramped up is estimated to be at the end of 2023.

Liquid fuel refineries—especially those in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe—are heavily dependent on Russian oil. Currently, refinery capacity is outstripping demand. That means facilities are being underutilized and refiners are facing increasing margin pressures.

High oil prices are eroding those margins further. Weakened product demand, as a result of higher oil prices and the lingering effect of Covid, could further exacerbate margin erosion.

Pre-invasion oil product demand forecasts of 83 thousand barrels (md)/day may fall to 79 mmb/d or lower this year. However, demand is expected to grow over the next several years. And if oil (crude and product) supplies from Russia are disrupted, refiners will likely be challenged to secure feedstocks to replace them.

Securing an affordable energy supply Any supply shocks caused by the invasion in Ukraine will likely affect Europe significantly and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.

Commodity prices could be pushed to all-time highs. A curtailment of Russian oil and (especially) gas to Europe would likely require policy responses and could lead to the rationing of energy across energydependent sectors.

Countries are already preparing for possible supply disruptions.

The European Union has announced a plan to transition away from Russian oil & gas. Germany has made plans to end Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.The United Kingdom and United States have implemented embargoes. And global seaborne markets are currently hesitant to absorb Russian cargoes. In early March, 70 percent of Russia’s seaborne oil exports were in an indeterminate state, struggling to find buyers.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated just how vulnerable energy markets are. Reducing reliance on Russian oil & gas could be a key step to shoring up energy security. But downscaling dependence won’t be easy. Countries will be required to find or develop alternative sources, which requires technical, financial and geopolitical expertise, investment and collaboration. Nations will also need to work with oil & gas companies to reimagine the energy system of the future and how consumers and industries use energy.

Potential energy scenarios Current Scenario We have moved into the third month of the invasion. A quarter of Russian energy has been disrupted largely due to self-sanctioning by European buyers or government-enforced sanctions in North America.

There has been some redirection of Russian supplies but it’s been limited so far. In this current scenario, energy shortfalls in Europe should be manageable, although the chemicals, basic materials and manufacturing sectors might experience disruptions. Commodity prices would remain elevated—up to $150 per barrel for oil and up to $50 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for gas.

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Expanded scenario An expanded scenario based on an escalation of the war in Ukraine, a 50 percent reduction of Russian gas flows into Europe and potential for embargoes to pull large volumes of Russian crude oil products from the European market by the end of 2022. In this scenario, oil prices could rise to $150-$200 per barrel. Gas prices could approach $100 per MMBtu. All industries in Europe would likely be affected and some industrial sites may be forced to temporarily cease / stall operations.

Extended scenario Based on our analysis, oil and gas prices in the expanded and extended scenarios would likely peak in mid-2022 and remain elevated for at least a year. Over the longer term, oil prices in both scenarios could converge as the supply/demand gap closes. In any scenario, energy price increases—already driven higher by increased demand as postpandemic economies re-opened and now exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine—will impact consumer prices. Based on our analysis of OECD data (below), the dual shocks brought about by the pandemic and the war are expected to drive the largest consumer price increases in 20 years.

Alternatives to Russian crude supplies Growth in US supply of 1.5-2 mmb/day is expected through 2023, with an additional 0.5 mmb/day by 2025. In the immediate term, the United States could also partially offset approximately 0.2 mmb/day of Russian oil volumes through releases from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. OPEC is expected to increase supplies by a cumulative 3 mmb/ day by 2025. Iran could add an incremental 1 mmb/day by 2023. Other non-OPEC producers could add 0.5mmb/day of incremental supply between 2021 to 2025.

Building resilience Quickly replacing Russia’s contribution of supplies to the global energy system is a top priority for the oil and gas industry. But so is the creation of an agile, resilient, secure and reliable energy system that can withstand future disruptions. We believe six strategic plays could position oil and gas companies to achieve their short-term and longerterm ambitions.

Strategic play #1: Build brownfield capacity and operational excellence One possible way to boost crude oil supplies involves increasing production from existing brownfield sites. Production from legacy wells declines relatively quickly in tight oil formations, leading to the development of new wells within existing fields such as the Permian region. But existing wells still contain plenty of oil. In fact, it is estimated that reservoirs hold two-thirds of the original crude after primary and secondary recovery efforts.

Strategic play #2: Maximize greenfield investments Before the invasion, global capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments were forecast to grow in 2022 by 7 percent in oil and 14 percent in gas/ LNG and up to 18 percent within the shale E&P segment. Accelerating the development of traditional assets involves investing in upstream oil and gas fields and liquefaction capacity, regasification facilities, and terminals for storage. There is a particular opportunity to build out the gas distribution network in Europe. Specifically, bringing German regasification plants online quickly could loosen current system constraints and help increase Central/Easter Europe LNG capacity totals by approximately 70 bcm in this decade. New pipelines in Europe could provide an additional flow of about 65 bcm. Throughput expansion from existing pipelines could also provide an additional flow of about 15 bcm.

Strategic play #3: Achieve supply chain resilience The energy industry has long faced supply chain challenges, and the pandemic made them worse. Accenture estimates that current supply chain problems in the oil and gas industry put more than 20% of capital plans at risk. The underlying issues that have made the industry more susceptible to supply chain disruption include: - Lack of demand and resource pooling across operators.

- Arms-length relationships with oilfield and equipment services (OFES) companies.

- Low visibility/high inefficiencies.

- Building supply chain resilience will require operators and OFES companies to ask hard questions—and then gear their organizations for an integrated and efficient approach to reducing their collective risks.

Strategic play #4: Strengthen commercial and trading capabilities For the energy industry as a whole, volatility also brings opportunity.

In trading markets, the high commodity prices and increased volatility seen in 2022 are likely to reach equilibrium in 2024 or 2025. In the interim, new arbitrage opportunities might emerge to increase the overall trading value pools across various commodities. Leading energy companies are increasingly digitizing their operations to drive greater efficiencies and better manage and optimize the daily change to their profit and loss. They are shifting to cloud-based ecosystems, unifying data sources, building mobile capabilities, automating operations, and building customer-facing platforms and marketplaces. Importantly, they also take advantage of new technologies to generate insights and make better, faster decisions.

Strategic play #5: Accelerate clean energy, demandside efficiency and decarbonization Clean energy investments, demand-side energy efficiency and industry decarbonization are three key areas of action for oil and gas companies.

And they can do so in a way that opens up new growth opportunities across multiple segments—all while leveraging profits from record-high energy prices and decades of experience collaborating with suppliers and customers, industry peers and other ecosystem stakeholders such as governments, policymakers, investors and consumers. By doing

so, oil and gas companies can help countries strike the right balance between energy affordability, security and availability and sustainability imperatives.

Strategic play #6: Fortify cyber defenses Energy companies have long been vulnerable to cyberattacks, but now the risk is higher than ever. The war in Ukraine—and the sanctions placed upon Russia as a result—have triggered retaliatory cyberattacks.

Accenture’s Cyber Threat Intelligence and Cyber Investigation and Forensics Response teams found that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a significant increase in cyber threats, including to critical infrastructure, by ideologically or financially motivated actors.

Results A 200 percent increase in scanning activities within companies that export liquified natural gas to Europe. An increase in reports of attacks and preparation for attacks against energy generation within the last 60 days, especially against Western and NATO-allied energy infrastructure. An uptick in the number of ransomware victims who were publicly outed due to a lack of ransom payment.

Accenture has seen at least 50 pro-Ukrainian ransomware groups and at least 20 pro-Russian groups, all launching cyber-related attacks aligned with their ideology. Industry leaders are quite aware of the threats they face. They have been under attack for years. Over the past few years, the 20 largest global energy companies have had millions of records containing sensitive personal and employee data compromised.

It’s not surprising, then, that 83 percent of executives in the oil & gas industry increased their cybersecurity spending in 2021.

Transitioning amid uncertainty Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a deep human, economic and business impact. It has disrupted lives and livelihoods. Supply chains, industries and economies. The energy industry, like all others, is now operating in an uncertain environment. Some may argue that the war and its impact will push oil & gas companies’ strategies for reinvention to the back burner. We disagree.

Oil & gas companies have an opportunity—and an obligation—to ensure energy sustainability, security and affordability. The war has amplified, not diminished, the call to action. It has made the energy transition and the need for a reinvented, highly resilient energy system more important than ever.

Authors: Muqsit Ashraf is Senior Managing Director, Lead, Energy Industry Sector; Vivek Chidambaram is Managing Director, Strategy & Consulting, Energy; Ogan Kose is Managing Director, Strategy & Consulting, Energy Integrated Gas Lead; Filippos Kaponis is Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting, Energy; Simone Ponticelli is Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting, Energy; and Lasse Kari is Senior Principal, Research, Energy, all at Accenture.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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INSIGHTS INDIA: WAR IMPACT

INDIAN ECONOMY AND THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR: WILL IT BE SHORT-TERM PAIN, BUT LONG-TERM GAIN?

The Russia-Ukraine war in February disrupted global trade flows and unleashed newfound volatility in global energy and commodity prices with profound implications for the Indian economy. (Russia-Ukraine war January 2022 Image © Reuters)

BY SAILEE SAKHARDANDE

F

ollowing an economic slowdown in 2019 and a sizeable contraction in 2020, the Indian economy returned to a sustained

growth trajectory in 2021, buoyed by pandemic support measures, accommodative monetary policy, resumption of economic activity, and improving consumer sentiment. However, the onset of the RussoUkrainian war in February 2022 disrupted global trade flows and unleashed newfound volatility in global energy and commodity prices with profound implications for the Indian economy.

Indian economic growth remains highly sensitive to energy price movements as India imports nearly 85 percent of its domestic oil requirements. The uptick in Brent crude oil prices, expected to average $106.6 a barrel in 2022 up from $70.9 in 20211, is expected to widen the current account deficit from 1.6 percent of the GDP in 2021 to 3.1 percent in 20222. Higher oil prices will feed into increased costs for several energy-intensive sectors, including aviation, cement, chemicals, and paints, and can result in lower profit margins for businesses.

Persistently high fuel prices can force firms to pass the higher prices to end consumers, dampening consumer sentiment, which remains in recovery following a severe battering due to the pandemic.

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With the war disrupting fertilizer and edible oil supply, retail inflation spiked to 7.8 percent in April 2022 and is expected to stay elevated in the near term with little time to ramp up domestic edible oil production following Indonesia’s decision to ban cooking oil exports3.

Consequently, higher palm oil costs can raise the price of several FMCGs4, including detergents, cosmetics, and processed food items.

A sharp increase in the government’s subsidy bill on food, fertilizers, and fuels can eat into the government’s capital spending outlay for the current fiscal - essential to driving growth over the medium term. On the other hand, retention of the budgeted capital expenditure with higher welfare spending can worsen the fiscal deficit from a pre-war estimate of 6.4 percent 5 amid rising borrowing costs.

As domestic and global inflationary pressures surge, a rapid tightening of global financial conditions looms large in 2022. In particular, as advanced economies raise key interest rates and start unwinding asset purchases made over 2022-21, emerging markets such as India will see an elevated risk of capital outflows. Higher 2022 inflation, forecast closer to the RBI’s upper tolerance threshold of 6 percent 6, with increased FPI7 outflows, will put downward pressure on the rupee, potentially adding to inflation woes.

To stem capital outflows and moderate price pressures RBI raised the benchmark repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent in May 2022.

Additional rate hikes will likely translate to a key policy rate of 5.25 percent by the end of 20228.

Over the medium-term, policy pivots and diversification efforts in

A confluence of high energy prices, tightening monetary conditions, likely slowdown in capital spending, and moderated global trade will limit economic growth to 8.2 percent in the current fiscal, down from 8.9 percent growth forecast before the war9.

talks between the European Union and India have regained traction

Although the Russo-Ukrainian war poses an economic conundrum for policymakers seeking to rein in escalating prices while minimizing the impact on economic growth, a few bright spots and growth opportunities have emerged from the war. For one, India’s agricultural exports will benefit from higher global prices and increased volumes, pushing up farm income. Even with the wheat export ban instituted in May 2022, the government is expected to grant export permits following bilateral negotiations with requesting countries. Moreover, a greater focus on local defense production with the phased import ban on over 101 weapons and systems over the next five years will create opportunities for domestic equipment manufacturers.

the impact of the war notwithstanding, India and Australia signed an

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Europe can benefit Indian manufacturers through closer economic ties with the European Union and the UK. Against the backdrop of a revamped trade policy and disruptions due to the war, bilateral trade with the launch of the Trade and Technology Council in April 2022.

The alliance is set to enhance cooperation on 5G, artificial intelligence, climate modeling, and health technology and facilitate trade. Moreover, interim free trade deal in April 2022 that aims to double bilateral trade from $27 billion to $50 billion over the next five years10.

Indian trade policy thus appears to be in a sweet spot despite mounting economic and geopolitical complications due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Successful execution of proposed free trade agreements with the UK, Canada, and the EU by leveraging the increased importance of supply-chain diversification strategies about the enduring geopolitical complexities stands to boost Indian merchandise and service exports over the long term.

Author: Sailee Sakhardande is Research Analyst, Emerging Market Innovation at Frost & Sullivan.

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REPORTS AUTOMOTIVE PLASTICS

AUTOMOTIVE PLASTICS MARKET TO GROW ON RISE IN ELECTRIC, HYBRID VEHICLES SALES

Chemical Today aMagazine June 2022 56 invasion Russia’s has made tenuous |situation much worse for energy markets, particularly in Europe. The imperative for oil & gas companies, working in concert with governments, is to mitigate the potential disruption of oil & gas supplies from Russia. (Image © Unsplash)

T

he global automotive plastics market reached a value of $38.7 billion in 2021. Looking forward, it is expected the market will reach a value of $51.65 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.60 percent during 2022-2027. Also one has to keep in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, which have had a direct as well as indirect influence of the pandemic.

Automotive plastics include polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), nylon, polyethylene (PE), polyoxymethylene (POM) and polycarbonate (PC).

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

These plastics assist in extending the life of automobiles, increasing design flexibility, reducing manufacturing costs and easing integration of components. Besides this, they also help reduce the weight of vehicles by replacing heavy materials, such as metal and glass, to save energy and improve fuel efficiency.

Market Trends There is currently a rise in the sales of electric and hybrid vehicles (EVs/ HVs) around the world.

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This represents one of the key factors propelling the growth of the market. Moreover, automotive plastics find applications in the production of fuel tanks, carpet fibers, wheel covers, suspension bushings, dashboards, headlamp lenses, truck bed liners, mud flaps, bumpers, and gears. In addition, there is an increase in the use of synthetic coatings on metal surfaces to minimize the risk of corrosion caused by salt damage, high heat and water exposure. Besides this, nylon is utilized for manufacturing seat belts and airbags on account of its tear-resistant properties. This, along with the escalating demand for lightweight and affordable vehicles, is positively influencing the market.

Breakup by Vehicle Type: Conventional and Traditional

Apart from this, leading players are relying on bio-based plastics and polymers instead of fossil-based plastics to reduce their carbon footprint and promote sustainability. Furthermore, they are using recycled plastics for manufacturing seat cushions, replacement bumpers, splash guards, and wheel liners. This, coupled with the burgeoning plastics industry, is augmenting the overall sales and profitability. Other factors facilitating the growth of the market include technological advancements and extensive research and development (R&D) activities financed by automobile manufacturers.

Breakup by Region: United States, Canada, China, Japan,

Market Segmentation

Koninklijke DSM NV, Lanxess AG, Lear Corporation, LyondellBasell

The automotive plastics market has categorized the market based on vehicle type, material and application.

Industries NV, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Solvay SA and

Vehicles; and Electric Vehicles.

Breakup by Material: Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Polyurethane (PU), Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide and others.

Breakup by Application: Powertrain, Electrical Components, Interior Furnishings, Exterior Furnishings, Under the Hood and Chassis

India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Middle East and Africa.

Competitive Landscape The key players in the automotive plastics market are Asahi Kasei Corporation, BASF SE, Borealis AG, Covestro AG, Dow Inc,

Teijin Limited.

Source: IMARC Group 58

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

REPORTS EPOXY RESIN

INCREASED WIND ENERGY DEMAND TO BOOST EPOXY RESIN-BASED COMPOSITES MARKET

Today Magazine | June 2022 Wind energy isChemical being adopted as an alternative energy source, thus boosting demand for epoxy resin-based composites. Overall, demand for epoxy resin is rising rapidly from building & construction, transportation, consumer goods, wind power, aerospace and marine industries. (Image © Unsplash)

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T

he global epoxy resin market was valued at $8.9 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $ 16.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.5 percent from 2021 to 2030, as per a recent report. Epoxy resins are thermosetting polymers with high-quality performance in several industrial applications for corrosion protection, thermal stability, mechanical strength, moisture resistivity, and superior adhesion.

They are superior to other resins in aspects such as reduced degradation on water ingress and increased resistance to osmosis.

The demand for epoxy resin is rising rapidly from various end use industries such as building & construction, transportation, consumer goods, wind power, aerospace, and marine. To reduce

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greenhouse emissions, wind energy is being adopted as an alternative energy source, thus boosting the demand for epoxy resin-based composites. In the aerospace industry, epoxy systems are used in interior applications to reduce the weight of the aircraft. In addition, epoxy resins are widely used high-performance polymers, which possess exclusive mechanical and resistance properties. Thus, they are extensively used in various applications such as paints & coatings, adhesives & sealants, and composites, including electrical encapsulation & others.

Key market players invest heavily to develop novel epoxy resin products through strategic partnership and collaborations.

Most of the industry players have adopted expansion and product development strategies to strengthen their product segment. Growth in end-use industries, increase in demand for lightweight composites, and rise in R&D activities drive the demand for epoxy resins, globally.

However, fluctuation in raw material prices is expected to hamper the market growth during the forecast period.

On the contrary, the development of bio-sourced raw materials for sustainable production is expected to provide remunerative opportunities for growth of the global market.

The epoxy resin market is segmented on the basis of form, type, application, end use, and region.

By form, the liquid segment accounted for the highest market share in 2020, as liquid epoxy resins are suitable for variety of high-performance applications such as coatings, adhesives, civil engineering, automotive, marine, electronic & electrical insulation, and composites, which drive their adoption, globally.

Key Findings - The LAMEA epoxy resin market is projected to grow at a highest CAGR of nearly 8.56 percent, in terms of revenue, during the forecast period.

By physical form, the solid segment is anticipated to witness the growth rate of 7.18 percent, in terms of revenue, during the forecast period.

- On the basis of type, the novolac segment is anticipated to witness the moderate growth rate of 7.99 percent, in terms of revenue.

- As per application, the adhesives & sealants epoxy resin segment is anticipated to register a growth rate of 7.35 percent, in terms of revenue.

Depending on end use, the aerospace segment is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.45 percent, in terms of revenue.

COVID-19 Impact on Market

By type, DGBEA or bisphenol A-based epoxy resin dominated the market with market share of 61.3 percent in 2020. It has been widely used in casting, bonding, coatings, paints, and composite materials, hence providing ample opportunities for market growth.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the epoxy resin industry was impacted in terms of distribution and logistics due to lockdown across the globe. Epoxy resin production and distribution came to a halt because of the economic downturn due to the pandemic.

By application, paints and coating dominated the market with the market share of 26.7 percent in 2020. Epoxy paint is thicker and stickier as compared to normal paints that result in smooth finish. It protects metal surfaces from oxidation along with providing long-lasting finish.

Furthermore, epoxy coatings offer enhanced chemical & water resistance, possess prolonged durability, and have superior adhesion to a variety of substrates, which boost their demand globally.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the aerospace, transportation, consumer goods, building & construction, and marine industries, resulting in reduced usage of epoxy resin in these industries.

By end use, consumer goods segment accounted for the highest market share in 2020. Epoxy resins are extensively used for sport & leisure equipment and in the electronic industry as an insulation material in the form of adhesive, sealant, coating, and potting compound.

By region, Asia-Pacific is the most prominent region in terms of production and consumption of epoxy resin, owing to its increased adoption in several end-use industries. It was the largest consumer of epoxy resin in 2020, accounting for about 61.9 percent of the total share.

The global COVID-19 pandemic hindered inter-country activity and import & export of epoxy resin due to varied economic and legal limitations globally. As a result, the epoxy resin market impacted moderately in 2020.

However, by the beginning of 2021, all the industries started their operation due to which the demand for epoxy resin improved in the aerospace, transportation, consumer goods, building & construction and marine industries.

Key Players The key players operating in the global epoxy resin market include Atul Ltd, BASF SE, Dow Inc, Hexion, Huntsman Corporation LLC, Kukdo Chemicals Co Ltd, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Olin Corporation, Solvay SA and Techstorm Advanced Materials.

Source: Allied Market Research

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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REPORTS INDIA OIL & GAS

RISE IN DOWNSTREAM, MIDSTREAM SECTOR INVESTMENT TO FUEL OIL & GAS MARKET

Chemicalhas Today Magazine June 2022 over the recent past, owing to the expansion of several refinery projects. Therefore, the downstream 62 capacity The refining been growing| considerably sector is expected to witness growth. Also increasing natural gas pipeline capacity will add to the gas market growth. (Representative Image © Unsplash)

Market Overview

The India oil & gas market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 3 percent during the forecast period 2022-2027. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the market. The revenue of oil & gas companies declined due to unexpected lockdown. The demand for diesel, the most used fuel in the country, has fallen due to a significant reduction in traffic volumes on the roads. Factors such as the increasing natural gas pipeline capacity and the increasing demand for petroleum products are expected to drive the India oil & gas market during the forecast period. However, a huge dependence on imports of crude oil and natural gas for satisfying domestic demand and high volatility of crude oil prices are expected to hinder the growth of the Indian oil & gas market.

The refining capacity has been growing considerably over the recent past, owing to the expansion of several refinery projects. Therefore, the downstream sector is expected to witness growth during the forecast period.

There have been significant gas hydrate discoveries in the KG Basin.

Economically feasible extraction of the gas hydrates may create immense opportunities for the companies, which may become a boom in natural gas production. Owing to the increase in gas imports, the Indian government is increasing the investments in oil & gas pipelines and LNG terminals across the country. Therefore, the increasing investments in the midstream oil & gas sector are expected to drive the market.

Key Market Trends Downstream sector significant growth

is

expected

to

witness

The Indian energy demand is anticipated to grow by 50 percent in the next two decades. This growth in demand can be attributed to the growing world population and an improvement in living standards in developing countries. Even though new and renewable energy sources are gaining popularity around the world, petroleum fuel remains a major energy source globally. This trend is expected to continue for the next few decades and favor the growth of the oil and gas downstream market. New refineries were set to be established in various parts of the country. For instance, in August 2021, Indian Oil Corporation Limited announced its plan to invest $15 billion to increase its refining capacity three times by 2025.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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In January 2021, the state-run oil refiner Indian Oil’s board of directors approved setting up a new refinery in Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. The refinery is expected to have an annual refining capacity of 9 million metric ton and an investment of INR 31,500 crore.

As of 2020, Indian Oil Corporation accounted for 50.88 percent (5,301 km) of India’s crude pipeline network. The Indian government is set to invest $9.97 billion to expand the gas pipeline network across the country, culminating in the growth of the market.

In August 2021, the Indian Oil Group had a refining capacity of 80.2 MMTPA (million metric ton per annum), which accounts for 33 percent of the total national refining capacity (249.87 MMTPA).

Moreover, the group announced that it will boost its annual oil refining capacity to 87.55 million ton by 2025. Owing to several major upcoming projects, the downstream sector is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

Moreover, in January 2020, the Indian government approved $774 million for a natural gas pipeline in the northeast region as part of a national gas grid being built to span remote locations in the country. The 1,656 km pipeline is expected to cost up to INR 92.65 billion to build and will be completed by 2023.

Increasing investment in the midstream sector may drive the market The pipeline is the most economical way of transporting natural gas, crude oil and petroleum products over a long distance due to increasing investments in upcoming pipelines in the country. The midstream segment is expected to contribute a decent share in the Indian oil & gas market in the coming years.

Hence, increasing investments in the midstream sector have driven the India oil & gas market. Pipeline coverage is expected to increase substantially during the forecast period, with the petroleum product pipeline expected to increase the most in the segment.

Competitive Landscape The India oil & gas market is moderately consolidated. The major players are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India Limited, Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Punj Lloyd Limited.

Recent Development

In March 2020, the country had around 10,419 km of crude oil pipelines (onshore: 9,825 km and offshore: 594 km), 17,389 km of natural gas pipelines (onshore: 17,365 km and offshore: 24 km), and 14,729 km of refined products pipelines. In addition to the pipelines, India had 6 LNG terminals in March 2020.

• In September 2021, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd planned to invest $13.66 billion over a period of five years to improve petrochemical capacity, refining efficiency, and upstream oil and gas exploration and production and augment the (fuel) marketing infrastructure in India.

As of June 31, 2021, the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) had the largest share of the country’s natural gas pipeline network, ie, 32,718 km.

• In July 2021, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd announced a plan to establish its first-generation ethanol production plant in Telangana at an estimated investment of $134.04 million.

Source: Mordor Intelligence

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Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

REPORTS INK SOLVENTS

RISE IN DEMAND FOR INK SOLVENTS IN PACKAGING INDUSTRY TO DRIVE MARKET

Ink solvent companies focusing on high-growth Chemicalare Today Magazine | June 2022industries such as packaging, paper and advertising. Expansion of the food & beverages sector and an increase in demand for flexible packaging in the health care sector are estimated to drive the demand for ink solvents. (Image © Pixabay GmbH)

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Market Outlook The global ink solvents market was valued at $824.5 million in 2021 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.3 percent from 2022 to 2031.

It is expected to reach $1.3 billion by the end of 2031. The ink solvents market is moderately consolidated, with key players accounting for 40 to 45 percent of the total market share. The increase in usage of ink solvents in various conventional and niche applications is broadening their scope of application in new end-use industries. Moreover, ink solvent companies are focusing on high-growth industries such as packaging, paper, and advertising. As a result, a wide range of unique properties, strong R&D infrastructure, and government support are expected to boost the demand for ink solvents during the forecast period.

Market Overview The term “ink solvents” refers to inks that contain an oil-based solution.

These are relatively inexpensive types of inks that are compatible with

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inkjet printers. Ink solvents are waterproof, which makes them resistant to fading and wear. Typically, ink solvents are used to print on outdoor products due to their ability to adhere to non-absorbent materials.

These are excellent for applications in long-term outdoor banners and vinyl, as they can resist fading for five to seven years. However, venting is important for these inks owing to the presence of volatile organic compounds.

Ink solvents offer a variety of features and functions that make them suitable for specialized printing needs. For instance, these solvents are used to print on rigid surfaces and polyethylene billboards. They can also be used on metals, glass, ceramics, textiles, and other substrates.

Quick-drying and high ink saturation features of ink solvents are driving their usage in niche applications. Conventional ink solvents contain oils and hydrocarbon solvents that have no damaging effect (swelling and softening followed by shrinking, hardening, and potentially cracking) on butyl or nitrile rubbers. However, they act as solvents for ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubbers.

Rise in demand for ink solvents in packaging industry to drive market Packaging is a crucial marketing factor that influences consumer purchasing decisions. The packaging industry is a major consumer of printing inks. Solvent-based inks are used on a wide range of substrates and surfaces; provide rub and weather resistance. Thus, they are extensively used on packages. The rise in demand for flexible packaging is boosting the demand for ink solvents, which are used in the formulation of printing inks to aid ink flow into the substrate.

High demand for convenient packaging in consumer goods, easy customization, cost-effectiveness, and lightweight property is projected to propel the ink solvents market during the forecast period. Expansion of the food & beverages sector and an increase in demand for flexible packaging in the health care sector are estimated to drive the demand for ink solvents during the forecast period.

Market Segmentation The global ink solvents market is segmented on the basis of: - Solvent Type: Alcohols, Ketones, Hydrocarbons and others (including Esters and Ethers) - Type: Conventional and Bio-based - Process: Flexography, Gravure and others (including Screen and Digital)

Bio-based ink solvents gaining prominence due to zero VOC emissions The rise in environmental concerns has compelled countries to adopt biodegradable printing solutions. The usage of bio-based ink solvents, such as soy inks, is increasing at a rapid pace, particularly in the publishing industry, due to their low cost and environment-friendly properties.

Growth in technological advancement in bio-based ink solvents is expected to positively impact the sustainable inks market across the globe. An increase in regulations on Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from paints and coatings, printing inks, and industrial and domestic cleaning products; and a rise in environmental awareness have led to a decrease in demand for petroleum-based solvents. Thus, petroleum-based solvents are being replaced with less harmful and environmentally-friendly solvents.

Green and bio-based ink solvents can be effective replacements for conventional petroleum-based solvents, as they do not emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Various solvents such as bio-methanol, bio-ethanol, and other bio-based alcohols can efficiently replace conventional petroleum-based solvents in the printing inks industry.

Increase in preference for alcohols ink solvents in global market Based on solvent type, the ink solvents market has been classified into alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons, and others. The alcohols segment dominated the global ink solvents market with 50.4 percent share in 2021. Alcohol solvents are part of oxygenated solvents. Isopropanol, butanol, and ethanol are used in the printing inks industry. Alcohol ink solvents are widely used in various applications such as packaging, paper, and publication owing to their excellent properties. The segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 5.7 percent during the forecast period.

Surge flexographic printing inks use in advertising media, textile printing Based on process, the global ink solvents market has been divided into flexography, gravure, and others. The flexography segment held major share of 46.5 percent of the global market in 2021, and is estimated to maintain the status quo with a growth rate of more than 5 percent during the forecast period. Flexographic printing is widely used for printing plastics, metallic films, cellophane, and other smooth substrates that are required in various types of packaging. It is also ideal for wide-format printing and high-quality printing formats.

The adoption of flexographic printing is increasing in food packaging applications. The rapid expansion of advertising media and textile printing applications is projected to create opportunities for players operating in the flexographic printing inks market. Furthermore, the high demand for ink solvent solutions in the flexographic printing inks market is expected to propel the ink solvents market during the forecast period.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Regional Outlook The Asia Pacific held the largest volume share of more than 38 percent of the global ink solvents market in 2021. The rise in consumption of flexographic printing inks in developing economies such as India, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia is expected to create lucrative opportunities for ink solvent manufacturers during the forecast period, owing to rapid urbanization, population growth, expansion of the packaging industry, and increase in the number of textile and advertising applications.

North America and Europe are also major consumers of ink solvents.

These regions accounted for 26.8 percent and 24.6 percent value share, respectively, of the global market in 2021. An increase in digitization in countries such as the US, Canada, and Germany is estimated to create immense opportunities for the ink solvents market. Latin America is a larger consumer of ink solvents than the Middle East & Africa. However, the market in Middle East & Africa is likely to grow at a faster growth rate compared to that in Latin America during the forecast period.

Analysis of Key Players The global ink solvents market is highly consolidated, with a small number of large-scale vendors controlling a majority of the share.

Most companies are investing significantly in comprehensive research and development activities, primarily to create environmentallyfriendly products. Diversification of product portfolios and mergers and acquisitions are the key strategies adopted by prominent players.

DowDuPont, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corporation, INX International Ink Co, Eastman Chemical Company, Sun Chemical, ALTANA, Celanese Corporation and LyondellBasell Industries Holdings BV are the key entities operating in this market.

Key Development On December 20, 2019, ALTANA announced that it had acquired Schmid Rhyner AG, an overprint varnish specialist company. The acquisition included production, research, and development activities in Switzerland and a subsidiary in the US with a total of around 80 employees.

On June 03, 2020, INX International Ink Co, a part of Sakata INX’s worldwide operations, announced that it had acquired RUCO Druckfarben, a printing ink manufacturer in Eppstein, Germany On April 27, 2022, Sun Chemical announced that it had launched ElvaJet Onyx SB, new sublimation ink for textile printing. ElvaJet Onyx SB addresses market needs by delivering a high-performance ink that offers ease of use for wide-format textile printers.

Source: Transparency Market Research

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REPORTS VAPOR RECOVERY UNITS

OIL & GAS INDUSTRY TO DRIVE VAPOR RECOVERY UNITS MARKET GROWTH

Growth of the global vapor recovery units market is in-line with growth of oil & gas industry. The government has imposed regulation as a measure to reduce VOC emissions, for which vapor recovery units are used. These VOCs are methane, benzene and other light hydrocarbons. (Representative Image © Unsplash)

T

he global vapor recovery units market size is projected to grow

Impact of COVID-19 on vapor recovery units market

from $0.8 billion in 2022 to $1.0 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 3.9

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the government had imposed several

percent. Across the globe, the demand for vapor recovery units market

restriction owing to which the demand for oil & gas products were

is increasing owing to the recovery of the oil & gas and manufacturing

declined significantly and manufacturing operation were suspended

sector from the repercussion of COVID-19 pandemic, stringency of

across the globe. Due to strict lockdown, the demand for fuel were

regulation, and increasing production oil & gas, and petrochemicals,

plunged substantially and supply chain got disrupted which, in turn,

among others. The growth of market is in-line with the growth of oil &

had significant impact on the vapor recovery units demand. It has been

gas industry. However, the market declined in 2020 due to the global

observed that the demand for vapor recovery units were declined in

COVID-19 pandemic.

double digit in 2020, especially in oil & gas industry whereas increasing demand in food & pharmaceutical industry help to offset the loss, marginally, during the same period.

Market Dynamics Driver: Stringent environmental regarding VOC emissions

regulations

In North America and Europe, several government and industrial organization has imposed the regulation and standards pertaining to the VOC emission, especially in Oil & gas industry to avoid the harsh impact on an environment.

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For instance, VOCs such as methane, benzene, and other light hydrocarbons are released from the oil & gas industry which acts as a precursor substances of ozone gas that contributes to the global warming.

Thus, government has imposed regulation as a measure to reduce VOC emissions. For the same, vapor recovery units are being promoted to avoid the emission of VoC. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Regulatory bodies such as Clean Air Act (CAA), TA Luft, Directive 94/63/EC and BISchG, among others, have mandated the use of emission control systems to recover vapors from processing units, storage tanks, transportation loading platforms, such as marine, rails, and trucks. A vapor recovery unit is capable of recovering a minimum of 95 percent of the vapor emitted from the oil & gas derivative products owing to which the demand for vapor recovery unit is increasing significantly.

Restraint: High cost of installation and maintenance of vapor recovery units In oil & gas plants, to avoid the emission of VOCs, vapor recovery unit is installed which is, mostly customised to comply with the plants requirement. These units are installed at several stages in upstream

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

and downstream application and are of different capacity. Due to customization and variation in sizes, capacity and changing processing parameters, each unit’s designing, component procurement, and installation become cost-intensive. Thereby, the cost of installation of vapor recovery unit become high compare to other units.

Opportunity: Oil storage opportunities in Middle East & Africa due to rising energy demand The Middle East & Africa is the largest oil-producing region in the world. According to the IEA, over half of global oil production will be provided by Middle East by 20226. Several key players in the region are investing in the expansion of the production capacity. For example, Adnoc plans to invest $122 billion between 2021 and 2025 to expand production capacity to 5 million barrels per day.

With the expansion of the production facilities, the demand for vapor recovery unit will increase substantially in the Middle East & Africa in upcoming years.

Challenge: Improper handling and assembly of vapor recovery units can lead to safety and environmental issues Mostly, components of Vapor Recovery Units (VRUs) are installed on a skid assembly.

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growth of manufacturing industry, and changing regulatory scenario, among other are supporting for the growth of vapor recovery units market. The high growth of the economies such as China, India, and ASEAN countries in the region enables Asia pacific to be a lucrative market for Vapor recovery units manufacturers.

These skids, as complete VRUs, provide easy mobility to systems.

Therefore, improper installation and anchoring of the systems to the ground leads to operational problems in these units. Typically, improper installation of a compressor, which is a major component in a VRU, can result in operational problems in a unit. Therefore, improper handling and assembly of VRUs can cause safety and environmental issues.

Market Ecosystem Transortation segment to lead the market through the forecast period Based on application, the vapor recovery units market has been segmented into storage, processing, and transportation. Transportation segment holds the significant share of the vapor recovery units market, in terms of demand. This is mainly attributed to increasing demand for the fuels, petrochemicals, and other products, and to ensure the safety while transporting these products are main factors that supports for the growth of the market. Along with this, stringent government regulation pertaining to emission of VOCs will further support for the growth of the market.

The global vapor recovery units market is segmented on the basis of Application, End-use industry, and Region.

Market by Application – Processing, Storage, Transportation Market by End-use industry – Oil & gas and others Market by Region – North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin

Oil & gas industry to drive the vapor recovery units market

America, Middle East & Africa

In terms of demand, oil & gas industry, especially in upstream and downstream application, are expected to maintain ascendency in vapor recovery units market throughout the forecast period. Due to stringent government regulation, safety concern, optimization of process, and improve efficiency of operation, the vapor recovery units are prevalently used in the oil & gas industry. With the increasing investment in the industry for expansion of production capacity will further support for the growth of the market.

PSG Dover (US), Aareon (US), Cimarron Energy, Inc. (US), John

APAC to the fastest growing vapor recovery units market during the forecast period.

of centralizing production and customer services under the brand name

The Vapor recovery units market in APAC is projected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of value, during the forecast period. This growth is ascribed to the increasing investment in oil & gas industry for capacity addition, rising demand for oil & gas, and petrochemicals,

In July 2019, Cimarron Energy completed the acquisition of HY-BON/

Key Market Players Zink Company (US), Carbovac (France), SYMEX Technologies (US), VOCZero (UK), Flogistix (US) and Kappa Gi (Italy), are some of the major players operating in the global market.

Recent Development In June 2021, PSG Dover had started selling vapor recovery units under the brand name Blackmer. This provides the company with the leverage Blackmer.

EDI. The acquisition has strengthened the market position of the company in vapor recovery units and emission control solutions for the oil & gas industry.

Source: MarketsandMarkets Research Pvt Ltd.

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REPORTS OIL MARKET

RUSSIAN OIL PRODUCTION DISRUPTION TO CREATE GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY SHOCK

The prospect of large-scale disruptions to |Russian oil production is threatening to create a global oil supply shock. It is estimated that from April, 3 mb/d of Russian Chemical Today Magazine June 2022 oil output could be shut in as sanctions take hold and buyers shun exports. (Image © Pixabay GmbH)

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urging commodity prices and international sanctions levied against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine are expected to appreciably depress global economic growth. As a result, the report has revised down forecast for world oil demand by 1.3 mb/d for 2Q22-4Q22, resulting in 950 kb/d slower growth for 2022 on average.

Total demand is now projected at 99.7 mb/d in 2022, an increase of 2.1 mb/d from 2021.

The prospect of large-scale disruptions to Russian oil production is threatening to create a global oil supply shock. It is estimated that from April, 3 mb/d of Russian oil output could be shut in as sanctions take hold and buyers shun exports.

OPEC+ is, for now, sticking to its agreement to increase supply by modest monthly amounts.

Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE hold substantial spare capacity that could immediately help to offset a Russian shortfall.

Global refinery throughput estimates for 2022 have been revised down by 860 kb/d since last month’s Report as a 1.1 mb/d reduction in Russian runs is not expected to be fully offset by increases elsewhere. In 2022, refinery intake globally is projected to rise by 2.9 mb/d year-on-year to 80.8 mb/d. Despite a downgrade to demand, product markets remain tight with further stock draws expected throughout the year.

OECD total industry stocks were drawn down by 22.1 mb in January. At 2 621 mb, inventories were 335.6 mb below the 2017-2021 average and at their lowest level since April 2014. Industry stocks covered 57.2 days of forward demand, down by 13.6 days from a year earlier. Preliminary data for the US, Europe and Japan indicate that industry stocks decreased by a further 29.8 mb in February.

The ICE Brent oil futures slid to around $100/bbl after touching an intraday high of nearly $140/ bbl on 8 March. Prices jumped from $90/bbl in early February following the invasion of Ukraine and as supply concerns mounted. Prices have eased again on economic concerns, surging Covid cases in China and traders reducing positions due to extreme volatility.

At a crossroads Faced with what could turn into the biggest supply crisis in decades, global energy markets are at a crossroads. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought energy security back to the forefront of political agendas as commodity prices surge to new heights. While it is still too early to know how events will unfold, the crisis may result in lasting changes to energy markets.

The implications of a potential loss of Russian oil exports to global markets cannot be understated.

Russia is the world’s largest oil exporter, shipping 8 mb/d of crude and refined oil products to customers across the globe. Unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia to date exclude energy trade for the most part, but major oil companies, trading houses, shipping firms and banks have backed away from doing business with the country. For now, there is potential for a shut-

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in of 3 mb/d of Russian oil supply starting from April, but losses could increase should restrictions or public condemnation escalate.

Russian oil continues to flow for the time being due to term deals and trades made before Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine, but new business has all but dried up. Urals crude is being offered at record discounts, with limited uptake so far. Some Asian oil importers have shown interest in the much cheaper barrels, but are for the most part sticking to traditional suppliers in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa for the bulk of their purchases.

Refiners, particularly in Europe, are scrambling to source alternative supplies and risk having to reduce activity just as very tight oil product markets hit consumers. There are scant signs of increased supplies coming from the Middle East, or of a significant reallocation of trade flows. The OPEC+ alliance agreed on 2 March to stick with a modest, scheduled output rise of 400 kb/d for April, insisting no supply shortage exists. Saudi Arabia and the UAE – the only producers with substantial spare capacity – are, so far, showing no willingness to tap into their reserves.

Prospects of any additional supplies from Iran could be months off. Talks over a nuclear deal that paves the way for sanction relief have apparently stalled just before the finish line. Should an agreement be reached, exports could ramp up by around 1 mb/d over a six-month period. Outside of the OPEC+ alliance, growth will come from the US, Canada, Brazil and Guyana, but any nearterm upside potential is limited.

In the absence of a faster ramp up in production, oil stocks will have to balance the market in the coming months. But even before Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, the industry’s oil inventories were depleting rapidly. At the end of January, OECD inventories were 335 mb below their five-year average and at eight-year lows. IEA emergency stocks will provide a welcome buffer, and member countries stand ready to release more oil from strategic reserves if and when needed, in addition to the 62.7 mb of crude and products already pledged.

Surging oil and commodity prices, if sustained, will have a marked impact on inflation and economic growth. While the situation remains in flux, overall the report is suggesting lowered expectations for GDP and oil demand. The oil demand growing by 2.1 mb/d on average in 2022, a downgrade of around 1 mb/d from the previous forecast. There are actions governments and consumers can take to cut short-term demand for oil more rapidly to ease the strains. The current crisis comes with major challenges for energy markets, but it also offers opportunities. Indeed, today’s alignment of energy security and economic factors could well accelerate the transition away from oil.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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EVENT COVERAGE CURTAIN RAISER

OPR SUMMIT 2022: FUTURE OF OIL, PETROCHEM & REFINING INDUSTRY C

rude oil rules the world and that is the reason why it is called the ‘black gold’. This fast-depleting natural resource has been at the heart of every industry powering up the global economy for centuries.

From automotive to textile, today every industry is heavily dependent on crude oil in some way or the other.

But this over reliance also has a price to pay. The constant oil price fluctuations, geo-political conflicts, the acute imbalance between global demand and supply, and the ubiquitous cry for clean energy has kept the industry on its toes.

While the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict has left the global economies high and dry, the fast-depleting oil reserves in most oil producing countries is not good news either. Despite this over dependence on fossil fuels, it is predicted that the global energy demands will further increase by 30-40 percent by 2040.

There is a desperate need for this industry to tide over these challenges of soaring energy demands, global war crisis, need for sustainability and so on. The industry needs to adapt to new technologies and innovations to counter these effects.

The industry needs to adopt the ‘less is more’ mantra when it comes to crude oil where the remaining reserve needs to be used judiciously while also leaving this precious fossil fuel for generations to come. Crude oil is also held liable for the drastic deterioration of the planet’s health. The

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irreparable impact of global warming, climate change, etc can in no way be rectified until we adopt cleaner energies. Hence, new technologies which can make way for next gen fuels is a must.

However, there is a need for a proper direction for the adoption of technological innovation and knowledge to attain this transition.

Understanding this requirement and the need for the industry to come together and work in unison to meet these challenges, worldofchemicals.com and Chemical Today magazine is organising a virtual conference- OPR Summit 2022- Future if Oil,

Petrochem and Refining Industry on June 22.

The virtual conference will have global leaders from the oil & gas, petrochemicals and refinery industries to share these expertise and technological knowhow to resolve the issues that cloud the industry’s growth.

The virtual conference will bridge the knowledge gap, burst myths, discuss latest technologies and global trends and also shed light on ways in which Internet of Things can revolutionize the industry’s future growth. The virtual conference will also give insight into tried and tested technologies and solutions from some of the renowned companies across the globe.

So, don’t miss the opportunity to get to meet some of the best minds from the industry.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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ACADEMIC R&D

CHEAPER, FASTER WAY FOR CONTINUOUS AMINES PRODUCTION

Researchers used hydroaminomethylation (HAM) technique for producing hindered amines efficiently.

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esearchers at North Carolina State University have developed a faster, less expensive technique for producing hindered amines – a class of chemicals used as building blocks in products ranging from pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals to detergents and organic light emitting diodes.

“Hindered amines are used in a tremendous variety of products, but all of the existing techniques for producing these amines are complicated and expensive,” said Milad Abolhasani, corresponding author of a paper on the new technique and an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State. “We set out to develop a better method for synthesizing these hindered amines, and we were successful.”

One of the less expensive techniques for producing hindered amines is hydroaminomethylation, or HAM. However, the chemical industry has largely avoided using HAM, because there are too many ways things can go wrong – leaving producers with undesirable chemicals instead of the functionalized amines they were trying to make. Researchers have improved the HAM process over the years. But all of the techniques for avoiding undesirable byproducts have meant extending the timeframe of the HAM process, so that it takes hours to perform all of the necessary reactions. Until now.

“We’ve developed a HAM technique that makes use of continuous flow reactor technologies to produce hindered amines more efficiently,” Abolhasani said. “Our HAM process takes less than 30 minutes in most cases. The only products are hindered amines and water. And we are able to recycle the primary catalyst, rhodium/N-Xantphos, which further drives down costs.”

The success of the new technique is made possible by two things. First, by using a continuous flow reactor that allows for continuous flow of both gases and liquids in a segmented flow format, the researchers were able to make the kinetics of the reaction far more efficient. Second, the new technique makes use of a co-catalyst – fluorinated benzoic acid –

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which reduces the amount of energy needed to perform some of the necessary reactions in the HAM process.

Ultimately, this technique drives down the cost of producing hindered amines using inexpensive feedstock, allowing users to produce them more quickly and with no toxic byproducts.

“By designing a cooperative catalyst system, we’ve demonstrated that the rate of the HAM reactions in our system can be 70 times higher than the existing state-of-the-art processes,” said Malek Ibrahim, first author of the paper and a former postdoctoral researcher at NC State. “This process is also a good example for how flow chemistry platforms can improve catalyst turnover frequency, which is increasingly important as the price of rhodium catalysts goes up.”

The new technique is particularly attractive for decentralized manufacturing operations, since the small footprint of the necessary equipment and its scalability allows users to efficiently produce hindered amines on site and on demand.

“What’s more, the same technique can also be used to produce enamines – which are other chemical building blocks – on demand, simply by tuning the solvents we use in the flow reactor,” Ibrahim said. “You can literally switch back and forth between producing amines and enamines without having to stop the production process, since the only thing you’re changing is the solvent mixture.”

The researchers have filed a provisional patent on the new technique and are now looking for industrial partners to put the technique into widespread use.

The paper, “Recyclable Cooperative Catalyst for Accelerated Hydroaminomethylation of Hindered Amines in a Continuous Segmented Flow Reactor,” is published in the journal Nature Communications. The work was done with start-up funding from NC State.

PLASTIC-EATING ENZYME THAT CAN ELIMINATE TONS OF LANDFILL WASTE

The enzyme breaks down the plastics into smaller parts and then chemically putting it back together creating a circular process for plastics industry.

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n enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin can break down environmentthrottling plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in just a matter of hours to days. This discovery, published in Nature, could help solve one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems: what to do with the billions of tons of plastic waste piling up in landfills and polluting our natural lands and water. The enzyme has the potential to supercharge recycling on a large scale that would allow major industries to reduce their environmental impact by recovering and reusing plastics at the molecular level.

and water bottles all made from PET, the researchers proved the effectiveness of the enzyme, which they are calling FAST-PETase (functional, active, stable and tolerant PETase).

“The possibilities are endless across industries to leverage this leadingedge recycling process,” said Hal Alper, professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin. “Beyond the obvious waste management industry, this also provides corporations from every sector the opportunity to take a lead in recycling their products. Through these more sustainable enzyme approaches, we can begin to envision a true circular plastics economy.”

Biological solutions take much less energy. Research on enzymes for plastic recycling has advanced during the past 15 years. However, until now, no one had been able to figure out how to make enzymes that could operate efficiently at low temperatures to make them both portable and affordable at large industrial scale. FAST-PETase can perform the process at less than 50 degrees Celsius.

The project focuses on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a significant polymer found in most consumer packaging, including cookie containers, soda bottles, fruit and salad packaging, and certain fibers and textiles. It makes up 12 percent of all global waste.

The enzyme was able to complete a “circular process” of breaking down the plastic into smaller parts (depolymerization) and then chemically putting it back together (repolymerization). In some cases, these plastics can be fully broken down to monomers in as little as 24 hours.

Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences used a machine learning model to generate novel mutations to a natural enzyme called PETase that allows bacteria to degrade PET plastics. The model predicts which mutations in these enzymes would accomplish the goal of quickly depolymerizing post-consumer waste plastic at low temperatures.

Through this process, which included studying 51 different postconsumer plastic containers, five different polyester fibers and fabrics

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

Recycling is the most obvious way to cut down on plastic waste. But globally, less than 10 percent of all plastic has been recycled. The most common method for disposing of plastic, besides throwing it in a landfill, is to burn it, which is costly, energy intensive and spews noxious gas into the air. Other alternative industrial processes include very energy-intensive processes of glycolysis, pyrolysis, and/or methanolysis.

“When considering environmental cleanup applications, you need an enzyme that can work in the environment at ambient temperature. This requirement is where our tech has a huge advantage in the future,” Alper said.

Alper, Ellington, associate professor of chemical engineering Nathaniel Lynd and Hongyuan Lu, a postdoctoral researcher in Alper’s lab, led the research. Raghav Shroff, a former member of Ellington’s lab and now a research scientist at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, created the 3DCNN machine learning model used to engineer the plastic-eating enzyme. Danny Diaz, a current member of Ellington’s lab, adapted the model and created a web platform, MutCompute, to make it available for wider academic use. Other team members include from chemical engineering: Natalie Czarnecki, Congzhi Zhu and Wantae Kim; and from molecular biosciences: Daniel Acosta, Brad Alexander, Hannah O. Cole and Yan Jessie Zhang. The work was funded by ExxonMobil’s research and engineering division as part of an ongoing research agreement with UT Austin.

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ACADEMIC R&D

CHAMELEON METAL THAT ACTS LIKE MANY OTHERS

University of Minnesota researchers have invented a “catalytic condenser” that opens the door for new catalytic technologies using non-precious metal catalysts for important applications such as storing renewable energy, making renewable fuels, and manufacturing sustainable materials.

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atalytic converter thefts from cars and trucks have skyrocketed nationwide in recent years. Catalytic converters are valuable because of the precious metals — rhodium and palladium — inside them. In fact, palladium can be more expensive than gold. But what if we didn’t need to put those precious metals into catalytic converters in the first place? That may have been merely a fantasy a short time ago, but new technology developed at the University of Minnesota may make it a reality sooner than we think.

The first-of-its-kind device, called a “catalytic condenser,” is poised to break long-standing barriers in the renewable energy field. U of M researchers believe the groundbreaking invention could significantly advance technology for storing renewable energy, making renewable fuels and manufacturing sustainable materials, all while reducing reliance on limited supplies of precious metals.

electrons behave at surfaces. The team successfully tested a theory that adding and removing electrons to one material could turn the metal oxide into something that mimicked the properties of another.

“Atoms really do not want to change their number of electrons, but we invented the catalytic condenser device that allows us to tune the number of electrons at the surface of the catalyst,” said Paul Dauenhauer, a MacArthur Fellow and professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota who led the research team. “This opens up an entirely new opportunity for controlling chemistry and making abundant materials act like precious materials.”

The research that produced the invention is published online in JACS Au, a leading open access journal of the American Chemical Society.

The catalytic condenser device uses a combination of nanometer films to move and stabilize electrons at the surface of the catalyst. This design has the unique mechanism of combining metals and metal oxides with graphene to enable fast electron flow with surfaces that are tunable for chemistry.

Catalytic converters electronically converts one metal into behaving like another to use as a catalyst for speeding chemical reactions. It is the first to demonstrate that alternative materials that are electronically modified to provide new properties can yield faster, more efficient chemical processing. This breakthrough opens the door for new catalytic technologies using non-precious metal catalysts.

“We view the catalytic condenser as a platform technology that can be implemented across a host of manufacturing applications,” said Dan Frisbie, a professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and research team member. “The core design insights and novel components can be modified to almost any chemistry we can imagine.”

In order to develop this method for tuning the catalytic properties of alternative materials, the researchers relied on their knowledge of how

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of California, Santa Barbara were also involved in the study.

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STORING LIQUID FUELS IN POLYMERIC GELS TO PREVENT EXPLOSIONS, FIRES To tackle this problem, researchers have considered the use of gelled fuels, or fuels turned into thick gel-like substances from cold temperatures. Unfortunately, there are many aspects to optimize and hurdles to overcome before gelled fuels can go beyond the research phase.

Luckily, a team of researchers led by prof. Naoki Hosoya from Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) and prof. Shingo Maeda from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan, investigated a more compelling solution to the safety problem of liquid fuels, namely storing them inside polymeric gel networks. In their study, the team analyzed the performance, advantages, and limitations of storing ethanol, a common liquid fuel, within a chemically crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPPAm) gel.

They found that storing ethanol within the polymer gel completely suppressed the fuel’s tendency to rapidly vaporize. This is likely due to how ethanol molecules are “trapped” in the gel, as Prof.

Hosoya explained: “The polymeric gel contains innumerable threedimensional polymer chains that are chemically cross-linked in a strong way. These chains bind the ethanol molecules through various physical interactions, limiting its evaporation in the process.”

Interestingly, the loaded gel does not behave like a wet towel.

Whereas a wet towel would release its liquid if wrung, the polymeric gel did not let out ethanol easily under external forces.

Storage of ethanol inside a polymeric gel sphere (top) andthe combustion state of the polymeric gel storage (bottom). Researchers showed that chemically cross-linked polymeric gel networks can trap highly volatile liquid fuel molecules, thereby greatly reducing their evaporation rate and risks of fire accidents.

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iquid fuels with high energy density, though used worldwide, are dangerous to transport and store owing to their volatility, which produces explosive gas mixtures. To address this problem, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology and Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, recently investigated the possibility of storing liquid fuel within polymeric gel networks, preventing their fast evaporation, and demonstrating good combustion performance. Their work paves the way for safer transport and storage of liquid fuels.

With the problem of evaporation solved, the team moved on to examine the actual combustion characteristics of the ethanol in the polymeric gel network to see if they burnt efficiently. They ignited ethanol-loaded gel spheres of various sizes and observed the changes in their mass and shape profiles in real time. Based on this, they determined that the burning of the loaded PNIPAAm gel spheres consisted of two phases: a phase dominated by pure ethanol burning, followed by a second phase dominated by the burning of the PNIPAAm polymer itself.

Through a subsequent theoretical analysis of these results, the team came to an important conclusion: the first and main combustion phase of the loaded PNIPAAm gel spheres follows a constant droplet temperature model, also known as the “d2law.” What this means is that the burning of the ethanol-loaded gel can be described by the same model used for liquid fuel droplets, hinting that their combustion performances should be similar.

Overall, this study is a stepping stone towards new ways to safely transport and store liquid fuels inside polymer gels, which could save many lives. “Polymeric gel storage could prevent explosions and fire accidents by drastically reducing the evaporation of fuels and, in turn, the formation of flammable gaseous mixtures, which can readily happen following a leak in a storage facility,” explained Hosoya. “Much work still remains to be done on this front, such One common hazard when dealing with liquid fuels is that they can as checking the stability and performance of polymeric gels at evaporate quickly if given space, producing clouds of highly flammable different temperature, pressure, and humidity conditions, as well gases. As one might expect, this can lead to catastrophic explosions or fire as developing simpler fabrication procedures and better ways to use these fuel-loaded gels in real engines.” accidents.

Liquid fuels with high energy density are essential in many applications where chemical energy is converted into controlled motion, such as in rockets, gas turbines, boilers, and certain vehicle engines. Besides their combustion characteristics and performance, it is also important to guarantee the safety and stability of these fuels when in use as well as during transport and storage.

Chemical Today Magazine | June 2022

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ACADEMIC R&D

USING ELECTRICITY TO MAKE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS

Catalyst are activated by electricity to make the bonds of the targeted drug compounds. (Representative Image © Pixabay GmbH)

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n a new study published in the journal Science, researchers used electricity to develop a tool that may make it easier and cheaper to fabricate the compounds used in pharmaceuticals and other natural products.

Christo Sevov, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at The Ohio State University, was part of a team that initially sought to prepare a catalyst that could be activated by electricity to make the bonds of the targeted drug compounds.

Their study’s findings suggest a general guideline for taking inexpensive and widely abundant materials, and using them to create complex compounds that wouldn’t normally work together. Streamlining this chemical process could allow researchers to safely create more valuable products with fewer steps and less waste.

But to actually facilitate their chemical reactions in the lab, instead of using high-energy reagents, or added substances, as is customary when synthesizing materials, Sevov’s team utilized the power of electricity.

Because electricity is ecologically sustainable, there’s recently been a push in the industrial sector to move toward the use of electrochemistry to foster chemical change.

The research has broad applications in medicine, and in the creation of products like agrichemicals (like pesticides or herbicides) and certain plastics. But Sevov’s discovery, while seemingly serendipitous, took lots of hard work and patience to get right.

“It took maybe three months of testing different combinations of additives, until all of a sudden something worked and it worked

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phenomenally well,” Sevov said. “Getting to that complex allowed us to stitch together materials that are very difficult to stitch together under normal circumstances.”

Because the precious metals many chemists use as catalysts can cost a pretty penny, Sevov’s team chose a nickel atom as the catalyst for their tool. In chemistry, catalysts are responsible for increasing or decreasing the rate of the chemical reaction as they make and create bonds.

“Being able to use catalysts that are very inexpensive, like nickel, is very beneficial to everyone in the entire community in general,” he said. Besides being a cheap alternative for businesses that produce pharmaceuticals, plastics and polymers, using nickel also keeps the cost of food products down. For example, if farmers had to pay more for the agrichemicals these chemical reactions help create, the price of their crop would rise proportionally, Sevov said.

To build on their research further, the team will go on to collaborate with Merck, a multinational pharmaceutical company, to try creating other products using more difficult reactions and more complex molecules.

But with their latest discovery, Sevov said that he’s optimistic that their work will start to create brand new avenues in the field of chemistry.

“We’re going to take advantage of this really reactive intermediate and see how far we can run with it,” Sevov said.

Co-authors include Taylor Hamby and Matthew Lalama of Ohio State.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

NOVEL METHOD TO MAKE TERTIARY AMINES PRODUCTION FASTER AND SIMPLER

Catalyst are activated by electricity to make the bonds of the targeted drug compounds. (Representative Image © Pixabay GmbH)

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combinations of tertiary amines,” White said. “The flexibility of this reaction makes the discovery process for tertiary amine drugs easier.”

Amines are one of the most prevalent structures found in medicines today. More than 40 percent of drugs and drug candidates contain amines, and 60 percent of those amines are tertiary, so named for the three carbons that are bonded to a nitrogen.

The difference between classical reactions and this new reaction for making tertiary amines is like the difference between picking a specialty sandwich from a menu versus creating your own sandwich from a diverse set of ingredients – you have a lot more flexibility in terms of choices.

n Illinois research team has discovered a way to produce a special class of molecule that could open the door for new drugs to treat currently untreatable diseases.

Despite the prevalence of this special class of molecules in medicines today, much of the functional potential of tertiary amines likely remains untapped.

That’s because the traditional process of making them requires specific, controlled conditions that inherently limit the discovery of new tertiary amines, which could potentially treat a wide range of currently untreatable diseases.

Now, an Illinois research team led by Lycan professor of Chemistry M. Christina White and graduate students Siraj Ali, Brenna Budaitis, and Devon Fontaine have discovered a new chemical reaction, a carbonhydrogen amination cross-coupling reaction, that creates a faster, simpler way of making tertiary amines without the inherent limitations of classic methods. The researchers believe this could also be used to discover new reactions with nitrogen.

This highly flexible system for making tertiary amines is also very practical.

White explained that when a pharmaceutical company wants to make tertiary amines, they often have to use specialized procedures, but this reaction allows you to take two simple, often commercial, starting materials and put them together using the same procedure.

“Because the conditions are so simple and work for so many different amines and olefins there is great potential to adopt this reaction for automation,” White said.

The major challenge the team overcame in this discovery was solving a long-standing problem in C—H functionalization chemistry: replacing a hydrogen atom on a molecule’s carbon framework with a basic, secondary amine to directly make tertiary amines.

As the researchers describe in their paper in Science, this new procedure uses a metal catalyst discovered by their group (Ma-WhiteSOX/ palladium) and two building blocks— abundant hydrocarbons (olefins containing adjacent C—H bond) and secondary amines — to generate a variety of tertiary amines.

Showcasing the power of this new chemical reaction, the researchers made 81 tertiary amines in their study, coupling a wide range of complex, medicinally relevant secondary amines to many complex olefins containing reactive functionality. This includes functionality that is reactive with secondary amines in the traditional tertiary amine manufacturing processes.

This has the potential, White explained, for chemists to take a lot of different secondary amines and couple them to a lot of different olefins, both of which you can either buy or easily make. “And these are stable starting materials. You could have them in individual containers, mix and match them, and using our catalyst make many different

In addition to this reaction being used in the pharmaceutical industry as a platform to expedite the discovery of new tertiary amine drugs, the researchers also believe that their catalyst-controlled slow-release strategy could be used by other researchers to discover many additional new reactions with nitrogen.

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Tel : 08119350001

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E-mail : sales@worldofchemicals.com

IT IN CHEMICALS OIL & GAS ADOPTION

BUILDING A RESILIENT CHEMICAL, PETROLEUM ORGANISATION WITH INTELLIGENCE, INSIGHTS AND EXPERTISE

BY DR. VISWANATH KRISHNAN

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y necessity – and within reason – chemical and petroleum organizations have been early adopters of technology, with a primary focus on stability and costs. This asset- and peopleintensive industry faces some unique challenges, and an innovative and flexible mindset helps these organizations tackle critical areas like: 1. How to adapt quickly to changing circumstances while still ensuring business continuity 2. The ever-present need for operational excellence, including cost control, stability and personnel safety 3. The need to rise above the commoditization of products and deliver differentiation 4. An increasing focus on sustainability within the industry

Adaptability and business continuity As we all deal with an unprecedented amount of disruption, there are strategies that this industry can use to adapt to changing circumstances, including maximizing operational efficiencies and controlling costs. For example, predictive maintenance alone can reduce costs by 15 to 20 percent, help you improve asset availability by 20 percent1 and extend the lives of machines by years. If production unexpectedly slows, planned maintenance schedules can be revised to take advantage of downtime while still accomplishing key objectives. With this more flexible approach to

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operations, organizations are better positioned to ensure business continuity.

Meet the demand for differentiation Next, let’s look at what makes the organization fundamentally tick. When one product is indistinguishable from another, companies have to find ways to differentiate their offerings. This is particularly true when the end consumer has a few degrees of separation from the companies, with B2B entities in between.

Because the commoditization of chemical and petroleum products can reduce prices and impact the corporate bottom line, industry leaders know that technology can help them rise above the noise and deliver offerings that stand out. For example, many companies deliver a more personalized experience by creating customized versions of their products, each with their own unique specifications. Case in point: an industrial paint manufacturer may deliver very different types of paint in terms of both finish and colour to two different consumer-facing companies.

The process of manufacturing similar – yet different – products could be a scenario for inefficiency. However, with AI-powered manufacturing and connected assets, it’s currently feasible to manage any operational adjustments to achieve a product specification in a resilient and flexible manner. That means the ability to optimize and sweat the assets so that the right product with the right specifications is delivered each and every time.

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Use technology to keep workers safer The same data insights that help you optimally operate assets and avoid downtime can also help you ensure the safety of personnel, as well as achieve sustainability goals within the process environment. That’s because this industry often requires employees to perform activities in what could quickly escalate into a hazardous environment. However, more advanced technologies like AI and machine learning mean that many of the perilous tasks that humans once performed can now be automated, augmented or completed using drones, robotics or other remotely controlled devices.

Use of insights from connected assets and previously untapped data sources, such as weather, vehicle telematics, visual feeds and drone-based inspections also allow companies to more reliably predict when it’s safer to check equipment, perform maintenance or address other field-related issues. Not only does this proactively provide a safer working environment, it also minimizes fines and administrative issues that affect a company’s revenue.

Lastly, touchless, remote technologies will also be increasingly deployed to help maintain new social distancing norms and keep workers safer.

Sustainability is no longer optional While all industries are under increasing pressure to be

responsible corporate entities, none are more closely monitored than the chemical and petroleum industry. Regulations, oversight and sustainability goals mean that many companies are actively looking to technology to help address issues, decrease environmental harm, and create more efficient operations.

One way to improve the manufacturing process is to improve product quality and yield. Among other things, it also means reducing waste, optimizing energy and minimizing environmental impact. AI-powered manufacturing can drive up to 30 percent yield improvements and 15 percent waste reduction.1 Not only is this better for the environment, it’s also critical to a company’s bottom line.

Ensure efficient operations

and

reliable

equipment

Insights from connected assets and untapped data sources are critical to understanding the preventive, predictive, and prescriptive actions needed to maintain equipment, optimize performance, and avoid downtime. Fortunately, IBM possesses the essential combination of software, services, and industry expertise to build intelligent workflows that respond to rapidly changing conditions. Wherever you are in your digital journey, we will partner with you to deliver the AI-powered insights and consultative services required for more resilient business operations.

Author: Dr. Viswanath Krishnan is Senior Industry Executive, Chemicals & Petroleum; IBM Industry Academy Member; Manufacturing / Supply Chain / Sustainability SME.

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IT IN CHEMICALS IIOT IN OIL & GAS

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IIOT IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY

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he Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been fuelling digital transitions for nearly every global industry. The oil & gas sector is no exception either.

Companies, which gave off the typical old-decade vibe, are gradually coming up a notch to identify Connectivity as an essential growth driver, and embracing IoT to build intelligent and fully mobile factories. The ‘dinosaur’ sentiment is indeed changing.

However, to say that the oil & gas industry has started to adopt digitization only recently would be wrong. Truth be told, a digital headwind surged over the industry in the 1990s and the early part of the century, but unfortunately, failed to change the face of it. For the most part, enterprises were ignorant of the range of opportunities that data could offer if used meaningfully.

Cut to present, the oil & gas industry has reached the cusp of an unprecedented digital boom. It’s riding high on the IIoT wave and leveraging its growth to an extent that it might outwit other capitalintensive industries in the process. Below are five ways in which IIoT is revolutionizing the oil & gas industry, and cementing its foundation to compete in the hydra digital-first world.

1. Creating a Collaborative Ecosystem IIoT adoption has opened new and advanced frontiers of collaborative innovation for the oil & gas industry. The introduction of integrated digital platforms has fostered an ecosystem where strategic communications no longer sit in silos, rather travel across workstreams to help enterprises enhance collaboration and ensure factory visibility at scale. Integrating an all-access information layer for cross-functional units helps enterprises bear the fruits of competitive benefits, including maximized innovation, strategic decision making, and reduced costs.

Further, creating an IIoT-driven collaborative ecosystem also propagates the concept of Connected Workers in the organizations.

Employees using smartphones, wearables, and other connected devices execute tasks with safety and efficiency while harnessing the power of real-time insights. This contributes to building workplace resilience with enhanced performance and auditability, deriving sustained business value out of massively diverse operations.

2. Production and Capital Throughput The proliferation of IIoT in the oil & gas industry has greatly increased production throughput and efficiency, while also enhancing safety and taming overhead costs. The use of wireless sensors and automated monitoring systems, responsible for acquiring, analyzing, and organizing data, have been instrumental in enabling this performance acceleration.

Using real-time data, enterprises are increasingly capable of gaining end-to-end visibility into their on-ground processes, determining qualitative as well as quantifiable understanding around their asset and performance maturity, and making informed decisions to improve field operations.

3. Equipment and Asset Management IIoT implementation has made it easier for the enterprises to determine the serviceable life of the assets and reconfigure them to avoid performance downtimes. Since sensors continually monitor each functional wheel for anomalies and relay data to maintenance teams, organizations can respond faster to any imminent glitch that might throw stability in flux, thereby ensuring continuous delivery and with impact.

4. Remote Performance Monitoring Given the extensive, multi-location footprint of oil & gas companies, there is always a critical yet daunting need to evaluate asset performance remotely for efficiency, safety, and maintenance needs.

Contrary to isolated, unconnected factories of the past, the new-age IIoT-led enterprises have transformed the upstream operations using the sensors and remote controlled devices.

These technologies monitor remote assets in real-time, communicate performance data across a common information layer, and help service teams better understand on-ground operations. Metrics, such as pressure and temperature are tracked to monitor the shop floor habitats and are further compared to determine the maximum outputs and operational lags if any.

5. Preventive Maintenance So far, it’s apparently clear that performance tracking is central to IIoT’s disruptive agenda. Oil & gas companies can examine data to quickly locate the areas of trouble, fix them, and keep things in the usual order.

However, IIoT isn’t only helpful in transforming the present, but also in predicting the future. In IIoT’s terms, the process is referred to as Preventive Maintenance, where data insights are used to analyze the infrastructural health and predict problems and failures that might put the operations under stress.

Preventive Maintenance help enterprises spot anomalies in the asset and equipment usage beforehand and initiate pre-emptive action to control damage. Given this, organizations find themselves in a winwin position, where they are able to develop bespoke counteractive strategies for every fault they detect and keep workflows stable.

Ultimately, this results in improved efficiency, reliability and reduced operational costs.

Getting Started with IIoT in the Oil & Gas Industry Optima is proof of Kellton Tech’s razor-sharp IoT competencies.

This is a powerful IoT-enabled AI platform for the oil & gas industry that collates data from various sources to provide seamless end-toend enterprise visibility and enable processes that are streamlined, productive, and cost-effective. It also provides effective field operations management and monitoring of all resources and assets, enabling smooth workflow and process automation. Optima enable the management to take real-time decisions by leveraging IoT and cuttingedge domain driven analytics.

Source: Kellton Tech

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IT IN CHEMICALS OIL & GAS DIGITALISATION

WHY DIGITALISATION MATTERS FOR OIL & GAS

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BY JORGEN LARSSON

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eading the charge in this change is digitalisation -- from ‘Industry 4.0’ to ‘Oil & Gas 4.0’. Of course, change is also coming through shifting geographic and technical sources (think unconventional shale).

The demand side of the equation also is evolving, with most demand growth coming from China, India and other emerging economies, while the extent that we’ll be using renewables ten or 20 years from now remains a huge question.

Even oil companies are beginning to look different. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is a perfect example. As announced last fall by its CEO, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the company is transforming itself from a traditional national oil company (NOC) into a dynamic, innovative international energy company, capable of creating new revenue streams and maximising profit in the era of Oil & Gas 4.0.

They are also putting numbers to that vision: increasing oil production capacity, from about 3 million barrels per day (mbpd) today to 4 mbpd by 2020 and 5 mbpd by 2030, and perhaps even more dramatically, ultimately making the UAE a net exporter of natural gas.

A powerful twin The digital twin, which is a virtual representation of a product, production process, or performance, can help manage costs and improve operations for operators -- from the concept and FEED stage, to design and build, to operations and maintenance. The digital twin in an oil and gas setting allows for a more efficient design phase, key to more efficient use of capital-intensive equipment.

During build, it enables virtual testing, training and commissioning, which means revenue generation can begin sooner. During operations, the digital twin allows for remote performance monitoring and predictive diagnostics. This not only means real-time adjustments to improve operations, but also the ability to predict maintenance requirements, thereby increasing uptime.

Apps for oil & gas Another tool increasingly used by the oil & gas industry are the open IoT operating platforms, such as Siemens’ MindSphere. These platforms enable wide-ranging connectivity across device and enterprise systems

Luckily, ADNOC not only has a vision, dynamic leadership, skilled employees and enabling national infrastructure, but also the opportunity to leverage digitalisation, as this technology continues to expand its ability to derive significant benefits for the industry.

and equipment, industry applications, and advanced analytics.

Focus on costs, performance

systems and equipment that allow operators to get key data from

Digitalisation’s rise in the oil & gas industry was helped along by the dramatic fall in oil prices that began in 2014 and seem to have stabilised at a “lower-for-longer” price. This has forced operators to look closely at costs and performance, and to become finely attuned to opportunities to reduce operating and capital costs, drive efficiencies, and increase production.

MindSphere is the platform on which digital twins can operate, and it allows for the creation of other powerful industrial internet of things applications. Capabilities begin with connecting and monitoring components and systems.

Building on this, applications – including those using artificial intelligence and blockchain – can analyze the data collected to better understand how these systems are operating and identify new ways to improve processes. Ultimately, this information and insight can lead to the development of customized applications that further drive

The industry is increasingly seeing digitalisation as fundamental to a more sustainable way forward. It is particularly attractive to companies like ADNOC that are looking to derive added value from operations that span upstream, midstream and downstream, because digital can be applied across the energy value chain.

operations and unlock the potential to completely transform the

By using technologies such as digital twin; open, cloud-based internet of things (IoT) operating platforms, and big data analytics incorporated into powerful software, the oil & gas industry is beginning to achieve both incremental and step-change improvements to their operations.

(OT) systems and assets to networks, whether or not they are internet

To get an idea of the magnitude, consider the following results we’ve achieved for our customers via Siemens Topside 4.0 concept: through the digital integration of topside equipment such as main rotating, electrical, automation and control equipment we achieved 27 per cent lower capital costs and 18 per cent lower operating costs, as well as reducing cycle times of 3 to 9 months, while for a LNG (liquified natural gas) plant, our solutions resulted in an efficiency 50 percent greater than other options. These great achievements can only be realised when engaging in a digital journey during an early stage of project development.

This requires assessing risks and then securing their infrastructure and

operation.

Securing OT At the same time, cyber security must be embedded into these systems, given the risks created by connecting critical operational technology connected. That is especially the case given that significant majorities of oil & gas companies are struggling to address these cyber risks across the oil and gas value chain. broader OT environment. It extends from the field and pipelines to control centers and processing plants to downstream petrochemicals, refining and beyond.

No matter how different the industry may look a decade or two from now, I am confident operators will maintain their focus on maximizing production, minimizing costs and optimizing operations.

As digitalization continues to evolve and bring ever-more tools to the game, it will certainly be playing a central role in achieving these goals.

Author: Jorgen Larsson is Sales Director, New Equipment Solutions, Middle East, GP Oil & Gas at Siemens.

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JOBS

Researcher Gas Processing Company: Shell plc Date Posted: 06-Jun-2022 Country: NETHERLANDS City: Amsterdam

Job Description: Identification of novel sorbents to maintain a healthy sorbent maturation funnel, through in house development or external collaborations. Maturation of 2nd and 3rd generation sorbent, including qualification of these novel sorbents through pilot plant testing.

Color Chemist - Pigment

Job Description: Lead technical programs related to new pigment and effect flakes toolbox introduction.

Has a fundamental understanding of color science including color measurement systems and instrumentation. Has extensive knowledge of pigments, pigment durability and in-use performance attributes including metamerism, application, circulation and storage characteristics. Interact with pigment vendors to assess value-in-use of new products in the marketplace.

Company: Axalta Coating Systems Date Posted: 06-Jun-2022 Country: UNITED STATES City: Mt Clemens, MI

QC Chemist Company: Pfizer Inc Date Posted: 06-Jun-2022 Country: SINGAPORE City: Singapore

Job Description: Perform / review and document analytical testing and results accurately and in accordance to test methods, site SOPs and relevant protocols, adhering to ALCOA principles and Data Integrity (DI) requirements. Perform / review and document equipment verification and calibration in accordance to procedures. Highlight any abnormalities detected during testing / review and raise laboratory investigations as required. Support laboratory investigations and perform equipment troubleshooting where required.

Scientist - Composite Company: Momentive Performance Materials Inc. Date Posted: 03-Jun-2022 Country: UNITED STATES City: Tarrytown, NY

Job Description: Carry out experiments in lab environments with guidance from senior scientists or immediate supervisors in the area of composite processing and testing. Summarize and communicate results to supervisor/peers/local teams.

Company: Akzo Nobel N.V Date Posted: 03-Jun-2022 Country: AUSTRALIA City: Sunshine North VIC

Job Description: Maintain recipe and product portfolio of ANZ Metal Coatings. Responsible for delivery of small or non-complex (sub)projects within the R&D function, delivering new product or optimisation of processes as per project plan & deliverables. Provide technical service support to Sunshine Solutions Lab Technical / Commercial Industrial Coatings team. Evaluate an optimizing formulations so they are designed to enable consistent manufacture in the manufacturing plant, and that procedures are followed.

Sr Research Associate II Company: Gilead Sciences, Inc. Date Posted: 03-Jun-2022 Country: UNITED STATES City: Oceanside, CA

Job Description: Demonstrate hands-on experimental responsibilities in the laboratory, independently champion technology development projects, be involved in new assay evaluation and optimization, and proactively seek out senior personnel to optimize the workflow. Contribute to the implementation and qualification of raw material chemistry assay or other analytical assays under general supervision, participating in assay development work. Participate in other analytical and microbiology support and cleanability studies, as required.

Technical Service Chemist

Project Engineer

Company: Exxon Mobil Corporation Date Posted: 02-Jun-2022 Country: INDIA City: Bengaluru

Job Description: Responsible for the completion of the assigned work scope consistent with the project’s objectives. Oversee FEED level engineering, procurement and execution planning through to completion and start up. Participate in ITT development, bid evaluation, and contractor selection.

Participate in identification and sourcing and management of long lead equipment.

Product Development Chemist-Synthesis Company: PPG Industries, Inc. Date Posted: 02-Jun-2022 Country: UNITED STATES City: Milford, OH

Job Description: Maintain a safe working environment and follow lab safety protocols by ensuring the safe operation of all equipment and chemical handling necessary, and confirm the proper safety equipment, procedures, and housekeeping are maintained in all areas. Perform project tasks with direction and supervision from a group or project leader, or senior chemist. Follow polymer synthesis procedures, perform resin physical testing, and generate reliable data in a timely manner. Observe experimental details and maintain good documentation of details and results in a laboratory notebook.

Research Chemical Engineer Company: Eastman Chemical Company Date Posted: 02-Jun-2022 Country: UNITED STATES City: Kingsport, TN

Job Description: Lead and execute process improvement projects using multi-phase reaction engineering fundamentals in support of our growth and manufacturing areas. Leverage expertise and fundamental knowledge to solve problems and deliver breakthrough process improvements. Analyze performance of multiphase reactors and propose solutions that can be implemented in the plant.

Actively participate in and lead multidisciplinary project teams.

Website: http://www.worldofchemicals.com/chemical-jobs.html

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PRODUCTS

New color-stable polyamide for electromobility W

ith Ultramid® A3U44G6 DC OR (PA66 - GF30 FR), BASF is expanding its portfolio of flame-retardant engineering plastics for the eMobility market. High technical requirements from the industry require innovative solutions based on PA66.

In the case of already proven Ultradur® (PBT) products, color stability can be largely guaranteed, especially in orange (RAL 2003) which is in high demand in the industry. The use of tailormade pigments while at the same time dispensing with halidecontaining flame retardants also counteracts electrocorrosion, which was previously difficult to contain, especially in humid and warm environments.

Contact: BASF SE 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany Tel: +49 621 60-0 Email: julia.endres@basf.com Web: www.basf.com

Introducing thermal stabilizer for PMMA A

rkema has launched TippoxTM 2028 stabilizer, the optimized stabilizer solution for the growing base of customers in PMMA production around the globe. TippoxTM 2028 stabilizer offers a new approach to traditionally utilized methods of handling thermal degradation. TippoxTM 2028 stabilizer expertly addresses the issue of PMMA thermal stabilization, which is essential for efficient processing. By enabling higher processing temperature and higher throughput, while reducing defects and VOCs, TippoxTM 2028 stabilizer saves customers on operational costs. TippoxTM 2028 outperforms typical competitor stabilizers, limiting bubble formation, and improving thermal stability with no compromise in mechanical properties, as it may happen with acrylate comonomers.

Contact: Arkema 420 rue d’Estienne d’Orves 92705 Colombes Cedex, France Tel: 33 (0)1 49 00 80 80 Web: www.arkema.com

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Launching sustainable ingredient to protect hair from heat S

ymrise is launching a novel kind of natural ingredient called SymHair® Thermo. It protects hair from heat and shortens the time needed to use thermal styling tools, such as curling irons, and provides long-lasting styling effects at high humidity.

The Holzminden Group has delivered a sustainable alternative to the synthetic silicones in use so far. SymHair® Thermo works well in leave-on shampoos, conditioners, and care products. The effectiveness of SymHair® Thermo comes from the association of Polyporus umbellatus mushroom. It contains a high number of polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid, and saccharides. Thanks to this unique composition, the ingredient forms a film on the surface of the hair fiber that protects it from heat damage.

Contact: Symrise AG Mühlenfeldstraße 1 37603 Holzminden Germany Tel: +49 5531 90 0 Web: www.symrise.com

New reworkable edge bonding adhesive for more accuracy P

anacol has developed Structalit® 5705, a new, removable edge bonder specifically formulated for bonding consumer electronics components. In addition to reworkability, the main feature of the black adhesive is that it fluoresces yellow when excited by UV light. This significantly enhances the accuracy of in-line optical inspection systems. Also the fastening method offers superior protection from shock, vibration, and thermal stress. As a constructive alternative to underfill processes, edge bonding increases the impact and bending strength of BGAs and other chip packages. Edge bonding can also be preferable to underfills when flux residues are present on PCB and component surfaces. Structalit® 5705 properties enable precise placement of the adhesive with no subsequent migration.

Contact: Panacol-Elosol GmbH Stierstädter Straße 4 61449 Steinbach/Taunus Germany Tel: +49 6171 6202 0 Email: juliane.sieber@panacol.de Web: www.panacol.com

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EQUIPMENT Small controller with large capacity

T

eledyne introduced the launch of its latest addition, the MX 256. Offering over 200 gas detection points, this cost-effective unit provides flexible, accurate and reliable site management, while our semi-automatic magnetic calibration will simplify your maintenance to ensure your system stays healthy in the toughest environments. In addition, our fully addressable sensors significantly reduce installation costs and, more importantly, minimize the overall cost of ownership compared to using multiple stations for larger sites such as laboratories, hotels, schools, universities, and large public and industrial facilities. The digital detectors of the OLCT10N series can detect the following gases O2, NO, NO2, NH3, CO, CO2.

Contact: Teledyne Gas and Flame Detection Oldham Simtronics SAS Z.I.Est - rue Orfila B.P. 417, 62 027 Arras Cedex, France Tel: +33 3 21 60 80 80 Email: gasandflamedetection@ teledyne.com Web: www. teledynegasandflamedetection.com

Launching butterfly valves in different sizes

A

sahi/America Inc, the leader in thermoplastic fluid flow technology, announced the recent addition to its Type-57P butterfly valve line to include 10” and 12” sizes in a CPVC body and disc model. Additionally, the Type-57P CPVC can be actuated both electrically and pneumatically. Asahi/America’s Type-57P CPVC 10” and 12” size butterfly valves are best suited for chemical processing applications, in facilities such as datacenters, where large diameter CPVC body and disc butterfly valves are needed due to elevated water temperatures.

Contact: Asahi/America, Inc 655 Andover St. Lawrence, MA 01843, USA Tel: 781-321-5409 Email: Asahi@asahi-america.com Web: www.asahi-america.com

New magnetic centrifugal pump with self-priming capability

G

emmeCotti HTM SP pumps combine the typical features of our mag drive centrifugal pumps with the self-priming capability. These pumps can prime up to 6 meters at sea level.

HTM SP pumps are made of polypropylene (PP), a thermoplastic material that ensures the best resistance to most chemicals.

Mag drive pumps have a special sealless design that is suitable for pumping corrosive and dangerous liquids thanks to the high chemical resistance and to the absence of leakage and emissions. The structure is really simple and it requires very little maintenance with consequent savings in terms of repairing, spare parts and machine downtime costs during the pump life.

Contact: Gemmecotti Srl Via A. Volta 85/A 20816 Ceriano Laghetto MB, Italy Tel: +39 02.96460406 Email: info@gemmecotti.com Web: www.gemmecotti.com

Vacuum process analysers for sensitive analysis of gas, vapour

T

he Hiden HPR-30 Series are bolt on vacuum process analysers designed for fast response, high sensitivity analysis of gas and vapour species. Equipped with Hiden’s multi-level software package, offering simple control of mass spectrometer parameters and complex manipulation of data and control of external devices. Applications include leak detection, contamination monitoring, process trend analysis and analysis of high mass species and precursors used in ALD and MOCVD. Optional upgrades provide enhanced abundance sensitivity, part-per-billion (ppb) detection levels and high contamination resistance, particularly suited to the analysis of aggressive gases in CVD and RIE applications.

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Contact: Hiden Analytical 420 Europa Boulevard Gemini Business Park Warrington, WA5 7UN, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1925 445225 Email: info@hiden.co.uk Web: www.hidenanalytical.com

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Emergency shutdown discrete valve controller improves safety

E

merson introduced the TopWorxTM DX PST with HART® 7.

Units provide valuable valve data and diagnostic information, enabling the digital transformation of process applications. The new DX PST integrates seamlessly with existing valves and control systems, giving operators access to critical valve data, trends and diagnostics that can be used to predict and schedule maintenance. The DX PST’s partial stroke test ensures the system’s reliable function without shutting down the process.

Certified for operation in harsh and hazardous applications, the adaptive DX PST is designed to improve overall safety and facility uptime in oil & gas, refinery, chemical, industrial energy and mining applications.

Contact: Emerson Electric Co. 8000 West Florissant Avenue, P.O. Box 4100, St. Louis , MO 63136, USA Tel: +1 314 553 2000 Web: www.emerson.com

Improved spectrometer for pharma and food analysis segments

B

ruker Corporation introduced new capabilities for its benchtop Fourier transform (FT) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, the Fourier 80, which does not require special lab infrastructure or cryogens, and offers excellent 1H sensitivity of 200:1 for gradient spectroscopy proton probes.

A new adjustable temperature option increases experimental flexibilty, while new solutions for pharma and food analysis provide improved synthesis and process control, bringing NMR capabilities to more research and analytical laboratories.

The new Fourier 80 reaction monitoring solution RxnLab™ for chemical and pharmaceutical labs features temperaturecontrolled reaction paths to minimize heat loss, optimize process control, and monitor reaction products with the new Fourier 80 flow accessory.

Contact: Bruker Scientific LLC 40 Manning Road Billerica, MA 01821, USA Tel: 978-663-3660 Web: www.bruker.com

Introducing aggressive liquid ISO series chemical service pumps

S

undyne introduced the ANSIMAG ALI (Aggressive Liquid ISO) family of ETFE-lined sealless magnetic drive pumps.

ANSIMAG pumps are specifically designed to handle aggressive corrosive or acidic liquids in chemical processing applications, including chlor-alkali, isocyanates, plastics & polymers, battery manufacturing, agro-chemicals and water & wastewater applications. All ANSIMAG wetted parts are molded ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoro Ethylene) components that can safely handle a wide range of corrosives and solvents. A patented, fully encapsulated magnetic drive hermetically seals the inner magnets to isolate them from process fluid and maintain magnet integrity for the life of the unit. An aramid fiber reinforced containment shell delivers unprecedented reliability and protection against water hammer.

Contact: Sundyne 14845 West 64th Avenue Arvada, CO 80007, United States Tel: 1.303.425.0800 Web: www.sundyne.com

New gas analyzer that measures emissions in methane environments

P

icarro Inc introduced the G2509 gas analyzer that allows companies to accurately quantify their ammonia and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Fertilizer plants, livestock farms, manure processing facilities, among many others in agriculture, are significant emitters of ammonia and GHGs. By deploying the G2509 analyzer, farmers will be able to provide accurate air quality and climate disclosures and evolve mitigation steps, both critical elements of sound Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices in the agricultural sector of the economy. The Picarro G2509 analyzer quantifies ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and water vapor (H2O) emissions in real-time and at scale.

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Contact: Picarro, Inc. 3105 Patrick Henry Dr. Santa Clara, CA 95054, USA Email: shage@picarro.com Web: www.picarro.com

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CHEMICAL TODAY English Monthly RNI: KARENG/2016/71454 Registered/KRNA/BGE -1148/2022-2025 Licensed to Post without prepayment License No. PMG BG/WPP-362/2017-19 Posted at Bangalore PSO 560026 on 7th or 11th or 13th of every month. Total No of pages 78 Date of Publication: 7th of every month.

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