Europe producing solution rubber

Solution polymerisation plants rely on the ready availability of butadiene and styrene and the reaction solvent, hence plants are often located as part of integrated refmeries/chemical complexes, or as adjuncts to such complexes. A wide range of other chemicals such as catalysts, modifiers, shortstops, antioxidants and extender oils are also required. 

Two types of catalyst systems are used, the so-called Ziegler-Natta types and those based on alkyl lithium. Plants using the latter are often multipurpose producing polybutadiene, solution SBR and styrenic block copolymers in quantities depending on market demands. This makes it difficult to estimate the capacities for each type with any accuracy. For this reason, the plant capacities are expressed in terms of solution rubber in general. 

BR was first polymerised in Russia in 1910. It is the second largest volume synthetic rubber accounting for about 24 % of the total of all t)q)es. The consiunption within the EU is approximately 340000 tonnes/year. 

BR is a raw material (a raw rubber) which has two main markets the rubber goods industry and the plastics producers. The former blend it with other types of rubber and mix it with reinforcing fillers, oil and vulcanising chemicals to produce rubber compoimds. The rubber compound is then shaped and vulcanised under heat and pressure to produce the finished rubber article. The latter incorporate a small amount (5 to 8 %) during their polymerisation processes to enhance the impact strength of the finished plastic. The most widely produced material is high impact polystyrene, HIPS. 

BR is a high performance product. It must be manufactured to the highest quality level because of its principal application in safety critical products. In other application areas, such as conveyor belts, the products are expected to perform well for many years under demanding conditions. In order to achieve the required performance and to give easy and consistent manufacturing processes, very tight specifications are applied by rubber goods manufacturers and the plastics industry. 

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Table 8.2. Companies and capacities of the IS plants in Europe producing solution rubber...

There are 15 plants in Europe (including Russia) producing solution rubber with a combined nameplate capacity of 1.3 million tonnes/year. Of these, 12 are located within the EU-15 producing nearly 1 million tonnes/year. In the context of die European polymer industry this production represents 2.3 % of the total production. An overview of the European producers is given in Table 8.2. 

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