Global polymer industry

Polymerization processes have adopted a character of continuous multiproduct plants, in response to the current demand for polymers. Precisely, the variability observed in the polymer market demand, in terms of product quality specifications, calls upon frequent grade transition policies on the polymerization plants, with legitimate consequences on process economics, due to the regular necessary disturbances from steady-state operating conditions. Therefore, the issue of how to operate such process as continuous multiproduct plants, in a global polymer industry environment with intense competitive pressures, emerges nastily. 

Emulsion polymerization is used for 10-15% of global polymer production, including such industrially important polymers as poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS), polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly (vinyl acetate) [196]. These are made from aqueous solutions with high concentrations of suspended solids. The important components have unsaturated carbon-carbon double bonds. Raman spectroscopy is well-suited to address these challenges, though the heterogeneity of the mixture sometimes presents challenges. New sample interfaces, such as WAI and transmission mode, that have shown promise in pharmaceutical suspensions are anticipated to help here also. 

A finished polymer article may be made entirely from the neat or pure resin. More often, however, it is necessary to compound the resin with additives to improve its processing behavior and/or enhance product quality and service performance. In this section we examine, in a global way, the various feedstocks for the polymers industry. The raw materials can be divided essentially into the base polymers and the various additives. Polymer additives and reinforcements have been treated in Chapter 9. Therefore, only base polymers are discussed here. 

The synthetic polymer industry started in 1910 when the thermoset moulding resin Bakelite was commercialized and has become a global industry in the intervening IOOh- years. The synthetic thermoplastic polymer industry started in Europe and developed in Europe and the Americas and Japan. Then, there was a shift of production and consumption to Asia-Pacific, particularly China, and a shift in production to the Middle East, in the last 30 years. The polyolefin industry has perhaps even led this shift. Five of the major polyolefin producers (in the list of the... 

Environmental issues of today are conveniently discussed within two broad classes global issues and regional or local issues. Table 1.2 summarizes the various issues in each category that impact the polymer industry. The following discussion examines each of these environmental concerns in an effort to understand the extent to which the plastics industry potentially contributes to it. Serious environmental problems that do not involve the polymer industry directly, such as the loss of biodiversity or the increase in urban population density, are excluded from the present discussion. 

For biodegradable polymers (industrial), composting was the first environmental process for which specifications were developed. In the nineties, two parallel developments took place in Europe, resulting in the publication of DIN V 54900 in 1998 and EN 13432 in 2000. In spite of some minor differences, both norms were largely similar. After a few years, the DIN norm was made redundant as several international norms (EN and ISO) dealt with the same issue. In addition, in North America a norm was published in 1999 on specifications for (industrial) compostability ASTM D6400. On a global level, ISO 17088 in the field of plastics was published in 2008, while a similar norm for packaging is close to publication and now available under the form of a Draft International Standard (DIS), ISO DIS 18606. 

It should also be noted that rationalisation of the polymer industry has produced a continuing trend towards fewer and larger suppliers on a global scale who supply polymers as a commodity. As a result there is a shift in technical responsibility... 

The polymer industry should be an industry with intensive Research and Development. Polymer science is the most exciting and promising science, as there remains many unknown interdisciplinary areas to be explored.At the sametime, globalization of polymer technology will progress further. The importance of global cooperation with industries, academic and administrative sectors will increase steadily. 

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