Synthetic rubber production, global

EPDM is the fourth highest volume general purpose elastomer used today in the ruhher industry. At 2.7 hillion pounds of global annual production in 2010, EPDM represents about 10% of the total synthetic rubber production. However, unlike NR, SBR, and BR, this synthetic rubber is mostly used in the nontire sector (only a small amount of EPDM may be used in tire white sidewall compound, cover strip, and bicycle tires). EPDM is commonly used in single-ply roofing, in automotive weatherstrips, and hundreds of other applications. 

In recent years there has been a growing awareness about global warming and its possible consequences. This naturally leads to the search for materials and processes which are environmentally friendly. While rubber products are essential to maintain the present quality of human life, a major part of the elastomer requirement is presently met by synthetic materials. In this context, an appreciation of the green credentials of natural rubber vis-a-vis its synthetic counterparts is highly desirable. 

World rubber usage of around 25.8 million metric tons is split between natural rubber, which constitutes about 43% of global consumption, and synthetic rubber, of which styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) accounts for 21%. The balance of synthetic rubbers (36%) consists of polybutadiene rubber (BR) and a range of specialty polymers such as polyurethanes, halogenated polymers, silicones, and acrylates. Traditionally, the growth of synthetic and natural rubber consumption is virtually in line with the change in gross domestic product of, collectively. North America, Europe, Japan, China, and India. 

Table 4.1 Global NR, synthetic rubber and total rubber production. ...

Natural Rubber Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that is derived from latex, a milky colloid mainly extracted from rubber trees (Figure 5.1.35). The purified form of natural rubber is polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, as is synthetic rubber. Today, the global annual production of natural rubber is 10 Mio. tonnes, which is about 40% of the total rubber production (natural and synthetic). The three largest producing countries of natural rubber are Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 

Free radical polymerization is a globally important method for the production of polymers, both academic and industrial. In fact, free radical polymerization is used to produce a significant percentage of the polymers made worldwide, including 45% of manufactured plastics and 40% of synthetic rubber, which amounts to 100 and 4.6 million tons, respectively. 

About 70% of natural rubber consumption goes into tire production while the remaining 30% is used by the nontire sector. There is some substitutability of various synthetic elastomers for natural rubber, but it is rather limited. This substitutability is restricted for the tire sector, which globally uses almost half of its total rubber requirement as natural rubber. In the short term, it is technically very difHcult to make major substitutions of synthetic rubber for NR use. Some applications are very critical, such as the use of NR in wire adhesion compounds for the production of steel-belted radial tires. Also, the use of natural rubber is very critical in the production of very large off-the-road tires. However, the natural rubber requirements of the nontire sector were only 29% of its total rubber usage in the year 2000. The nontire sector only used about 22% of its total rubber requirement as natural rubber in 2010. Many times it is easier in the nontire sector to substitute specialty syn-... 

Even though there were great expectations when synthetic natural rubber (or IR) was first produced, today it only represents globally about 6.5% of the production of all synthetic rubbers. 

Butadiene rubber (BR) is the third largest volume rubber used by the rubber industry today after NR and SBR. Its global production was approximately 7 billion pounds in 2010, which represents about 25% of the production of all synthetic rubber. The vast majority of BR is consumed by the tire sector. Even though it costs more than SBR or NR, it imparts unique properties to a rubber compound, such as excellent wear resistance in a tire tread and flex fatigue resistance in a tire sidewall. In addition, the use of more BR with very high 1,4-m-polybutadiene imparts superior rolling resistance to a tire as well. 

The world demands for thermoplastic elastomers are forecast to expand by 7.5% per year to 2.6 million metric tons in 2006. TPEs will continue to find the majority of their applications as replacements for natural and synthetic rubbers, as well as rigid thermoplastics and metals. The global TPE industry will remain heavily concentrated in the USA, Western Europe and Japan, particularly for specialty materials, such as polyester elastomers. Prom the two trends of application of polyester elastomers as engineering plastics and functional materials, the second one is prioritized. In terms of engineering applications, the PEE production will remain closely related to the motor vehicle industry, sporting goods, hoses, and small household goods. 

The global consumption in 1997 was 7 x 1()6 t. The market is dominated by flexible foam (49 % in the USA, 38 % in Western Europe) and rigid and semi-rigid foam (28 % USA, 35 % Western Europe). Reaction injection moulding (RIM) products account for about 6 % and cast rubbers 2 %, and about 15 % is used as thermoplastic rubbers, surface coatings, sealants, adhesives and synthetic leathers. 

Dioctyl phthalate, (also known as di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)) was the highest volume member of a class of synthetic plasticizers called the phthalates. Other members of this class of phthalate plasticizers Include butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP). Global production of phthalates as a group was about 12 billion pounds in 2008. However, most of the phthalates are used by the plastics industry (specifically In polyvinyl chloride compounds). Probably less than 5% is actually used by the rubber industry. 

There is substantial evidence that synthetic attempts to produce natural rubber yielded a product that was not identical with the material isolated from caoutchouc. There is also evidence that there are as many polyethylenes as there are attempts to synthesize it There are times when biological systems exercise exquisite control over both the local and global stracture of macromolecules. The key to creating polyisoprene that performed as well as natural rubber was synthetic control using the right catalyst and the best conditions. That level of control was visible in 1953, but not to Staudinger. 

---