Project/manufacturing industries performance

In conclusion, test equipment is available in all areas of interest for the determination of feed and product characteristics, including new techniques that have been developed in response to advancements in modem mechanical process technology and to new applications for the manufacturing of novel, for example, engineered products. However, testing is only as good and predicts industrial performance of the projected plants as correctly as test conditions reflect what will be found later in the actual installation. 

Many companies that do industrial research on catalysis choose not to make their own catalysts. Catalyst preparation and marketing is a specialty chemical, high technical service business. Manufacturers are under pressure to make their catalysts more active, more selective, and with a greater cost performance and lifetime than those of their competitors. Development of a new catalyst or process historically has taken many years (5-10) which is a disadvantage in project economics. The overall catalyst business is expanding and catalyst life is finite. The challenge is to make a cost-effective product with a sufficiently high rate of return on investment. 

Process performance and commercial status. The Akzo process was investigated on a pilot scale (30 kg/h) with PVC cable and pipe scrap. Some tests with mixed PVC waste were carried out on a larger scale (300 kg/h) with the support of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers, giving promising results. At the moment the project is on hold, even though there is a plan to realize an industrial-scale plant, with a capacity of about 50000 t/yr. On the other hand, Akzo Nobel has stopped all activities on HCl recycling from PVC [50]. The process is still at pilot-scale status, so that large uncertainty exists about its technical, enviromnental and economic performance. 

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