Raw Materials for Plastics

As the author pointed out in the first edition of this book, the likelihood of discovering new important general purpose materials was remote but special purpose materials could be expected to continue to be introduced. To date this prediction has proved correct and the 1960s saw the introduction of the polysulphones, the PPO-type materials, aromatic polyesters and polyamides, the ionomers and so on. In the 1970s the new plastics were even more specialised in their uses. On the other hand in the related fields of rubbers and fibres important new materials appeared, such as the aramid fibres and the various thermoplastic rubbers. Indeed the division between rubbers and plastics became more difficult to draw, with rubbery materials being handled on standard thermoplastics-processing equipment. 

The lack of new plastics in the late 1960s did not deter the growth of the plastics industries around the world and production reached levels an order of magnitude higher than 20 years before. Then in 1973 came the first serious check to growth that had been seen by the industry since the war. This arose from the oil crisis and it is now pertinent to consider the dependence of plastics on oil and other raw materials. 

the plastics industry is heavily integrated with the oil industry. In fact a popular view is that it would not be able to produce plastics if oil were not available. This is very different from the situation 40-50 years ago when the plastics industry was being described as a scavenger of raw materials . 

There is rather less scope for the re-emergence of the animal-based plastics such as casein, shellac and the blood albumin products. 

Until the mid-1950s the main raw material source for the European plastics industry was coal. On destructive distillation coal yields four products coal tar, coke, coal gas and ammonia. Coal tar was an important source of aromatic chemicals such as benzene, toluene, phenol, naphthalene and related products. From these materials other chemicals such as adipic acid, hexamethylenedia-mine, caprolactam and phthalic anhydride could be produced, leading to such important plastics as the phenolic resins, polystyrene and the nylons. 

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LPG recovered from natural gas is essentially free of unsaturated hydrocarbons, such as propylene and butylenes (qv). Varying quantities of these olefins may be found in refinery production, and the concentrations are a function of the refinery s process design and operation. Much of the propylene and butylene are removed in the refinery to provide raw materials for plastic and mbber production and to produce high octane gasoline components. 

For example, as the result of a great effort in Europe in the fifties, there was a switch from coal to oil as the feedstock. Only the petrochemical industry was able to supply the increasingly large amounts of raw materials for plastics. This is particularly true of benzene and ethylene, the two starting materials for styrene monomer and polystyrene. Ever-growing capacities and plants supplied these chemicals up to 1973 at ever lower prices which brought down the price of polystyrene and opened up further fields of applications. 

A more recent raw material for plasticizer alcohols is crack-C4 as a byproduct of steamcrackers in ethene/propene production. After extraction of butadiene for use and etherification of isobutene with methanol to methyl-tertiary-butylether MTBE as an octane enhancer, a stream is left containing 1-butene, 2-butene, and butanes, so-called raffinate II. Oligomerization of the butenes yields C8 olefin mixtures ( dibutene ) as the main product and the corresponding C12 olefins as the main byproduct (tributene). They are the... 

Another fairly recent development based on synthesis gas is the oxo process, in which olefins are reacted with carbon monoxide and hydrogen to produce aldehydes and alcohols. Octyl and nonyl alcohols have been made on a commercial scale since 1948. These long-chain alcohols are used mostly as raw materials for plasticizers. 

We are rapidly exhausting the earth s supply of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), which are also raw materials for plastics, fabrics, and many essential items. We face a major problem when the supply of raw materials is gone. Moreover, burning fossil fuels increases C02 in the atmosphere, which threatens to alter the climate. 

Starch offers several potential advantages as a raw material for plastics applications. It is annually renewable, obtained from a variety of plant sources and is a low-cost material. Interest in its use in biodegradable plastics is also driven by the inherent biodegradability of starch and the ubiquity of microorganisms capable of utilizing starch as a carbon source. 

Petrochemicals are the raw materials for plastics, making it possible for plastics substitution to have a positive impact on air quality. Zeolitic catalysts and adsorbents are essential to efficiently producing petrochemicals via environmentally sound process technologies. 

The nonyl aldehyde coproduct of the azelaic half aldehyde is a useful intermediate after being transformed into the corresponding alcohol, acid, or amine, it is a raw material for plastics. Several years ago, I. Sakurada, Kyoto University, the inventor of Vinylon, found that when nonyl aldehyde is used instead of formalin for acetalization of poly (vinyl alcohol), the properties of Vinylon yarns are considerably improved, especially in elastic recovery. 

Gases CH to C4H1Q Below 40 Fuel gas, raw material for plastics manufacture... 

Use Raw material for plastics, solvents, dyes, dmgs, and other organic chemicals. The crude or refined product or fractions thereof are also used for waterproofing, paints, pipe coating, roads, roofing, and insulation and as pesticides and sealants. 

Kalcohl. [Kao] Fatty alcohtds raw material for plasticizers, antioxidants, eth-oxylates, etc. 

MAJOR USES Used as raw materials for plastics, solvents, dyes, drugs, paints, pipe coatings, roads, roofing, pesticides, sealants, to produce hydrogen, to extract metal from their ores, to manufacture graphite and electrodes, coal tar used in treatment of skin disorders. 

Plastic substances serve many different purposes. They are, however, for the most part derived from very simple and very similar raw materials. Thus the three sources of raw material overlap in the most remarkable fashion. This is not the case with the older organic industries, based on coal tar, which present a close analogy in some respects. In these a simple substance like benzene may be converted into an astonishing variety of dyes or maybe pharmaceuticals, perfumes, or photographic chemicals, but they cannot be made from things that grow or from petroleum. In the plastics industry alcohol may be said to play the part of benzene. Alcohol is easily converted into acetic acid, acetic anhydride, acetone, or even ethylene. Ethylene is used not only as a raw material for plastics, but for making mustard gas. So too, ether and acetone are used in the manufacture of propellants. [Emphasis added.] ... 

Because the raw materials for plastics are based on crude oil, there is close correlation between their prices. Although plastics are generally considered to be low cost raw materials, at around 1500 per tonne, they compare poorly with their main competitors including steel at 250 per tonne, and aluminium and zinc at 1000 per tonne. 

Abstract Addition polymerization (chain reaction, multistep reaction) and condensation polymerization are very briefly summarized from an engineering perspective. The influences of synthesis on opportunities and risks of raw materials for plastics are listed. This chapter closes with some brief examples of plastics chemical production. 

Influences of Synthesis on Opportunities and Risks (Properties) of Raw Materials for Plastics... 

Plants grown as crops have provided a variety of raw materials for plastics. The cellulose from cotton has always been the quality raw material for cellulosic plastics. The cellulose from other plants is used in a variety of building materials. The oils from plants provided glycerol, and mono- and di-basic acids, for many plastics and plasticizers. Fermentation was used successfully to produce acetone and a number of alcohols and acids useful in polymers and plasticizers. Even the protein in plants, and in animal by-products, has been used in a number of plastics applications. 

APPLICATIONS OF STARCH AS A RAW MATERIAL FOR PLASTIC PRODUCTION 15.5.1 Strategies for the use of starch as a source of polymers... 

The significance of synthetic polymers, on the other hand, lies more in their mechanical, electrical, or optical properties. Their use as raw materials for plastics, elastomers, or synthetic fibers is especially important. The chemical structure of these substances plays a subordinate role for their application, and it is desirable that such substances are as chemically inert as possible otherwise the useful properties could change unfavorably with time. Since the properties of plastics depend on physical quantities, the chemistry of synthetic macromolecules is bound inseparably to the physics and physical chemistry of such substances. Thus, a clear-cut division into pure preparative chemistry and pure physics of macromolecules is inadvisable. Macromolecular science represents a true interdisciplinary science. ... 

Trimellitic anhydride is used as a raw material for plasticizers, as a component in polyesterimides and as a hardener for epoxy resins. High-temperature resistant and high-strength polyimides are produced by the reaction of trimellitic acid chloride with an aromatic diamine, such as 4,4 -diaminodiphenylmethane (e.g. Torlan, Amoco),... 

Another of the plastic lumber manufacturers. Superwood Holdings PLC, licenses its patented process. There is currently one Superwood plant in Canada and another being started in Alabama. The process machinery was developed in Holland and is known as the Klobbie Process. Although HOPE, LDPE and PP are the primary raw materials for plastic lumber production, PET and ABS are allowed but controlled. Due to the fact that PVC will degrade and produce a poor product if present in a mix as a high proportion, it may only be present in small amounts without special additives being added. If a separate source of PVC is available, it can be used at a lower temperature by itself to produce a quality lumber product. Examples of plastic sources for the Superwood process are manufacturers of... 

Telomerization of 1,4-butadiene with water, alcohols, amines, and acids is an extremely useful reaction since it leads to the formation of practically important products. (179,180). For example, the telomer with water, 2,7-octadiene-l-ol can be further hydrogenated to 1-octanol which is a raw material for plasticizers for poly(vinyl chloride). In fact, this reaction was among the processes disclosed in the first patents on the use of TPPTS in biphasic solvent mixtures (58). The catalyst for such telomerizations usually consists of palladium(O) and an excess of TPPTS, TPPMS, or other water-soluble phosphines (eg, with quaternary ammonium substituents). The telomerization of 1,4-butadiene with water was developed into an industrial process by Kuraray Ind. (Scheme 26). Interestingly, the best ligand was the phosphonium salt shown in (Scheme 26) and the catalyst could be prepared in situ from this ligand and [Pd(OAc)2] (179). It is assumed that under the reaction conditions the corresponding tertiary phosphine can be formed to some extent and coordinates to palladium. In any case with a large excess of... 

Acetate derivatives Poly hydroxy butyric acid (D 3.1) Raw material for plastics... 

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