Sectors, plastics industry polymer manufacturing

This chapter will review the chemistry of PLA and will discuss the commercial manufacturing process that confirms its position as a viable material for many applications in both the fibers and the plastics industries. It will review the various properties of the polymer and consider the fiber properties that make it attractive to the commercial sectors into which it is being developed today. Recognizing that this is very much a new polymer with its own characteristics and processing requirements, the current status... 

Sales generated by the polymer industry were S 3 billion in 1990 of which almost 50% was exported. Plastics products represented 49% of these sales, resins 43%, and rubber goods 8%. This represents about 5% of the GNP and 15% of the Manufacturing Sector output. The tool and die industry sector is excluded from these data as relevant statistics are not available. The types of plastic resins manufactured and the nameplate capacities are shown in table 3. 

Fig. 1.2 provides evidence that multiphase catalytic reactors are present across a spectrum of process technologies. They constitute over 98% of reactors employed in practical processes and are employed in numerous industrial sectors, such as processes for manufacture of advanced materials (e.g., composites, nanomaterials, optical fibers, plastics, and semiconductors), bio-based materials, bulk chemicals, catalysts, environmental remediation, fine and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, polymers, natural gas derivatives, petroleum-refined products, and transportation fuels. These products represent a large contribution to the GDP in both the United States and elsewhere in the world (Tunca et al., 2006). 

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