Thermoset consumption

Some polymers are used industrially in their two forms, thermoplastic and thermoset for example, the polyethylenes or the VAE. Thermoset consumption is roughly 12-20% of the total plastic consumption. 

The main commercial thermosets are urea-formaldehyde resins (UF), melamine-formaldehyde resins (MF), phenol-formaldehyde resins (PF), epoxy resins, unsaturated polyesters, alkyd resins and polyurethanes. Changes in thermoset consumption in Western Europe during the period 1994-1996 are shown in Table 1.2. UF/MF resins and polyurethanes are produced in the greatest quantities, making up about 70% of the total thermosets market. 

Table 1.1 Thermoplastics and thermosets consumption for Western Europe for 2001,2002 and 2003...

Table 1-2 provides estimates of the major types of plastics consumed yearly worldwide that now total 339,990 million lb (154 million tons). About 90% are thermoplastics (TPs) and 10% thermoset (TS) plastics. USA and Europe consumption s are each about one-third of the world total. There are well over 35,000 different type plastic materials worldwide. However, most of them are not used in large quantities they have specific performance and/or cost capabilities generally for specific products by specific processes that principally include many thousands of products (Chapters 6 7). 

The pyramid of excellence (see Figure 1.17) arbitrarily classifies the main families of thermosets according to their performances, consumption level and degree of specificity ... 

As shown in Figure 2.33, polyethylene has the highest consumption (nearly 60%) in both thermoplastic and thermoset (PEX) forms, and also foamed PE (2%). PVC is second (roughly 30%) and the others are polypropylene,TPEs, polyamide, fluoropolymers. .. 

By the beginning of the 1980s world capacity for epoxide resins reached about 600000 tonnes per armum but at this time plant utilisation was only about 50-60%. Thus with a global consumption of about 10 million tonnes per annum for thermosetting plastics, epoxide resins had a share of about 3%. Western Europe and the USA each had about 40% of the market and Japan a little over 10%. This situation has not greatly changed since then but by the late 1990s the world market for epoxide resins had risen to about 750 000 t.p.a. 

Concerning advanced composite materials, optimal ways to impregnate the reinforcement material with the thermoset formulation and shape and cure the part as fast as possible and with low energy consumption are continuously searched. The density-related performance of these advanced composites is the key to their penetration as lightweight structural components. As reinforcement materials, carbon fibers are extending their use from high tech to more traditional applications. 

The thermosetting polymer field is continuously changing. Different precursors, combinations of materials, and modifications of existing manufacturing methods are introduced for new applications. The sustainable development is the major trend for the future. LCA is a new tool for the choice of a reactive system coupled with a processing technique. Efforts are made to decrease the energy consumption by the use of solvent-free and nontoxic chemistries enabling... 

The commodity thermosets of urea, melamine, and phenolics account for about one-third of building and construction industries resin consumption. Most of this is used for resin-bonded woods such as plywood, particle board, and oriented strand board. High-density polyethylene (HDPE), used primarily for rigid piping, accounts for about 5% of consumption. Other significant resins, accounting for 3-5% of total consumption, include other polyethylenes, unsaturated polyester, and polystyrene. 

Table 3.4 summarizes the consumption of thermosetting binders used in various regions. The epoxy-polyester systems predominate over polyester-trisglycidyl iso-cyanurate and epoxy systems. The consumption of thermoplastic coating powders, particularly those used in the fluidized-bed and flocking processes, is substantially lower than that of thermosetting powders (Table 3.5). Their production does not show a comparably significant growth rate.

Almost all of the polymer families are involved in automotive applications there are thermoplastics, where automotive applications is the third market in its consumption (with 13%), there are thermosets, where automotive is the second market in their consumption (with 14%), there are composites, a series of rubbers, and (TPE), for the latter three, automotive is the first market in their consumptions. 

Total plastics consumption yearly worldwide is estimated at 399.5 billion lb (200 million ton). In USA about 106.9 billion lb is consumed with about 90% are thermoplastics (TPs) and 10% thermoset (TS) plastics. USA and Europe consumption s are each about 27% of the world total with Japan, China, Australia, and the Pacific RIM countries accounting for 20%, central and South America 10%, India and Southwest Asia 8%, and Afiica, Middle East, and rest of the world (ROW) 8% (Chapter 3). 

Polymers are divided in two main classes thermoplastics and thermosets, as illustrated in Figure 2.1. In the former, representing 80% of total plastics, macromolecules are not chemically bonded to each other. Thermoplastics become viscous when heated, allowing shaping under pressure, and solidify when cooled. This cycle can be repeated many times. The major thermoplastics in terms of volume are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS). Together these four pol3uners account for more than 90% of the total consumption of thermoplastics. They are homopolymers, where all monomers are identical, with a variety of... 

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... 

Table 33-3. Production, Import, Export, and Consumption of Thermoplasts and Thermosets by the Important Industrial Countries in the Year 1974...

Table 34 1. Thermoplast and Thermoset Additive Consumption for the USA in 1977. The U.S. Plastics Raw Material Production in 1977 Was About 13 000 000 tons. Textile Finishing Aids Are Not Considered...

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