Western European polypropylene production

Polypropylene (PP) is one of the economically most important thermoplastic materials. The Western European production in 2002 reached approximately 8000 kt. The development of Western European polypropylene production for the years 2000 - 2002 is shown in Table 3.3. Polypropylene is found in an extremely wide range of applications whether transparent or pigmented, such as food packaging, textiles, automotive components, medical devices and consumer goods. 

Similar to polyethylene, polypropylene is produced all over Europe in many cases even on the same sites and by the same companies. 

Isotactic polypropylene is currently of great industrial interest (the degree of crystallisation is 40 to 60 %). Non-crystalline atactic PP is used as elastomer components in PP copolymers. The production of syndiotactic PP has only recently become possible through the progress made in catalyst research. It is characterised by a high flexibility, though it crystallises slower and to the same extent as iPP. 

Polypropylene has a rather high melting point, low density, good stiffness and toughness. These properties depend upon the degree of crystallinity and type and level of comonomer incorporated within the product. Polypropylene products may be compounded with rubber to modify their low temperature properties or with mineral fillers or glass fibres to increase stiffness and dimensional stability. 

The main processes for manufacturing LLDPE are the gas phase and the solution processes. In Europe, the ratio between the gas phase and the solution processes for producing LLDPE is about 60 to 40. The process selection is based on the following factors  

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