PetroChina Guangxi to License LyondellBasell’s Differentiated PE Technology

 LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) announced that PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical Company will license LyondellBasell’s polyethylene technology at their facility located in Qinzhou City, Guangxi, P.R. of China.

Preferred Technology for EVA/LDPE Plant Operators:

The newly licensed technology will comprise of LyondellBasell’s high-pressure Lupotech process technology which will be used for both a 100 kiloton per year (KTA) Autoclave and a 300 KTA Tubular line. Both production trains will produce mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Furthermore, an additional 300 KTA Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (ACP) line for the production of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) will be built at the same site.

“This latest award from PetroChina Guangxi Petrochemical Company continues the long tradition of collaboration with LyondellBasell, as with this award almost 6,000 KTA of capacity has been licensed to the PetroChina group. With the selected polyolefin technologies, PetroChina Guangxi will be able to compete in the market and be able to produce benchmark resins to support people’s everyday lives,” said Neil Nadalin, director Global Licensing and Services at LyondellBasell. Nadalin added, “The newly added lines will include our latest generation high-pressure Lupotech technology as well as our multi-modal advanced cascade (ACP) HDPE technology enabling PetroChina to produce state-of -the art polyethylene products.”

Decades of experience in high-pressure application design makes the LyondellBasell Lupotech process the preferred technology for EVA/LDPE plant operators. High reliability, unmatched conversion rates and effective process heat integration are key attributes of the Lupotech process, designed to ensure this technology’s on-going energy efficiency. More than 15,000 KTA of LyondellBasell high pressure LDPE technology has been licensed by LyondellBasell in over 80 lines around the world.

Manufactures HDPE Resins with Good Mechanical Properties:

The Hostalen ACP process technology manufactures high performance, multi-modal HDPE resins with an industry-leading stiffness/toughness balance, impact resistance, high stress cracking resistance and process advantages are used in pressure pipe, film and blow molding applications. The PetroChina HDPE plants will commence operations using Avant Z 501 and Avant Z509-1 catalysts to produce a full range of multi-modal HDPE products.

New licensees take advantage of LyondellBasell’s in-house expertise of continuous production improvement, product development according to the latest environmental regulations, and our know-how in high pressure design, by optionally joining our Technical Service program.

In addition to the Hostalen ACP, Lupotech T and Lupotech A process technology, the LyondellBasell licensing portfolio of polyolefin processes and catalysts includes:

Spherizone – The breakthrough multi-zone circulating reactor provides a unique and innovative platform to manufacture polypropylene products with novel architecture and enhanced properties.

Spheripol – The leading polypropylene (PP) process technology with more than 33 million tons of licensed capacity. With globally recognized quality grades featuring leading monomer yield and investment costs to make it the technology of choice.

Avant – Advanced Ziegler-Natta, including non-phthalate, chromium and metallocene catalysts for entire range of polyolefin production.

Source: LyondellBasell/Omnexus-Specialchem

SunGas Renewables Announces Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, a Green Methanol Facility in Central Louisiana

 SunGas Renewables Inc. (“SunGas Renewables”) today announced the formation of Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, LLC (“BLRE”), which will construct a new green methanol production facility in Central Louisiana. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SunGas Renewables, BLRE is expected to generate from the facility nearly 400,000 metric tons of green methanol per year for marine fuel while creating more than 1,150 jobs during construction and more than 100 local jobs during operation.

Green methanol produced by BLRE is expected to be used to fuel A.P. Moller – Maersk’s (“Maersk’s”) fleet of methanol-powered container vessels and will utilize wood fiber from local, sustainably-managed forests. The methanol will have a negative carbon intensity through sequestration of nearly a million tons per year of carbon dioxide produced by the project, which will be executed by Denbury Carbon Solutions.

SunGas Renewables anticipates BLRE will invest approximately $2 billion to construct the project at the former International Paper facility in Rapides Parish. The BLRE facility is expected to begin construction in late 2024 with commercial operations commencing in 2027.

“As the only state in the Gulf South with a climate action plan, Louisiana is a global leader in the energy transition, and companies like SunGas Renewables have taken notice,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “I applaud SunGas Renewables for pursuing this massive investment that would create quality, high-paying jobs in central Louisiana for our talented workers. If it moves forward, this project will be another milestone in our efforts to grow and diversify our economy. The state will continue to support the company’s efforts to bring it to completion.”

Emma Mazhari, Head of Energy Markets at Maersk, said, “A.P. Moller – Maersk is excited to be partnering with SunGas Renewables, which is pioneering a truly large-scale pathway to green methanol with its Beaver Lake Renewable Energy facility. We would like to thank SunGas Renewables for showing great leadership and for its commitment to the green transition of energy. This is helping Maersk to deliver valuable services to our customers and is aligned with our aim to reach net zero greenhouse emissions by 2040. Together, as pioneers in the field, SunGas and Maersk are driving a much-needed transition in a heavy pollution industry. We hope that work can be accelerated further in the years to come.”

“Using biomass from sustainably managed forestry along with carbon capture allows our project to generate green marine shipping fuel while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere. This new low-carbon marine fuel facility also helps strengthen communities and create sustainable economies right here in Rapides Parish, Louisiana,” said Robert Rigdon, CEO of SunGas Renewables. “As we continue our mission to make a meaningful impact in the energy transition, we look forward to collaborating with all our project partners and the State of Louisiana to construct and operate this important project. This incredible effort happening right here in Pineville will be an innovative and industry leading low-carbon energy solution that will help fuel a better world.”

In late 2022, SunGas Renewables announced a strategic green methanol partnership with Denmark-based Maersk, the world’s second largest container shipping company, to produce green methanol from multiple facilities around the country. Maersk is a leader in decarbonizing marine shipping by using green methanol to fuel its new and growing fleet of methanol powered container vessels. The BLRE project is SunGas Renewable’s first facility to produce green methanol for Maersk. SunGas Renewables chose Central Louisiana for the BLRE project due to its long history of sustainably managed forests, available infrastructure to support the facility, and strong local and State support.

Source:SunGas Renewables

#methanol #co2reduction #maritime #carbonnegative #greenmethanol #sustainable

A wearable ultrasound scanner could detect breast cancer earlier

The new device, which can be incorporated into a bra, could allow more frequent monitoring of patients at high risk for breast cancer.

When breast cancer is diagnosed in the earliest stages, the survival rate is nearly 100 percent. However, for tumors detected in later stages, that rate drops to around 25 percent.

In hopes of improving the overall survival rate for breast cancer patients, MIT researchers have designed a wearable ultrasound device that could allow people to detect tumors when they are still in early stages. In particular, it could be valuable for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer in between routine mammograms.

The device is a flexible patch that can be attached to a bra, allowing the wearer to move an ultrasound tracker along the patch and image the breast tissue from different angles. In the new study, the researchers showed that they could obtain ultrasound images with resolution comparable to that of the ultrasound probes used in medical imaging centers.

“We changed the form factor of the ultrasound technology so that it can be used in your home. It’s portable and easy to use, and provides real-time, user-friendly monitoring of breast tissue,” says Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor in MIT’s Media Lab and the senior author of the study.

MIT graduate student Wenya Du, Research Scientist Lin Zhang, Emma Suh ’23, and Dabin Lin, a professor at Xi’an Technological University, are the lead authors of the paper, which appears today in Science Advances.

A wearable diagnostic

For this project, Dagdeviren drew inspiration from her late aunt, Fatma Caliskanoglu, who was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at age 49, despite having regular cancer screens, and passed away six months later. At her aunt’s bedside, Dagdeviren, then a postdoc at MIT, drew up a rough schematic of a diagnostic device that could be incorporated into a bra and would allow for more frequent screening of individuals at high risk for breast cancer. 

Breast tumors that develop in between regularly scheduled mammograms — known as interval cancers — account for 20 to 30 percent of all breast cancer cases, and these tumors tend to be more aggressive than those found during routine scans.

“My goal is to target the people who are most likely to develop interval cancer,” says Dagdeviren, whose research group specializes in developing wearable electronic devices that conform to the body. “With more frequent screening, our goal to increase the survival rate to up to 98 percent.”

To make her vision of a diagnostic bra a reality, Dagdeviren designed a miniaturized ultrasound scanner that could allow the user to perform imaging at any time. This scanner is based on the same kind of ultrasound technology used in medical imaging centers, but incorporates a novel piezoelectric material that allowed the researchers to miniaturize the ultrasound scanner.

To make the device wearable, the researchers designed a flexible, 3D-printed patch, which has honeycomb-like openings. Using magnets, this patch can be attached to a bra that has openings that allow the ultrasound scanner to contact the skin. The ultrasound scanner fits inside a small tracker that can be moved to six different positions, allowing the entire breast to be imaged. The scanner can also be rotated to take images from different angles, and does not require any special expertise to operate.

“This technology provides a fundamental capability in the detection and early diagnosis of breast cancer, which is key to a positive outcome,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and one of the authors of the study. “This work will significantly advance ultrasound research and medical device designs, leveraging advances in materials, low-power circuits, AI algorithms, and biomedical systems.”

Early detection

Working with the MIT Center for Clinical and Translational Research, the researchers tested their device on one human subject, a 71-year-old woman with a history of breast cysts. Using the new device, the researchers were able to detect the cysts, which were as small as 0.3 centimeters in diameter — the size of early-stage tumors. They also showed that the device achieved resolution comparable to that of traditional ultrasound, and tissue can be imaged at a depth up to 8 centimeters.

“Access to quality and affordable health care is essential for early detection and diagnosis. As a nurse I have witnessed the negative outcomes of a delayed diagnosis. This technology holds the promise of breaking down the many barriers for early breast cancer detection by providing a more reliable, comfortable, and less intimidating diagnostic,” says Catherine Ricciardi, nurse director at MIT’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and an author of the study.

To see the ultrasound images, the researchers currently have to connect their scanner to the same kind of ultrasound machine used in imaging centers. However, they are now working on a miniaturized version of the imaging system that would be about the size of a smartphone.

The wearable ultrasound patch can be used over and over, and the researchers envision that it could be used at home by people who are at high risk for breast cancer and could benefit from frequent screening. It could also help diagnose cancer in people who don’t have regular access to screening.

“Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and it is treatable when detected early,” says Tolga Ozmen, a breast cancer surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital who is also an author of the study. “One of the main obstacles in imaging and early detection is the commute that the women have to make to an imaging center. This conformable ultrasound patch is a highly promising technology as it eliminates the need for women to travel to an imaging center.”

The researchers hope to develop a workflow so that once data are gathered from a subject, artificial intelligence can be used to analyze how the images change over time, which could offer more accurate diagnostics than relying on the assessment of a radiologist comparing images taken years apart. They also plan to explore adapting the ultrasound technology to scan other parts of the body.

The research was funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation, a 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, the Sagol Weizmann-MIT Bridge Program, and MIT Media Lab Consortium Funding.

Source:MIT News

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Hybrid tailored fiber placement!

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Hybrid tailored fiber placement! 

Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) is an embroidery-based tow-steering process that enables complete control over fiber placement and directionality in a composite preform. During the process, continuous tow is stitched to a backing material using numerical control. The result is highly engineered composite structures that take full advantage of the anisotropic nature of fiber reinforcement. 

This cost effective process is driven by high stitching speed on one hand and multiple laying heads on a machine. In comparison to other textile technologies the expensive loss of materials is kept to a minimum because of the near net shape production of the product. 

ZSK STICKMASCHINEN TFP machines are capable of manufacturing preforms from synthetic fibers as well as mineral, natural and hybrid fibers, using natural threads and support materials. This picture shows some hybrid natural and mineral fibers footplates with copper wire to dissipate electrostatic charges and a footplate made with palm tree and one with volcanic rock fibers: the advantages of TFP in wastes reduction and fiber path optimization meets sustainable and functional fibers. 

Source:#managingcomposites #thenativelab

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#hybrid #composites #compositestructures #fiber

Researchers Develop a Method to Produce Bio-based Nylon Using Microorganisms

Until now, nylon has been produced from petroleum-based raw materials. However, this is quite harmful to the environment because non-renewable fossil resources are used, a great deal of energy is required, and climate-damaging nitrous oxide is emitted during production.

A research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the Leipzig University has now developed a process that can produce adipic acid, one of two building blocks of nylon, from phenol through electrochemical synthesis and the use of microorganisms.

The team also showed that phenol can be replaced by waste materials from the wood industry. This could then be used to produce bio-based nylon. The research work was published in Green Chemistry.

Electrochemical Synthesis Replaces Hydrogen Gas with Electric Energy:

In T-shirts, stockings, shirts, and ropes -or as a component of parachutes and car tires - polyamides are used everywhere as synthetic fibers. At the end of the 1930s, the name Nylon was coined for such synthetic polyamides. Nylon6 and Nylon6.6 are two polyamides that account for around 95% of the global nylon market. Until now, they have been produced from fossil-based raw materials.

However, this petrochemical process is harmful to the environment because it emits around 10% of the climate-damaging nitrous oxide (laughing gas) worldwide and requires a great deal of energy. Our goal is to make the entire nylon production chain environmentally friendly. This is possible if we access bio-based waste as feedstock and make the synthesis process sustainable".

For example nylon consists of about 50% adipic acid, which has so far been industrially extracted from petroleum. In a first step, phenol is converted to cyclohexanol, which is then converted to adipic acid. This energy intensive process requires high temperatures, high gas pressure, and a large amount of organic solvents. It also releases a lot of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. The researchers have now developed a process in which they can convert phenol into cyclohexanol using an electrochemical process.

"The chemical transformation behind it is the same as in the established processes. However, electrochemical synthesis replaces the hydrogen gas with electric energy which takes place in an aqueous solution and requires only ambient pressure and temperature explains Harnisch. For this reaction to run as quickly and efficiently as possible, a suitable catalyst is needed. This would maximize the yield of electrons needed for the reaction and the efficiency of the conversion of phenol to cyclohexanol. In laboratory experiments, the best yields (almost 70% electrons and just over 70% cyclohexanol) were shown with a carbon-based rhodium catalyst.

Source: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)/specialchem

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#bioplastics #sustainable #nylon #electrochemical #synthesis

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Geometric lattice cores:

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Geometric lattice cores:

When talking about geometric lattice cores, most people think about a core with hexagon shaped cells, which is the basic and most common cellular honeycomb configuration. However, we have other options currently available on the market, such as Flex-Core, Ox-Core and Double-Flex to name a few.

But how to select between them?

The Flex-Core cell configuration provides for exceptional formability in compound curvatures with reduced anticlastic curvature and without buckling the cell walls. Curvatures of very tight radii are easily formed. When formed into tight radii, Flex-Core provides higher shear strengths than comparable hexagonal core of equivalent density.

The “OX” configuration is a hexagonal honeycomb that has been over-expanded in the “W” direction, providing a rectangular cell configuration that facilitates curving or forming in the “L” direction. The OX process increases “W” shear properties and decreases “L” shear properties when compared to hexagonal honeycomb.

Double-Flex is a unique large cell Aluminum Flex-Core with excellent formability and high specific compression properties. Double-Flex formability is similar to standard Flex-Core.

Source: Hexcel/ #managingcomposites #thenativelab

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#composites #cores #aluminum #shear

LyondellBasell Acquires 50% Stake in Stiphout, a Dutch Recycling Company

LyondellBasell announced it has acquired a 50% stake in Stiphout Industries B.V. ("Stiphout"). Stiphout is involved in the sourcing and processing of post-consumer plastic packaging waste.

The company operates a facility located in Montfort, the Netherlands, with an annual processing capacity equivalent to the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by over 500,000 Dutch citizens per year.

Leverage Local Synergies with Quality Circular Polymers Business

"Investing in Stiphout aligns with our strategy to invest in recycling and plastic waste processing companies that support our existing assets in the Netherlands and Germany and fits with our integrated hub model," says Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell executive vice president, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. "Through this collaboration, we can leverage local synergies with our Quality Circular Polymers business in terms of logistics and operations. It also unlocks possibilities to further expand our CirculenRecover portfolio, creating solutions for customers and brand owners in support of their circular and low-carbon targets".

Stiphout was founded in 2015 and has over time built up experience in the processing of plastic household waste into clean flakes of recycled polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) materials, establishing itself as an innovative player in the Netherlands.

"Partnering with an experienced polymer producer will provide possibilities to further step-up commercial and operational excellence of our operations," says Eline Stiphout, founder and CEO of the Stiphout group. "We are excited to team up with LyondellBasell since we share that circularity is critical to helping end plastic waste".

Source: LyondellBasell/Omnexus-specialchem

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#plastics #recycling #dutch #recyclingindustry

PS:Since I have known her for some time in the recycling business,it is good to see her growing more and more.True Professionalism and hard work pays off in the end.She is good at sourcing the plastic flakes from various regions in EU.i Wish Eline Stiphout a great success in the coming years too.

Braskem Invests $87 Million More in Brazilian Biopolymer Production

Braskem announced on July 24 that the company concluded a 30% increase in the production capacity of its bio-based ethylene plant, located in the Petrochemical Complex of Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The recent $87 million investment in the facility is intended to meet the growing global demand for sustainable products. The plant now operates at an higher capacity, increasing from 200,000 to 260,000 tons yearly.

Braskem’s bio-based ethylene is made from sustainably sourced, sugarcane-based ethanol which removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and stores it in products for daily use.

The initiative is an important advance in the company's ambition to increase the production of biopolymers to one million tons by 2030, and to become carbon neutral by 2050.

"The expansion of bio-based ethylene capacity reinforces Braskem’s commitment to sustainable development and innovation and proves the success of the strategy we engaged in thirteen years ago, when we launched the world’s first bio-based polyethylene production at industrial scale, with proprietary technology. We want to meet society's and customers' demand for products with less impact on the environment,” explains Walmir Soller, O/P VP for Europe and Asia and responsible for the I’m green bio-based business globally.

Each ton of plastic resin made from renewable feedstock represents the removal of 3 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. Since the plant's beginning in 2010, more than 1.2 million tons of I’m green bio-based polyethylene has been produced. The recent increase in production capacity will remove approximately 185,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year.

Braskem’s portfolio of bio-based resins is exported to more than 30 countries and is used in products from more than 250 major brands, such as Allbirds, DUO UK, Grupo Boticário, Johnson&Johnson, Natura & Co, Nissin, and Tetra Pak. These bio-based resins are used to manufacture packaging, bags, toys, housewares, industrial cables and wires, packaging films, hockey fields, and reusable water bottles among many other products.

Source:Plasticstoday

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#braskem #biobased #ethylene #biobasedmaterials #biopolymers #packaging #bottle #production