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http://www.european-rubber-journal.com/article/2070570/latest-issue-of-erj-magazine-now-available-online

With updated processes, traditional plants can achieve major improvements in terms of energy consumption, efficiency and productivity

Source: This article was published by European Rubber Journal. p.44-45. Ed. Nov-Dec. (2022).

Authors: Dr. Walter Ramirez, Jorge Campos (Innventik)

Companies and countries have announced ambitious goals to increase circularity, beyond their net-zero targets, and to become climate-neutral by 2050. In line with this target, the conservative elastomers and rubber industry must invest in technologies to support this goal.

Some of the process technologies still in place date back to the 1960s. The time has come to take processes and operations to the next level, through implementing best-practices for process improvement and innovative designs for sustainability.

Sustainability is driven by legislation, the positioning of customers in the value-chain and, increasingly, by pressure from end-market consumers. The industry will face a gradual increase in more rigid emissions-reductions requirements as more customers pursue net-zero strategies and demand zero-carbon materials-services.

This is good news because it will enable an acceleration in the adoption of existing and new process technologies to make our industry greener by optimising for maximum flexibility and performance, while minimising energy-consumption, emissions, waste, and costs.

This should also drive the implementation of emissions-reduction initiatives – such as via direct devolatilisation and thermal energy electrification – as well as the adoption of sustainability practices, including mass-balance, renewable raw materials-energies, and zero-residues.

There is, therefore, a clear opportunity for operators to revamp current processes towards providing more flexibility, differentiation, and cost-effectiveness, complying with today’s goals and regulatory challenges.

Moreover, these capex projects will not only reduce the impact of synthetic rubber production on the environment but also minimise community impacts, secure social licenses to operate, and reduce costs.

Solution polymerisation.

The solution polymerisation process –anionic, cationic, coordination to obtain SSBR, BR, SBS, SEBS, SEPS, SIS – offers unique possibilities and presents significant areas of improvement from the process perspective:

Operation flexibility: Swing for batch, with the possibility to switch from rubber (i.e. SSBR) to elastomers (i.e. SBCs) in the same line.
Solvent selection: The best solvent type must be properly selected depending on weather conditions, for low-energy solvent removal conditions, and also to enable crumb morphology control during the downstream process.
Purification: The final product performance and quality, the polymer structure, and the process consistency depend directly on the purity of the raw materials. High monomer and solvent purity ensure high-purity blocks, structure control, and enhanced performance (differentiating against “commodity” type products). Improvements to column design and the number of stages can be implemented for maximum solvent recovery and highest purity, with low energy consumption. The designs must eliminate water traces (<1ppm moisture max.) and prevent column oversaturation, by implementing molecular sieves with an efficient regeneration system. These measures will lead additionally to the complete elimination of heavy species, to achieve greater consistency, lower emissions, and reduced cost.
Reaction: A more efficient reactor design with an optimum agitation system with the right hydrodynamics for self-cleaning, to manage efficiently even at high solids content, with optimum heat transfer for maximum heat dissipation. The advanced reactor design must enable superior kinetic and polymer-structure control, employing (a) a catalyst or initiator titration system to ensure very precise additions; (b) a smart addition system for polar modifiers that will facilitate shorter cycles and increased productivity; (c) a control loop analysis system to follow the kinetics.
Stripping: An optimised design and array to generate crumbs with low thermal history (to prevent colour and gel formation), has an optimised number of stages, with adjusted residence time, temperature, and additives for energy efficiency, enhanced water recovery, and fines reduction. An improved stripper geometry and agitation system, using eco-friendly additives, eases degassing, maximizes solvent recovery, and enables crumb morphology control.
Finishing: Optimised crumb feeding systems for maximum productivity, with special screw and cutter designs, control the density of bales, to obtain friable bales. High-density, porous (fluffy) crumbs can be controlled with the proper equipment and conditions. New shafts have been designed for expellers and expanders. The advantages of these shafts: (a) provide a net increase in process productivity (>10%); (b) avoid gel formation; (c) eliminate surging; (d) reduce fines; (e) reduce hopper back pressure; (f) stabilise the finishing line; (g) increase longevity.
Direct devolatilisation: This type of process technology is focused on thermoplastic rubber and enables the elimination of the stripping and finishing stages to obtain the final product. Direct devolatilisation represents the next generation of finishing because of the advantages of energy, throughput, environmentally friendly, quality, consistency, and compact pellet. Energy savings (60%) vs. the steam stripping processes have been confirmed. Steam consumption reduction (60-80%), water consumption savings (99%), and overall energy savings (60%). The production of dense or porous pellets is possible through special devices. These technologies have increased in performance and are now capable of handling low and very high viscosities, stably, at high throughputs, and a reasonable cost. Limitations include polymer characteristics (especially with polymers of high molecular weight and low melt flow index), the removal of salts and additives, and the “porous crumb” feature.

Emulsion polymerisation

The emulsion polymerisation process – cold, hot, to obtain ESBR, NBR, HNBR, SB latex – has not evolved substantially, except for optimised compositions. Areas for significant improvements to the process include:

Reactor: The new emulsion polymerisation reactor is designed to efficiently control kinetics at the highest solid content and minimize coagulum, and scaling, combining cryogenic and high-temperature features. The implementation of pre-emulsion, degassing systems, and online loops to control kinetics, particle size, and distribution, are possible. Flexible chain design allows batch-continuous operation, and efficient product switching. Implementing higher solids formulations is possible by using an optimum hydrodynamic system, feeding policies, and additives.
Stripping: The first stripping process was patented in 1942 for emulsion polymers and is basically how most plants operate today. An optimised finishing and stripping to remove residual monomer with low thermal history have been proposed, with an optimised monomer purification for recycling with maximum quality. New, proven industrial designs for butadiene recovery using an advanced compression-condensation system and a flash-flash-decanter system for Styrene recovery have been successfully implemented. Novel designs to maximise monomer removal by combining the stripper with spray nozzles connected to a distillation column (in the same equipment) have been proposed. Technologies for continuous coagulation-washing-dewatering-drying (i.e. self-cleaning, intermeshing kneaders with twin-screws, biaxial extruder barrel,) have been implemented.
Concentration: The new emulsion polymerisation design can handle latex formulations up to 60-63% solids. This can be achieved by optimising the design, formulation, and conditions of the thin-film evaporator.

Fundamental transformation

The drive to enhanced sustainability will require a fundamental transformation of the elastomer and rubber industry: assessing and reducing environmental impact offers both great opportunities and great challenges.

Companies must, therefore, take action to decarbonise profitably, by exploring technological options for new processes to achieve sustainability goals, embracing a bold new vision of the future based on sustainable- and safe-design process technologies.

Implementation of best process and operational practices for more flexible, modular cost-effective synthetic rubber production with reduced environmental impact requires a mindset change to build a “green business.”

Reaction process features

About the authors:

Walter Ramirez and Jorge Campos are co-founders of Innventik, a consulting and engineering firm that assists customers worldwide, to design processes, accelerate commercialisation & innovation projects. With bases in Spain and Mexico, Innventik services ranges from engineering process assessment, FEED and EPC to business development and technology-market Intelligence in areas including elastomers, polymers, nanotech, for adhesives, technical compounds and tires. The firm’s recent/ current projects in the synthetic rubber industry include a 100 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) Nd butadiene rubber plant – start-up this year – and a 60ktpa SSBR & SSBR-F plant scheduled for start-up in 2023.

posted on 29 Nov 22

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Sustainability in the Operating Plant through Advanced Process Technology

AGM IISRP 2022 WR

Lisbon, September 20, 2022. Innventik was honored to speak at the Annual General Meeting 2022 of the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers (IISRP). Dr. Walter Ramirez presented the conference “Sustainability in the Operating Plant through Advanced Process Technology”.

SUMMARY.

Companies and countries are to become climate neutral by 2050. In line with this target, the industry must work on process improvement and innovative designs for sustainability. The industry will face a gradual increase of more rigid emissions-reductions requirements as more customers pursue net-zero strategies and demand for Zero-Carbon Materials-Services. This will enable the acceleration of the adoption of existing and new process technologies to make our industry greener. Companies are increasingly open to implementing new process technologies and sustainable practices to reduce costs, minimize community impacts, and secure their social license to operate. During the conference, Innventik presented a summary of the most updated process technologies for Solution and Emulsion Polymerization (including Raw Materials Purification, Reactor Design, Stripping, Coagulation, Direct Devolatilization, Latex Stripping, Facility Lifetime, and Corrosion Monitoring). At Innventik, we see an opportunity to revamp current processes to provide more flexibility and cost-effectiveness, to implement the best operative practices, and comply with regulatory challenges. The time has come to take traditional Processes and Operations to the next level.

Quirk diagram improvements

posted on 22 Sep 22

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We Design new Plants

We desing New Plants Innventik

Madrid, Spain, July 1, 2022. Innventik has launched a global campaign to promote Innventik Engineering, a firm specialized in Chemicals, Polymers, Elastomers and Rubber, by offering complete suite of Engineering Firm Services: FEL2, FEL3, FEED, PDP, BEDP, EPC, Basic, Detail Engineering and Process Assessments. Since 2016 Innventik Engineering has designed new plants and improved multiple processes for relevant customers in Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and China. The specialized engineering firm’s policy is to offer top Engineering, at the best price-quality ratio, with the shortest lead times.

info@innventik.com

posted on 01 Jul 22

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Innventik present at AMI’s Compounding World Congress 2022 (Cologne, Germany, 7-8 June 2022).

Functional Fillers Map

Cologne, Germany (June 2022). Dr. Walter Ramirez, Chief Innovation Officer at Innventik, presented the conference: “Recent Advances in Functional Fillers and Additives“, about the applications and strategies to enhance performance in Advanced Materials and Polymer Composites, at AMI’s Compounding World Congress 2022 (Cologne, Germany, 7-8 June 2022).

Diversity of MIneral Filler Options.

Functional fillers exhibit increased demand for Infrastructure, Automotive, EVs, Antistatic/ESD/EMI Protection, Electronic Devices, Energy Harvesting and Batteries applications.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies show that using fillers reduces environmental emissions and impact on resources.
Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC: 34% market share) will still be the most commonly used inorganic filler in plastics because of its abundance, low cost, and performance (stiffness, impact strength, flexural modulus).
Hydrated Magnesium Silicate (Talc) provides better rigidity and impact strength (i.e. polyolefins). Higher purity grades using advanced milling technology provides improved thermal stability for packaging.
Silicates (i.e. Mica, Kaolin, Wollastonite, Kyanite) are good options for mechanical properties modification and coupling (Xanthos, 2010).
In Fibrous Fillers performance depends on fiber type and on fiber/matrix bonding interface. The high cost of fibers is a limiting factor. Glass fiber (GF) is the mostly used, but Natural Fibers (NFs) are emerging to modify mechanical, electrical and magnetic properties.

Thermally Conductive Additives.

High demand for Thermally Conductive Polymers is being driven by: EVs, autonomous transportation, 5G Communication, Smart appliances, Infrastructure.
Production of electrically conductive compounds based on all types of polymers (from polyolefins to high end engineering plastics) using conductive additives is raising.
EMI Shielding plastics (i.e. CNTs, carbon fibers and other fillers) is gaining momentum due to growth in e-mobiity, light-weighting megatrends and paintability (electrospray) in automotive.
GRMs (i.e. Graphene, Graphene Oxide) will be a significant option when capacity raises cost be more competitive.

Thermally Conductive Additives

Renewable and Sustainable Filler Options.

Environment pressures, rapid increase in raw material prices, record-high freight costs, stretched capacity, increased lead times (supply bottlenecks) for virgin products creates opportunities for bio-composites and for high-quality recycled products:

Materials reinforced with NFs: sisal, flax, jute, wood-fibers to replace GF and CF, offer biodegradability, renewable nature, low cost, low relative density, high specific strength. European car manufacturers demand these materials.
Carbon fibre exhibited abrupt demand drop, but now is at record high levels due to aviation uplift, EVs, lightweight/strong wind energy.
Materials combining robust mechanical performance (strength & stiffness) with tailored electrical characteristics (anti-static, conductive, EMI).

High Potential Minerals as Fillers.

Alternate functional fillers opportunities in polymer composites to reduce cost, to improve properties, as sustainable options to improve environmental impact.
The main challenge: To retain original mechanical properties, durability, strength, rheological properties and processability.
Large production of minerals and fillers (cheap, available, soft, hard, heavy, light, refractive index, abrasion resistance, reinforcing, colors) offer considerable space for alternate fillers options to be used in polymer composites.
Large opportunities of collaboration to develop new grades of fillers:
Production of tailored materials at the nanoscale to create unique materials
Paradigm change on existing energy storage capabilities and materials performance.

Sustainability, material pricing, prevalence of e-commerce, logistics and skilled workforce shortage are some of the key challenges that Polymer Composites industry will face over the next decade.

Walter

posted on 28 Jun 22

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World Class and Cost-Effective Engineering Services by Innventik Engineering celebrates 5 years

Innventik Engineering Picture

Madrid, Spain. January 26, 2022. Innventik Engineering, the firm that specializes in Chemicals, Polymers and Elastomers, continues providing a complete suite of Engineering Services (FEEL, FEED, PDP, BEDP, EPC, Basic, Detail Engineering and Process Assessments). During this five years, Innventik Engineering has designed new plants and improved processes for customers in Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy, Mexico and China. The firm’s policy is to provide the best Engineering, with a high quality/cost policy, with increased effectiveness and shortening project times.

For more information contact info@innventik.com.

posted on 27 Jan 22

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Recent Advances in Functional Fillers and Additives for enhanced Performance in Polymers

Innventik Functional Fillers v3

Cologne, Germany. January 27, 2022. Innventik will present the conference “Recent Advances in Functional Fillers and Additives for enhanced Performance in Polymer Composites” at “COMPOUNDING WORLD CONGRESS” (Cologne, Germany. 7- 8 June 2022), organized by AMI.

Functional Fillers and Additives are used to improve reinforcement (increase stiffness, reduce creep, tensile and flex strengths), impact resistance, durability, dimensional stability, moisture resistance, thermal conductivity, abrasion resistance, aesthetics, breathability, design freedom, to modify adhesion, flow, density, electrical & thermal properties, and to reduce weight, shrinkage, flammability. The main topics to be covered will be:

Novel Functional fillers and additives to improve performance, to add value and reduce cost of polymer compounds.
Sustainable sourcing of volume fillers, Silica replacements and Bio-nanocomposites are reviewed.
Case studies and guidelines for additive selection

The conference will be presented by Dr. Walter Ramirez, Chief Innovation Officer at Innventik.

https://www.ami-events.com/event/8db88ca2-a26c-412a-8f82-e43de37bfb39/summary?sms=3&refid=211206_C1212_RE_IR_Conf_UK_Prospect_Attendees_reg_social_share

posted on 27 Jan 22

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Boletín Servicios Asociados Cámara de Comercio de Cantabria (camaracantabria.com)

Club Camara Comercio

Madrid, Spain. August 1, 2021. Innventik is now an active member of “Club Camara” (Commerce Chamber – Cantabria Spain). Club Camara is a Spanish platform, that will enable Innventik to offer its Consulting, Engineering and Bsiness Development services.

posted on 18 Aug 21

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Innventik Engineering’s solutions for the Chemical, Polymer, Elastomer & Rubber Industries

Innventik Plant Site by Site v2

Mexico City. June 1, 2020. Innventik Engineering announced its comprehensive services including Process Assessments, Basic and Detail Engineering, FEEL, FEED, PDP, BEDP, EPC. The firm specializes in developing new plants but also optimizing existing plant designs to maximize product quality, flexibility, and cost:

Process Assessments: To optimize industrial production plant operation and organization, we record your actual situation, simulate parameters that affect the process, and propose the optimum cost-benefit solution.
Capacity Expansions: We create a model-based concept to introduce new products by determining mass-energy balances for different capacities, identify bottlenecks, and generate flexible scenarios with recommendations.
Process Design: We will tell you how to develop and implement your idea at your industrial site, including optimal reaction design & connection, temperature profiles, simulation, and recommendations.
Concept Engineering: We will analyze the best technologies to apply, the process units, utilities, flow diagrams,3D system layouts using static and dynamic process simulations to screen process alternatives.
Economic Estimates: We estimate the cost based on mass-energy balances, as well as profitability, investment estimates and operation/maintenance costs.
Basic and Detail Engineering: We provide a comprehensive Process Design Packages (FEED) as input for Detail Engineering: Material & Energy Balances; Process flowsheets; Sizing of main equipment; Heat exchangers rating; Specification of effluents; Piping & Instrument Diagrams; Mechanical data sheets; Instrumentation; Plot plans & hazardous areas; Control and safety devices
Process Package for Plant Construction: Complete information including Equipment purchasing; Heat exchangers rating; Piping, instrument, electrical & civil works layouts; Isometrics & stress calculation; Detailed drawings; Cost & schedule control; Startup procedures

Some examples of Engineering Projects developed with our client’s technologies include Synthetic Rubber (BR, SSBR); ABS; SAN; Styrene-Acrylate Emulsions; Bio-Butanediol; Bio-Acetoin; Bio-Butadiene; Bio-Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone; Graphene Oxide Semi-industrial Process; Food grade Sodium. Potassium, Calcium Phosphates; Feed Grade Calcium Phosphates Sulfuric and Chlorine process; Food grade Phosphoric Acid SOLVEX Process; Water Treatment Solutions

Some examples of Process Improvements Projects include Phosphoric Rock attack Process Sulfuric & Chlorine process; Calcium Phosphate Process efficiency; Hexametaphosphate thermal efficiency; ABS (White, high gloss, high impact), Carbon pelletized

For more information please contact:

INNVENTIK ENGINEERING S.A. de C.V.
Periferico Blvd. M. Avila Camacho 182
Reforma Social – Lomas
CP 11650. Ciudad de México. MEXICO

www.innventik.com

info@innventik.com

Innventik Engineering: Always at your by site!

posted on 13 Apr 20

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Innventik Engineering new offices in Mexico City

Building Innventik Eng 20200413 v2

Mexico City. September 1, 2019. Innventik Engineering opened new offices in Mexico City, due to its remarkable growth with customers around the world over the last 2 years, based on its highest quality/cost policy, with increased effectiveness shortening project times. “We will continue providing a complete suite of Engineering Services including FEEL, FEED, PDP, BEDP, EPC, Basic, Detail Engineering and Process Assessments for the Chemical, Polymers, Plastics, Elastomers and Rubbers industries.

The new address:

INNVENTIK ENGINEERING S.A. De C.V.
Periferico Blvd. M. Avila Camacho 182
Reforma Social – Lomas
11650. Ciudad de México. MEXICO

Innventik Engineering: Always site by site!

Innventik Engineering new offices in Mexico City

posted on 13 Apr 20

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