Page 174 - CW E-Magazine (15-7-2025)

News from Abroad PREVIEW – K 2025

BIOMASS-BASED PROCESS PLASTICS & RUBBER EXPO
Sumitomo Chemical leveraging biomanufacturing Plastic industry prepares pioneering innovations

technology for liquid crystal polymer and product upgrades for the K show

Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical has using biomass materials that it has suc- ompanies in the global plastics for the industry to present the next gene- a sneak peek at new products and
established mass production techno- cessfully developed, Sumitomo Chemi- and rubber industry are gearing ration of products and solutions to a innovations set to be unveiled at the
logy for liquid crystal polymer (LCP) cal has adopted a segregation approach Cup for the sector’s biggest event – global audience. exhibition.
using a monomer derived from biomass that completely separates biomass mate- Kunstoff ee fair or ‘K’ as it is popu-
materials. rials from other materials during pro- larly known. Düsseldorf in Germany In the run up to this year’s edition, The following pages present key
duction. This approach enables precise will host over 3,000 exhibitors from ‘K Preview’ events were organised in highlights from the EMG press event
A leading player in the LCP market, control of the biomass content and can all over the world in October this year, Europe in June – fi rst by EMG, a lead- that featured presentations from 12 raw
Sumitomo is seeking to accelerate the clarify how much biomass materials representing the entire value chain of ing public relations fi rm, at Rotterdam materials suppliers – Palsgaard, GCR,
development of a mass production sys- are included in the product. In addition the industry – right from ‘raw materials & (the Netherlands), and then by Messe LyondellBasell, Syensqo, SABIC, Ineos
tem for bio-based LCP leveraging this to the segregation approach, there is auxiliaries’; ‘semi-fi nished products, Dusseldorf, in Dusseldorf. These press Syrolution, Kisuma, OQ, TotalEnergies,
technology, aiming to obtain customer another approach called mass balance, technical parts and reinforced plastics’ events featured some of the biggest Envalior, MOL Group and Polyvantis.
certifi cation by the end of fi scal 2026 offi ce automation equipment. Most of in which when biomass materials and to ‘machines and equipment’ and ‘ser- names in the plastic raw materials and The highlights from the Messe Dussel-
and to begin supplying the product the raw materials used in such indus- other materials are mixed to manufac- vices’. The exhibition, held once in machinery segments, who presented dorf pre K event will be featured in one
from fi scal 2027. trial applications are currently derived ture a product, the characteristics of the three years, is recognised as a platform for journalists from around the globe, of our forthcoming issues.
from fossil resources, and in recent biomass materials is allocated to part of SAFER & GREENER
LCP is a type of super engineering years, there have been growing calls the output of the product based on the
plastic that excels in heat resistance and to switch all industrial product mate- proportion of biomass materials used in Palsgaard presents anti-fouling additive made with
fi re resistance. It is used in a wide vari- rials to biomass materials in an eff ort to the manufacturing process. Sumitomo
ety of applications, including materials achieve a sustainable society. Chemical plans to meet customer needs renewable raw materials
for electric and electronic components by considering the unique features of
in smartphones, automotive parts, and In the LCP manufacturing process each of these approaches. Palsgaard, a Denmark-based pro-
vider of plant-based emulsifi ers and
PARTNERSHIP polymer additives for food, packaging
and plastics sectors, has developed a
Univation and C3 AI to offer AI-driven predictive safe and sustainable anti-fouling addi-
tive for the polypropylene and poly-
maintenance solutions to petrochemicals industry ethylene polymerisation process.

Developed from renewable raw
Univation Technologies, a petro- Univation’s C3 AI-powered off er- these solutions across Dow’s portfolio,
chemical technology licensing fi rm and ing integrates operational insights and we anticipate signifi cant benefi ts,” said materials, the food-grade additive Einar
part of Dow, and C3 AI, the US-based benefi ts from Dow’s ongoing C3 AI Ms. Debra Bauler, chief information 987 addresses concerns about the
enterprise AI application software com- deployment, drawing upon the benefi ts and digital offi cer at Dow. ethoxylated amine (EA) chemistry
pany, have joined hands to commercia- of the C3 AI ‘Asset Performance Suite’. currently used.
lise AI-powered predictive maintenance This technology, already in use across The Univation and C3 AI collabora-
solutions tailored for the petrochemical more than 50 steam cracker furnace tion will seek to leverage the power of The active compound of Einar 987 –
industry. operations within Dow’s global petro- the ‘C3 Agentic AI Platform’, the ‘C3 which is supplied as a clear, viscous
chemical facilities, is being expanded AI Reliability’ application, and Univa- liquid – is a polyglycerol ester (PGE)
With this agreement, Univation will to additional furnaces and other critical tion’s expertise in licensing technology blend of fatty acids from vegetable oils.
license and distribute the C3 AI software asset classes. and delivering technical services to According to Palsgaard, this non-toxic
currently in use at Dow. In addition, off er an enterprise-scale AI solution and food-contact-approved anti-fouling gaard drew on its knowledge of anti- while also being both safer and more
Univation will provide specialised tech- “C3 AI has been pivotal in trans- that proactively identifi es equipment additive off ers a drop-in, regulatory- static and food-safe chemistries. “We sustainable than currently available
nical services to support both the initial forming Dow’s operations from reac- issues, maximises uptime, and optimises compliant solution to replace the considered a number of parameters options,” the company said.
implementation and ongoing enhance- tive to predictive, optimising asset per- operational performance for steam incumbent EAs. when developing this new formulation,
ments of the software for customers. formance to drive value. As we scale cracker operations. focusing on creating an additive that “Polyolefi n resin producers stand to
When developing Einar 987, Pals- would off er at least equal performance benefi t directly from this technology, as

174 Chemical Weekly July 15, 2025 Chemical Weekly July 15, 2025 175

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