I B U S I N E S S

Plastics Score Impressive Gains Polyethylene projects told b-y producers in annual reports; new polymerization techniques developed

A HE PLASTICS industry produced about 3.6 billion pounds last year for a gain over 1954 of 28%, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry, and present outlook indicates production of about 4 billion pounds this year for another gain of 11%. Output increases were distributed across the board , but probably the biggest gain was realized by polyethylene. George Miller, presi­dent of Bakélite, a division of Union Carbide & Carbon, estimated polyethylene sales a t 350 to 400 million pounds last year for a gain of 40 to 5 0 % ; he also put polystyrene sales at 545 million pounds, u p 18%, phenolics at 459 million, up 15%, and vinyls up 16.5% to a new record of 600 million pounds.

> Polyethylene. The amazing poly­ethylene growth has shown no sign of faltering and has permitted newcomers

an easier access to the market than might othexwise have been the case. New producers have almost uniformly had soraoe troubles in establishing prod­uct quality at a specification level suf­ficient t o move resin into higher grades at higraer prices. Among the estab­lished rprodxicers of polyethylene, Union Carbide provided a progress report in the anntual repor t . T h e company noted that production was substantially in­creased, with the completion of new fa­cilities of two plants in Texas; the Tor­rance, Calif., plant is scheduled for comple=tiori early this year, and will further increase polyethylene output. Carbide also pointed to increasing com­petition from many other companies. By a continuation of product improve­ment, innovation, and aggressive mar­keting, the corporation intends to main­tain its leadership and will expand its

sales of polyethylene considerably over the next few years. Carbide also noted continued rapid expansion of the plas­tic in its major fields of packaging film, electrical insulation, molded house­wares, p ipe , and squeezable bott les; polyethylene is becoming a factor in such fields as storage bat ter ies, building construction, and footwear.

Du Pont had nothing to say about polyethylene in i ts annua l report , b u t Eastman Kodak stated tha t additions being m a d e t o t h e polyethylene xuiit will increase its capaci ty to about 40 million pounds, that the product h a d good acceptance here a n d abroad, a n d that new facilities were provided for the manufacture from polyethylene of a synthetic ha rd wax for polishes. Kodak also spoke of research aimed at developing materials of improved tensile strength, stiffness, and stability-Allied Chemical neglected t o mention in its annual report developments in connection with polyethylene wax.

Monsanto noted that "most of t h e teething troubles of our Texas City h igh pressure polyethylene plant h a v e been overcome, a n d t h e p l a n t should b e at capacity during 1956." Koppers p u t into operation during t h e end of 1955 a high pressure polyethylene p lan t a t Port Arthur, Tex., a n d expects to b e in full operation during t h e second quar ­ter of this year. Koppers also acquired Durethene Corp., a film producer. At

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PHENOLIC PLASTICS (and OS her Tar Acid Resins) Production, Millions of Pound»

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t he Kobuta, Pa., plant, semicommercial equipment was installed for t h e piloting of a low pressure polyethylene (under Ziegler license) . Koppers plans to con­s t ruc t plants on t h e East and W e s Coasts to produce this plastic, with t h e west coast venture a joint operation wi th Brea Chemical . All told, Koppers polyethylene capacity will a d d up to a b o u t 75 million pounds. Spencer Chernicars polyethylene situation was outlined in these columns in the Feb . 2T issue which noted tha t production was up to 7 5 to 809c of design capacity ( 4 5 million pounds ) , while t h e Phillips Chemical program for a 110-million-pound polyethylene plant, also de ­scribed in these columns last week, is scheduled for completion dur ing t h e th i rd quarter of this year.

Hercules Powder devoted several paragraphs of its annual report to i ts p lans for Ziegler process low pressure polyethylene plant of 30 million pounds capacity located at Parlin, N . J. Scheduled for early 1957 completion, this product was "planned as only t he first of several chemicals anticipated from the field of Ziegler chemistry." Celanese says only that plans have been made for the construction of a p lan t to naanufacture rigid-type poly­ethylene resins by the newly-developed low pressure process.

ί New Cata lys is . While high pres­sure polyethylene has m a d e quite a splash, the low pressure varieties a re believed t o b e far more significant in their contribution of novel polymeriza­tion techniques. Such approaches as a r e represented by Ziegler's low pres­sure process with aluminum alkyl catalysts, alfin catalysis, and Natta 's isotatic polymers involve the same phe­nomenon, namely polyn?erization of a monomer while it is adsorbed on the surface of a finely divided catalyst. Polymerization of alpha-olefins becomes possible, and w e may expect commer­cial production of polyisoprene, poly­propylene, poly-alpha-butylenes, a dif­ferent polystyrene, and probably many others . These polymers are character­ized by a high degree of crystallinity and are l inear. Natta 's isotatic poly­mer s have a special, regular configura­t ion, a high melt ing point, low solu­bility, and form tough, flexible films. Some of these polymers may have pos­sibilities a s fibers. Thus, the low pres­sure polyethylenes of the Ziegler and Phillips origins should shortly be joined b y other poly-olefins of the Nat ta variety, so that a great new variety of plastics will Join the plastics family.

CHART CREDITS: Employment ( Chemical ) —Department of Labor ; Vinyl Resins, Phenolic Plastics, Cellu­lose Acetate—Department of Com-

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APRIL 16, 1956 C&EN 1 9 1 1