„We Produce Highly Efficiently  While Using Very Little Energy”

Since the beginning of the year, the Polymer Additives business unit has been producing the plasticizer Uniplex 214® at the Trafford Park site in northwest England. In this interview, Technical Plant Manager Steve Paschke explains the challenges they faced when introducing the new product.

Mr. Paschke, how is the production of Uniplex 214® going?
Steve Paschke: Pretty good, we’ve been producing larger batches for our main customers since the beginning of the year and expect to be able to produce at full capacity by the end of the year.

Why only at the end of the year?
The chemical industry is very conservative when it comes to change. Even minimal deviations from the specification or modifications to the manufacturing process can have an impact on the finished products, the environment, and health – and sometimes also elicit customer reactions. We took over the product from our former location in Greensboro, Arkansas, USA. This is an opportunity for us here! Taking over the production of Uniplex 214® not only makes us one of the largest manufacturers worldwide, but also allows us to directly serve our most important market: Europe. Initially, customers tested in their laboratories whether we could manufacture the product here to the same standard of quality. Now we’re producing larger sample quantities. The customers are checking whether the material can be processed in exactly the same way and whether the final products are of the same quality.

What exactly makes Uniplex 214®so desirable?
It improves the flexibility of plastics at low temperatures. It also enhances processability. The additive is particularly used in the production of the high-performance plastics polyamide 11 and polyamide 12. Our customers recently invested in these applications, and demand in this area is expected to remain stable or even grow. Polyamide 12 is often used as a substitute for steel in automotive and lightweight construction and is therefore also very well positioned in the field of electric vehicles. In addition, this high-performance plastic is also used in other cutting-edge technologies, such as 3D printing.

Did you have to make any significant modifications or set up anything new in the plant for Uniplex 214®?
Yes, with a total investment of approximately 8 million euros, the project was one of the largest in recent decades for our location. Fortunately, we were able to use many existing plant components, but we also had to invest in new piping, process control technology, and a large new reactor. Around 50,000 working hours were required just for planning and assembling the new plant components.

You are the technical plant manager. Did everything go smoothly?
The conditions under which the project was planned and executed can certainly be described as challenging. For one thing, the planning phase began during the pandemic in 2020. Due to the lockdown and the associated strict travel and contact restrictions, we were only able to discuss many important questions with the relevant PTSE employees, engineers, and process experts online or via email. For a project of this size, in-person meetings and site visits are usually mandatory.

On the other hand, there have been changes in the areas of responsibility at the location, and some key employees have left the company. But in the end, everything worked out, and the project team and the site are proud of it.

Why did the product represent such an opportunity for you?
The production of Uniplex 214® plays an important role in the plant’s capacity utilization. After the discontinuation of the production of water treatment chemicals for British Water, some of the plant components were decommissioned. The production of this new plasticizer will enable us to significantly increase our production volume. Even though we were already producing cost-effectively before, the new product will secure the long-term future of the production site. Due to further investments in process control technology and the construction of a central control room, the new plant can be operated with the same number of shifts. Since we’re reusing existing plant components, an interesting business case is being implemented here. In addition, the manufacturing process is not very energy-intensive, meaning that the impact of rising energy prices on the total costs is relatively low compared to other products.

An Industrial Park with a Long Tradition
Located in northwest England, Trafford Park was the world’s first purpose-built industrial park. The LANXESS site, which is around 6.5 hectares in size, is conveniently located near Manchester and was established as “The Geigy Colour Company Limited“ on Christmas Eve 1939 within the 1,200-hectare industrial park. Since the acquisition of Chemtura, the site has been part of the Polymer Additives business unit and produces phosphorus-based flame retardants, which are used as additives for plastics in a variety of applications. The additives not only effectively protect against fires, but also ensure that the plastics in question can be easily processed and exhibit increased elasticity. Phosphoric acid esters are also found in additives for lubricants and hydraulic fluids, which are sold by the Lubricant Additives BU. They account for around 60 percent of total production.

Contract manufacturing of water chemicals for British Water was discontinued due to the acquisition of British Water by Italmatch. The latest product is the plasticizer Uniplex 214®, which was taken over from the site in Greensboro, Arkansas, USA that was sold. The Trafford Park plant operates in continuous shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A total of 155 employees work at the site.