Furniture

"Fully fibrous" is how Eovations describes its wood polymer composite (WPC) product, a technology that originated at a British polymer research institution and was a Dow Chemical project at one time. The patented process results in a composite profile that "replicates the fibrous structure of wood and creates a unique combination of strength, durability, aesthetic and workability properties," according to company information.

There's a new player in the rapidly emerging field of engineered wood-reinforced plastic compounds for durable goods applications.

The Sonae Industria Group, a French wood products company with an office in Quebec, plans to build production capacity for its WoodForce material in North America and Asia, although no timetable has yet been established. The company made its North American debut this week with a presence at JEC Americas in Boston, the first-ever JEC Composites show in North America.

PVC replacements, particularly for medical applications, will be featured by Kraton Performance Polymers (Houston, TX) at NPE2012 (April 1-5; Orlando, FL).

Sales of its styrenic block copolymers or "SBCs" as a replacement for PVC in intravenous (IV) bags were up 91% last year.

Two new grades of polypropylene incorporating encapsulating starch particles will be released to the market by Cereplast, Inc. (El Segundo, CA) during the first half of 2012 in the United States and Europe.

Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (Albany, NY) selected the UTECH Asia show in Shanghai this week to introduce a number of advancements in polyurethane technology.

The new products, showcased at UTECH Asia 2011, included:

Niax Silicone L-658 - a highly efficient, fire retardant (FR) silicone surfactant that is an excellent candidate to consider for use in flexible slabstock foam applications. Its use can enhance the efficiency of FR and minimize the amount of FR needed to meet different flammability test requirements.

Three extrusion-related products are covered in this Product Watch segment. First, Norwegian plastic pipe processor Pipelife Norge has placed an order for one of the world's largest large-diameter pipe extrusion lines, to produce polyolefin pipes with diameters up to 2500 mm at its plant in Stathelle.

The chemicals and plastics supplier intends to invest €110 million in projects designed to help increase its presence in the China's plastics industry. The funds will go towards PUR systems houses, a PC sheet extrusion plant, and a PC color compounding capacity and design center.

Superior creep resistance at room temperature and comparable creep resistance at elevated temperatures when compared to long-glass-filled PP. That's the claim for a new polypropylene grade that gets its reinforcement from short glass fibers.

PVC profile processors, take note: the K 2010 tradeshow will be the official market launch of a new range of parallel twin-screw extruders, said to offer throughput increases of 25% above current machines, while also offering an improvement in energy efficiency.

FRX Polymers Inc. (Chelmsford, MA) has started up a 50-ton DPP (DiPhenyl methyl phosphonate) plant and an application lab in support of its new family of inherently flame-retardant transparent polymers and oligomers. The DPP line currently runs on a 24/6 production schedule to produce what is a key raw material in the polymerization process of FRX's polyphosphonate polymers and oligomers.