Demand for high-temperature nylon prompts expansion
Canadian Plastics
Expansion plans for DuPont Canada's Maitland, Ont. facility will permit the company to double its compounding capacity for Zytel high temperature nylon (HTN) polyamide resins. Start-up of the new comp...
Expansion plans for DuPont Canada’s Maitland, Ont. facility will permit the company to double its compounding capacity for Zytel high temperature nylon (HTN) polyamide resins. Start-up of the new compounding facility is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2000.
The expanded facility will occupy 16,000 sq. ft. of production space in an existing building at the Maitland site, and will use standard compounding equipment.
Demand for Zytel HTN is growing rapidly in the computer and telecommunications industries, and automotive uses include engine cooling, intake air and fuel handling systems, structural components, and wire harnesses.
“More and more design engineers are discovering the benefits of Zytel HTN’s retention of properties and dimensions in high-temperature, wet and/or chemically aggressive environments,” says Jim Hay, DuPont Canada’s business director for engineering polymers.
The Maitland site also manufactures nylon intermediate chemicals, Lycra spandex yarn and Dytek amine (which can be used to modify polymers).
TPO growth
(North American demand for thermoplastic polyolefin elastomers, 1999-2004)
| Type of TPO | 1999 | 2004 | Annual average | (million lb.) | (million lb.) | growth rate (%) |
| Physical blends | 213 | 303 | 7.3 | |||
| Reactor-made | 124 | 216 | 11.7 (includes plastomers) | |||
| Thermoplastic | 101 | 123 | 4.1 vulcanizates | |||
| Total | 438 | 642 | 7.9 |
Data from Chemical Market Resources Inc.,Houston, TX.
