Iowa State Bio-Polymer Plant Is Online
Seneca Petroleum Company, Inc. and Iowa State University completed installation and operational shakedown of a bio-polymer pilot-scale plant located in Boone, Iowa in mid November. The $5.2-million demonstration plant, donated and dedicated by Seneca Petroleum in August 2015, has the capacity to produce one ton of polymer per day for evaluation by interested end-users in a wide variety of industries.
The Iowa State bio-polymer technologies utilize vegetable oil and biofuel waste-stream feedstocks to make a number of hard block and soft block polymer variants. Two Seneca Petroleum affiliate companies, Argo Genesis Chemical, LLC. and Midwest Acrylated Processes, LLC., have been funding the Iowa State University research since 2011 and hold exclusive licenses for commercialization.
Dr. Eric Cochran and Dr. Chris Williams, who head up the Iowa State research team, have spent the last three years evaluating a wide range of bio-polymers with varying molecular weights, chain structures, and hard and soft block ratios in comparison to conventional “industry standard” polymers as benchmarks. There is great excitement as the bio-polymers have shown promise as replacements for conventional petroleum-derived polymers, and are proving themselves to be both cost and performance advantaged.
Seneca Petroleum reports that it already has requests for pavement test projects utilizing Iowa State’s bio-derived SBS replacement and is hoping to have multiple test sections on the ground throughout the Midwest and the NCAT Test Track by the end of the 2016 paving season. Seneca is quick to point out, however, that SBS replacement for asphalt modification is only a small fraction of the market potential. The company has already received requests for samples by numerous interested parties from the tire, clothing, consumer goods, and adhesive industries.
Currently, the bio-polymer plant has been winterized and will be brought back online in April 2016 to begin polymer production.
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ChromaScape® operates four manufacturing facilities throughout the United States. It provides the market with full lines of colorants and support products under the Amerimulch, Innotech DCP, Solution Dispersions, and ChromaPave brands. These products are used in many different markets for a broad range of applications, including the coloring of concrete, mulches, sands, aggregates, inks, paper, asphalt, recycled rubber and a wide variety of other proprietary products.
ChromaPave®, a member of the ChromaScape family of brands, markets a wide variety of environmentally friendly, water-based asphalt sealers along with a line of innovative asphalt seal coat and hotmix colorants for asphalt and asphalt sealers that have use in commercial, theme park, municipal and residential applications.
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Innophos Introduces INNOVALT L-VIS™ Technology Low Viscosity Polyphosphoric Acid
Benefits of INNOVALT L-VIS™ patented technology versus conventional Polyphosphoric acid include:
- Reduced viscosity
- Ready to pump to temperatures as low as 10 degrees F
- Costs savings up to 50% on PPA storage and handling
INNOVALT® renowned asphalt modification performance.
Please welcome Giovanni Onnembo as the newest member to the Innophos asphalt team in the role of Technical Applications Specialist.
Giovanni joins us with over 8 years of experience in synthetic and application chemistry.
He leads our asphalt research and application efforts and is responsible for providing technical support throughout the industry.
To learn more about INNOVALT L-VIS™ please contact Giovanni at 609-819-3359 or by email at giovanni.onnembo@innophos.com.
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Kokosing Materials Inc. in Mansfield, Ohio, is pleased to announce that we are now a certified producer/supplier of PG88-22M per ODOT Supplement 1032. We are able to produce and supply PG88-22M to any job or company within the State of Ohio.
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IKA presents:
Continuous Polymer Modified Asphalt
(Pre-mix vessel not required)
Polymer modified bituminous materials can bring real benefits to highway maintenance/construction, in terms of better and longer lasting roads, and savings in total road life costing.
The term polymer basically means a combination of a large number of similar smaller molecules or "monomers" into large molecules or "polymers". The main polymers used to modify bitumen are:
- Natural Rubber
- Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS)
- Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA)
Advantages of using PMB
The cohesion and adhesion to mineral aggregates is higher. The range of plasticity (temperature range between breaking point and the fusion point) is increased. There is greater elastic recovery after relief and higher fatigue resistance. Apart from road construction other uses of PMB are production of high quality roofing-cardboard and damp-proof layers.
Conventional PMB Manufacturing Technology
This is a batch process involving large footprint for the manufacturing facilities. The polymer is introduced separately into a CSTR containing hot bitumen with mild stirring. Dispersion is slow and less effective. There is little flexibility and longer production times are required. The batch processes poses bottlenecks when production increase is considered.
Modern IKA® lnline Technology
This is a continuous process with continuous dosing and incorporation of polymers (SBS/EVA) and bitumen into the inline IKA® Dispax Reactor DR 2000 PB. Because of intensive mixing at high shear finest dispersion is achieved in a single pass. Homogenized finished product is directly and continuously transferred to storage. The process provides for a lot of flexibility and production time is reduced by more than 60 percent.
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