Cyclics CBT Resins Doubling German Output and Planning World Scale Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas) Basic engineering is underway at the Cyclics Corporation (Schenectady, New York) plant in Schwarzheide, near Leipzig, in Germany, to double the capacity of the 2,500 ton (5.5 million pounds) cyclic polybutylene terephthalate (CBT) plant, which was recently commissioned. The new plant has 50% of its output under contract and has potential customers emerging across a range of applications. CBT resins combine specific processing advantages of thermoset resins with key material advantages of thermoplastic polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resins.

For details see related May 24, 2004, news article - Cyclics Europe Expands cPBT Capacity in Germany

Cyclics is looking to reach a capacity at the plant of 5,000 tons by early 2006. The German plant is operated by Cyclics' wholly-owned subsidiary, Cyclics Europe.

The CBT plant is co-located on the BASF Schwarzheide site in Brandenburg State. Cyclics will benefit from the use of the BASF infrastructure and from having its PBT feedstock produced by BASF on site. Financial assistance for the construction was given in the form of a $77 million Euro financing package, through a number of German governmental programs and KfW Ipex-Bank (Frankfurt, Germany). The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor was EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft (Leipzig), a subsidiary of Poerner Group (Vienna). Davy Process Engineering (London, UK) led the project design for the plant and has installed a team in the EDL offices in Leipzig.

In the fourth quarter of 2005, the company intends to announce the location of its second, world-scale CBT resin production plant, which could have an annual capacity of between 25,000 to 50,0000 tons (50 to 100 million pounds). There are a number of sites under consideration for the new plant, including a North American site (see related January 20, 2005, news article titled - Cyclics Evaluates Potential Sites on East Coast for a Grassroot cPBT Plant), and the final decision pending. Davy Process Engineering is assisting in the site qualification process.

At the new world-scale facility, Cyclics will use its newly-patented CBT manufacturing process, which uses less costly materials in production. The current process begins with a fully-formed polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), which is then reduced to small oligomers in solution, through the use of a catalyst. The newly-patented process produces CBT resin from key monomers directly, rather than having to use PBT, which already has the cost of polymerization built into it. Additional process technology gains that have been identified in the operation of the Schwarzheide plant will also be built into the design of the new plant.

Ted Eveleth, Chief Executive of Cyclics, said, "Using this new technology in the plant we are designing for 2009 will enable us to make products at a price and volume that will allow significant applications for CBT resin in large, high volume markets. Since the original purchase of 48 patents from GE in 1999, Cyclics has continued to expand the technology behind CBT resin and push into new areas of engineering plastics research. Our worldwide patent portfolio totals more than 75, with ongoing efforts to refine production and expand product offerings."

Cyclics has alliances with Ahlstrom Glassfibre Oy, Alcan Composites, BASF, Davy Process Technology, Dow Automotive, and the P Group.

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