Renegade building Ohio prepreg facility
SPRINGBORO, OHIO - Renegade Materials Corp., a startup company formed to commercialize nanostructured composite materials for military and commercial aerospace markets, is constructing a prepreg production facility in Springboro to be ready in early 2008.
An unidentified private investment group, according to director of sales and marketing Laura Glidden, will help start the company.
She said in an e-mail statement that Renegade is ``committed to developing the next generation of high-performance composite materials - and transitioning those materials onto production platforms in aerospace and recreational applications.''
Glidden said the company will start with five to six engineers and product development staffers, and plans to hire 30 new technicians and manufacturing operators within three years.
She said Ohio's researchers have shown success in the production of nanoscale materials. Now these concepts will be used in large-scale composite prepreg and precision film applications, and Renegade Materials will commercialize them.
Specially formulated nanofilled materials for aerospace uses are at the core of Renegade's product line. Prepegs, films, adhesives and molding components will be developed and qualified on manufacturing equipment and readied for the high-rate production using an ISO-9001 quality system.
She said Renegade's decision to locate in Springboro, near Dayton, was based on its proximity to aerospace prime contractors, universities and government laboratories.
According to a news release from the Ohio Department of Development, Bear Materials LLC, another Springboro company, will construct a 25,000-square-foot facility on a 4-acre site and will lease the building and machinery to Renegade. Bear received a $2 million Innovation Ohio Loan Fund loan that was announced April 30.
The agency said the project will cost $4.8 million.
The Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority is taking steps to approve $2.5 million in bonds to provide loans for the Renegade construction.
Renegade also pointed to the Ohio Third Frontier Project as catalyst to its plan. It is a 10-year, $1.6 billion initiative started by the state of Ohio to expand high-tech research capabilities and spark innovation and new companies that provide high-paying jobs in the state.
Tianjin Dagu erecting 2 ABS plants in China
TIANJIN, CHINA - Tianjin Dagu Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. plans to build two ABS plants in Tianjin, with annual capacity of about 441 million pounds apiece.
The Tianjin-based firm will license styrenic emulsion ABS technology from Sabic Innovative Plastics, according to a statement from Shaw Group Inc., which Tianjin Dagu hired to provide engineering services and proprietary technology.
Last year, Shaw, based in Baton Rouge, La., announced that Tianjin Dagu had hired it to help build a ethylbenzene/styrene monomer plant, also in Tianjin, with capacity for 1.1 billion pounds per year.
Sabic Innovative Plastics of Pittsfield, Mass., is a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp., based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Royal DSM adding Soluol to resins unit
HEERLEN, THE NETHERLANDS - Royal DSM NV said it has extended its coatings resins business further through the acquisition of U.S.-based polyurethane resins producer Soluol Inc.
Soluol makes water-based and solvent-based high-performance urethane resins for a wide range of end uses, and has annual sales of $20 million. Terms were not disclosed Jan. 16. The acquisition of Soluol, which recently finished building a new plant in East Providence, R.I., enhances DSM's presence in specialty resins in North America and ``adds new technology as well as a state-of-the-art production facility,'' according to a DSM statement. Soluol will become part of the DSM NeoResins+ business unit, which in turn belongs to the DSM Resins group.
East Providence-based Soluol, set up in 1931, has key markets in paints and coatings, where its products are used on concrete, metal, wood and plastics. Other products include a range of polyurethanes with unique bonding properties for the adhesives sector and other specialty products used in the conversion of foils, and also in paper, plastics, and blister packaging.
>From its single plant in Rhode Island, Soluol also offers fully formulated, ready-to-use polyurethane-based coatings designed to impart a wide variety of functional and tactile properties to fabrics.
Matrix Inc. increases optical capabilities
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Matrix Inc. continues to upgrade its optical capabilities with the recent addition of a Precitech 2400 diamond turning, 2-axis contouring machine.
``An important part of our business is polymer optics. We've been a long-term player in that marketplace and we've been upgrading our capabilities,'' said President John Harker.
Optics account for about 20 percent of the East Providence-based company's business, he said.
The new equipment will allow Matrix to control an area of its business it had subcontracted in the past, he said. Now, it is able to precisely cut optical surfaces in thermoplastic and nonferrous metal optical inserts to a submicron capability.
The company also has added Zemax-EE optical-design software and FISBA interferometer with aspheric lens measurement capability this year.
Harker said the additions allow it much more flexibility in optics, as it can work on the design, it can measure it and now it can cut it.
The company employs 75 and runs 24 hours, seven days a week.
Matrix is a subsidiary of Precision Engineered Products, which is headquartered in Attleboro, Mass.
KC and JLM form JV to broaden offerings
TAMPA, FLA. - KC America, a Marco Island, Fla.-based company that markets fluoropolymer resins imported from Russia and China, has joined with chemical distributor JLM Chemicals Inc. to launch a joint venture that will allow both companies to provide more products to their customers.
``We think this does a lot for both of us,'' said Patrick Neale, a partner in KC America. ``We see a fair amount of synergies between our customer base and JLM's customer base. JLM also adds some products and some supplying and logistics opportunities.''
KC America will retain its name and continue to offer fluoropolymers sourced from Russia and China, as it has for the past 10 years.
The company has warehouses in the northeastern United States and Houston.
Neale said JLM Chemicals, which is a subsidiary of JLM Industries of Tampa, adds a wider distribution network with a centralized order entry and logistics services.
JLM markets an extensive line of solvents, plastics and specialty chemicals worldwide.
Companies partner on rubber powder use
NAPLES, FLA. - Lehigh Technologies Inc. of Naples is partnering with Tetramer Technologies LLC of Pendleton, S.C., to research uses for its engineered rubber powder, especially in urethane and epoxy polymers.
The companies said they are exploring uses in aerospace, electronics, automotive, construction and coatings. They also plan to expand later into functionalized, renewable polymers and nanocomposite development research.
``Our goal is to uncover renewable, functional raw materials that can be used to supplement today's energy deficiency,'' said Earl Wagener, chief executive officer of Tetramer, in a news release.