Upgrades help Orion boost presence in plastics market

KINGWOOD, Texas—While the vast majority of carbon black output is aimed at tire and rubber goods, Orion Engineered Carbons L.L.C. also has a growing presence in plastics applications.

The Kingwood-based company has upgraded reactors at several of its factories that have allowed it to offer more premium products for these markets, according to Kane Henneke, the firm's polymers and inks marketing manager for the Americas. It unveiled five new products at the recent NPE2015 show in Orlando, Fla.

Among other things, Orion put in “Orion Design” reactors in its Ivanhoe, La., and Orange, Texas, sites, while upgrading its Borger, Texas, facility, with more improvements coming later this year at Borger and Belpre, Ohio. The company said the projects allow the carbon black firm to improve efficiencies and product quality, and bring increased purity for materials aimed at the pipe and wire and cable markets.

The new products introduced at NPE included:

• Arosperse 5-183A, a soft-beaded furnace black for use in semi-conductive insulation shields for medium-voltage cables;

• Printex zeta A for pressure piping used in gas and water distribution;

• XPB 552, which the firm said gives polymers conductivity and antistatic properties and is suited for plastic body parts that need conductivity to ensure trouble-free coating;

• XPB 538, an extremely high-specific surface area black with high structure level and cleanliness that Orion said achieves higher conductivity at lower loading levels than regular conductive carbon blacks; and

• Printex HV, a high performance grade for use in high-voltage cables that gives excellent surface smoothness and high conductivity to semi-conductive compounds.

Henneke said many of these grades were developed along with customers and applications in mind, but Orion looks at where else the technology can be utilized.

He said response has been good. “Cleanliness and purity is what is most important to these customers,” Henneke said.

All of the grades, he added, are commercially available except Arosperse 5-183A, for which potential customers can get sample quantities at this point.