Known as one of the most advanced polypropylene technical support facilities in the world, the Polymers Technology and Commercial Center in Pittsburgh is a most impressive structure from the outside, with its innovative architectural design and dramatic lighting. Inside, the fully equipped laboratories, commercial processing equipment and technical expertise are dedicated to turning the challenges of our clients into exciting opportunities.

Through the Technology and Commercial Center, Sunoco Chemicals will continue to develop advanced polypropylene innovations, including polypropylenes that target in-line thermoforming and high-speed injection molding for dairy containers, stain-resistant products for automotive applications and polypropylene for synthetic paper and filtration media.

The emphasis at the Center is in several areas including alternate plasticizers for chemicals and thin wall injection molding and thermoforming applications for polypropylene.

Focusing on polypropylene, the thin wall applications make up a significant portion of the plastic containers and cups market, with 14 percent growth in 2000 and more than $500 million in annual polypropylene sales. The products include yogurt cups, deli and dairy containers and frozen food containers. Driven by a need to reduce packaging and material waste, the latest technology takes advantage of polypropylene's inherent qualities of cost efficiency, heat stability and taste and odor properties. The demand for thin wall injection molding focuses on the production of materials that process more easily without losing their physical properties. In this technology, molten material is pushed into a mold under high pressure and then cooled very quickly. There is a growing  demand for cost-efficient products that are thinner, lighter in weight, have good stiffness without brittleness and have high impact strength, especially at cold temperatures.

Thermoforming involves heating a solid sheet of material to a temperature just below melting, with parts punched out of the sheet. Thermoformed lids and containers promise a growth rate of 20 percent, with customers seeking materials that offer the broadest processing window possible without shrinkage or warping. Product characteristics include good stiffness, high impact strength and exceptional clarity.

The leadership of the Technology and Commercial Center can be demonstrated in the development of advanced thermoforming materials with enhanced clarity and stiffness, along with thermoforming materials that provide a balance of stiffness and high-impact strength for refrigerated applications. Currently under development are injection molding materials that offer the same properties as thermoforming grades and lid grade materials with improved clarity and shrinkage reduction.

Through a continued commitment to new product development and advanced research, the polypropylene team, with Steve Seip's leadership at the Center, has developed a new automative product formulation to be used in water surge tanks.

By mid-summer, integration of the Monroeville and Pittsburgh facilities will be complete, with all personnel who are working in plasticizer research relocated to the Technology and Commercial  Center.

May 2001