Honeywell to expand nylon polymer production capacity in USA

Honeywell Resins and Chemicals will expand production capacity at its Chesterfield, Virginia (USA), facility to meet demand for high-grade nylon polymers for packaging film and other applications. The new production line will be able to produce both nylon 6 and copolymer nylon 6/6.6 resins, with flexibility to produce either or both as needed to match customer demand. The new line will have a capacity of 40,000 metric tonnes per year and is expected to start production in the fourth quarter of 2015, expanding capacity at the facility to 200,000 metric tonnes per year.
 
“We continue to invest in the production capabilities to meet our global customers’ current and future needs, and this new production line will provide greater flexibility to produce both nylon 6 and nylon 6/6.6 as required. As a fully integrated nylon 6 producer, Honeywell remains well positioned as a reliable and competitive supplier to customers worldwide,” said Qamar Bhatia, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Resins and Chemicals.
 
Honeywell’s resins, sold under the Aegis brand name, are used in diverse applications such as fibers and filaments for carpeting, fabrics, nets and cords; engineered plastic components for automotive, consumer and industrial applications; and films for food and protective packaging. For food packaging applications, Aegis resins provide excellent barrier properties to oxygen, helping to retain flavour and maintain product freshness.
 
Honeywell Resins and Chemicals is also a major producer and global supplier of caprolactam, a merchant-grade, nylon 6 intermediate used in a range of applications, including carpet, textiles, engineering plastics, films and industrial filament. The Honeywell plant in Hopewell, Virginia, with a capacity of 350,000 metric tonnes of caprolactam per year, is one of the largest single-site caprolactam production facilities in the world. Honeywell caprolactam is sold globally and shipped either in molten or flake form to a variety of downstream customers.
 
Resins and Chemicals offers more than a half-century of technology and customer-focused application development expertise, and continues to invest in its research and development capabilities to enable sustainable growth worldwide. The business also conducts nylon-related research and development at technology centres in New Jersey and Virginia, where it operates laboratory-scale polymer reactors and blown film equipment, as well as in Shanghai, China, where the business recently installed a laboratory-scale multilayer coextrusion cast film line and has extensive analytical capabilities for resin development.
 
In addition to caprolactam and resins, Honeywell Resins and Chemicals sells chemical intermediates, including phenol, cyclohexanone and acetone. It is also a major producer of ammonium sulfate fertiliser, a co-product of caprolactam production, which is sold under the Sulf-N brand.