ARLANXEO, a joint venture between LANXESS and Saudi Aramco, a globally leading player in performance elastomers, has completed a technological upgrade at its Keltan® EPDM plant in Orange, TX. The update will lead to significant product improvements and an extension of the Keltan® product range of ARLANXEO. The company will have invested a total of $34 million over the last 3 years in its facility in Orange. “The Orange plant is of key importance for ARLANXEO in the US, and is a key element of our global network of production operations in four countries across North and South America, Europe, and China,” says Jim Francis, Manager Keltan® Manufacturing at ARLANXEO.

ARLANXEO made several hardware improvements and implemented an improved catalyst activation technology at Orange. This improved catalyst activation technology is based on the polymerization processes used in other Keltan® EPDM plants. It is important to note that the core Ziegler Natta system used in Orange remains intact. The company reports that customers have evaluated and approved the products, manufactured after the successful technological upgrade.

ARLANXEO has developed several new grades of Keltan®, some of these grades are now being sold globally. In total ARLANXEO is now producing 14 Keltan® grades in Orange, in a broad range of Mooney viscosities, ethylene contents and ethylidene norbornene (ENB) levels for applications in the automotive and industrial sector that include, inner tubes, hoses, cables, conveyor belts, mounts and seals, either on its own or in blends.

Pete Spanos, Senior Technical Manager at ARLANXEO, highlights Keltan® 7470Q DE, a new highly crystalline grade with medium ENB content, medium-high Mooney viscosity and a narrow molecular weight distribution, for numerous automotive applications, including hoses and seals. “This is a robust polymer with good processing characteristics,” he says. “Excellent physical properties can be achieved because of the high ethylene content and optimal molecular weight. The narrow molecular weight distribution ensures a good balance between tensile and tear properties.”

Keltan® 7470Q DE provides significant benefits when compounding and in end-use applications. For example, the friable bale breaks down easily to provide optimal mixing performance, and the rubber accepts high loadings of fillers and oil, helping to optimize compound costs. Keltan® 7470Q DE is also an excellent blending partner for amorphous EPDM grades, allowing a compounder to improve green strength, increase extrusion output, improve extrudate surface properties and achieve better modulus and tensile properties.

Keltan is a product of the business unit High Performance Elastomers.

High Performance Elastomers

High Performance Elastomers (HPE), a business unit of the ARLANXEO group, offers its customers a broad portfolio of technical elastomers. As one of the leading suppliers of synthetic elastomers to the rubber-processing industry, HPE markets materials which have a wide range of industrial applications. For example, they are used as modifiers for plastic and adhesive raw materials, in gas and oil exploration and production, and in functional components for the automotive and cable industries.

About ARLANXEO

ARLANXEO is a world-leading synthetic rubber company with sales of around EUR 2.8 billion in 2015, about 3,800 employees and a presence at 20 production sites in nine countries. The company’s core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance rubber for use in, for example, the automotive and tire industries, the construction industry, and the oil and gas industries. ARLANXEO was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of LANXESS and Saudi Aramco.