Total Corbion PLA starts up its PLA pilot plant in Thailand
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
Total
Corbion PLA, 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion headquartered in
the Netherlands, has just issued a press
release to update the status of its polylactic acid (PLA) project in Rayong
(Thailand). This is a summary of the main points:
- It has successfully started up a 1 kton per
year PLA pilot plant in December 2017 and over the past two months has produced
a broad range of Luminy® PLA resins. They are now available for customer
sampling.
- The pilot plant is being used to train
operators and to get a head start on the required product certifications and
regulatory needs. In future, Total Corbion PLA will also be able to use the
pilot plant for product development.
- The lactide plant is being expanded to 100 ktons
per year.
- The 75 ktons per year PLA polymerization
plant under construction is on track to deliver its first commercial quantities
of PLA during the second half of 2018. Upon completion, the production facility
in Thailand will produce a broad portfolio of Luminy® PLA neat resins: from
standard PLA to innovative, high heat resistant PLA.
Figure 1. Quality inspection of Luminy®
biopolymer pellets produced from Total Corbion PLA’s pilot plant in Rayong