🏭 Don't ship chlorine

Good morning. Both of today's stories are vaguely about electrolysis, but also not really about electrolysis.

From the condenser:

· More chlor-alkali in India

· Reducing emissions for nylon

· POTD: caulk

Making more chlorine in India

German conglomerate, Thyssenkrupp, will be providing Kutch Chemical Industries with the process technology and equipment for its upcoming chlor-alkali expansion in Padana, India.

Breaking down the basics:

The chlor-alkali process is a classic. The electrolysis of brine (water with lots of sodium chloride in it) produces hydrogen gas, chlorine gas, and a solution of sodium hydroxide. Most of that hydrogen is used for heating on-site (or to make hydrogen chloride), most of the chlorine ends up in the PVC market (after you react it with ethylene, add some heat, and then polymerize the product), and most of the sodium hydroxide is used to make detergents and soaps.

So, what's going on?

Kutch Chemical started up this plant in 2020 with five of Thyssenkrupp's electrolyzers. The plan is to double the production with at least 5 more electrolyzers by the end of 2023.

Zooming out:

When you see a chlor-alkali expansion announcement, you need to keep two key items in mind: (1) chlorine gas isn't easy to transport, so it's best used locally and (2) most of that chlorine is used to make PVC. PVC is used to make pipes, tubing, electrical insulation, and plenty of other building materials—so demand for PVC typically just tracks growth in the construction segment. India is growing a lot, so they are building a lot.

Reducing HMD emissions with greener H2

Japanese chemical company, Domo Chemicals, and Hynamics have announced plans to build a water electrolysis unit at Domo's site in Lyon, France to reduce the emissions associated with hexamethylene diamine (HMD) production.

Who wants HMD?

The chemical industry makes HMD by reacting four parts hydrogen (from various sources, more on that next) and one part adiponitrile (from the hydrocyanation of butadiene). This stuff is almost exclusively used to make polyamide 6,6 (which most people call Nylon) via condensation with adipic acid. Nylon is used for all sorts of things, but "high-temperature automotive parts, electronics, or yarns to produce airbags" are the hot end-markets.

So, low-carbon hydrogen?

Hynamics is a subsidiary of EDF Group, a French utility company, and EDF is making more and more electricity from renewable sources. The plan is to use that electricity to make hydrogen from water via electrolysis, and then to use that hydrogen to make the HMD. That should produce less emissions than your typical hydrogen from steam methane reforming (which is the industry standard).

Bigger picture:

Genomatica's fermentation-based route to HMD eliminates the need for hydrogen entirely and also solves the other half of the problem (there are emissions associated with making adiponitrile too). Either way, it's not clear if Genomatica will be able to make it happen at a global scale. So, while reducing emissions by making hydrogen via electrolysis may not be the most cost-effective or innovative solution, the technical feasibility is there, so it may just have to do for now.

Some more headlines:

• Trinseo is going to make more acrylic resin in Europe

• Shell will start building Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant

• Wacker Chemie is planning an mRNA components project in Germany

• Trinseo and GMP Group announced plans to recycle more polystyrene in the Netherlands

Product of The Day:

Today, we're breaking down caulk.

If you're not familiar with caulking, we use this stuff to bridge the gap between two neighboring materials, limiting the passage of fluids and or heat. When you go to your local Home Depot or Lowes for caulk you'll be presented with more than a few options.

For most DIY projects, the way to go will be a water-based emulsion of latex (cis-polyisoprene) and acrylic (polymers made from acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and or acrylate monomers) or vinyl (polymers made from vinyl chloride). You'll see all of those marketed as latex caulk. Alternatively, you'll find some heavier duty silicone (polysiloxane) and polyurethane caulks as well as combinations of all of the above.

In case you're interested:

• Safety Moment: Leverage this flowchart to help with logically identifying chemical reactivity hazards.

• Podcast: Check out this episode on innovation in the chemical industry.

• Book: Maybe you've never heard of the Scientific Design company, but if you're in the industry, this one is worth a read.*

The bottoms:

All views represent those of the author not their employer.