Resin Plant
Telematrix : is set up to provide a design, procurement, supply and installation service of all types of process plants to the general chemical, paints and plastics industries.
This brochure deals particularly with the synthetic resin plants of which the expertise of our engineers cover more than 25 years in the field.
General purpose plants to standardized designs can be offered capable of processing a full range of resins, or units specifically arranged for particular resins operating at lo or high or high temperatures are available. The essential part of any plant is the reactor, usually of stainless steel, with built in agitator unit, and heating and cooling facilities.
This vessel with ancillary equipment carefully chosen to suit the processes to be involved forms the basic resin plant.
Additional equipment and services are usually
necessary to complete the installation., L.e. supporting steelwork, building, raw materials and finished product storage tanks, liquid and powder charging equipment, filtering system steam, water, gas, oil or electric services, erection and commissioning etc., all of which can be included in a project thus keeping the full responsibility of engineering and programming in the control of one contractor.
Processes
Plants and formulations are available to cover the full range of synthetic resin manufacturing including:-
ALKYDS-by inert gas, vacuum, azeotropic and fusion methods.
POLYESTERS-saturated and unsaturated.
PHENOLICS Pure 100%, modified, thermoplastic, thermosetting and dispersions.
AMINOS-Urea and melamine formaldehyde
ACRYLICS
POLYURETHANE
VINYLS
PVA EMULSIONS
Heating Systems
Process heating methods used in resin manufacture in particular and used in the chemical and allied industries in general fall into the following categories:-
1. DIRECT by gas or oil fired furnace
Cheap in initial cost and running costs, but low in efficiency, demands increasing attention and operator skills, and has inherent fire risks for solvent process resins.
2. STEAM economical, and responsive and low
pressure steam most recommended for low temperature resins-aminos, emulsions, phenolics etc.
High pressure steam suitable but not recommended for general purposes due to required pressure of 130 atmos. leading to need for special steam generator and heavy fabrications.
3. INDIRECT HEAT TRANSFER MEDIUM
In this method a hydrocarbon oil or other media is continuously circulated through an oil or gas fired generator at a controlled temperature and pressure, the heated medium then being allowed to pass through a specially designed jacket on the resin reactor as required for process. Of medium efficiency, good control of temperature, versatile, and especially recommended for multiple reactor installations. Main disadvantages include increased maintenance costs, space requirements, initial erection time and costs.
4. ELECTRIC INDUSTION
Operates on normal mains frequency supply.
Running costs may prove higher than other methods depending on capacity and usage of plant but more than compensated by high efficiency, minimum maintenance, and ease of operation. Especially recommended for single unit installations.
Systems 3 and 4 are dealt with more fully in other sections of this brochure.
Capacities
Plants ranging from pilot scale to 20 ton capacity or more are available.
General Engineering Design and Fabrication
The telematrix group of Companies of which telematrix
is a subsidiary, includes highly specialized fabricating
shops who are experts in pressure and vacuum vessel
fabrications, and familiar with all accepted Continental,
British and American design codes and practices
Liquid Phase Indirect Heating
The system is similar in design to high pressure hot water where heat generated in an external gas or oil fired boiler is circulated under control to the user, but in this case use is made of readily available heat transfer mediums.
This results in a low pressure system free from corrosion, scale formation, and frost problems, the medium being chosen to suit the particular process requirements and circulated in a totally enclosed circuit with only sufficient pressure to overcome the pressure drop in the pipework and equipment
Temperature Range
Heat transfer mediums are available to operate at temperatures from as low as -50° C up to +350° C or higher, final choice being area and avoid heating above the batch level
Flexibility of Heating section
Reactors are generally provided with one, two or three zones to the jacket, according to size, in order to vary the depth of heating area and avoid heating the batch level
Medium Suppliers
Manufacturers of the special mediums include I.C.I.. Monsanto, B.P, Shell, Esso, Fina etc. the plant being designed to suit the particular choice.
Control
Temperature regulation of the process can be all manual, fully automatic, or a combination of both.
Cooling
Due to the low temperature stable conditions of the medium this can be diverted through a separate circuitry in the system to cool the user without the use of separate internal coil or jacket.
Multiple Users
One suitably rated heat generator can be arranged to serve two or more separate users with each one operating at a temperature varying to the others, thus a completely universal installation can be achieved, with one or more reactors arranged to process a range of products.
