KEMROCK ends JV with German Co

Vadodara-based Kemrock Industries and Exports Ltd has discontinued its 50:50 Joint Venture 'SAERTEX-KEMROCK India Pvt Ltd' with SAERTEX Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Germany. The composite materials manufacturer informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday that the JV has been discontinued "with the mutual agreement of both the partners, in view of the change in business plan of the foreign JV partner". Post discontinuance of the JV, the new entity will now be a wholly owned subsidiary. "The said entity, now being a wholly owned subsidiary, has been renamed as 'Kemrock Aerospace India Pvt. Ltd'," the company further stated in its filing on the stock exchange. Furthermore, the company shall continue to forge ahead with its plan to manufacture materials and components for aeronautical industry with suitable partner(s) already under consideration.

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India : An emerging market for specialty chemicals

India: An emerging giant?

Some see India as a major force of the future in speciality chemicals, but do the numbers add up?

The specialty chemicals giants of the Western world are piling into India at the moment. Lanxess India, for instance, has started regular production of ion exchange resins for water treatment from its new production plant at Jhagadia in Gujarat state. The new facility, set up with an investment of €60 million, boasts capacity of 35,000 tonnes/year.

From this unit, Lanxess develops products that can be used in large-scale water purification. Ion exchange resins are widely used in processes that separate, decontaminate and purify water for use in such fields as power generation, microelectronics, and drinking water. The company also manufactures speciality chemicals for industrial water treatment for the semiconductor and pharmaceuticals industries.

Lanxess, which also produces Lewatit ion exchange resins at its German plants, has also decided to invest to increase production of thionyl chloride by 20% at its plant in Nagda, Madhya Pradesh state, with a single digit million Euro investment. Other key products manufactured at Nagda are benzyl chloride, benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzo trichloride, benzyl acetate, cinnamic aldehyde, benzyl benzoate, thionyl chloride, sulphuryl chloride and sulphur dichloride. Nearly 50% of the production from the site is exported.

Similarly, US-based Chemtura is set to invest $100-150 million by 2015 to expand its business in India. Chemtura manufactures speciality chemicals used in automobiles, agriculture and industrial chemicals. Its subsidiary in Uttar Pradesh makes active ingredients like clodinafop. Company director Bharat K. Pandey said that it aims for revenues of $500 million from India by 2015, of which $100 million will come from crop protection.

In crop protection chemicals, including the use of surfactants and adjuvants, the Bayer Group is also keen to cash in on the India opportunity. The Bayer Group plans to invest at least €1.8 billion in Asia over the next three years and to double its Indian revenue to €1 billion by 2015.

AkzoNobel has also set its sights on becoming a €1 billion entity in India by 2015. It is to invest $47 million to set up a new manufacturing plant in Madhya Pradesh. The company has decided to invest more in India as part of its general growth strategy, seeing India is one of the key high growth markets. At present, AkzoNobel has five plants across India.

Similarly, BASF saw the growth potential of the Indian chemicals industry and embarked on its plan to be a big player in the growing market. The company's Construction Chemicals division, which offers concrete admixtures for self-compacting concrete, alkali-free accelerators for sprayed concrete and polyurethane concrete floors, now operates across India and has decided to tap local experience with global expertise. It is now looking to introduce a slew of speciality chemicals from its parent's portfolio.

Lanxess opened its ion exchange resins facility in India in late 2010

Clearly, India is the flavour of the season. Although the major regions accounting for speciality chemicals continue to be Europe and the USA, Asia is the only region where sales grew overall in the year 2009. Asia saw 5.7% growth in chemical sales that year, while the EU region and the USA slipped by 12.5% and 6.1% respectively during the same period.

"Earlier, China was ahead of India. Now, India has surged ahead with its growth in speciality chemicals," said Kishore M Shah, chairman of Sauradip Chemicals Industries and president of the Indian Speciality Chemical Manufacturers' Association (ISCMA). He adds that, since speciality chemicals are now finding more applications in the construction, automotive, electronic and water treatment segments, these are most likely to drive the growth of the Indian market over the next five years.

Underscoring the growth in the construction sector, Deepak Bhimani, managing director of Navdeep Chemicals, which makes fine and speciality chemicals like sulphonic acids, paratoluene sulphonic acid, corrosion inhibitors and oilfield chemicals, notes that the anti-corrosion coating industry has been developing rapidly. Producers number over 250 and the products are becoming more multi-functional.

More generally, he adds, major commodity chemical manufacturers have also migrated to speciality chemicals, since it provides higher profitability and low investment at lower margins. Others see similar things happening in different fields.

"Most of the erstwhile textile auxiliary manufacturers have now started synthesising exotic molecules, thus emerging as speciality chemical manufacturers," says P. Rajan of Sudarshan Chemical Industries. Although it is an agrochemicals major, the company offers customised service related to research, development and manufacturing of speciality chemicals and intermediates from pilot plant to commercial quantities.

Among the Western majors, Bayer sees India, along with China, as a global outsourcing hub. Meanwhile, Evonik established an R&D lab near Mumbai, to conduct contract research and develop syntheses and processes for its global business and pigment maker Heubach, set up a plant in Ankleshwar, Gujarat state that meets the requirements of its global operations. Even Clariant India's plant at Thane is one of its parent firm's three global sourcing centres.

Officials at these firms point out that a combination of factors makes India an attractive base for speciality chemicals. Cost is obviously a prime driver. An official of Clariant India calls the chemical engineering industry in India "both strong and cost-effective". For instance, a drier - which Clariant makes - can cost 20% of its international price in India. Similarly, Bayer has worked out that production in India offers a 5-8% cost advantage over units in Europe and the US.

BASF's Construction Chemicals division has invested heavily in India of late

The fact that India has slowly becoming a significant player in the international chemicals market with many companies intent on sourcing from here is amplified by another emerging trend - growing equity participation by multinationals in their Indian arms. As India's edge in speciality chemicals is more and more visible, M&A is likely to grow. And it is not just multinationals that are ramping up their sourcing plans from India; even home-grown firms are creating new capacity, increasing productivity and going in for acquisitions.

Take Dorf Ketal, which is vying to emerge as the largest research-based Indian speciality chemicals firm. The firm is currently engaged in an intense bidding process for US-based oilfield chemicals producer MultiChem, with valuations set to top $500 million. The acquisition makes strategic sense for Dorf Ketal, which has a global presence and wants to expand its market share in speciality chemicals for the treatment of refineries, petrochemical plants and ancillary units.

Delhi-based Cico Technologies, a manufacturer of speciality chemicals for the construction sector, has also planned a major expansion in the Gulf. The company, in which the British government's Commonwealth Development Corporation had a 40% stake, is setting up a joint venture with Aljabor Trading of Qatar for a manufacturing unit in Doha, Qatar.

Galaxy Surfactants, which makes surfactants and speciality chemicals, has implemented an expansion programme at its Jhaghadia unit in Gujarat and plans to invest around $67 million in its business by the 2013 fiscal year. The firm is expanding its three units in Taloja, Maharashtra, which was due for completion by December.

The company's revenues grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.3% in the fiscal years 2006-10, while its net profit increased at 58%/year. It has 66 products in its portfolio mostly speciality chemicals for home care and personal care industry and exports to over 70 countries, according to Sunil Jain, an analyst with broking firm ILFS in Mumbai.

Stating that India is expected to drive growth in the $650 billion global speciality chemicals market, Jain noted that the increase in the usage of some speciality chemicals has led to a high level of commoditisation, leading to global manufacturers focusing more on cost reduction. As a result global players are looking at shifting their divisions to India, he said.

"India's speciality chemicals industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% - almost double the growth of the global industry. Exports of speciality chemicals from India are poised to grow from $4 billion in 2007 to $13 billion in 2013, representing a CAGR of 22%," says Shah of the ISCMA.

Construction and automotive are two of the booming sectors for speciality chemicals

To overcome the volatility in demand, many players are now focusing on expanding and maintaining a broader portfolio of products. One example is Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector company, which is said to be interested in acquiring a controlling interest in Haldia Petrochemicals, a maker of polyolefins and speciality chemicals.

Shah adds that competition in the speciality segment is not on price or raw materials but on product technology and innovation. "Many companies in the Indian speciality chemicals industry have decided to leverage the lower R&D costs in India, as compared to Europe and the US, to undertake intensive research for developing value added products. The growth of the Indian speciality chemicals industry is driven largely by robust domestic demand, with exports based growth in select segments," he says.

Emerging customer needs across consumer industries have called for products with higher quality and increased performance, Shah continues. Examples include wrinkle-free textiles, reflective glass and cement admixtures, among others. "India's strengths, such as its large market size, knowledge of unique customer needs, strong R&D capabilities and process capabilities are aligned to achieve success in the speciality chemicals industry."

Ganesan Shunmugam, chairman of the International Treaties Expert Committee of the Indian Chemical Council (ICC), however, has an opposing view. `"Some experts would like to believe that India has achieved great strides. But India is more an innovation hub, not an invention hub. The numbers don't actually add up," he says.

Relating to the recently released WTO figures, Shunmugam said chemicals was the second largest traded exported commodity in the world, with exports at a staggering $1,705 billion. The global market as a whole is put at $3,200 billion, following 5% CAGR since 2006.

"The largest exporter of chemicals in the world is still Europe with $955 billion The EU still accounts for 90% of total chemical exports. They are the world leaders not just in production, but also the largest exporters. The second largest is the USA with $180 billion. WTO figures show that India exported just $24 billion. How insignificant is that?" Shunmugam asks.

India has improved from its export figure of $22 billion two years ago, but China had clocked chemical exports worth $88 billion, he adds. "We are not the leaders in chemicals. Even Japan had $78 billion worth of exports. Though India's growth is good as compared to the past, even fantastic, it is rather small if one compares it to her neighbours."

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Rice Lake Weighing System expands in India

Following two recent acquisitions, Rice Lake Weighing Systems(RLWS) has taken steps to further strengthen operations by partnering with Strategic Weighing Systems Ltd (SWSL) of Chennai, India. This is the first such venture by the Wisconsin-based business which has been family owned since 1946 and today employs roughly 400 people. RLWS will have a 50 percent stake in the overseas operation. 
 
According to CEO Mark Johnson, many RLWS products are already sold overseas. "Our hope is to take advantage of a rapidly growing marketplace in India and use it to expand our brand recognition internationally," he explains. 

In 2004, RLWS acquired Alabama-based Powell Scale, strengthening truck scale manufacturing and distribution within North America. Similarly, RLWS will rely heavily on the India partnership to expand distribution within Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  
 
Founded in 1982, SWSL is known throughout India for the manufacturing and distribution of railroad scales, truck scales, and other process control and material handling equipment for the aggregate, cement, and mining industries. RLWS chief operations officer Steve Parkman is optimistic about the joint venture. "Our new partner has about 85 employees and an established reputation for quality and customer service," he says. "We're looking forward to working with them. This is a good move for both of us."  
 
Future plans include the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility in India. RLWS personnel will travel there to help ease the transition—providing technology, marketing, and product support. The joint venture is not expected to impact domestic manufacturing operations for RLWS. 
 
Rice Lake Weighing Systems is a family-owned, ISO 9001 certified corporation, with headquarters, metrology laboratory, and main manufacturing plant in Rice Lake, WI. Additional manufacturing facilities are located in Jasper, AL and Newtown, CT. For more information, visit www.ricelake.com.  

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Gain-in-Weight vs. Loss-in-Weight Batching Systems

When determining whether a gain-in-weight or loss-in-weight system is best for your applications, the first step, I believe, is to recognize that this is a complex decision with roughly a dozen factors to consider—and each of these factors impact all the others. It is one of the most complex determinations involved with spec'ing a batching system.

A gain-in-weight system

That said, the first step is to clarify priorities. Gain-in-weight is slower, but more accurate, since you are weighing only the amount discharged and only one product at a time on each scale. Loss-in-weight is faster, since you can discharge all the products at the same time, but it is less accurate.

Loss-in-weight allows you to discharge several ingredients simultaneously, but you need to monitor the weight of the discharging vessel. Most scales have a range of 10,000 increments that must cover the total material to be weighed. Thus, a 10,000-lb holding vessel can be weighed out in loss-in-weight mode in ±1 lb readout. If your discharge requires ±0.1 lb accuracy, of course, that option is not workable.

Other considerations include location, size of batch, time of batch, type of material, vibration in the area, sanitation requirements, clean-out, and cost. Finally, whether you are building a new facility, or retrofitting a plant that is running at full capacity has some bearing on which choice will best serve your needs. Let me offer a few thoughts on a few of these considerations.

If batches are small, you are likely more concerned with accuracy, so gain-in-weight is preferable. Regarding the type of material, if it is pharmaceutical grade, accuracy is critical, so again, gain-in-weight is the better option.

Is there vibration in the area? There are more load cells in a loss-in-weight system, and just one set in a gain-in-weight system. So, if there is vibration—a common condition—loss-in-weight may be preferable, all else being equal. Of course, the higher the batch weight, the less important vibration becomes.

Regarding sanitation, if you have to disassemble equipment for cleaning, as is the case with pharma and food products, gain-in-weight systems are much easier to manage.

Is the number of ingredients you are batching always the same? If batches are small and the recipe changes, you need to strike a balance between accuracy and speed. Two or three ingredients in a 4000-lb recipe? That's a situation ideal for loss-in-weight, unless accuracy requirements are extreme. Need high accuracy? Gain-in-weight will produce a better result. Need high production speeds? Loss-in-weight will almost always be the better choice, but there can be a balance between the two types of systems.

The new vs. existing facility question primarily relates to available space, and whether the material will originate in paper bags, silos, or bulk bags.

To summarize, gain-in-weight is more accurate and more controllable than loss-in-weight, just a little slower, although you can accelerate production speed by producing multiple batches simultaneously, even when recipes differ. If you have the luxury of flexibility—if you're building a new plant, for instance—this can be an incredibly efficient option.

Scott Culshaw is president and founder of Ingredient Masters (Cincinnati, OH), which provides custom-engineered solutions for dry ingredient handling and processing. For more information, e-mail sculshaw@ingredientmasters.com or visit www.ingredientmasters.com.

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Selecting Right Dry Solid Feeder

Choosing the right dry-solids feeder for an application can be a challenging undertaking. Arming yourself with the necessary information can ease the task and ensure that the proper equipment selection is made.

Initially, system parameters must be carefully defined. This includes identifying the materials to be metered, their bulk densities, and their individual handling characteristics (whether they are free flowing, adhesive, cohesive, pressure sensitive, etc.). The feed-rate range (minimum, nominal, and maximum) must also be clarified. Before the proposed feeder is sized, consideration should be given to future feed-rate requirements. Accuracy requirements must also be established. This dictates whether a volumetric or loss-in-weight feeder is required for the application. As a system component, a feeder's performance can and will be affected by the other equipment in the system.

Careful consideration should be given to how the material will get to the feeder and to the type of device into which the feeder will discharge. For example, the feeder may be refilled manually, with a pneumatic conveyor, a mechanical conveyor, a live-bottom device (such as a vibratory bin bottom), or a static hopper. Such equipment can cause material fluidization, densification, or degradation, influencing product characteristics and feeder performance. In the discharge phase, the feeder may meter material into a conveyor, blender or mixer, extruder, or pneumatic system. Such devices can generate heat, positive or negative pressures, or moisture, all of which can affect feeder performance and end-product quality. An obviously crucial system parameter is feeder location. Also, equipment width, length, and height may be limited or restricted. And machine selection can be affected by the feeder environment (whether it is indoors, outdoors, temperature controlled, etc.).

Once prospective buyers have gathered all the necessary information, they can properly evaluate potential equipment suppliers. This step should start with a visit to several vendors. If possible, buyers should witness materials tests. All too often, feeders have a lower acquisition cost than other equipment. This factor, coupled with diminishing travel budgets and time constraints, results in vendor evaluations that are not as comprehensive as they should be. Testing product in a production-size piece of equipment (scaled-down tests are sometimes misleading) can prevent complications and production losses during installation. To ensure a proper comparison, test parameters such as equipment size, feed rate, sample duration, and refill frequency (for loss-in-weight feeders) should be the same for all manufacturers. Site visits can also give buyers insight into manufacturers' capabilities. They can be learning experiences—especially for buyers who are relatively new to the industry and to the process of selecting equipment.

During the evaluation stage, buyers should also address several other concerns: equipment reliability and versatility, warranties, maintenance and service requirements, and factory support—including whether the manufacturer offers parts and service 24/7. These are especially crucial concerns for production lines that operate around the clock, where downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour.

Paul Matarazzo is senior mechanical engineer/manager in the materials testing facilities at Acrison Inc. (Moonachie, NJ). He also serves as an internal consultant on the selection and application of the company's range of dry-solids metering, hoppering, and blending equipment. An employee of the company for 31 years, he previously served as a project engineer and an applications engineer. Matarazzo is the coauthor of two international mechanical patents held by Acrison.

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Selection Criteria for Material-Handling Valves

Shawn Werner Selecting the correct slide gate or diverter valve for a conveying application is critical. Getting it wrong can mean the difference between system success and failure, especially when handling challenging materials. Several factors should be considered during the selection process, including material characteristics and their compatibility with valve seat and seal materials, conveying parameters, actuator requirements, valve maintenance, and environmental protection. Facilities should consider all of these factors to select the right valve for the application at hand.

Material characteristics determine which type of valve is required. Coarse materials require valves and diverters with greater clearances, while fine materials such as carbon black, calcium carbonate, or titanium dioxide require valves and diverters with tighter tolerances in order to ensure dust-free service, prevent material leakage, and guarantee a clean plant environment. Other material characteristics that are important when selecting a valve are whether the material is sticky, abrasive, friable, corrosive, or a combination of these characteristics. To ensure maximum service life, appropriate seat and seal materials must be selected to handle a range of material characteristics.

Conveying parameters—whether the slide gate or diverter is used in a gravity or pressure installation—must also be considered when selecting a valve for a particular application. Material bridging in gravity applications presents a big challenge. While aeration or vibration can be used to improve material flowability, these techniques sometimes have undesirable consequences. Slide gates that are used to control material flow can be adversely affected by the use of these flow aids, especially if the slide gates are designed strictly for gravity applications. A common misconception is that if aeration pressure of 5 psig works, 25 psig will work even better. This is not the case. When using aeration, the overall goal is to infuse the material with air to enhance product flowability. This procedure should be followed using lower pressures over a longer period of time rather than higher pressures over a shorter period, achieving the same goal while minimizing the deleterious effects of aeration and maximizing slide gate service life.

When choosing a valve for material-handling applications, a key consideration is to select the appropriate actuator. The most common actuators include pneumatic cylinders and electric, hydraulic, and manual actuators. A facility should choose the appropriate actuator based on its initial cost, duty cycle, travel speed, and cycle frequency. Pneumatic cylinders are the most common actuators used for process valves. Clean and easy to maintain, they have a continuous-duty rating. Electric actuators are desirable in low-temperature applications, in which compressed air is vulnerable to freezing. The downside of using electric actuators is their slow actuation speeds, limited duty cycle, and high initial cost.

In fast-paced process environments, there is a premium on time. Hence, maintenance considerations should be a significant part of selecting a slide gate or diverter valve. Important factors to consider include service life, ease of maintenance, accessibility, the downtime required to rebuild a unit, and the cost of spare parts. More-demanding applications require frequent maintenance. In such cases, it is advantageous to use a slide gate or diverter that can be serviced easily or serviced while it is still installed. If minimal downtime is critical, a spare or campaign valve should be kept in reserve, enabling the plant to reduce downtime, increase production, and lower the stress on maintenance personnel.

The choice of materials used in the construction of slide gates, diverter valves, and seats and seals can affect the environment. For example, when valves are intended for outdoor use, nylon should not be used because of its water absorption characteristics. Materials that are resistant to corrosion such as aluminum and stainless steel should be used in place of carbon steel.

It is clear that many factors should be weighed before selecting a slide gate or diverter valve for a material-handling application. If a facility views each installation as unique, especially in challenging material applications, it will successfully choose the right valve, at the right price, with the right features.

Shawn Werner is chief engineer for Vortex Valves North America, a division of Salina Vortex Corp. Werner received a BS in mechanical engineering technology from Kansas State University. A member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, he has 15 years of experience in the dry bulk solids industry.

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Flotech joins Valve Repair Council

Flotech, a leader in valve repair services in the US southeast, has joined the Valve Repair Council, an affiliate of the Valve Manufacturers Association of America.  Flotech supports the mission of the valve repair council which advocates the original equipment manufacturer (OEM ) to repairing valves.

The proliferation of valve and actuator repair and rebuild shops around the country has led in some cases to facilities that operate without adequate quality control procedures, use substandard parts and do not have access to OEM specifications.

In 1989 the member companies of the Valve Manufacturers Association of America (VMA) saw a need to promote both safety and quality in valve and actuator repair. As a result, the service operations of VMA members banded together to create the Valve Repair Council (VRC). VRC membership is open to all VMA members who have either in-house service operations or out-of-plant service facilities, as well as their authorized independent facilities.

Valve Repair Council Objectives

The Valve Repair Council was formed to provide all qualified repairers and rebuilders of flow-control equipment-who are repairing to OEM specification-with a

means to meet the following objectives:

• To promote safety through proper repair and rebuild
• To establish and promulgate guidelines for proper repair and service
• To educate manufacturers, rebuilders and customers on the importance of proper service and the dangers inherent in substandard service
• To publish a list of members' qualified service facilities for the benefit of end-users
• To provide a forum for the legal exchange of information that will advance the quality and integrity of service
• To promote open discussion among OEMs, repair shops and users on problems relating to maintenance and repair
• To cooperate with standards' development bodies and regulatory agencies in the development of appropriate standards and regulations pertaining to service

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