(ICIS) – INVISTA is shutting down its adipic acid plant in Orange, Texas, as part of restructuring efforts at the site, the US nylon 6,6 and intermediates producer confirmed on Tuesday.
“The decision to shut down the adipic acid unit was driven by lower adipic acid demand in North America and increased supply in the global adipic acid market,” said Bill Greenfield, president of INVISTA Intermediates.
INVISTA said the restructuring of the site is so it “can more rapidly respond to the ever-changing global marketplace that it serves”, and this will result in a workforce reduction of 75 or more employees at the site.
The company will continue to produce adipic acid at its Victoria site in Texas, and representatives are communicating with customers on specific impacts that this could have on their supply.
INVISTA said it recently invested more than $100m at its Orange site to install and commercialise the company’s proprietary adiponitrile (ADN) technology, which was implemented at the site last year.
Adipic acid is produced from benzene via cyclohexane (CX) or phenol. Adipic acid’s main use is in the production of nylon 6,6 by combining it with hexamethylenediamine (HMD or HMDA), which is made from ADN via butadiene (BD) or propylene.
INVISTA’s adipic acid plant in Orange has a capacity of 220,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.
By Tracy Dang
Source: ICIS News
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
