News | June 8, 1999

Albemarle Introduces Phosphorus-Based, Halogen-Free Flame Retardant

Albemarle Corp. (Baton Rouge, LA) has introduced a halogen-free flame retardant for polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC/ABS) and polystyrene/polyphenylene sulfide (PS/PPO) resins systems.

Albemarle is a major supplier of flame retardants, primarily its bromine-based Saytex flame retardants. Its new NcendX P-30 flame retardant is based on phosphorus. It is the first of several halogen-free products Albemarle plans to introduce in the near future as part of a strategic plan to diversify the company's offerings, says business director, John Nicols.

Europeans have reduced their use of brominated fire retardants due to safety and health concerns. Tests by Albemarle show that older, bromine-treated televisions resist flames far better than today's untreated TVs. The old, bromine-treated TV shows only moderate damage after 2:10 exposure to a flame, while the untreated set on the right has burst into flame.

Albemarle will produce NcendX P-30 at a new 12-million-lb/yr plant slated to come on stream in December 1999. Located in Orangeburg, SC, the unit is built to grow to 25 million lb/yr.

"We expect NcendX P-30 flame retardant to be an important product in the growing market for halogen-free plastics used in office automation and computer equipment," says Nicols. "In PC/ABS and PS/PPO, phosphorus-based flame retardants are the preferred systems over those based on bromine because of chemical reasons."

The company was pulled into the business when it began reevaluating its whether it should remain a bromine-based operation or expand its product line into other chemistries. "A very key customer presented us with an opportunity to work with them on a phosphorus-based system and we jumped on it," Nicols relates. That company will become the company's first customer for the additive. Both GE and Bayer manufacture PC/ABS and PS/PPO blends.

According to Nicols, NcendX P-30 provides better hydrolytic stability and low bloom (migration of the additive to the surface) than other phosphorus-based flame retardants.

Albemarle plans to sell the materials globally. It does not expect to market the additives as alternatives to bromine for customers who worry that bromine forms dioxinlike compounds. "We've spent a lot of money showing that bromine-based fire retardants are safe to handle and that they do not pose a significant health problem," says Nicols. Instead, he sees NcendX chemistry as a way to supply high- end office equipment makers who uses polymer blends that are not compatible with existing bromine systems.

The NcendX introduction follows closely several Albemarle moves to strengthen its Saytex business. The company recently formed a joint- venture with Jordan's Jordan Bromine Co. Ltd. to recover bromine from the Dead Sea. When opened in 2002, the facility will produce, annually, 50,000 tons of bromine, 47,500 tons potassium hydroxide, 30,000 tons calcium bromide, and 50,000 tons of tetrabromobisphenol-A (Saytex CP- 2000) flame retardant. Albemarle says the Dead Sea is the world's most cost-effective source of bromine.

The company is also constructing a large, continuous-process tetrabromobisphenol-A plant in Magnolia, AK.

For more information: John Nicols, Global Business Director, Flame Retardants, Albemarle Corp., 451 Florida St., Baton Rouge, LA 70801. Phone: 225-388-7334. Fax: 225-388-7848.

By Alan S. Brown