Arkema upgrades its Clear Lake Acrylics facility in North America_by chemwinfo

As part of its operational excellence program,

Arkema has launched a project

which will replace two 45kt/year acrylic acid reactors

at the end of their life

with a single 90 kt/year reactor at its Clear Lake site.

This investment will introduce

new competitive, state-of-the-art manufacturing assets

using the latest production technologies available.

With this investment Arkema confirms its position

as the number two producer of acrylic acid

in North America, and its strong position

to meet the growing demand in markets such as

* superabsorbents,

* coatings and adhesives,

* polymers for water treatment,

* and enhanced oil and gas recovery.

The new unit is expected

to come on stream by mid-2019.

At completion of this program,

Clear Lake's total acrylic acid production capacity

will be 270 kt/year.

In the meantime, Arkema will continue

to meet customer demand from its American plants,

which benefited from a previous modernization program

between 2012 and 2014, as well as

its European and Asian plants.