Document BYOgRYXR0N1XZQ4DE2k43wxE
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To M . G. Caine
At piscataway
Dai t 9/9/68
FF.oo S U Bji'-T
M. W. williams V t i 5 QUALITY
At
Piseatawny
Co r t _i H . B. Carr
J. C. Fisher
C. W. lobnston
R. H. Marks ,
L. Medeiros
G. I. Rozand
Several items pointing' toward better VCM quality .in August have been noted recently:
1. The figure attached shows the reaction time at Burlington for Tenneco 225 (Type 141) made with virgin plus 2000 lbs. of recovered monomer. The reaction times in February and August have been about 5% faster than the April-June period.
An apparent correlation exists between the light absorbance curve for Tenneco 380, which we have found useful as an index of VCM quality and the changes in reaction rate shown. It should be especially pointed out that we have found recovered monomer quality to be particularly adversely during periods of "poor" VCM quality.
2. Tenneco VCM shipped from Houston since the plant "turnaround" also gave better reaction rates at Flemington, as demonstrated in manufacture of Tenneco 225-1 (Type 127), than VCM shipped just prior to Houston's shutdown. The average reaction times were respectively 8.3 and 8.7 hours -- again a 5% differential.
3. Typical reaction rates for Tenneco 315 copolymer in Apri1-May compared with August were:
Apri1-May
August
With virgin VCM With 2M lbs. recovered
monomer
8 hrs 10 hrs
7 hrs 8 hrs
Continued
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4. QC reported better quality in August than in July.
QUAL1T SUM4AAY Comparison of July and Auc-ust
(August represen ts both outside mlonomer us age, and improve ments in Tenneco VCM)
Homo. JplY
In Spec. 57,2%
Aug. 77.5%
PJjiix
Auc[.
Plast.
J u lv
Aug B
67.6% 67.5% 66.8% 86.8%
Out of Spec .
42.8% 22.5%
3 2.4% 32.5% 33.2% 13.2%
In correlation of the lower light absorbance values in August, with the greater productivity indicated in suspension polymerization in both plants, plus the indication of improved product uniformity, suggest very strongly we are currently experiencing a period of better VCM quality. VCM used during August includes both Houston's recently improved product and outside monomer.
We plan to take advantage of the improvement by setting up a specifi cation for VCM which will maintain or further improve the quality and performance of this critical raw material. Steps being taken toward this end include;
1. A bottle polymerization study.
2. Analysis of recent and previous Tenneco VCM in comparison with B.F. Goodrich's product (being done at BFG's lab).
3. Paul Reed will visit Flemington on 9/11 to discuss recent Houston analytical data.
4. Review of analytical and test data received from other VCM suppliers in the past two months.
We plan to submit our new VCM specification to Tenneco Hydrocarbons in 1-2 weeks.
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M. W. Williams
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