Vistalon releases 50 EPDM compounds to mark 50 years

ERJ staff report (DS)

Houston, Texas -- ExxonMobil is marking 50 years since the first commercial production of its EPDM mateial sold under the name of Vistalon. ExxonMobil Chemical produced the first commercially manufactured ethylene-propylene elastomer in North America at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana plant on September 7, 1961.

To mark the anniversary, ExxonMobil Chemical has established a toolkit of model formulations for application development. Available to customers at the company's website (below), the formulary represents 50 ways to win for customers looking to meet industry specifications in a cost effective way. All formulations are designed for factory scale manufacturing and give the properties of the final compound.

As a sign that ExxonMobil Chemical continues to advance the EPDM industry, three new Vistalon EPDM rubber grades (Vistalon 2502, Vistalon 6602, Vistalon 7602 EPDM rubber) will be introduced. These new grades utilise the attributes of metallocene catalyst and advanced solution plant control to deliver polymers with improved compression set at low and high temperatures for both moulded and extruded applications.

In 2012, a new 300 kTa elastomer plant in Singapore will be on stream. This further increases ExxonMobil Chemical's Vistalon EPDM rubber capacity. Following that, ExxonMobil Chemical and SABIC are progressing detailed studies for new plants in Saudi Arabia, which would include a new Vistalon EPDM unit.

Referring to the 50 model formualtions,Michael Bednarik, global brand manager, Vistalon EPDM rubber, ExxonMobil Chemical said, “Because these formulations are very close to those being used in current applications and processes, customers can use them to develop new applications or as an aid to replace existing grades. They can save significant laboratory development time, improving productivity by enabling faster qualification and time to market.”

The formulations cover a range of markets including: automotive (sponge and dense weatherseals, hose, brake systems, and moulded seals and gaskets), sheeting goods including roofing, electrical (medium-voltage cables for insulation and jacketing), industrial hose, and mechanical rubber goods (moulded and extruded seals, gaskets and belting).

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Press release (50 compounds) from ExxonMobil Chemical

50 compounds web page from ExxonMobil Chemical

Press release (50 years of Vistalon -- interesting history) from ExxonMobil Chemical