Coatings R&D Notebook: Increasing Productivity at Resin Making Plant

March 4, 2006

We have an old alkyd and polyester resin manufacturing plant, and we want to increase productivity. Can you suggest some cost-effective ways to do this?

Productivity measured as the annual production of a given plant is a key factor in assessing manufacturing costs. It is not surprising that many alkyd and polyester resin manufacturers, under competitive pressures, want to improve the productivity of their existing equipment at minimum cost.

The first area to look at is batch time. In modern plants, typical batch times are 16 to 19 hr for alkyds, 14 to 16 hr for saturated polyesters (with phthalic anhydride feed) and 18 to 25 hr for saturated polyesters (with isophthalic acid feed), respectively. Of course, batch times vary somewhat from one plant to another, due to different recipes and types of operations. Generally speaking, batch times are 20 percent to 50 percent longer in old plants. This leaves a lot of room for management to spend a few dollars and justify a return on investment.

Shorter batch times mean higher production rates with the same equipment. Consequently, one must look for the obvious bottlenecks in the process such as:

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