1.
POLY VINYL ALCOHOL
1. PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS
Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) is one of the few high molecular weight
commercial polymers, which is water soluble.
Appearance Dry solid
Commercially available in granular or powder form
Properties The properties of Polyvinyl alcohol vary according to
the molecular weight of the parent poly vinyl acetate
and the degree of hydrolysis.
Polyvinyl alcohol are highly resistant to solvents, oils
and grease. They form tough, clean films that have
high tensile strength and abrasion resistance.
Grades A wide range of grades are available both in fully
hydrolysed form and in various stages of
unhydrolysed form.
Poly vinyl alcohol is produced in four general
molecular weight ranges.
*Molecular weight of Main Commercial Poly vinyl alcohol grades
Viscosity grade Nominal Mn
Low 25,000 5 to 7
Intermediate 40,000 13 to 16
Medium 60,000 28 to 32
High 100,000 55 to 65
2. PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
PVA is not considered as a thermoplastic because the melt
temperature exceeds the degradation temperature for fully hydrolysed
grades.
By using plasticizers, the resin's melt processing temperature can be
controlled at 185 deg.C with an adequate melt flow with improved heat
stability.
High boiling methylol compounds e.g. Pentaerythritol and 1,2,6-
Hexanetriol are preferred for high temperature processing.
Thus, the polymer can be processed by casting extrusion, injection and
blow moulding. The outstanding properties of Polyvinyl alcohol resins
have led to their use as a versatile water soluble polymer in diverse
industrial applications.
The outstanding properties of Polyvinyl alcohol make it versatile for its
following broad industrial uses.
* As a binder in adhesive formulations
* In textile sizing
* As an emulsion polymerisation aid
Other diverse applications are given below:
* As joint cement for building construction
* Water soluble film for hospital-laundry bags
* Emulsifiers in cosmetics
* Temporary protective film
* Soil binding to prevent erosion
* Intermediate in the production of polyvinyl butyral
* Adhesive interlayer in laminated safety glass
* Polyvinyl alcohol fibre
Adhesives: Polyvinyl alcohol is a first class adhesive for corrugated
board, paper and paper board and in general purpose adhesives for
bonding paper, textile and porous ceramic surfaces.
Fully hydrolysed grades are used for making quick setting and water
resistant adhesives for the backing of postage stamps, cartons etc.
Polyvinyl alcohol is also used as modifier for Polyvinyl acetate emulsion
adhesives because it increases the stability of functioning as
emulsifiers and protective colloids.
The formulations for PVA based adhesives for general packaging used
in India are given below.
Composition Parts
PVA Emulsions 100
Plasticizer 10 to 15
Dextrin 0 to 100
Clay Filler 0 to 30
Preservative 0 to 2
Stabilizer 0 to 2
wetting Agent 0 to 0.2
Secondary 0 to 100
water
Defoamer 0 to 2
Deodorent 0 to 1
Paper and Paper Board Coatings: Polyvinyl alcohol is an exceptionally
powerful pigment binder for paper and paper board coatings,.
pigmented coatings, in grease proof and other speciality coatings.
Cast Film: Unsupported film cast from aqueous solutions of Polyvinyl
alcohol and a plasticiser provides a unique combination of water
solubility, gas barrier properties and resistance towards organic
solvents.
Polyvinyl alcohol films can be used as container liners in packaging of
oils, greases and paints.
The use of this water soluble Polyvinyl alcohol film in the packaging of
materials such as dyes, detergents, bleach, fungicides, insecticides and
other materials which pose health or safety risks, enable dissolving in
water without the removal of the package.
Building products: Polyvinyl alcohol improves the performance of
cement materials which are used in roof coatings and cement paint,
thin-bed tile mortars, dry wall construction and cement toppings for
repairs.
Fibre: Polyvinyl alcohol is also used for textile fibre although it must be
chemically treated to get water soluble. Polyvinyl alcohol fibre has
good strength characteristics. Mainly fully hydrolysed grades of
Polyvinyl alcohol are used for the fibre production.
Polyvinyl alcohol is an efficient textile finishing agent which may be
used to modify the hand of textile finishes based on thermosetting
resins such as Urea formaldehyde and Melamine formaldehyde resins.
It is also used as good textile warp size for filament and spun yarn.
On a world-wide basis, textile warp sizing is one of the largest
applications for Polyvinyl alcohol.
Materials Bonding: Polyvinyl alcohol acts a good binder for the solid
particles including pigments, ceramics, cement and textile fibres.
Polyvinyl alcohol is used as a binder for the stabilisation of soil so as to
control erosion. It can also be used as a binder in catalyst pellets, cork
compositions and variety of other materials.
Cosmetics: The emulsifying binding and thickening properties of
Polyvinyl alcohol make it useful for cosmetic applications. Cold creams,
shaving creams, eye make-up and facial masks may be formulated
using Polyvinyl alcohol.
Chemical Derivatives: One of the most important uses of Polyvinyl
alcohol is as a chemical intermediate in its reaction with aldehydes
forming Polyvinyl acetals. Poly vinyl butyral is used in the manufacture
of automotive safety glass.
3. IMPORTS Around 6500 tonnes per annum
4. EXPORTS Nil
5. INDIAN MANUFACTURERS
There are two manufacturers in India producing Polyvinyl alcohol
* Vam Organics Chemicals Ltd,New Delhi 2000 tonnes per
annum
* Polychem Ltd.,Mumbai 2000 metric tonnes
(Not in operation)
6. DEMAND SUPPLY TRENDS
Demand level 7200 tonnes per annum
Estimated growth rate in demand : 12% per annum
7. MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Poly vinyl alcohol is produced from Vinyl acetate monomer.
8. GLOBAL SCENARIO
Global production of PVA Around 4 lakh tonnes per annum
Global demand pattern for PVA:-
Vinylon 1.15%
Textile fibre 10.28%
Paper 13.05%
Films 10.37%
Adhesive 18.22%
Others 16.90%
Global production:-
The global production of PVA is about 4 lakh tonnes per year (excluding
China), of which about 1.9 lakh tonnes is produced in Japan, followed
by USA, France, Germany, UK, Taiwan and Italy, North Korea, Mexico,
China has small batch type plants with undisclosed production data.
9. RECOMMENDATIONS
Poly vinyl alcohol has excellent growth potential in demand and the
project respect an ideal import substitution investment opportunity.
Recommended capacity 7500 tonnes per annum
Estimated project cost Rs.30 crores
