The following was gathered by Plastics News reporter Frank Esposito from Performance Compounding 2002, held April 11-12 in San Antonio.
Cyclics plans to add capacity by year's end
Cyclics Corp., a specialty resin maker in Schenectady, N.Y., plans to ramp up production to 3 million pounds by the end of next year.
That's a far cry from the 50,000-pound output of cyclic polybutylene terephthalate the firm will make this year, but it is in reach thanks to new applications in products ranging from golf shafts to auto parts to rotomolded items, said senior product chemist Steven Bahr.
Cyclics was founded in 1999 when a group of investors purchased cyclic catalyst technology from GE Plastics. GE had developed the technology to improve the performance of its polycarbonate resins.
Currently, Cyclics uses the technology to make PBT that performs like a thermoset and can be processed like a thermoplastic. Cyclics PBT also can be made with high filler and reinforcement loadings. Bahr said Cyclics is developing elastomer and specialty copolymer grades using the technology.
Cyclics employs 28 at its Schenectady research and development center. Its material is produced on a toll basis in North Carolina.