Orlando, Fla. — Achieve and Exceed aren't just words indicating positive life goals for ExxonMobil Chemical Co. They're also the material families that were in focus for the firm at NPE2018.
Newly launched Achieve-brand advanced polypropylene is an extension of Houston-based ExxonMobil's product portfolio. The materials can be used with the latest process technology for applications in automotive, rigid packaging, nonwovens and other markets, Bill Ramsey, PP market development manager, said in an interview at the show.
With Achieve, PP processors can eliminate trade-offs in performance and processability, Karen Chui, Achieve launch manager, added. The materials offer 20 percent improved gloss vs. standard impact copolymer PP and can replace ABS in some applications, she said.
Achieve is being made at ExxonMobil locations in Texas, Louisiana and Singapore. Automotive and appliance grades of the material can be used to make thinner and stiffer parts where good impact performance is needed. In compounds, Achieve can reduce plastomer loadings by 50 percent.
For thermoforming, Achieve offers high melt strength and the ability to downgauge by as much as 15 percent, Ramsey said.
ExxonMobil's Exceed XP-brand advanced PE resins were launched two years ago and are now seeing commercial uses in liners, geomembranes, food packaging and multiple PE films, including barrier, shrink and agricultural, according to Alecia Crown, global performance PE new product manager.
A newly commercialized grade of the material is aimed at high-performance co-extrusion films.
"We're seeing category conversion in rigid packaging moving to flexible pouches," Crown said. "They're stronger for online shopping, where there's more handling of the product before it's shipped."
In the pouch market, she added that "the easiest products will be converted first," but that materials like Exceed XP are broadening possibilities because of their balance of stiffness, touch and sealability.
ExxonMobil ranks as one of the world's largest producers of PE, PP and specialty plastics. The firm recently added PE capacity in Texas and has done design work for a PP expansion on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
ExxonMobil is also designing a major petrochemicals project — including PE — in Texas through a partnership with Saudi Basic Industries Corp.