On Feb. 11, Invista opened its $13 million Texas Technology Center in Katy, Texas, near Houston. Officials said the center is a technology hub and research and development center that will support the firm's nylon and polypropylene businesses.
The center covers almost 40,000 square feet and employs more than 50 members of Invista's R&D, Engineering and Advanced Process Control teams, as well as data scientists. The hub will house analytical and experimental functions that will advance Invista's programs through the development cycle, officials said.
The center "provides a hub for innovative projects and partnerships that will help keep us on the cutting edge of our industry," Invista R&D vice president Jerry Grunewald said.
At an opening ceremony, President and CEO Brook Vickery said "touring the world-class R&D facilities at the Texas Technology Center today was impressive. The capability we now have under one roof in Texas will accelerate the teams' contributions to advancing our businesses."
Invista also recently was granted a patent for a nylon recycling process that officials said could improve nylon 6/6 resin production by making more high-quality post-industrial recycling feedstock available.
Wichita, Kan.-based Invista also has submitted a second patent application for a process that enables the use of up to 100 percent post-consumer content in production of new nylon 6/6 components.
In a news release, officials said the patents "build on a range of programs aimed to reduce emissions, which could help customers reduce their product carbon footprint." They added the patents "advance [Invista's] stewardship efforts to ensure nylon 6/6 remains the polymer of choice for customers."
The first patent family was granted in the U.S., China and Europe last fall. It covers a method to recycle high relative viscosity nylon. The process enables broader use of mechanically recycled high relative viscosity (RV) nylon 6/6 feedstock, which officials said historically has been unsuitable in key downstream applications.
The second patent application describes an ammonolysis process to convert a nylon 6 or 6/6 blended post-consumer recycle feed stream back to hexamethylene diamine and caprolactam, the monomers needed to make nylon 6 and 6/6.
Officials said that although the technology in the second patent filing is early in development, it's predicted to have high yields and produce monomers with virgin-equivalent properties based on initial R&D test results.
Grunewald said in the release that the firm "is committed to innovation and creating long-term value for our customers."
"As our customers continue to prioritize environmental responsibility and reducing product carbon footprint, we want to be a preferred partner in the development of technologies that help our customers meet their goals," he added.
Grunewald also said the patent and patent application "demonstrate our commitment to invest in emerging technologies that will support nylon 6/6 into the future."
Alongside its own efforts, officials said Invista is supporting external technology leaders and startups that are working on their own solutions for nylon 6/6 depolymerization. These firms are using Invista's expertise in nylon 6/6 to evaluate their technologies, they added.
Invista is a major global supplier of nylon 6/6 resins, with production sites in South Carolina, Canada, the Netherlands and China. The firm also operates a polypropylene resin unit in Texas.