Huntsman helps plywood 'aldehyde-free intelligence'

　Developing the downstream market of the industry in China to enhance the added value of products
On June 4, Hensmay Group announced in Dongying that it had jointly developed an automatic production line of polyurethane "aldehyde-free added" plywood continuous press, in cooperation with the Forest Industry Planning and Design Institute of the State Forestry and Prairie Bureau. This new device replaces the traditional formaldehyde glue with polyurethane-free glue, solves the problem of formaldehyde contamination of plywood, which is a headache for users, and promotes plywood manufacturing industry into the era of automation. It is also one of the important strategic layouts of Hensmay's plan to develop the downstream application market of the industry, extend the industrial chain and enhance the added value of

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Comply with the "aldehyde-free addition" green demand
with China's urbanization accelerated, the real estate industry heating up, plywood market has flourished, according to statistics, in 2018 China's production of plywood products 180 million cubic meters, production accounted for about 60% of the world.
, according to Shi Feng, secretary-general of the China Forest Industry Association, at the same time as the market expansion, the phenomenon of industry pollution is more prominent in some areas. Conservative estimates, the country's existing various types of plywood products production enterprises more than 5,300, including a considerable proportion of small workshops. The vast majority of plywood is formaldehyde-containing formaldehyde, hand-crafted production, an enterprise often needs hundreds of thousands of workers, easy to harm the health of employees and consumers. With the upgrading of the concept of eco-consumption of green and environmental protection, there is strong demand for "aldehyde-free added" plywood. Moreover, due to the obvious labor-intensive characteristics, low production efficiency, unstable quality of single board, production can not achieve a scale breakthrough, domestic plywood production automation, integration, green upgrade needs to start.
" traditional aldehyde-containing glue can reverse the reaction to release formaldehyde, which is also the furniture prone to formaldehyde pollution problems. Polyurethane aldehyde-free glue has been widely used in the European and American markets for 30 years, but domestic plywood is still using traditional manual production, resulting in aldehyde-free glue difficult to promote smoothly. Liu Xuehong, General Manager of Hensmeier Polyurethane Division Composite Wood Products Asia Pacific, said.
based on this situation, Hensmey began approaching automation equipment manufacturers in 2016 in the hope that companies would develop "aldehyde-free" plywood production lines for polyurethane gels. But after 6 months of visits, Liu Xuehong found that, including equipment manufacturers, plywood enterprises, plywood users, are complaining about the industry's low level, but no one is willing to come forward.
that this is due to the small size of plywood enterprises, fierce competition in the market, enterprises have limited investment in automated processes." Liu Xuehong said. In this case, Hensmey decided to roll up his sleeves and do it himself to develop an entry-level automation line suitable for the Chinese market.
focus on market pain points and economy
In developing this automated production line, Hensmeier firmly grasps two principles - suitable for the Chinese market, with good economy.
in terms of market choice, visiting clients three years ago inspired Pan Remin, President of Hensmey Group's polyurethane division in Asia Pacific. He went to understand the application of polyurethane insulation under the floor, found that customers use ground heating, and the floor is using traditional aldehyde-containing plywood.
"solid wood flooring is not suitable for ground heating, and formaldehyde from conventional plywood accelerates release when heated, which is a significant threat to the health of the occupants." At this time, Pan Lawmin saw polyurethane "aldehyde-free addition" plywood application in the field of geo-heating laminate flooring huge environmental protection needs, and as the main direction of production line.
economy is also a key factor in determining the development prospects of new processes. Pan Limin proposed that the initial investment threshold of equipment should be lowered, and the benefits of long-term operation should be improved, mainly including reducing labor and other costs, and improving the comprehensive added value of products.
"We combine process factors from different industries and have been forming today's technology solutions over a period of 3 years." Among them, the group blank is the use of Finnish company's professional billet equipment, continuous thermal pressure is the medium fiber plate and particle board used in the process. This technology solution not only enables cross-border innovation, but also maximizes device localization through business model innovation. The localization level of the whole equipment can reach more than 60%, which lays a solid foundation for ensuring the economics of the production line. Liu Xuehong said.
, Huntsman has completed a feasibility study for this aldehyde-free plywood automation line. A production line with an annual output of 100,000 cubic meters, with a total investment of not more than 200 million yuan, can be reduced from about 900 to less than 100. Compared with the imported automatic production line of acetaldehyde, the added value of the products increased by 25%, the total investment of core equipment decreased by more than 30%, and the return on investment period was shortened by two years.
this automated production line can now be commercialized for the production of geothermal aldehyde-free plywood, but also for other furniture applications. "This is our 1.0 solution for the Chinese market and there is a lot of room for upgrading in the future." Liu Xuehong said.
for the "aldehyde-free addition" plywood automatic production line, industry experts gave a high evaluation. Shi Feng said that this is important to promote China's plywood industry equipment and technology upgrading, improve the production scale of production lines, to provide the market with high-quality green aldehyde-free plywood products, while creating a plywood continuous press automation production line production and research integrated research and development path.Zhang Zhongtao, one of the key designers of the
automatic production line and director of the National Forest and Grass Bureau's Forest Industry Planning and Design Institute, also believes that this cooperation, Hensmeier's innovation is not only reflected in product technology, but also broke through the cooperation model, a collection of high-quality technology and partners at home and abroad, can be called a model of international partnership in the industrial field.
strategic layout of the "Cronching Tiger" program
As the world's leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals, this involvement in polyurethane "aldehyde-free" plywood automation production line is Huntsman's cross-border initiative. This co-development, and the integration of downstream equipment into the company's overall solution, is also a breakthrough for Hensmeier.
is the world's second-largest market, according to Mr Pan. Hensmeier is committed to long-term development in China and has launched the "4 Sustainable Innovation Solutions" to turn environmental challenges into sustainable development opportunities. The launch of the "aldehyde-free addition" composite wood products solution is hensmeier deep into the Chinese market, innovative technology to promote sustainable development of an important embodiment, but also to open up the industry downstream application market, extend the industrial chain, enhance the added value of the product of the "Cronch tiger" program, one of the important strategic layout.
estimated that the global polyurethane market will grow faster than GDP in the near future, about 5% to 6%. It is because of the bullish downstream, especially in the Asia-Pacific market, including Huntsman, the major polyurethane raw material manufacturers have accelerated the pace of layout in China, and actively expand production capacity.
in order to win greater development space, Pan Limin many years ago put forward a "cronching tiger" plan, that is, from bulk raw materials to downstream applications of strategic transformation, to enhance the unit output value of Hensmeier polyurethane.
Mr Pan said Huntsman's global strategy was to extend downstream, relying on innovation to focus on the particular high-value-added chemical materials market, without relying too heavily on the bulk market share. Two-thirds of Huntsman's market is already coming from these areas.
"The same is true of the launch of the 'aldehyde-free added' plywood production line, which means 150,000 tonnes of MDI if 10 per cent of the plywood is replaced by polyurethane in a third of the scenarios used." "We hope to work with enterprises with plywood production experience, investment and financing capabilities and management experience, and close to resources, so that this production line can be commercialized more quickly and add to the construction of a beautiful China," Pan told China Chemical News. "