Published January 1987
This report presents modern processes and current costs for manufacturing polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and the engineering resin counterparts of these base polymers. Manufacturing costs are also presented for special PET resins, i.e., high intrinsic viscosity PET (IV - 1.04) and bottle-grade PET (IV = 0.72).
The report also evaluates a new route to 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD) that starts with maleic anhydride and proceeds through diethyl maleate as an intermediate. The estimated costs for this route are compared with updated costs for the conventional acetylene/formaldehyde route.
The report includes summaries of many of the patents on PET, PBT, and 1,4-BD manufacture, and related subjects, that have been granted since our last major reports on PET (18A, January 1972) and PBT/1,4-BD (96A, November 1977). Also included is a section on the industry status of PET, PBT, and 1,4-BD, and a section on the basic chemistry of the evaluated processes.
Several equipment manufacturers supplied cost information on the special equipment used in several of the designs and cost estimates in the report. We are grateful for this assistance. The companies are listed in Appendix A and are mentioned in appropriate places in the process sections.
