R&BD
The “R&BD (Research & Business Development)” concept will be introduced to find new solutions together with custom-ers from the beginning stage of project development.
Main Research Business
- Synthetic Rubbers Division
- We possess expertise in polymerization and manufacturing technology accumulated over the past 30 years, including general-purpose solid rubber, such as BR, SBR, which are used to make tires, shoes, hose, etc., and synthetic rubber products, including SSBR used for fuel efficient low rolling resistant tires, NdBR used for high-performance tires, and styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer. Our research and development activities include strengthening our global competitiveness on manu-factured products through continued quality improvement using related technology, development of new catalysts, research and development of proprietary production technology and processes, and other efforts to accommodate the diverse needs of customers. In latex products, our research activities include SB-latex and Acryl latex that are used as adhesive for paper fiber and various inorganic pigments in paper-making process and other applications of latex, such as various textile processing, roads and construction, and foam rubber.
- Synthetic Resins Division
- We developed new general-purpose resin products of various applications, such as ABS, HIPS, SAN, etc. based on technological processes in polymerization, key technology of styrene-based resins, and catalyst. We developed Black EPS(Enerpor), an eco-friendly and energy saving material, applying our new technologies. We are continuing with our research and development work on engineering plastics, whose mechanical and heat resistance properties are much superior than those of general-purpose plastics, basing on the material development of the above and compounding technologies. In addition, we developed Base Polyol Grade to meet the various needs of PPG (Polypropylene Glycol) and achieved productivity and quality improvements by applying new catalysts. We are also gearing up to develop eco-friendly Bio Polyol materials based on proprietary technologies.
- Specialty Chemicals Division
- Starting with the development of antiaging agents and oxidation inhibitors, which are used in synthetic rubber and synthetic resin, we have expanded our scope of research into specialty chemicals. Currently, we are working on developing paint additives and surfactants. We are pushing forward with development of new eco-friendly oxidation inhibitors and developing eco-friendly manufacturing technology of 4ADPA, which is a main ingredient of antiaging agents: NASH (Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Hydrogen) technology has been adopted to manufacture 4ADPA..
- Nanocarbon Division
- Carbon nanotube is recognized as a new value-added material that can be applied to a variety of industries, such as electronic information, polymers, energy, sensors, etc. As a new growth engine, we developed, through years of research, high-quality carbon nano-tubes and unique manufacturing technology. We also completed our commercial manu-facturing facilities in 2013 and are successfully producing products there. In add-ition, we developed an exclusive technology for the densification of carbon nanotube powder, all-owing us to secure product competitiveness through product differentiation. We are also concentrating on developing new application products in cooperation with the research sectors of synthetic rubber and synthetic resins.
- Building Materials Division
- We have developed ABS window systems using environment friendly materials in 2006 for the first time in Korea. The ABS material is an environment friendly material that does not contain any harmful heavy metal and replaces polyvinyl chloride (PVC) mater-ials that emit dioxin and harmful gases when being burnt. By reinforcing research ca-pacity and through continuous studies, we are making effort not to stay at the tech-nology development in the aspect of materials but to expand study areas.
- Process Division
- By conducting studies of flow and heat transfer characteristics of chemical process equ-ipment, multi-phase flow system studies, and FSI area studies based on process simu-lations, we are realizing the optimization of processes and equipment performan-ce, process improvement, cost reduction, and risk factor reduction and are continuous-ly conducting studies to improve work safety, reduce energy costs, and enhance cost and technology competitiveness by shortening research and development periods. We are conducting studies for developing new processes and studies of creative and innovative technologies utilizing basic technologies including factory design, separa-tion/purification, and systems all process technologies in chemical engineering such as reactions, distilla-tion, and extraction. In addition, through studies in the areas of catalysts and reacti-ons, we are attempting to diversify production processes using heterogeneous system cata-lysts to avoid existing Naphtha cracker centered raw material dependency, secure stable core materials, and achieve continuous growth against crude oil price increases, etc.
Research Center Introduction
- R&BD Center
- Since the first operation of Ulsan plant in 1973, the Central Research Center has worked on strengthening the synthetic rubber base and has expanded its scope of business and research into other areas, such as specialty chemicals and new mater-ials. After moving to Daedeok Techno Valley in 1994, it has grown into a full-fledged research center for comprehensive materials of chemical science: its activities, in addi-tion to the research works on existing business fields, include research and develop-ment works on future strategy fields. In 2005, it broke away from the classical concept of R&D and adopted new concept termed Research and Business Development (R&BD). Its planning activities include research and development of new items as well as marketing and commercialization to develop commercial value-creation technologies.
