PROCESS ECONOMICS

PROGRAM SRI INTERNATIONAL

Menlo Park, California

94025

Abstract

Process Economics Program Report No. 141

POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE BOTTLES AND BOTTLE RESINS

(October 1980)

This first PEP report on the subject presents technical and

economic information on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for

carbonated soft drinks and on bottle grade PET made from two competing

raw materials.

In the United States, 2 liter bottles made of PET, the second

largest volume blow molding resin, have essentially captured the market

for 2 liter (67.6 fl oz) and 2 quart (64 fl oz) soft drink bottles.

The market is expected to grow for other sizes of soft drink bottles

and also for non-soft drink applications.

Technology and economics are presented for making:

l Bottle grade PET:

- Fran purified terephthalic acid and fiber grade ethylene glycol

- Fran dimethyl terephthalate and fiber grade ethylene glycol

l Two liter biaxially oriented PET bottles for carbonated soft drinks.

PEP '79 MS

Report No. 141

0 0 POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE BOTTLES

AND BOTTLE RESINS

by MAX SACKS

I 1 a

October 1980

A private report by the

PROCESS ECONOMICS PROGRAM

Menlo Park, California 94025

For detailed marketing data and information, the reader is

referred to one of the SRI programs specializing in marketing

research. The CHEMICAL ECONOMICS HANDBOOK Program covers

most major chemicals and chemical products produced in the

United States and the WORLD PETROCHEMICALS Program covers

major hydrocarbons and their derivatives on a worldwide basis.

In addition, the SRI DIRECTORY OF CHEMICAL PRODUCERS services

provide detailed lists of chemical producers by company, prod-

uct, and plant for the United States and Western Europe.

ii

CONTENTS

1

2

3

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SUMMARY............................ 3

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG. ............... 6 Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG ................ 6 PTA Compared with DMT for PET Production. ........... 7 Production of Two Liter Biaxially Oriented PET Bottles. .... 7

INDUSTRY STATUS. ....................... 9

United States ......................... 9 Bottles for Carbonated Products ............... 10 Bottles for Noncarbonated Products. ............. 14 Producers .......................... 15 Two-Layer Bottles ...... + ............... 19

Western Europe. ........................ 20 Canada ............................. 22 Japan ............................. 22 South Korea .......................... 24 Legislation .......................... 24

4 BOTTLE GRADE PET ........................ 27

Chemistry ........................... 27 Direct Esterification .................... 28 Transesterification ..................... 29 Polycondensation. ...................... 30 Acetaldehyde by Thermal Degradation of PET. ......... 32

Process Technology. ...................... 32 Process Description, PET from PTA and EG. ........... 37 Section100 ......................... 37 Section200 ......................... 39 Section300 ......................... 40 Section400 ......................... 41 Section500 ......................... 44 Materials of Construction .................. 44 Waste Streams. ....................... 45

Process Description, PET from DMT and EG. ........... 54 Section100 ......................... 54 Materials of Construction .................. 56 Waste Streams ........................ 56

Process Discussion. ...................... 64 PET from PTA and EG ..................... 65

iii

CONTENTS

4 BOTTLE GRADE PET (Continued)

Section 100. ....................... 65 Section 200. ....................... 66 Section 300. ....................... Section 400. ....................... ii Section 500. ....................... 69

PET from DMT and EG ..................... 70 Section 100. ....................... 70 Sections 200, 300, and 400 ................ 70 Section500 ........................ 71

Cost Estimates ........................ 71 Capital Costs. ....................... 71 Production Costs and Product Value ............. 72

Discussion of Costs. ..................... 72 Capital Costs. ....................... 72

Effect of Production Costs and Product Values on Selling Price ...................... 73

Net Production Costs .................... 73 Effect of PTA and DMT Costs on Net Production Costs. .... 74

Effect of Capital Costs on Net Production Costs. ...... 74

5 BIAXIALLY ORIENTED PET BOTTLES ................ 89

Review of Processes. ............. ........ 90 One Stage and Two Stage Stretch-Blow Molding ........ 90 Base Cups and Petalite@ Bottom ....... ........ 92

Du Pont Patents (450131) .......... ........ 93 Stretch-Blow Molding Machinery ....... ........ 94

Machinery Used in United States. ...... ........ 95 Cincinnati Milacron. ........... ........ 95

Nissei America .............. ........ 96 Corpoplast ................ ........ 97

tpT ................... ........ 97

Emhart Corporation ............ ........ 98

IMCO Container Company .......... ........ 98

Dynaplast SA ............... ........ 99

Machinery Used in Europe .......... ........ 99

Machinery Used in Japan. .......... ........ 99

Process Description. ............. ........ 100

Section 100. ................ ........ 102 Section 200. ................ ........ 104 Section 300. ................ ........ 105 Section 400. ................ ........ 106

Section 500. ................ ........ 107

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a

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a IV

CONTENTS

l -

5 BIAXIALLY ORIENTED PET BOTTLES (Continued)

Section 600. ....................... Buildings ........................

Process Discussion ..................... Selection of Processing Scheme .............. Section lOO--PET and HDPE Unloading, Storage, and Blending; PET Drying ................. Section 200 Preform Injection Molding; Bottle Stretch-Blow Molding. ............... Section 300--Base Cup Injection Molding, Storage, and Orienting .................. Section 400--Base Cup Application; Bottle Leak Testing and Labeling. ................ Section 500--Case Assembly and Packing; Palletizing and Stretch-Wrapping ............. Section 600--Recycle Scrap and Sales Scrap Grinding. ... Uses for Scrap PET Bottles ................ Waste Streams. ......................

Cost Estimates ....................... Capital Costs. ...................... Production Cost and Product Value. ............

Discussion of Costs. .................... Capital Costs. ...................... Onstream Factor. ..................... PET Cost ......................... Percent Scrap. ......................

APPENDIX A DESIGN AND COST BASES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

APPENDIX B PROPERTIES OF PRINCIPAL RAW MATERIALS FOR PET BOTTLE RESINS AND OF PET BOTTLE RESINS . . . .

APPENDIX C SAFETY AND HANDLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

CITED REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

PATENT REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

108 108 115 115

115

116

117

117

118 118 119 120 121 121 122 122 123 123 123 123

139

V

ILLUSTRATIONS

4.1 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Flowsheet.......................... 161

4.2 Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization, Section 100 only Flowsheet.......................... 169

4.3 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG or from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Effect of Operating Level and Plant Capacity on Production Cost.................................... 86

5.1 Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Flowsheet.......................... 171

5.2 Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Effect of Operating Level and Plant Capacity on Production Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

a

Vii

I-

2.1

2.2

3.1

3.2

Production of Bottle Grade PET Summary of Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Production of Biaxially Oriented Two Liter PET Bottles Summary of Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Historical and Projected Growth of Soft Drink Market. . . . .

Projected Conversion of PET Bottles for Noncarbonated Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.3

3.4

3.5

4.1

U.S. Manufacturers of PET Barrier Resin Bottles as of January 1, 1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

U.S. Producers of PET Barrier Resin as of July 1, 1980. . . .

Oriented PET Bottle and Container Production in Europe. . . .

Bottle Grade PET Patent References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.2 Bottle Grade PET Summary of Other Sources of Information . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.3

4.4

Correlation Between Intrinsic Viscosity and Melt Viscosity for PET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Stream Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.5 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Major Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.6 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Utilities Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.7 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Bases and Assumptions . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.8

4.9

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Waste Stream Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Stream Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TABLES

4

5

11

16

17

18

21

36

46

48

51

52

53

57

IX

TABLES

4.10

4.11

4.12

4.13

4.14

4.15

4.16

4.17

4.18

4.19

4.20

4.21

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Major Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Utilities Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Bases and Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Waste Stream Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Total Capital Investment . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Capital Investment by Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Total Capital Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Bottle Grade PET from MDT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Capital Investment by Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Production Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Direct Operating Costs by Section (Thousand $/Yr). . . . . . 81

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Production Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Direct Operating Costs by Section (Thousand $/Yr). . . . . . 83

4.22 Production of Bottle Grade PET Capital Cost Comparison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

4.23 Production of Bottle Grade PET Production Cost Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

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TABLES

2.1

2.2

3.1

3.2

Production of Bottle Grade PET Summary of Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Production of Biaxially Oriented Two Liter PET Bottles Summary of Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Historical and Projected Growth of Soft Drink Market. . . . .

Projected Conversion of PET Bottles for Noncarbonated Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.3

3.4

3.5

4.1

U.S. Manufacturers of PET Barrier Resin Bottles as of January 1, 1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

U.S. Producers of PET Barrier Resin as of July 1, 1980. . . .

Oriented PET Bottle and Container Production in Europe. . . .

Bottle Grade PET Patent References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.2 Bottle Grade PET Summary of Other Sources of Information . . . . . . . . . . .

4.3 Correlation Between Intrinsic Viscosity and Melt Viscosity for PET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.4 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Stream Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.5 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Major Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.6 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Utilities Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.7 Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Bases and Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.8

4.9

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Waste Stream Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Stream Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4

5

11

16

17

18

21

33

35

36

46

48

51

52

53

57

ix

TABLES

4.10

4.11

4.12

4.13

4.14

4.15

4.16

4.17

4.18

4.19

4.20

4.21

4.22

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Major Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Utilities Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and BG, Solid State Polymerization Bases and Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Waste Stream Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Total Capital Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET frm PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Capital Investment by Section. . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Total Capital Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from MDT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Capital Investment by Section. . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Production Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from PTA and EG, Solid State Polymerization Direct Operating Costs by Section (Thousand $/Yr).

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Production Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bottle Grade PET from DMT and EG, Solid State Polymerization Direct Operating Costs by Section (Thousand $/Yr).

Production of Bottle Grade PET Capital Cost Comparison. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . 58

. . . . . 61

. . . . . 62

. . . . . 63

. . . . . 76

. . . . . 77

. . . . . 78

. . . . . 79

. . . . . 80

. . . . . 81

. . . . . 82

. . . . . 83

. . . . . 84

4.23 Production of Bottle Grade PET Production Cost Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

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a X

4.24

4.25

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

5.9

5.10

5.11

5.12

5.13

TABLES

Production of Bottle Grade PET Net Production Cost as a Function of PTA or DMT Cost. . . . . 87

Production of Bottle Grade PET Net Production Cost as a Function of Capital Costs . . . . . 88

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Design Basis and Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Major Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Utilities Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Stream Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Total Capital Investment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Capital Investment by Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Production Costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Using Cinc Milacron RHB-V Direct Operating Costs by Section (Thousand $/Yr) . . . . . . 128

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Production Cost Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Net Production Cost as a Function of Capital Costs. . . . . . 131

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Net Production Cost as a Function of Onstream Factor. . . . . 132

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Net Production Cost as a Function of PET Cost . . . . . . . . 133

Two Liter PET Biaxially Oriented Soft Drink Bottles Net Production Cost as a Function of Percent Scrap. . . . . . 134

xi

TABLES

B.l Specifications and Typical Properties for Purified Terephthalic Acid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

B.2 Specifications and Typical Properties for Dimethyl Terephthalate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

B.3 Typical Sales Specification for Fiber Grade Ethylene Glycol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143.

B.4 Specifications for Fiber Grade Antimony Oxide . . . . . . . . 144

B.5 Specifications and Typical Properties for Reagent Grade Zinc Acetate Crystal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

B.6 Specifications for Bottle Grade PET . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

xii

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