Repsol

Synthetic rubber - Dynasol

Dynasol is a joint venture company, the result of the union between the synthetic rubber businesses of Repsol Química and the Mexican group KUO (previously DESC), which manufactures and markets a wide range of rubbers to meet the needs of customers in a wide variety of applications.

The rubbers are manufactured through a solution polymerisation process, through which the monomers butadiene and styrene react with the aid of a lithium initiator in an aliphatic organic solvent. The process enables the production of: linear or branched structures; pure, gradual or random-block copolymers and products with different microstructures.  This technology also allows performing post-polymerisation reactions such as hydrogenation or chemical functionalisation.

The main applications of the rubbers, depending on type, are the following:

- Hydrogenated rubber SEBS. Technical compounds, plastic modification, adhesives and sealants.

- Thermoplastic rubber SBS. Footwear, industrial products, plastic modification, asphalt modification and asphaltic sheet.

- Styrene-butadiene rubber SBR. Asphalt modification, asphaltic sheet, tyres, carpet substrates, conveyor belts and profiles.   

The rubber hydrogenation process was fully developed by the company in the Repsol Technology Centre, and is based on latest-generation metallocene catalysts, which differentiates the rubber it from its competitors. Production of hydrogenated rubbers (SEBS) commenced in 1998 at a purpose-built industrial plant located within the Dynasol Synthetic Rubber Complex (in Gajano, Cantabria)

Not only is it necessary to develop a process, but also to fine-tune analytical techniques (with those of the specific area) and to develop products and applications. This has led to this new technology taking on the form of a Comprehensive Technological Project.

SEBS hydrogenated rubbers are specialised products with high added value and which are used in numerous applications: adhesives and sealants, plastic and asphalt modification, compounds, compatibility of mixtures and recycling.

The hydrogenated rubbers market is a specialised market with few producers, in which Dynasol is a prestigious and recognised world leader.

Within the current R&D&I lines, we can highlight the development of new modified SEBS and advanced elastomers for the development of innovative materials in high-growth applications.

In terms of facilities, the Synthetic Rubber department makes use of the Elastomers Laboratory and a polymerisation and hydrogenation and polymerisation pilot plant in the Repsol Technology Centre, as well as a pilot plant on a semi-industrial scale at the Dynasol Industrial Complex.

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