Solvay launches shortstop inhibitor for safer acrylic monomer transportation, storage
Solvay, an international chemicals company headquartered in Belgium, recently developed Phenothiazine LVT 2330, a next-generation shortstop inhibitor solution available globally and designed to protect against runaway polymerization of acrylic and methacrylic acids, esters, and other monomers in bulk storage facilities, transportation tanks, and containers.
A runaway polymerization is potentially hazardous due to the reaction becoming uncontrollable, and the heat that it produces may lead to a fire or an explosion or rupture of closed storage and transport containers. This uncontrolled polymerization can place people, property, and the environment at significant risk.
“Solvay’s new Phenothiazine (PTZ) LVT 2330 comprises a 30% active liquid solution of PTZ dissolved into Rhodiasolv Polarclean HSP1 solvent, part of Solvay’s line of powerful, green solvents for industrial applications,” said Dave Vanzin, technical service and development manager at Solvay. “It was developed as an alternative to the use of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) widely employed in the USA and the EU as a solvent for shortstop inhibitors but considered a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under REACH regulations.”
Solvay’s Phenothiazine LVT 2330 is safer to handle than NMP containing solutions, and it also has a lower freezing point, which is advantageous for facilities and transport in colder climates, the company said. Also, the high active PTZ concentration of Phenothiazine LVT 2330 permits deployment and storage of the efficient and economic shortstop in both large and small installations.
“We see a great market potential for this pioneering shortstop inhibitor with a non-toxic and non-volatile solvent for the acrylics markets in North America and Europe, where chemical toxicity is of increasing concern to the industry and authorities,” said Lars Fischer, worldwide technical market manager at Solvay. “However, Asia offers the greatest potential where shortstop inhibitors were not standard and have only recently been more widely accepted and used to help reduce the risk of accidents.”