Japanese firm Zeon Corporation is boosting the production capacity of the Kawasaki plant to expand its business of specialty cross-linked hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR).
Marketed as Zetpol, the firm says the HNBR is increasingly being adopted for use in important safety and under-the-hood parts for automobiles, and the latest expansion aims to meet this growing demand.
The specialty rubber with enhanced heat resistance achieved by hydrogenating highly oil-resistant nitrile rubber, is manufactured at Zeon’s three bases: Takaoka plant in Toyama Prefecture, Kawasaki plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Zeon’s subsidiary, Zeon Chemicals’s plant in the US.
The Kawasaki plant manufactures a high performance version of Zetpol, which offers enhanced heat resistance of more than 10°C compared to conventional Zetpol. This high performance version is increasingly being adopted as an alternative to fluorinated rubber (FKM) for use in high-temperature environments. Zetpol HNBR Latex, commonly utilised for in coating glass cord and fabric, is also manufactured at the Kawasaki plant.
High-Performance Zetpol provides benefit in automotive and industrial gasket applications, oil seals, fuel-resistant hoses, and other automotive components while the latex is mainly used to treat core wires for automotive timing belts that are immersed in oil and on turbocharged engines.
Speciality chemicals firm Zeon Corporation was founded in 1950. It operates a global network of plants in Asia and North America, and research and development laboratories in Japan, the US, China, and Singapore. It has consolidated sales of over US$2.9 billion, and the expertise in C4 and C5 chemistry. It employs over 3,300 people worldwide, with global headquarters in Tokyo and regional headquarters in the US, Singapore, and Germany.