Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Seosan-si, South Korea, a joint venture between Hanwha General Chemicals and Total S.A., announced on December 7 that it completed the expansion of facilities for production of ultra-high molecular polyethylene used as materials for battery separators at its Daesan plant in South Chungcheong Province, Korea, and has begun their commercial operation in earnest, Businesskorea.co.kr reports.
With the expansion of the facilities which cost 40 billion won, Hanwha Total will secure an annual production capacity of up to 140,000 tons of ultra-high molecular polyethylene.
Ultra-high molecular polyethylene improves mechanical stiffness by increasing molecular weight compared to other polyethylene products. It is high value-added synthetic resin that has recently been spotlighted as a material for battery separators.
Hanwha Total succeeded in commercial production of ultra-high molecular polyethylene by applying its own catalytic technology. The company developed and introduced materials easy to turn into thin separators by increasing the product’s stiffness compared to other products in the latest trend of accelerating thin production of thin separators in line with an increase in battery capacity. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a synthetic resin product mainly used as raw material for plastics, vinyl among others
The company plans to lay the foundation for stable profitability despite volatility in the petrochemical market by expanding its business divisions from basic oils such as styrene monomer (SM) and paraxylene (PX) into synthetic resin.