Business And Technology Of The Global Polyethylene Industry: An In-Depth Look At The Technology, Catalysts, And Modern Commercial Manufacture Of Polye

The history of the business and technology that was responsible for the enormous growth of the global polyethylene industry from the laboratory discovery in 1933 to reach an annual production of over 75 million metric tons in 2012 and become the leading plastic material worldwide. This book is an in-depth look at the history of the scientists and engineers that created the catalysts and the methods used for the modern commercial manufacture of polyethylene and its products.

The book outlines the processes used for the manufacture of polyethylene are reviewed which include the high-pressure process and the three low-pressure processes; slurry, solution and the gas-phase methods. The techniques used to fabricate polyethylene into end-use products are reviewed with a discussion of blow-molding, injection molding, rotational molding, blown-film, cast-film and thermoforming are also discussed in detail.

Thomas E. Nowlin received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1967, Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University in? 1971, and an M.B.A. degree from Rutgers University in 1982. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAR Chemical Corps in February 1971 and served two years active duty at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, from 1971 to 1973. He retired as a LTC from the USAR Chemical Corps in 1989 with 20 years of service.
Dr. Nowlin was a research chemist for Union Carbide Corporation from 1973-1979 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, and worked for Mobil Chemical company, Edison, New Jersey, as a research chemist? from 1980-2000. He investigated olefin polymerization catalysts from 1977-2000 and received over 65 U.S. patents for Mobil Oil Corporation, mostly in the area of Ziegler and metallocene catalysts for ethylene polymerization. He has published over 30 papers in chemical journals from 1971-2009.