US-based Solvay Specialty Polymers’s new world-scale production unit located at Panoli, India, is nearing completion. It will expand capacity for sub-75 micron Virantage PESU micropowder by several hundred tonnes to support growing demand for epoxy tougheners in the composites industry.

The Virantage PESU micropowders are used as a formulation additive in a broad range of epoxy composite systems, providing the required damage tolerance and toughness for aerospace, automotive, and other demanding applications.

Startup of the new capacity is expected in September. It is a major commercial line expansion for the micropowders.

Solvay currently supplies the material to its global clients from a semi-commercial production plant in Alpharetta, Georgia.

According to Solvay global demand for PESU tougheners has rapidly increased over the past few years with leading aircraft OEMs such as Boeing and Airbus increasing their use of high-performance composites in commercial aircraft.

Virantage PESU is an amorphous, high-temperature thermoplastic that offers excellent thermal and hydrolytic stability. The material’s inherent toughness imparts damage tolerance to thermoset composites and excellent flexibility to coatings. These high-performance tougheners have found widespread use in next-generation commercial aircraft, military aircraft, automotive and related transportation systems.

Solvay says that its reactive and non-reactive Virantage PESU tougheners in a wide range of molecular weights and particle sizes are able to meet the processing and performance requirements of the composite industry.