What ‘Obscure’ But Essential Compound Shortage Has the Auto Industry Worried About Production?
- Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:21am by
Liz Klimas
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A plant explosion in March has a resin essential to brake and fuel lines in automotive running short. Industry leaders discussing options. (Photo: AP/Paul Sakuma)
There’s a material essential to the auto industry that is running so short in supply some reports indicate there may only be enough product to use for the next month. The compound is called nylon-12. It’s a resin that the Wall Street Journal reports is relatively “obscure,” but given that it’s used to make the fuel and brake lines, it’s pretty important to the overall design of modern vehicles.
The Journal says the manufacturer Evonik makes 25 percent of the global supply of this resin, also called Cyclododecatriene or CDT. Concern over supply began in late March when Evonik’s plant in Germany suffered an explosion that killed two employees and halted production. Last week, auto industry stakeholders met to discuss the situation. WSJ has more:
“We are doing our utmost to resume production before the winter this year and expect that the works to fully repair the plant will take at least three months,” an Evonik spokeswoman said. Several Evonik executives attended the meeting on Tuesday.
Jay Phillion, an executive with parts maker TI Automotive Ltd., said that the auto industry would search for alternatives. “This thing is being pushed quickly for the sake of saving production,” he said. The company has already warned customers that production disruptions are highly possible should there be no quick solutions.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the 200 executives were divided into separate teams. Each was assigned a task, such as finding a replacement material or identifying new firms to produce it.
The Detroit News reports some suppliers saying their production has not been affected as of yet. Ford and Toyota have said they are operating as usual. Although, General Motors has confirmed some of its suppliers have felt the shortage, according to the Lansing State Journal. Bloomberg News reports analysts speculating European automotive production will be affected first, followed by North American suppliers. The plant itself doesn’t expect to resume production for six to eight months.
The Detroit News states this March 31 accident and subsequent shortage highlights the interconnectedness of the auto industry. Another example of this, WSJ reports, was how a plant in Japan affected by the March 2011 tsunami had to stop production of a shiny pigment found in some automotive paints. It states the disruption of this product “rippled” through the auto industry for six months before the plant was functional again.
As for alternatives, Plastic News reports the US-based Radici Plastics has stepped in and has since been providing nylon 6/10 materials, which were products developed to be competitors of nylon-12 in the first place. Plastic News has more on the materials themselves and suppliers:
Radici’s nylon 6/10 can provide good moisture absorption and resistance to salt and chemicals, added Atwood, who attended the supplier summit. It’s also a sustainable material, since 60 percent of its content comes from castor beans.
Global plastics and chemicals giant DuPont is offering its Zytel-brand nylon 6/6 and high-temperature nylon — as well as Hytrel-brand thermoplastic elastomer — as potential replacements for nylon 12, a spokesperson with the Wilmington, Del.-based firm said. DuPont’s specialty nylon 6/10, 6/12 and 10/10 grades also might provide options.
“We are working with customers to identify alternatives that may work in their application,” the spokeswoman said. “It depends on which application and it’s not limited to just those materials. There likely won’t be a ‘one answer fits all’ solution.”
At Chase Plastic Service Inc., a resin distribution firm in Clarkston, Mich., owner Kevin Chase said that the firm has been offering 6/12 as a possible replacement to processors who are seeking nylon 12. Chase Plastics previously carried nylon 12, but has not had it regularly in stock since supplies began to tighten a couple of years ago, Kevin Chase said.
As for completely new alternatives, Plastic News says they exist but require up to 5,000 hours of testing. It describes how nylon-12 was well-suited for its job in fuel and brake lines in that its composition allowed for it to be formed in the appropriate dimensions of the tubing and that it held up to corrosive properties of these fluids.
Plastic News reports market analyst Paul Blanchard said nylon-12 has been used for this purpose for a long time and “has been a sleepy little guy until now.”
Note: This story has been updated for clarity. We’ve changed references of nylon-12 as an “element” to “compound.” We did not intend it to mean an element in the formal sense but saw how it could be taken that way.
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Comments (83)
joehanx2
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 4:15pmit figures general motors would have a problem i`m catchin a whiff of another bailout coming. of all the auto makers in America which has the biggest union
Report Post »inferno
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:58pmStupid people ! We all know the only product produced from petroleum is gasoline !!!!!!!. At least that’s what the stupid people at the EPA and government a–h–es believe !
Report Post »Arshloch
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:49pmI would have thought that a derth of INTELLIGENT customers was the problem. Who Knew?
Report Post »honestlynow359
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:30pmSeriously ? Ok, we care about jobs. If the auto manufacturers slow or stop production, people will lose jobs, I get it. But anyone that drives the highways on a regular basis can see that with the tens of thousands of NEW cars, still sitting on the lots of every dealership in America, more new cars do not need to be produced !!!!!!!!!!! Every American between the ages of 20 and 40 could go out and purchase a new car today and there would still be new cars sitting on the lots. The “shortage” of Nylon-12 is a blessing in disguise. And with the price of gas rising to $ 5 or $ 6 a gallon in the next few months, who can afford to drive anyway ???
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:17pmThere is TOO MANY CAR COMMERCIALS ON TV ANYWAY.
Report Post »HaroldHeard
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:40pmWe need to be a country of producers and not so much consumers, if the federal government was not so restrictive I would start a company to compete with the German company, instead I now sell guns online.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:45pmNylon 12 is not an element. Man, the Blaze needs to get some science editors or something. Geez…
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:58pm@ MIL-DOT……It depends on how the word is being utilized. If it is being used in the strict scietific sense then it has been used inappropraitly. If it is being used in a more broad sense of simply being a component of the overall construction of an automobile then it was used correctly. I would give the benefit of the doubt in this case.
Report Post »Wiggims
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:24pmNylon 12 is next to Unobtainium on the periodic table.
I agree with Mil-Dot poor wording…
Report Post »drphil69
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:36pmTax anything and you get less of it. Subsidize anything and you get more of it. We tax the wealth creators and subsidize the non-producers. Soon it will be so bad that the producers “GO GALT” – i.e. go on strike, stop producing, and stand on the sidelines and watch as society unravels.
BE PREPARED.
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 4:06pmTalk about wording……the title of the initial article led me to believe there was a shortage of freaks. Example:
FREAK SHORTAGE WORRIES AUTO MAKERS
Report Post »~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shouldn’t the word to be used be “freakish”?
bharris0
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:34pmThe fallacy of a “just in time” supply chain strategy.
Report Post »Ruckus_Tom
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:26pmThe lack of nylon-12 will be GM‘s and Chrysler’s excuse for needing another bail out.
Report Post »love the kids
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:16pmIv’e always said that this “Global economy” is what would cripple the US. All it takes is to move all production to 1 country, then have something strange happen that takes everyone down. Just imagine if China decided to stop exports for a month, every country would be brought to their knees.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:55pmIncluding China……………….
Report Post »Boardopopie
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:41amThe shortage is due to a company called Evonik in Germany had a major catastrophic event at their plant. Three people were killed. This company made the precursor monomer for the production of PA-12 (Polyamide) or Nylon 12. Evonik was one of the major sources for the entire worlds supply. Other companies are stepping up to fill the gap or come up with replacements. Also if we didn’t use these plastics the entire fuel system would rust out. This would be due to the high ethanol content of our fuel, which actually is the EPA’s fault. PA12 is also produced by Arkema, BASF, EMS-Grivory.
Report Post »Calm Voice of Reason
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:05pmI don‘t see how higher ethanol is really the EPA’s fault; all they have done is raise allowable limits. Granted, I‘m sure there’s industry-backed lobbying and corruption in their decision, but their nominal position is to restrict increases in ethanol content.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:16pmOh well, I don’t actually really care anyways, because my care went out the window when they began paying apes in upwards of 100,000 per year total in addition to discounts on cars, for cars I get paid-off after they rust so much they don’t pass state inspections.
Report Post »LogicalLee
Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:43pmActually stainless steel and FNC treated steel lines have no ill effects on in fuel systems and as for ethanol causing issue it is very strange that I have several friends who have used both E85 and before that E100 fir over 10 years in daily drivers AND stroed race cars and performance vehicles and have zero issues in 50s and 60s unrestored cars having ANY corrosion issues. At best we had couple of older 57 Chevy Bel Airs and a mechanically fuel injected 60 Corvette with trash issues as we started tuning those cars with E85 and it really cleaned the gum and varnish out of tanks and lines, all of which was caused by the poisonous predecessor MTBE.
Report Post »AS for why Ethanol is used,,well the greenie/treehuggers were still focused on 60s,70s,80s carbed cars that might not run lean enough(mainly due to being tunes to operate and run not stumble around)to be “clean” . Now let me explain, to make an engine run LEAN and CLEAN you must run it hot and lean, causing high NOX which in turn is pollution over carbon dioxide and water. HENCE the high NOX mandated even more expensive catalytic converters(which the energetic dope smokin, liber OWS wienies can run around at night and steal for more dope) and emissions equipment making cars MORE expensive. Oh and some scientist decided that plastic that stretches was safer in a crash over metal!
aztd1
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:32amWell it’s not going to matter to the assembly line shown in the picture since it was shut down 3 years ago (Pontiac). Editor didn’t catch this? (or the “element” mistake)
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:27amLet me guess, they need Rare Earth Elements to make it and China has a death grip on the Rare Earth Market which is hurting many because China has most of the Earth’s Rare Earth Elements?
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:45amExactly. And a large number of them reside in Afghanistan, which is why we are still there.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:58amWell maybe the auto industry should evaluate the use of Silica metal or Silica Fume in the manufacturing of fuel and brake lines, because it has substantial abrasion ratings.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:19pmOh never mind, I forgot for a second – that I don’t care.
Report Post »Pro-Palin
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:21pmActually has set up mining of rare minerals across the globe and is stock piling them incase u didnt know already. They go in bring their people minit all out ship it home and go to the next.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:33pmChina is trying to make themselves the Nation at the center of the world, but of course what they are doing isn’t what that old scripture is referring to. Besides when that New Earth comes down, then all that old stuff China has control of will be obsolete.
Report Post »Dr Vel
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:52pmYour endless posts show your stupidity Tim. Just stop posting since you have nothing intelligent to say. They are as ignorant as the author of this story who said “The element is called nylon-12″. Nylon is a polymer made of several elements and the Lanthanides or ‘rare earths’ are not involved. Nylons are condensation co-polymers formed by reacting equal parts of a diamine and a dicarboxylic acid, so that amides are formed at both ends of each monomer in a process analogous to polypeptide biopolymers. Chemical elements included are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. Any student of 7th grade chemistry knows this. As you are online far too often your ignorance is not excusable considering you could try searching for information before you speak. It is so easy today to find information the only conclusion left is you are as lazy as you are stupid. Quit posting mindless moronic ignorance I for one am tired of it. A fool is known by the multitude of their foolish words. A banana has a higher IQ than you.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:43pmDr Vel,
Report Post »Oh I’m the one with a lower IQ than “A banana?” Meanwhile you yourself looked up Nylon-12 and posted the process of creating nylon based on what you found on the internet. Never mind that you are not going to find their “Trade Secrets” on-line which means your description is of polymers is only the very base of it’s creation, and one could not read your writing or the writings on ‘Wikipedia’ and create so-called Nylon-12.
Dr Vel
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 6:36pm“Let me guess, they need Rare Earth Elements to make it” … Tim
The question was not about me telling you how to make it although I first made nylon in the lab in the 60′s and it is not that hard to find the synthesis route for nylon 12. I was taking exception to the endless large number of posts you make without knowledge and pointing out a quick search would have allowed you to know Lanthanide elements (rare earths to you as I doubt you will look that up before you post) are not used in the process. Nor is China the reason for the shortage. By the way “Trade Secrets” is not relevant either since this synthesis is commonly available in the literature if one bothers to investigate. My only point is I am tired of the unending short posts you make where you convey nothing useful, you merely fill the page with blather which the rest of us could do without. Research something before you post once in a while instead of babbling endlessly with whatever resides at the top of your mind. Say something useful. In short don’t go away mad just go away.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:29amThe administration will undoubtedly lefy a tarrif on any substitute the auto industry wants to import.
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:13amOnly if those elements are required by GM’s competitors. Now that the government it’s Fascist proxies are hard at work on their monopolies, you can’t have “free market competitors” mucking up all your good times.
Report Post »poster
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:26am“What ‘Obscure’ But Essential Element Shortage Has the Auto Industry Worried About Production?”
Hmm —
Report Post »if we’re talking GM, I’d have to say, “plastic”.
if we’re talking Chrysler, I’d have to say, “pot and beer”.
if we’re talking Ford, I’d have to say, “funny things for Mike Rowe to say”
Jaycen
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:11amNice!
Report Post »JAMACAMECRAZYMAN
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:42amGood one!
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:13amuh oh!! I am sure the EPA is on its way to our American producers plants to make sure that the increased production isn’t placing an undue stress on the Global Warming industry!!! Expect to may a $1000 more per vehicle soon……..maybe Obama can send GM some more of “his money” to help ease the production line’s employees that will be complacent waiting for the nylon stockpile to replenish? Or maybe the “global warming” crowd can plant some nylon 12 trees to ease the stress on Mother Gaia? Stop the presses and send more money to the Department of Education so they can pay for brunch at the schools, that will solve this nylon shortage!!!
Report Post »Bob DD
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:07amWho cares? Use something else. We did W/O this element for decades, go back to what they used to use.
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:06amFord was the first U.S.A. auto-firm to use teflon-coated brake and gasoline lines…look in any junkyard and the ford-tfe-lines(green-color) still have not rusted-through. After 1yr, my K-car(1yr warrantee) had a rear-brake-cylendar start to seep-leak. The brake-line was uncoated-seemeless-steel, and the fitting-with-line was rusted together. I had to cut of the line and use an impact-driver to reliece the rusted-shutfitting from the small cylendar(both-sides, cause I change both for safety). A few months later, I worked on my neighbors’ ford-waggon with tfe-coated lines…borth sides came apart in a few secconds each( the new cyl’s were almost as cheep as rebuilding the old ones including time and $$). Oh Yeh! And the steel lines don’t BURN either…nylon BURNS!!
Report Post »dowhatnow
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:45pmwhat whas used a decade ago….nylon 11…..go fiqure…you know who it was made by…..you guessed it…
anything made form nylon 612 is having shortages as well. Ask EMS to sell you some.You know who doesn’t have a shortage of nylon 612 and nylon 12, and sells it cheaper…..China..
Wanna bet the plant that blew up goes over budget and over schedule to rebuild and comes back up with new and improved regulations to make their products more expensive.
I feel so sorry for the families of those who lost their lives.
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:06amNo doubt it was some silly regulation that caused the shortage in the first place.
Report Post »Veteran Patriot
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:28amYou obviously read only the headline and not the rest of the article…
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:35amIt is very interesting that there are “shortages” of items. Curious that common medicines/prescriptions are having a shortage problem. There are many other items but some are not being reported until there is a “mother-Hubbard-no-food-in-the-cupboard” I can call it what it is: CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL the masses!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:49amAMAZINGGRACE8
the shortage? a petroleum product….
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:03amI can tell you what obscure and essential element is lacking in UAW autos…quality.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:13amIt seems one other element, the one that protects the customer and the company from unnecessary expense and risk, supply line bottlenecks, has been “over looked.”
Modern production facilities of the size of these that bottleneck their supply line resources like this is not an accident. Multi sourcing production resources “IS” engineering 101.
I see another “cost of production” increase coming for vehicle prices this fall.
Report Post »SONOFNANYE-HI
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:57amRULER – I’ve been in the Automotive business prior to 2002 for over 15 years. I remember they were big on the contingency planning of their suppliers. I find it amusing that it works about like I suspected it would for single source supplies. I’m sure that utlimately price drove this single source decision.
Report Post »honestlynow359
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 1:37pmApplause !!!!!
Report Post »ChazSpaz
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 5:07pmAs someone who works on the Quality Line at a GM plant, I take that insult personally. Pings, dings, fit, and kinds of things are inspected, and those units are repaired. Most of the time the quality seems to fall with the suppliers. Everyone calls us Fat And Lazy. I would love to see how you feel at the end of the day on the line. When ever the media comes to a plant, they shot video of some lucky bastard who has one of very few “easy” jobs. I work for GM the uaw is suppose to work for me. A fact that most hide from you, their are a lot of Repulicans who work as Auto Workers, they tend to be the quiet ones who are there to make a living.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:01amHey Blaze! Nylon-12 IS NOT an element. This is a material, compound, component, and other synonyms.
There are 92 naturally occurring ELEMENTS. Ya had me thinking Lithium, zinc, titanium, and so on.
complete misdirection.
Nylon-12 a petroleum product……..do the logic
Report Post »grimmy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:15am@Stoic one.
Report Post »I believe they are refering to an element in the production of an automobile,not an element found in nature……..do the logic.
yiddishlion
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:30amHe’s right GRIMMY….the headline IS misleading.
Report Post »KrebsCyclist
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:33amStoic is right, “element” in science has a definition.
To refer to something else by that term requires greater specificity. Elements of production are just that, production elements.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:42amgrimmy
Report Post »do you not think that a much clearer adjective rather than ELEMENT Is appropriate? The primary elements by weight in cars today are Iron & Aluminum . Clarity removes the unnecessary mental twisting of using ELEMENT.
There are a half dozen ELEMENTS that China now controls over 75% of known deposits.
There are a LARGE number of these deposits of ELEMENTS in Afghanistan.
I refer you to a back issue of Scientific American (2010/2011) that discusses these deposits.
Now you know WHY we are still in that God forsaken country.
Stoic one
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:42am(Back from walking dog)
To continue. The Chevy Volt BEFORE the ‘fire’ problems had a waiting list of 6 months. Now why do you think that was? The batteries main component is LITHIUM, which China controls 97% of known reserves,of which over half reside in Afghanistan. So the shortage of this ELEMENT caused GM to only produce a very small number. Now there is a bottleneck. The scarcity of an ELEMENT can make the manufacture of ANYTHING impractical. Once again I refer you to the same time period of SciAM. Even though this magazine is ‘left’ leaning the articles are still relevant. This article about the Volt was touting it’s success; although I personally see it as a failure. If an ELEMENT is not available then you cannot make something. There is no king Midas, no matter how much obama wants to be one.
Report Post »Ohiolad
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 2:00pmExactly, high school chemistry must have been an elective this writer never signed up for; otherwise he would have known the difference between an element and a compound.
Report Post »PATRIOTMAMA
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:55amAlso just FYI. I work for a small metal fabricating company and I was told recently by our purchasing manager we can’t get Helium gas. It is used with other gases in welding and in the finishing treatments of metal products we produce (at least that is what I‘m told I don’t work out in the shop so this stuff doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me) but we were told since they have been closing so many oil refineries we can’t get the stuff right now. The Blaze might want to check this out. We use other gases such as Argon but we are unable to get Helium and are having to scramble to figure out what else to do. This story brought this to mind sorry that it really doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the story here.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:05amvery interesting. I hope they investigate
Report Post »rawaw
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:21amIt has more to do with the story than you might think. According to another post there was a shortage of Helium. I look on this and wonder, in the 60′s we put men on the moon and built the SR-71 (?) spy plane using slide rules and now with all our technology and “world” industry we can barely keep a space station in orbit. What is really being indicated with all these seemingly unrelated news blips that are occuring?
Report Post »KrebsCyclist
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:36am“What is really being indicated with all these seemingly unrelated news blips that are occurring?”
@Rawaw: that the NEA controls our schools and a radical progressive is fundamentally changing the United States of America.
Report Post »Calm Voice of Reason
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:20pm@Raw & Krebs: I would also point to the use of “element” in this article as further evidence of the decline in quality science education in this country.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:26pm@rahaw & this group of posts
Dumbing down the masses. Kick God out of all systems & men become dictator-gods. We had the 60′s radicals, but like Glenn has had programs on this subject, there were “baby-boomers” that exceled by their God-Given-Talents….and HE ALLOWED IT.
Report Post »Liberals/radicals, mean-spirited miserable people, don’t want anyone to have fun….our voice on helium….FUNNY! LOL
TXPilot
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:45amHey, here is an idea, why don’t they make the brake and fuel lines out of steel? Seems like some of the most important items in your car that keep you from burning to death or smashing into someone due to no brakes, should be made out of a durable material. Oh, and there is also the fact that they were made out of steel for decades, before the world went crazy with the retarded “green agenda”….
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:04amthey would never do that because it makes sense.
Report Post »bpodlesnik
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:06amBecause steel isn’t flexible.
Report Post »KrebsCyclist
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:38amEven cars with steel brake lines have a flexible hose to finish the connection to the caliper, to allow for movement of the suspension.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:49amSo we will not need “brakes”. Wind-powered cars & when the wind stops blowing…….Do they still make “Inch-Worm”? That would be hilarious to see “Inch-Worms” on the hiways & byways of America. We won’t have to worry about those “stink’N-calories”…just people with alot of back-problems & walk with an up-&-down sqweeze. China will make a killing on shoes!
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 4:00pmThe whole green movement doesn’t make sense a steel brake line will decompose far faster in a landfill than a nylon or plastic. I do not understand why the glass containers and the cardboard wax containers are not greener than plastic containers which are made from petroleum a known carcinogen which leeches into the product.
Report Post »Calm Voice of Reason
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:42amNylon-12 is NOT an element, it is a compound.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:52amI was laughing about that when I first read the story. Looked it up and it is used in a lot of things from make up to these auto parts.
Report Post »randy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:02amNylon 12 is a synthetic polymer known generically as a polyamide.
A chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus.
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions.
Report Post »bbj1776
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:32amTime to start a USA manufacturing company.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:38amSo the EPA can investigate them? Please take this statement as sarcasm or a bit of dark humor.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:40amYou’re joking right? With the Marxist POS in the WH the regulations alone would keep a manufacturing plant from opening here.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:03amif we made them in the usa it would be made out of recycled tires banana peels or some other idiotic thing subsidized by the federal government then unionized and the new plant would close before ever producing a functioning item. that’s how we roll here in this day and age
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:28amWhat is… Plan B?
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 11:38am@horsecrazy
Might I add……ALGAE!
Report Post »Boardopopie
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 5:45pmActually the banana peels is not far off. The micro-fibrils in banana peels can be used for reinforcement of plastics, similar to fiberglass or wood pulp. The fibrils are extracted by a steam explosion process and then treated with caustic to allow the fiber to be compatible with the polymer matrix. Also by the way a majority of engineering resins are produced in the US. The second is Germany.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:30amNow watch for the Never Waste a Good Emergency administration of Obama to use this as a means to impose further control over the auto industries and other manufacturing means; anything that they can manipulate and fabricate for their gain.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 23, 2012 at 9:28amAlike… the O-ring on the Space Shuttle!
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