67% Energy Savings Achieved in Styrenic Polymer R&D Project

INEOS Styrolution, one of the world's leading companies in styrene, has announced the first results of the PolySLS project, which focuses on developing a new energy-efficient styrene-based material for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. The project has demonstrated significant overall energy savings of up to 67% across the entire lifecycle of a new styrenic polymer compound compared to conventional Polyamide 12 (PA12) use. When using the new styrene-based polymer, 25% direct energy savings were achieved from 3D printing equipment, resulting from lower processing temperatures and shorter heating and cooling phases. This also improved the time required to complete printing jobs, with processing times 7.5% shorter than PA12. Bianca Wilhelmus, Global Application Development Manager at INEOS Styrolution and PolySLS Project Leader, said: "Styrene-based materials continue to amaze me. Ninety years after the first polystyrene production, there are still new things to be discovered. Styrene-based materials have incredible beneficial properties." Yvonne van Veen, Director of Market Innovation Strategy at INEOS Styrolution, adds: "With the additive manufacturing industry growing at very high rates, we are excited that we have developed a material that not only contributes to energy savings and sustainable production, but is also an easy material to handle for managing the printing process." The PolySLS project was financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The goal of the PolySLS project was to develop and test a new styrene-based polymer compound for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). A particular focus of the project was the investigation of energy and material requirements [1]. The project began in August 2017 and was conducted in collaboration with Süddeutsche Kunststoffzentrum [2] (SKZ-KFE gGmbH) and Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg [3]. The project ended in November 2020.

[1] The new polymer compound was developed solely for the disclosed R&D purpose. Future potential commercial viability will depend on various factors, including the results of subsequent tests, demand, and production capacity.

[2] https://www.skz.de/de/informationen/agb/5418.KFE-gGmbH.html

[3] https://www.lfg.tf.fau.de/