Business schedule, so it likely will be on stream by next spring, remarks James L. Jackson, vice president of operations and business management. Arco has been making propylene oxide and TBA in Rotterdam for a number of years. When the new Fos facilities are running, combined yearly capacities at the two locations will be 858 million lb of the oxide and almost 2.05 billion lb of the alcohol. Marc A. Roche, vice president of oxygenated fuels, foresees rising demand for Arco's octane components throughout the Mediterranean region as the countries reduce lead use in gasoline from the current 0.4 mg per L to 0.15 mg in line with the recommendation of the Commission of the European Community. The move already has been under way elsewhere in Europe. Indeed, such countries as Austria, Switzerland, the U.K., and West Germany favor lead-free gasoline through tax incentives. To bridge what Roche refers to as the octane gap that arises as the lead alkyl content is reduced, Arco offers refiners and gasoline blenders two choices. One is the Oxinol TBA/methanol mixture. The more usual is a 50-50 blend, some 5% by volume of which now is going into gasoline sold in a number of European countries. MTBE is the other choice. By 1990, according to Roche, Western Europe's use of fuel oxygenates—consisting essentially of methanol, TBA, and MTBE—may reach about 9.5 billion lb, between 4 and 5% of gasoline used that year. In 1985, in contrast, such use amounted to less than 4.4 billion lb. Arco doesn't pursue the styrene side of the business in Europe, even though it is a major U.S. producer of both the monomer and polymer. Indeed, it divested itself of its sole involvement in styrenics w h e n it sold its Spanish interests recently. Ohe of these was a joint partnership in Montoro, a Spanish company with facilities for making 220 million lb of styrene and 99 million lb of p r o p y l e n e oxide yearly at Puertollano. "The operation best suited the needs of our partner, Empresa Nacional del Petroleo, following a major restructuring of the 14
July 27, 1987 C&EN
Spanish chemicals business," Hirsig remarks. "And since we were no longer basic in styrene in Spain, it made sense to divest Arco Chemical Iberica, with its polystyrene unit in Barcelona." That operation, acquired in 1984, has been taken over by France's Atochem. Attractive as the prospects for TBA and MTBE are, they are not diverting Arco's managers from other aspects of their chemicals thrust in Europe. For instance, the company is further strengthening its position in propylene oxide-based polyols production this year as it acquires from Atochem a 154 million lb-ayear operation in Rieme, near Ghent, Belgium, which Arco has been operating since 1983. M e a n w h i l e , Atochem continues to supply Arco with polyols made at its plant at Lavera, near Fos, that has an annual nameplate capacity of some 73 million lb. To better service its urethane customers, Arco has opened a development and technical support center in Villers St. Paul, north of Paris. A move that is expected to have important commercial implications is the recent linkup of Arco with Italy's EniChem. Through a company as yet to be named, they will jointly make and sell in the U.S. and in Europe a diverse range of specialty polymer products, pooling their R&D know-how and local marketing strengths. In the U.S., the proposed venture . will concentrate on styrenic thermoplastic elastomers. EniChem initially will provide the resins while market assessments are made and plans drawn up to build a commercial facility. A 100 million lb-a-year unit is being considered. On the European side, the emphasis will be on Arco's Dylark engineering resin. Dylark is a polymer made from styrene and maleic anhydride that has a high degree of impact strength, heat resistance, and dimensional stability. Typical applications of items molded front it include instrument panels and headliners for automobiles, trays used in microwave ovens, and air conditioner grills. Hirsig expects a decision to be made soon on putting in a plant to make Dylark in Italy. Dermot O'Sullivan, London
Biotech firm readies microalgae products Cyanotech, a biotechnology company based in Woodinville, Wash., "won't be profitable until 1988," says Arthur Karuna-Karan, president of the fledgling company he founded in 1983 with Gerald Cysewski, now the company's research director. But as biotechnology companies go, says Karuna-Karan, "we have a huge pipeline of potential major products. Investors value the company for its potential." What the company's investors are most intrigued about is Cyanotech's ability to grow various species of blue green algae from which it can extract potentially marketable products such as spirulina, a source of protein; /3-carotene, a nutritional s u p p l e m e n t a n d food coloring; eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a polyunsaturated fatty product said to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol; algal nitrogen-fixing fertilizers; and phycobiliproteins, labeling dyes used in diagnostic research and having potential as food and cosmetic colorants. With a production facility on 15 acres on the Hawaiian island of Kona where conditions are ideal for the growth and harvesting of microalgae, Cyanotech now is about ready to bring its first full-scale commercial product to market: a premium free-flowing p o w d e r e d form of /3-carotene. The company expects to be able to supply 3000 to 5000 kg of /3-carotene annually and aims to capture 2 to 3% of a $50 million to $60 million market, says KarunaKaran. Although Cyanotech has continued to show increasingly larger losses from operations in each of the years since it started up in 1983 and lost $1.3 million in 1986, it has registered large increases in both its assets and working capital, according to its annual report. The company's backers appear confident in the future of Cyanotech. Working capital stood at $375,000 in 1986, up from a deficit of $125,000 a year earlier. Assets in 1986 increased 104% from the year earlier to $2.9 million. Marc Reisch, New York
