PA12

It’s been lovely, warm, though humid and thundery few days here in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Perfect for midday ‘Mahlzeit‘ cycling to lunch, for grabbing a coffee, some wifi rays and working outside, perfect for stopping production. Uh, say what? You’ll go easy on me, I hope, for not providing you with news as it breaks, I was never cut out to be a journalist. There was an alas fatal explosion that claimed two lives at a chemical factory owned by Evonik in Marl, Germany on March 31st this year. The plant and its workforce produced an acid compound called cyclododecatriene, or CDT to its friends. Its friends are, among others, producers of the polymer PA12, a variant of the Nylon™ family, for which CDT is a crucial chemical stepping stone. The Marl factory is one of only four large producers of CDT in the world, so its loss has knocked out a significant chunk of global […]