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In 1912, Fritz Klatte discovered the basic principles for the industrial production of PVC-U/vinyl, a process which can be summarised in five steps:
(1) Electrolysis(2) of salt(1) produces
chlorine(3).
(2) Ethylene (6) is obtained after refining(5)
the oil(4) and cracking naphtha.
(3) Chemical synthesis(7) of these two
elements produces the 'monomer', vinylchloride(8), in gaseous
form.
(4)Polymerisation(9) of this monomer structure
produces the polymer, poly-vinylchloride, or PVC-U; an inert
powder.
(5) The PVC-U resin(10) is mixed (compounded)
with various additives(11) in order to form variations with
different properties. The result is a fairly fine powder
or granules(12).
