By Steve Toloken, Plastics News staff Shanghai, China -- Honeywell Specialty Materials is tripling the size of its research and development capabilities in China, including adding capacity to handle more work in vinyl extrusion.Morristown, New Jersey-based Honeywell is spending $3.2 million to expand lab space and equipment at its technology centre in Shanghai, one of seven the firm operates around the world.The Specialty Materials unit will add an extrusion line to work with PVC additives, one of 10 labs it is adding there, along with a clean room and chemical blending labs for electronics manufacturing.Materials research is part of a larger $13.5-million expansion of Honeywell's broader R&D capabilities at the Shanghai site.Specialty Materials currently uses 17 000 sq.ft of the Shanghai operation, but plans to add 39 000 sq.ft when the facility is completed in July. It will add 20 researchers to the 40 it currently employs there for materials development.The facility works on fluorine and speciality chemicals, and electronics and performance materials. Shanghai is the firm's only specialty materials research lab in Asia."
