Elements 30, Issue 1
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elements30 S C I E N C E N E W S L ETTER 3 1 3 2 3 3 2 0 1 0 Evonik Innovation Award 2009 N E W PROCE S S E S C A TEGORY Nanofiltration Developed to Application Readiness NEWPO R D U C T S C ATEGORY New Functional Silanes for the Construction and Filler Industries NEWS Y S T E M S O L U T ION S C ATEGORY CoverForm®: One-Step In-Mold Scratch Resistance for PMMA ETORIALD I Using Resources Efficiently Evonik will focus on its strengths in specialty chemicals. Our Executive Board‘s new business model, endorsed by the Supervisory Board, should make us one of the world‘s leading specialty chemicals companies. Energy will remain within the Group as a largely independently managed affiliate, and Evonik is seeking partners to finance growth projects in this area. Real Estate is being merged with THS GmbH to form a new company that in the medium term will be placed on the capital market as an independent player. The reason for the stronger focus on chemicals is that Evonik alone does not have the financial scope to develop all the three business areas equally and simultaneously. With the new business model, on the other hand, each business area can exploit its growth potential to the fullest. In Chemicals, the emphasis will be on technologies and products that use resources efficiently, contribute to the health and nutrition of the world‘s steadily growing population, and allow growth regions to press ahead with industrialization. Behind these major developments—resource efficiency, Patrik Wohlhauser health and nutrition, and globalization of technologies—stand attractive markets, in some of which Chairman of the Board Evonik has already attained leading global positions. We are, for instance, the world‘s largest supplier of Management of Evonik Degussa GmbH of chlorosilanes and an important producer of monosilanes, both key components for photovoltaic conversion of solar energy. And in the lithium-ion battery we have in our product portfolio one of the most promising options for the automotive electric drive. Nor do we lack for good ideas on how we can continue to support these major trends in the future. This issue presents three projects that have received our Innovation Award 2009. Our new functional silanes, for example, provide excellent corrosion protection for concrete, among other materials. They therefore allow the concrete cover on rebars to be thinner, thus saving concrete—a construction material whose production is well known to be highly energy intensive. Thanks to our research, nanofiltration is now also possible in organic solvents. Our developers have thus opened the door to more sustainable production in which, for example, solvents can be recovered by energy-saving nanofiltration rather than energy-intensive distillation. Finally, CoverForm®, a system solution devel- oped jointly with KraussMaffei, produces, in a single step, injection-molded PLEXIGLAS® parts with surfaces that are highly scratch-proof and resistant to chemicals. This does away with the need for coating lines, shortens the value chain, and saves time and money. The market has dealt with all three developments very well because they are perfectly in tune with the current “megatrends” and allow efficient utilization of resources—not least because they are the result of a target-oriented innovation process that uses resources efficiently. elements30 | 2010 E VONIK I N N OVAT I O N AWAR D 2 0 0 9 EW N S 4 The winner 23 New binder imparts high gloss and toughness to 6 New Processes category: plastic coatings Nanofiltration developed to application readiness 24 Thirty years of VESTOPLAST® contents 12 New Products category: 24 Evonik acquires Eli Lilly‘s U.S. tippecanoe New functional silanes for the construction and manufacturing site filler industries 25 Joint venture established for manufacture of glass lenses for LEDs NEW S 17 New highly flexible Polyamide 12 for cable conduits B I OTEC H N OLOGY 17 € 150 million invested in solar energy and electronics 26 Amino acids for specialty applications: markets of the future bright prospects for white biotechnology E VONIK I N N OVAT I O N AWAR D 2 0 0 9 NEW S 18 New System Solutions category: 31 Evonik at Auto Expo India The cover photo shows CoverForm®: one-step in-mold scratch resistance 31 More than 300 VESTAMID® offshore lines in three years a test plant for organic for PMMA solvent nanofiltration 32 EENTV S AN D CRE D I T S elements30 evonik science newsletter news +++ Integrated production facility in Shanghai fully onstream Evonik Industries has completed work on a large complex for base the Management Board of Evonik Degussa GmbH, highlighting and specialty methacrylates, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) the significance of this major project. The 25,000 square meter molding compounds and thermoplastic methacrylic resins, and has research center houses state-of-the-art laboratories for research, brought the 250-million-euro facility fully onstream after a con- development, application, and technical service, and a pilot plant struction period of just two years. From the Shanghai site—the for polymer technology. Evonik employs about 300 people at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP), an area spanning sever- SCIP site in Shanghai. al square kilometers—the new facility supplies key intermediates Evonik now has integrated MMA production sites in the U.S., for such applications as eco-friendly coatings, concrete additives, Europe and China. „This allows our customers to procure prod- and PMMA molding compounds for lightweight and therefore ucts from a single source in each of these regions,“ added Hetzke. fuel-saving plastic parts for vehicles. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) Moreover, Evonik can from now on offer much shorter delivery is a key product of the site. “The global market for MMA is grow- times in Asia. “In this respect we‘re following our most important ing by 5 percent per year, and the growth rate in China is signifi- global customers who are investing in China, and whom we can cantly higher even than that. It’s in this boom region that we’re now supply here with locally produced materials.” starting up our new facility. Thanks to our new integrated produc- Over the next few years, Evonik expects steady growth for tion facility, ours is the only company in the region that can offer methacrylates and PMMA molding compounds. Among the most nearly all specialty products in this category locally,” said Dr. Klaus important drivers here is the energy efficiency megatrend. W“ ith Engel, chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG. our products we offer a number of solutions, such as for the solar industry and for weight reduction in the automotive industry. Our New C4 process expands the technology platform materials are also increasingly finding application in construction MMA is produced by the C4 process, a new process for Evonik. and architecture, and in noise control,” said Hetzke. For the sake of raw material flexibility, a plant for splitting TM BE, With its PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds, Evonik is also mak- a widely-available basic petrochemical, has been built along with ing a key contribution to the booming electronics industry in the the MMA facility. The plant uses a new process that was devel- new generation of LED flat screens.I n the area of paints and coat- oped in Evonik’s C4 Chemistry Business Line, and is being used ings, the company has developed in its VISIOMER® monomers for the first time in Shanghai.T he process increases flexibility and important products for waterborne formulations that are environ- significantly improves the cost situation for MMA production at mentally friendly—an important future consideration in China. the site. “With this project we have implemen- ted a unique integrated production con- cept, and with the decision to build a C4 plant for MMA production, we have also considerably expanded our technology platform,” said Gre gor Hetzke, head of Evonik’s Performance Polymers Business Unit. “With the integrated production facility and the research and development center in Shanghai, Evonik is turning into the larg- est supplier of methacry late specialties in China, said Patrik Wohlhauser, chairman of Evonik’s new integrated production plant in Shanghai elements30 evonik science newsletter 3 Evonik Innovation Award 2009 Researchers at Inorganic Materials, Performance Polymers, Industrial Chemicals and Process Technology & Engineering have won the 2009 Innovation Award which Evonik Industries awards once each year to employees in the Chemicals Business Area for exceptional research performance. Performance Polymers got top marks for CoverForm®, a system solution devel- oped in collaboration with KraussMaffei which enables single-step processing of PLEXIGLAS® to molded components that boast exceptionally scratch-resist ant and chemical-resistant surfaces. An interdisciplinary team from Process Technology and Industrial Chemicals successfully employed a newly developed polymer in the first-ever application of organic solvent nanofiltration in a technical chemical process to recover an expensive rhodium-based homogeneous catalyst. Inorganic Materials, for its part, was awarded the prize for its functional new silane systems which, among other merits, provide 35 years of protection against corrosion in cement while containing practically no volatile organic substances. The three teams accepted their awards – including prize monies of 20,000 euro each – from Patrik Wohlhauser, Chairman of the Management Board of Evonik Degussa GmbH, in Essen on December 16. This year’s competi- tion for the coveted trophy drew submissions from a total of 22 teams. Six of them presented new products, ten of them new or improved processes, and six others new system solutions. The jury, comprising in-house and external experts, assessed the projects based on defined criteria. For one thing, the entries had to re present new developments which were either market mature or already launched on the market.