By Cameron Chai
Bayer MaterialScience, one of the world’s largest polymer companies focused
on the production of advanced polymer materials and the development of
innovative solutions for products used in daily life, has successfully completed
large-scale testing of its breakthrough gas phase phosgenation technology at its
new world-scale facility in its production site in Shanghai, China.
The new plant has been commissioned to produce toluene diisocyanate (TDI).
TDI is a raw material utilized to manufacture flexible polyurethane foams that
are used in car seats and upholstered furniture.
The use of the gas phase phosgenation technology in large-scale facilities
can cut down carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 60,000 t per year. It
decreases solvent consumption by approximately 80% in the production facility
and reduces energy consumption by 60%. In addition, the technology considerably
minimizes operating costs and reduces investment costs of large-scale
facilities by around 20%.
The new TDI production plant is anticipated to commence operations in late
2011 and will begin to produce a total annual capacity of 250,000 t of TDI next
year. This will increase the global TDI production capacity to more than 700,000
t annually.
Patrick Thomas, the company’s CEO stated that the application of the process
technology in a world-scale manufacturing facility represents Bayer
MaterialScience’s commitment to the state-of-the-art and environmentally
advanced technologies.
Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.
Source: http://www.bayer.com/