Business Driven Innovation
In addition to our own research and development activities, we invested a single-digit million euro amount in High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) III. This started on May 31, 2017 with a volume of 245 million euros in the first closing.
©nd3000 - stock.adobe.comSustainably advancing research and development
With regard to artificial intelligence, the optimization of the development of customer-specific high performance plastics through artificial intelligence bore its first fruits. The High Performance Materials business unit was one of LANXESS' first business units to use artificial intelligence to optimize glass fibers. We can thus develop even better, tailor-made products for our customers within shorter time frames. After around one and a half years of development work in cooperation with Citrine Informatics, a U.S. company specializing in the software-supported development of chemical products, we can begin series production with significantly improved glass fiber. This project is an important contribution to the future viability of LANXESS.
We are also making our plants and processes increasingly digital. A little over two-thirds of all plants are now equipped with new data analysis software. Our experts use the data thus gathered to identify patterns and trends and to detect production irregularities.
Based on this expanded data, we have already achieved the first successes in process innovation. Together with our engineers, our phosphorous chemicals plant in Leverkusen has successfully optimized the process for manufacturing phosphorous chemicals so that a reduction in steam not only lowered operating costs but also reduced CO2 emissions by nearly 4,000 tons a year.
We pay particular attention to the development of products that have a tangible benefit for sustainability. For Aktiplast PP-veg, the processing promoter for natural rubber compounds used in the production of tires and technical rubber articles, we have switched to renewable raw materials. The substance is manufactured only from vegetable oils, so the proportion of renewable raw materials in Aktiplast PP-veg is now around 90%. The switch benefits us and our customers: LANXESS can reduce is carbon footprint, while customers can reduce their energy consumption, as the natural rubber compounds are easier to process.
Another product based on renewable raw materials is the new Adiprene Green product line. The urethane prepolymers are suitable replacements for fossil-based polyether prepolymers. They enable PU componentswith a reduced carbon footprint and also offer the advantage of easy handling and processing. Products from the Adiprene Green line are particularly well-suited for sophisticated applications such as wheels, rollers and roll covers.
LANXESS continues to pursue the goal of adapting its processes for a circular economy. Accordingly, we are making increased use of recycled raw materials in the production of thermoplastic compounds and composites. Current examples of products being manufactured in line with this strategy are three Durethans containing 30%, 35% and 60% recycled fibers by weight. The glass comes from waste left over from glass fiber production. A feature of these products is that they have the same properties as conventional material. The customer can process the sustainable and certified Durethan compounds with recycled fibers like conventional materials in existing plants. The compounds are mainly used in the automotive industry.
In the Polymer Additives business unit, sustainability is the central issue in several projects. One of these is the “PolyStyrene Loop” project, in which LANXESS is working with partners to develop an innovative recycling concept. The aim was to separate HBCD – a material that used to be used for thermal insulation and fire protection in buildings and is now considered a pollutant – from construction waste. For the first time, polystyrene foam contaminated with HBCD can be processed in a new plant. The pilot plant with a capacity of 3,000 tons – based on a process developed by the Fraunhofer Institute – is currently being built in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, and is scheduled to commence operations in the second half of 2021. In 2020, LANXESS received the “Blue Tulip Award” for this project. In eight future-oriented categories, the award honors innovative concepts and successful cooperations that protect ecosystems.
For us, innovation also means developing new uses for existing products. The pilot plant constructed with our partner Standard Lithium Ltd. in El Dorado for the extraction and processing of lithium salt is being run in test mode, and the first product tests look promosing. Lithium salt is required on a large scale for lithium-ion batteries and is therefore a crucial raw material for the desired expansion of electric mobility. LANXESS operates three plants manufacturing bromine products in El Dorado. The bromine is obtained from the brine extracted at the site, which also contains lithium. Our partner Standard Lithium provides the technology for extracting the lithium.
The LANXESS Material Protection Products business unit is dedicated to protecting against harmful microorganisms.
Whether being used for wood coatings, emulsion paints, varnishes or plasters, the preservatives developed by our Material Protection Products business unit are used worldwidle to protect various materials from microbial attack. The business unit's portfolio includes a whole range of other highly-efficient active ingredients and specialty chemicals, primarily for disinfection and hygiene solutions. This is the former "Clean and Disinfect" business of the U.S. chemical group Chemours. One of the core products is the disinfectant Virkon® S, which is used in veterinary disinfection to protect against 65 strains from over 19 virus families, 400 bacterial strains and over 100 fungal strains. These include major diseases listed by World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), such as bird flu H5N1, swine flu H1N1, Newcastle disease, classical swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.
Effective protection
International testing laboratories certify that Virkon® S is effective against pathogenic strains of the highly contagious flu virus in birds even in difficult conditions like heavy organic contamination, dilution by rainwater, low temperatures or exposure to contaminants found on farms. Virkon® S works even at a dilution of 1:100 and is recommended for use as a preventive and continuous biosecurity measure. Unlike many other disinfectants, Virkon® S is also proven to remain effective over the entire pH spectrum, even at low winter temperatures and organic loads, without the need to increase concentration or exposure time.
With avian influenza H5N8 on the rise in many European and Asian countries, European veterinary experts are advising poultry producers to heighten biosecurity measures to minimize the risk of infection in millions of European poultry by infected, wild migratory birds. Despite being kept indoors, poultry are vulnerable as the highly-contagious virus can adhere to vehicles and transported to farms through contact with workers’ clothing and footwear.
The LANXESS Inorganic Pigments business unit is setting new standards with a sustainable process for the production of Bayferrox® brand yellowish red pigments.
Color plays an important role in urban design because it creates individuality. For decades, inorganic pigments from the LANXESS Bayferrox® and Colortherm® product lines have been used worldwide to manufacture paints and coatings. Their range of applications extends from emulsion paints for interior walls or house facades to paints and universal industrial coatings.
The basic structure of these color pigments are iron and chromium oxides - substances that also occur in nature. However, the properties of the synthetical products from our Inorganic Pigments business unit are far superior to natural pigments. They offer maximum light and weather resistance, high color strength, chemical resistance and excellent hiding power. This results incolors seemingly unchanged for years. Since 1926, LANXESS has produced more than 13 million metric tons of iron oxide pigments at the world's largest iron oxide plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany.
The extensive range of iron oxide and chrome oxide pigments under the Bayferrox® and Colortherm® brands offers a color spectrum from yellow to red, black, brown and green. Within this spectrum, customers can choose from more than 100 shades.
Energy-efficient plant sets new environmental standards
Bright, yellowish red pigments, the so-called "New Reds", complete the LANXESS product portfolio. These products use a newly-developed, unique manufacturing process – the Ningbo process – which is being used for the first time at the LANXESS site in Ningbo, China – the world's most modern production iron oxide pigments facility. This site was built specifically for the Ningbo process and began operation in 2016.
Traditionally, China had produced iron oxide red pigments utilizing the Penniman process, which has has been cited as harmful to the environment. LANXESS has therefore developed the Ningbo process, which enables the safe and environmentally-friendly production of high-quality iron oxide pigments. This facilitiy combines innovative process controlwith complete exhaust gas purification of all produced nitrogen oxides, including the particularly climate-damaging laughing gas. Modern process control, plant technology and heat integration have also significantly reduced energy requirements.
LANXESS is once again demonstrating its expertise in water treatment with a series of product innovations.
With the development of optimized membrane elements from the Lewabrane RO ULP series and the Lewatit ion exchanger brand, LANXESS is enabling customers around the world to make efficient and sustainable use of water, a scarce resource in some places. Using the new membrane elements requires 40%less operating pressure than standard elements, which leads to reduced usage of cleaning chemicals and allows for longer cleaning intervals – ultimately reducing the energy and operating costs. The Lewatit TP 107 selective ion exchanger was specially developed for municipal drinking water treatment, but it also offers decisive advantages in the industrial sector, like in treating wastewater for the leather and electroplating industries. Compared with conventional products, Lewatit TP 107 has an exceptionally high usable capacity for trace impurities in drinking water, groundwater and wastewater, even more efficiently removing the chromate, considered a hazardous substance. The two technologies complement each other and our customers use them in combination successfully.
Mosquitoes, ticks & Co. can be a real nuisance. When it gets warm, they can ruin your stay outdoors and transmit the pathogens of dangerous diseases.
Whether a vacation by the sea, a party in the park, an excursion into the forest, or even your own garden, nature is a recreation paradise for many people – unless too many insects are around. With the right conditions, hungry mosquitoes, biting flies, ticks and horseflies lurk at every corner. But even worse than permanent itching is the danger of getting infected with malaria, dengue fever, the Zika virus, borreliosis or meningitis.
Saltidin, an active ingredient manufactured by LANXESS subsidiary Saltigo in Dormagen, provides reliable protection that is used in many common insect repellents. "Saltidin covers the skin like a film," says Beate Tombeux, who assists in product development with Saltigo's worldwide Saltidin customers. "The mosquito no longer smells anything." A comprehensive application of the insect repellent is, however, a must. Because only where saltidine is on it is the skin really protected from the attack of bloodthirsty insects and ticks. Tombeux also knows this from his own experience: "I always test the new things myself," she says with a smile. "I make special formulations in my lab for this."
LANXESS is expanding its Durethan brand of high-tech plastics with product variants that are highly reinforced with glass fibers.
The LANXESS High Performance Materials business unit has developed glass fiber-reinforced Durethanes, which are particularly suitable for electromobility applications. The innovative material is highly flame-resistant and particularly resistant to tracking currents. Combining ideal mechanical properties with good processing capability, it is perfect for use in high-performance batteries and in the drive train of electric vehicles.. The resource-saving lightweight construction can also be incorporated into electromobility with high-performance plastics.
By optimizing its product line for high-purity polyurethane prepolymers, known as low-free products, the Urethane Systems business unit has once again demonstrated its innovative capabilities and global technological leadership. These new products, which contain very low residual monomer contents, reduces worker’s exposure to potentially carcinogenic substances. The product line’s improved processability making it ideal for intense applications in the tire and roller industries or in the adhesives sector.
