MOSCOW (MRC) -- The production of Neolyse Ibbenburen GmbH, a joint venture of AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals and Evonik Industries AG at the AkzoNobel site in Ibbenburen (Germany), is off to a successful start, as per Evonik's press release.
The plant with its state-of-the-art membrane technology has an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons of potassium hydroxide solution and 75,000 metric tons of chlorine and hydrogen.
Operated by AkzoNobel, the facility strengthens the respective leading positions of both companies.
AkzoNobel commercializes chlorine and hydrogen, while Evonik distributes the locally produced potassium hydroxide solution and processes parts of it into other products such as potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate and potassium formate at its Lulsdorf site.
"The Ibbenburen facility sets a completely new standard for the chlor-alkali industry," said Werner Fuhrmann, Chairman of the AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals Executive Board, during the official opening ceremony of the new facility. "It enables us to secure the supply of our customers in the long term while further improving our company’s sustainability profile and operational efficiency."
The new production process at the site improves the ecological footprint of every metric ton of chlorine produced in Ibbenburen by 25 to 30 percent, resulting in lower energy consumption and fewer CO2 emissions. "We demonstrated throughout the course of the project that two experienced partners can contribute their diverse experience to intelligently shape their business environment. We complement each other very well and look forward to continuing our collaboration, which benefits our customers and therefore ultimately also the market for potassium hydroxide," noted Dr. Harald Schwager, Deputy Chairman of the Evonik Executive Board, on the occasion of opening the plant.
As MRC informed previously, in January 15, 2016, Evonik and AkzoNobel broke ground to officially start the construction of the new membrane electrolysis plant in Ibbenburen. Initially, the new facility was due to come on stream by the fourth quarter of 2017. The two chemical companies established a production joint venture in June 2015 for the manufacture of chlorine and potassium hydroxide solution at the AkzoNobel site in Ibbenburen.
AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals is the market leader for industrial salt, chlorine and chloromethanes in Europe.
Evonik is the European market leader for potassium hydroxide solution and potassium derivatives as well as a leading global provider of alcoholates with a production site in Lulsdorf (Germany).
MRC