Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Ireland-based Kingspan has concluded a deal to acquire mineral wool-based sandwich panels producer Calostat from speciality chemicals company Evonik. Calostat's boards have Cradle to Cradle Gold certification for sustainability and employ a unique moisture management concept.

Kingspan said that the acquisition complements its portfolio and enhances its ability to offer the right type of insulation for every application.

Germany: Evonik has announced the release of a new Calostat silicon dioxide-based mineral insulation panel. Evonik technical sales manager Oliver Jung says that the panel, which is cut to 500mm x 200mm, is ‘an ideal option where space is limited.’

China/Germany: German companies Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions have granted a licence to Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical for the use of its hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology in China. Qixiang Tengda Chemical will build a propylene oxide plant in Shandong province and Evonik has licensed the production of hydrogen peroxide for the exclusive supply of the plant. Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions have also entered into a long-term agreement for the supply of the respective HPPO catalyst. Propylene oxide is used mainly for the production of polyurethane foams, including those used in insulation for buildings.

“We’re proud of having gained Qixiang as a new strategic partner. With environmental awareness on the rise in China, HPPO is the technology of choice for sustainable production of propylene oxide because it produces no major by-products apart from water,” said Claus Rettig, the chairman of the board of Evonik’s Resource Efficiency division.

Planning work for the new Qixiang Tengda plant is scheduled to start in mid-August 2019 with commissioning expected for the first half of 2022. Qixiang Tengda, a chemical manufacturer, is part of Cedar Holdings Group.

Germany: Evonik’s Calostat insulation product has received an environmental product declaration (EPD) from the Institut für Bauen und Umwelt (IBU). The EPD takes into account the entire production process, from manufacture of precursors, their transport, production of Calostat and the option of recycling the material.

Calostat is a non-combustible thermal insulation material based on silicon dioxide.

It is a class A (non-combustible) building material with a thermal conductivity λ of 0.019 W/(mK). It does not absorb liquid water but is permeable to water vapour. Other distinguishing features are its compressive strength of ≥ 90 kPa and gross density of 165kg/m³. It contains no fungicides, algicides, pesticides, binding agents, or flame-retardants. Notably, the manufacturer also says that the product can be recycled.

Canada: Germany’s Evonik has appointed Canadian chemical distributor of specialty raw materials, Emco-Inortech, as its national distributor for the polyurethane coatings, adhesives and sealants and elastomers (CASE) market in Canada. Emco-Inortech is based in Terrebonne, Quebec with regional public warehousing throughout the country.

“Polyurethane is a versatile material ideally suited for a wide range of CASE applications and with Emco-Inortech knowledge of the local CASE markets, we hope to further develop our Canadian business,” said Peter Hohl, Vice President Americas, Comfort & Insulation, Evonik.

Germany: Matthias Hau has been appointed as the Regional President Eastern Europe for Evonik. He succeeds Thomas Müller, who has been leading the activities of the European Region since 2011 and has now retired.

Hau joined Evonik in 1982 while completing a vocational training at the former Degussa, followed by a commercial trainee program in Germany and the UK. After working as a sales employee in Melbourne, Australia he was delegated to Singapore and Malaysia. Afterwards he held various responsibilities in sales, product management, and marketing, before he took over as head of the BioActives Business Unit. In 2005 he became the president of the India Region. After being head of the Agrochemicals & Polymer Additives Business Line at Performance Materials, he became responsible in 2016 for a sales programme across the group.

Germany: Evonik Industries has completed its acquisition of the specialty additives business, Performance Materials Division, of the US company Air Products for Euro3.5bn. All relevant competition authorities have approved the transaction and the integration of the acquired business is underway. The transaction financing was completed successfully in September 2016. It has been paid for by the company’s own funds to the amount of Euro1.6bn with the excess Euro1.9bn covered by bonds.

"The successful completion of the acquisition paves the way for swiftly merging the activities of Evonik and the acquired units of the Air Products Performance Materials business," said Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG. "It puts Evonik in an excellent position for further profitable growth in the attractive specialty additives market."

Germany: Evonik Industries is acquiring the Performance Materials Division of Air Products and Chemicals for US$3.8bn. The products it is acquiring from Air Products include ingredients for insulation foams, sun lotion and paint as well as additives to harden aircraft and marine coatings. The transaction is intended to be completed by the end of 2016 subject to approval from relevant competition authorities.

“Evonik is already one of the leading producers of specialty & coating additives. Air Products’ Specialty & Coating Additives business perfectly complements this fast-growing segment. With this acquisition we are expanding our portfolio with precisely the right markets, products and innovations and continuing to invest in our growth and profitability,” said Klaus Engel, chief executive officer of Evonik Industries.

Air Products’ specialty and coating additives business will be integrated into the Nutrition & Care and Resource Efficiency segments of Evonik. The acquisition will also give Evonik a greater presence in North America, diversifying its markets outside of Europe. It also expects to generate savings of up to US$80m/year from the deal by 2020.

China: Evonik has started building a plant to produce organically modified specialty silicones in Shanghai. The project is part of a global investment initiative that started with the construction of a first expanded production plant in Essen, Germany that became operational in late 2014. The new facility is being constructed at the Multi-User-Site (MUSC) in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, with completion planned for mid-2017. No exact figure for the high double-digit million Euro project was specified.

"We want to expand our specialty silicones production capacities in Asia to serve the rising demand with local production.” That is why we are enlarging our production capacities in this region," said Klaus Engel, the chairman of the Evonik Executive Board.

China: Chemicals producer Evonik Industries has started operations at a new 230,000t/yr capacity hydrogen peroxide plant in July 2014 in Jilin City, Jilin Province. Evonik invested more than US$139m in the site to raise its global capacity for hydrogen peroxide production to more than 900,000t/yr.

"This investment further consolidates our market leadership for hydrogen peroxide," said Klaus Engel, executive board chairman of Evonik Industries. Evonik will supply hydrogen peroxide from Jilin direct to the neighbouring propylene oxide plant run by Jishen Chemical Industry Co Ltd. Jishen will use the hydrogen peroxide to manufacture propylene oxide on the basis of the HPPO process. Propylene oxide is mainly used to make polyurethane intermediates that are used in manufacturing insulation materials for the construction and refrigeration industry.

"We are registering a great deal of demand around the world for our efficient HPPO process," said Gregor Hetzke, head of the advanced intermediates business unit at Evonik. "The Jilin plant represents another milestone on the way to establishing hydrogen peroxide as an eco-friendly oxidant for the process of chemical synthesis. The project is also proof of how we use new technologies to systematically drive forward our growth."

Evonik developed the HPPO process together with ThyssenKrupp Uhde. The new plant in Jilin is the second of its kind. The HPPO process allows the eco-friendly oxidant to also be used in the direct chemical synthesis of propylene oxide. The benefits of the new method are that it requires much lower investment costs, has high production efficiency and has excellent environmental compatibility.

Another large Evonik plant, a US$136m integrated production complex for isophorone and isophorone diamine, started trial operations in Shanghai in May 2014 and will be officially inaugurated in July 2014. The complex will have a capacity of 50,000t/yr.

"The new plant continues our successful growth story in isophorone chemistry," said Patrik Wohlhauser, executive board member and chief operating officer of Evonik Industries. "We are now represented in the three major economic zones, Europe, North America and Asia."