in partnership with JEC Composites E-letter Bayer Material Science to build up a world-scale plant for polymer polyols Bayer MaterialScience AG worked closely with Bayer Technology Services GmbH to develop an innovative technology for the manufacture of polymer-filled polyether polyols (PMPO) that delivers significantly better products than the conventional process. The innovative technology has already been successfully tested on a multi-tonne scale. The new process is to be used on a global scale for the first time in a production facility with an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes. It is due to be commissioned at the end of 2008 and will be constructed either in Dormagen, Germany, or in Antwerp, Belgium. At both of these sites, Bayer Material Science already manufactures polyether polyols, one of the basic components required to produce polymer polyols, so consistent use can be made of synergies to further increase the facility’s efficiency. The new production process keeps the amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the end product at very low levels, which has been impossible to achieve with the technologies used to date. The much lower operating temperature during the processing stage of the continuous operation means that the PMPOs are only very slightly discoloured. In addition to the improved product properties, Bayer MaterialScience expects a 25% reduction in investment costs for construction work and a similar decrease in energy consumption in operation. www.bayerbms.com No34 July-August 2007 / JEC Composites Magazinehttp://www.lap-laser.com http://www.bayerbms.com http://www.gamesa.es