Kemira Annual Report 2005

Research and developmentResearch underpins profitable growthResearch and development occupies a key position in channeling Kemira’s operations towardsnew products that serve our customers better. R&D is a vehicle for enhancing our presentproduction and developing our logistical and customer-specific solutions. Our R&D programsare geared to delivering world-class results, and we continually track the productivity of ourdevelopment investments.Long-term cooperation with universitiesand research institutes togetherwith strategic development projectsrun by our own research centers arethe foundation on which our R&D activitiesrest. A great deal of researchwork is nonetheless done within thedevelopment organizations of ourbusiness units in different countries.We operate in close cooperation withour customers and with other playersin the industry. Spending on researchand development amounted to 2.2percent of our revenue in 2005, andabout 570 Kemira staff were employedin a research capacity.Partnering with customersThe bulk of our R&D resources isused at our business units that arelocated close to customers. We providethe service and technical sup-port required for customer-specificapplications. Most of our R&D investmentsare devoted to performancechemicals that go into the makingof large and complex customer applications.To manage integrated solutionsfor individual customers, wehave developed the real-time Fennodosesystem that measures and controlsthe process state, optimizes thedosing of active chemicals and supportsremote monitoring.Environmental protectionleads to new businessopportunitiesWater treatment and the waste sludgesarising in the purification processopen up wide-ranging business opportunities.The Kemicond methoddeveloped by Kemira is an efficientway of disinfecting sludge, removingoffensive odors and reducing substantialamount of liquid. HyProformis a new non-chlorine product for disinfectingtreated waste water, andKemwater GFH is a technique for purifyingdrinking water by eliminatingarsenic, which constitutes a significanthealth risk. In the area of performancechemicals for the paper industry,an important developmentfocus has been methods for cleaningand recycling of paper.Plant manager Lars-Göran Frisell discusses process optimizationwith Stefan Persson and Martin Johansson.Making hydrogen peroxide is a multistageand precision process.22