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elements37 

Quarterly Science Newsletter Issue 4|2011 

ANALYTICS 

Analysis tool for the uppermost nanometers 

PROCESS TECHNOLOGY 

Small is beautiful 

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY 

Evonik knows how to treat acid gases

2 Contents 

6 

18 

24 

elements37 Issue 4|2011 

Cover PiCture 

Steve Rienecker transfers a specimen from the loading chamber 

to the spectrometer chamber of the new XPS measuring 

system of AQura GmbH, Evonik’s analytics service provider. 

n e W s 

4 Construction begins on specialty chemical facility for electronic chips 

4 New catalyst plant for biodiesel production in Argentina 

5 Joint venture to produce superabsorbents in Saudi Arabia established 

5 Construction of a hydrogen peroxide plant in China 

nominated for the evonik innovation aWard 2011 

Category neW ProduCts/system solutions 

6 A fresh bar for the laundry: 

The Bounce® Dryer Bar offers care for textiles in bar form 

7 High-precision PLEXIGLAS® lenses make photovoltaic technology 

efficient and inexpensive: Exploiting the sun’s essence 

8 VESTAMID® for photovoltaics 

Category neW or imProved ProCesses 

9 Process optimization: More isophorone from less raw material 

10 New technology platform for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical 

polymers: Quality by design 

11 It’s the mixture that does it: A new process makes the manufacturing 

of the TS-1 catalyst more environmentally friendly and economic 

ProCess teChnology 

12 Small is beautiful 

analytiCs 

18 Surface spectrometry: Analysis tool for the uppermost nanometers 

innovation management 

24 Corporate Foresight: A strategic look into the next decade 

25 Interview with Dr. Peter Nagler: “Research requires passion” 

neWs 

27 Evonik lays foundation for two new innovation centers in Essen 

27 Plant for products used in adhesives and sealants to be built 

28 Appointment of Dr. Stefan Buchholz as honorary professor 

28 International environmental award for the Wind Explorer 

29 European Responsible Care Award for Evonik 

29 Expansion of R&D Center in Shanghai 

Coating & Bonding teChnologies 

30 Thin but powerful 

resourCe effiCienCy 

34 Evonik knows how to treat acid gases 

n e W s 

39 Methyl methacrylate production capacities to be increased 

39 Evonik to double its L-lysine capacities in the US 

39 Credits

Thinking ahead, thinking along the 

same lines, thinking at length 

According to a study, 28 percent of all Germans are “digitally deprived.” They 

seldom, if ever, use a computer, and are completely at a loss when it comes to 

home pages or e-mail. Initiative D21, a partnership between politics and industry 

for the information society, reached this conclusion last year. The digitally de - 

prived have missed out on a technology, without which access to information and 

services is becoming increasingly difficult—either because it was too complicated 

for them, they underestimated its importance, or because it was too expensive. 

Companies face this same problem. Innovation cycles are becoming increas - 

ingly shorter, technologies are making giant strides—the danger of missing the boat 

when it comes to important developments is increasing. If a company wants to 

avoid being left on the dock, it will have to think ahead and monitor trends, evaluate 

their future business potential, and if the time is right, step into the market. We 

established the Corporate Foresight Team a little over a year ago with just this in 

mind: to understand the varied challenges we face in the next ten to fifteen years, 

and develop solution approaches with strong sales potential for Evonik. Currently, 

the team is focused on the subject of megacities, because congested conurbations 

not only manifest all the problems of the future in a confined space but are also 

the economic growth centers of tomorrow. 

Above all, this is a subject that forces us to think globally. And that is an urgent 

necessity, because in the next few years, the chemical industry will grow not only 

in Germany but in other regions with outstanding universities and equally outstanding 

scientists. For this reason, it is no longer enough to produce in the relevant 

markets: we must also be able to think along the same lines as our customers on-site 

so we can understand their individual needs and problems. A good example is our 

technology center in Shanghai (China), where we maintain thriving partnerships 

with cus tomers and universities that would hardly be possible over a distance of 

several thousand kilometers. We are now investing some € 18 million in the expansion 

of this center, because we need more laboratories and pilot plants—but more 

than anything, because we need bright minds. 

In all, we drive innovation at 35 sites around the world, and maintain a close 

proximity to our customers in the key regions. International R&D does not mean, 

however, neglecting Germany as an industrial location. With its close networking 

between academia and industry, Germany continues to offer an outstanding innovative 

environment. This is why we are now investing about €31 million in two 

new R&D centers in Essen (Germany) for developing innovative additives and 

specialty binders for paints and coatings, and sustainable products for the cosmetics 

industry. A suc cessful investment, and it didn’t take us long to decide to make it. 

It was more difficult, I should say, to decide whom we would nominate for this 

year’s Innovation Award. We had to think at length, because our researchers 

and their consistently good projects ran a close race. To find out which six teams 

and projects ultimately made it to the final round, turn to page 6. 

editorial 3 

Patrik Wohlhauser 

Member of the Executive Board of 

Evonik Industries AG 

elements37 Issue 4|2011

4 neWs 

Construction begins on specialty chemical facility for electronic chips 

Evonik Industries has begun building a second 

hexachlorodisilane (HCDS) production 

facility in Rheinfelden, a city in Germany’s 

Baden region. Production is scheduled to begin 

in the second half of 2012. Hexachlorodisilane, 

a raw material containing silicon, is 

used by the semiconductor industry to manufacture 

inexpensively and efficiently, among 

other things, memory chips with extremely 

high storage densities. Known as “flash memory,” 

these chips can be found in devices such 

as smartphones, digital cameras, MP3 players, 

or USB sticks. Solid-state drives consisting 

of flash memory chips instead of the 

standard hard drives are also increasingly 

used in computers. 

“By building this new production facility, 

we’re striving to further bolster our already 

strong position as a provider of key raw materials 

for the electronics industry,” commented 

Dr. Thomas Haeberle, Evonik’s Executive 

Board member with responsibility for the 

Resource Efficiency segment. Evonik markets 

hexachlorodisilane under the Siridion® HCDS 

brand. “We believe that hexachlorodisilane 

has promising market prospects and are plan- 


ning to supply it in particular to Asia’s 

semiconductor industry,” added Thomas 

Her mann, head of the Inorganic Materials 

Business Unit. 

Production methods for silicon compounds 

are one of Evonik’s most important 

technology platforms as a specialty chemicals 

producer. The company itself developed the 

hexachlorodisilane production process and 

successfully implemented it in Rheinfelden in 

September 2010 as the first plant put into 

operation. The second, new production facility 

is much larger and has a capacity of several 

tens of thousands of kilograms. 

For the manufacture of flash memory 

chips, the semiconductor industry, even 

today, works with structure sizes of 25 nanometers 

in mass production. However, new 

generations with even finer structures are 

already in the pipeline at major memory chip 

manufacturers. The wafer-thin, functional 

layers needed for such fine structures can 

be created through chemical vapor deposi - 

tion of hexachlorodisilane. The advantages of 

Siridion® HCDS are that it can be deposited 

in chip production at relatively low tempera- 

New catalyst plant for biodiesel production in Argentina 

Evonik Industries is building a new plant for manufacturing catalysts 

for biodiesel production in Argentina. The plant, which is expect ed 

to be operational by the end of 2012 at the latest, will supply readyto-use 

alcoholates as catalysts for the production of biodiesel from 

renewable resources. It will primarily serve markets in Argentina and 

Brazil, with an annual capacity of over 60,000 metric tons. 

The facility is located in the center of the Argentine biodiesel 

industry in Puerto General San Martin in the greater Rosario metropolitan 

area. Evonik will be part of a site where Terminal 6 S.A. operates 

a major biodiesel facility. 

In 2009, Evonik started up a production facility in Mobile (Ala bama, 

USA) with an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons. Evonik uses this 

plant, which was built in just nine months, to meet a part of the 

demand on the growing North American biodiesel market. Based on 

the successful use of the new production technology in the US, the 

plant in Argentina will follow the same design type. The technol ogy 

involves generating alcoholates in a direct reaction of alcohol and lye. 

Evonik already holds a leading global position in biodiesel catalysts, 

including in South America. “The new facility in Argentina will 

strengthen our business around the world and in the region,” noted 

Jan Van den Bergh, head of the Evonik Advanced Inter mediates 

Business Unit. “This will allow us to participate in the significant market 

growth for biodiesel, which is projected to expand strongly in the 

intermediate term.” As a global market leader for specialty catalysts 

for the production of biodiesel, Evonik also operates a catalyst manufacturing 

facility at its German Niederkassel-Lülsdorf site near Cologne. 

tures, and that it generates highly homogenous, 

functional films. Because ultrapure raw 

materials are used in the production of 

Siridion® HCDS, the concentration of critical 

metal trace elements in the products is exceptionally 

low. Siridion® HCDS fits seamlessly 

into the Siridion product family, in which 

Evonik offers key raw materials for the manufacture 

of solar silicon, optical fibers, semiconductors, 

and flat screens.

Joint venture to 

produce superabsorbents 

in Saudi Arabia 

established 

Evonik Industries and Saudi Acrylic Acid 

Company (SAAC) have established a joint 

venture called Saudi Acrylic Polymers Company 

(SAPCo) for the production of superabsorbents. 

SAAC is a joint venture of the 

Saudi companies National Industrialization 

Company (Tasnee) and Sahara Petrochemicals. 

The production facility with an annual 

capacity of 80,000 metric tons is scheduled 

to begin production in late 2013. The total 

investment will be in the triple-digit million 

euro range. 

The SAPCo superabsorbent production is 

part of a new acrylic acid and derivative complex 

on the Tasnee premises of the Al Jubail 

chemical park in Saudi Arabia and will benefit 

from favorably priced propylene from the 

adjacent cracking facility operated jointly by 

Tasnee, Sahara, and Lyondell Basell. The EPC 

contract will be assigned to Fluor. 

Patrik Wohlhauser, the Evonik Executive 

Board member responsible for the Consumer, 

Health & Nutrition reporting segment, and 

Dr. Moayyed I. Al-Qurtas, Deputy Chairman 

of the Supervisory Board and CEO of Tasnee, 

signed the corresponding joint venture agreement 

in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). “This is an 

important step for our Group in the Middle 

East growth market and will significantly 

boost our leading position for superabsorbents,” 

said Wohlhauser. Evonik is a leading 

global producer of superabsorbents, a key 

basic material for the manufacture of diapers 

and feminine hygiene prod ucts. 

The joint venture will be equipped with 

state-of-the-art Evonik superabsorbent technology 

and will benefit from the advantageous 

local source materials supply. The 

Construction of a hydrogen peroxide plant in China 

Evonik Industries will build a new production 

plant for hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in Jilin 

Province in northeastern China. An investment 

of more than E100 million in the 

project sees Evonik moving another step 

forward in its endeavor to access new sales 

markets for this environmentally friendly 

oxidant. 

Scheduled to be completed by the end of 

2013, the plant will boast an annual production 

capacity of 230,000 metric tons, thus 

increasing Evonik’s current overall annual 

capacity of around 600,000 tons for H 2 O 2 

production by nearly 40 percent. The Group 

believes it is the world’s second-largest 

manufacturer of hydrogen peroxide. 

Evonik will supply its H 2 O 2 from Jilin 

directly to the adjacent propylene oxide plant 

run by Jishen Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. via 

a pipeline that will link the two facilities. A 

long-term supply agreement has already been 

concluded between the companies. Jishen 

will use innovative technology, the so-called 

HPPO process, to make propylene oxide from 

the hydrogen peroxide. Evonik and Thys sen- 

Krupp Uhde GmbH, an engineering firm 

based in Dortmund (Germany), this summer 

entered a licensing agreement with Jishen 

Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. for its use of the 

HPPO process. Propylene oxide is mainly 

used in manufacturing polyurethane intermediates. 

The polyurethanes then go into 

making things like upholstery for car seats or 

furniture. The HPPO process was developed 

by Evonik in collaboration with Uhde. 

In the past, hydrogen peroxide was used 

mostly as a bleaching agent in the textile and 

pulp industry. The innovative HPPO process 

now makes it possible for this environmentally 

friendly oxidant to be used in the chemical 

direct synthesis of propylene oxide, too. 

The advantages of the HPPO process are 

that it requires significantly less investment 

and allows a high degree of production effi- 

neWs 

acryl ic acid for the production of superabsorbents 

will come from an adjoining SAMCO 

facility. SAMCO is a joint venture of SAAC 

and Dow Chemicals. 

“This is the first superabsorbent production 

plant in the region. We will provide our 

customers with our usual high-quality, up-todate 

technology to serve the growing market 

of the Middle East. Together with our Saudi 

partners, we are closing the supply chain 

from oil to diaper production in Saudi Arabia,” 

noted Claus Rettig, head of the Evonik Consumer 

Specialties Business Unit. 

Superabsorbents are a 

key base material for 

the manufacture of 

hygiene products such 

as diapers. The photo 

shows an applied- 

technology laboratory 

at Evonik’s Krefeld 

(Germany) site 

ciency. It is also an extremely eco-friendly 

process.The HPPO plant in China to use the 

Evonik-Uhde process will be the second of 

its kind. The first-ever, large-scale HPPO 

operation anywhere in the world was jointly 

established by Evonik, Uhde, and a Korean 

chemicals company (the licensee) in Ulsan 

(Korea) in 2008. 

“The global demand for HPPO technology 

is enormous,” said Jan Van den Bergh, 

head of Evonik’s Advanced Intermediates 

Business Unit, adding that “more and more 

chemicals manufacturers are using hydrogen 

peroxide as an environmentally friendly 

oxidant. We’re holding talks all over the 

world in an effort to further drive forward 

our growth strategy for hydrogen peroxide 

by promoting the use of this new technology.” 

Market forecasts anticipate continual 

growth of the worldwide market for propylene 

oxide. Evonik is investing in Jilin with 

the aim of participating in that growth. 

5 


6 nominated for the evonik innovation aWard 2011 


The Bounce® Dryer Bar offers care for 

textiles in bar form 

A fresh bar for 

the laundry 

David Del Guercio 

Dr. Georg Schick 

Saji Meledathu 

Lee Harrison 

Dr. Joachim Venzmer 

Consumer Specialties 

Business Unit 

Contact 

Dr. Hans Henning Wenk 

Consumer Specialties 

Business Unit 

+49 6181 59-2673 

henning.wenk@evonik.com 


laundry should Be pleasantly soft and aromatically fresh – 

which is why many consumers use fabric conditioner. However, 

while Europeans can easily pour this into the special compartment 

intended for this in their washing machine, things are more complicated 

for Americans: washing machines in the USA have historically 

been the top-loader variety, which do not have a separate 

fabric conditioner compartment. Once the wash cycle has finished, 

the fabric conditioner must be added and a new rinse cycle started. 

As a result, the North American market’s pursuit of convenience 

has resulted in the development over the last 30 years of clothes- 

dryer-applied fabric softener products. Thanks to a joint new 

devel opment from Procter & Gamble and Evonik, this type of 

fabric care will now become much easier: the Bounce® Dryer Bar 

is a new fabric enhancer product in the form of a thin flat bar 

which can be simply attached to the drum of a tumble dryer, giving 

clothing a pleasant freshness, softness, and reducing electrostatic 

loading on the garments. One bar lasts for up to four months in 

the dryer, and can easily be replaced with a new bar once fully 

depleted. It has now been nominated in the New Products/System 

Solutions category and has made it into the final stage with two 

other developments. 

The idea of applying the fabric softener in the dryer is not new. 

Fragranced and care conditioner “dryer sheets” already exist, and 

can be used instead of a fabric softener, but they have their drawbacks: 

very often they get caught in individual items of clothing 

and no longer move freely in the drum. This means that the softening 

agents are unevenly distributed on the fabric – and the consumer 

is dissatisfied. Fabric conditioner products in solid form are also not 

a new idea, however they have only been designed for industrial 

applications to date. 

Procter & Gamble – one of the leading manufacturer’s for consumer 

goods with well-known brands such as Lenor/Downy, Ariel/ 

Tide, and Pampers – and Evonik therefore joined forces. Their goal: 

to create a new product for the North American market which 

would significantly simplify the fabric softening process, and would 

repeatedly survive high temperatures without any damage and be 

biodegradable. The result is the Bounce® Dryer Bar, a fresh bar 

form product which in principle consists of three components: a 

laundry fabric conditioner that repeatedly remains stable at high 

temperatures, an ingredient which assures the bar form even in 

dryer conditions, and a fragrance. Evonik is supplying the entire 

product mixture as flakes to the American company which it can 

then convert into the desired color and form. 

The Bounce® Dryer Bar has been on the market since July 2009 

and “is consistently exceeding expectations at Procter & Gamble,” 

says Bob McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble. 

In 2010 the Bounce® Dryer Bar was honored with the Silver Edison 

Award, an inventor’s prize, in the household products category.


High-precision PLEXIGLAS® lenses make photovoltaic 

technology efficient and inexpensive 

Exploiting the sun’s 

essence 

Dr. Jochen Ackermann 

Andrew Baumler 

Bradley Brech 

Peter Colburn 

Dave DiBona 

Grant LaFontaine 

Uwe Löffler 

Peter Marks 

Volker Mende 

Mike Pasierb 

Steffen Richter 

Dieter Rothermel 

Wolfgang Scharnke 

Dr. Jann Schmidt 

Performance Polymers 

Business Unit 

Dr. Andreas Hoff 

Hans Rausch 

Process Technology & 

Engineering Service Unit 

Dr. Thomas Arndt 

Analytical Services Service 

Unit, Material Testing 

Dr. Ralf Düssel 

Dr. Sandra Reemers 

Coatings & Additives 

Business Unit 

Contact 

Peter Marks 


Business Unit 

+1 207 490-4371 

peter.a.marks@evonik.com 

nominated for the evonik innovation aWard 2011 7 

PhotovoltaiC systems have become an important 

pillar in climate-friendly and ecologically tolerable 

energy generation on a global scale. In collaboration 

with 10X Technology LLC (Libertyville, Illinois, USA) 

and Amonix Inc. (Seal Beach, California, USA), the 

world’s leader in concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), 

Evonik has developed a product that serves the increasing 

application of CPV: high-precision Fresnel lenses 

made of PLEXIGLAS® Solar. These lenses bundle the 

sun’s rays, concentrate that light on a small surface, 

and thus boost the efficiency of solar modules. The 

cross-divisional, international team of Evonik developers 

responsible for this innovation has now been 

nominated for the Evonik Innovation Award 2011 in 

the New Products/System Solutions category. 

In the pursuit to make photovoltaic technology more 

efficient, we can direct our focus on two things: on 

reducing the manufacturing costs for solar modules or 

on increasing their yield. One particularly promising 

area of development is concentrating photovoltaics. 

This budding new technology holds the prospect of 

exceptional effectiveness, since it bundles sunlight 

through so-called primary and secondary lenses and 

focuses it on the highly efficient solar cells used in CPV. 

Primary lenses are mounted in front of the solar cells, 

from where they concentrate light onto the secondary 

lenses placed directly onto the cell. CPV not only concentrates 

sunlight, but it also reduces the requirements 

for the extremely expensive semiconductor material. 

The product now nominated for the Evonik Innovation 

Award serves as a primary lens. The research ers 

had to overcome a number of obstacles to develop it. 

For one thing they had to find a way to transfer the microstructure 

precisely and faultlessly onto a PLEXIGLAS® 

film to be able to ensure efficient optical performance. 

They also had to develop a highly automated process 

with which to laminate this structured film onto the 

carrier sheets and thus enable the production of perfect, 

self-suppor t ing concentrator optics. They were, moreover, 

faced with the task of develop ing a 25-year guarantee 

to further enhance product marketability. 

The team surmounted all these obstacles. After initial 

product trials at a pilot facility in Weiterstadt (Germany), 

greater test quantities were produced at 10X Techno logy 

LLC in Chicago (Illinois, USA) and at Evonik Cyro 

LLC in Sanford (Maine, USA). 

These PLEXIGLAS® Solar concentrator lenses have 

helped CPV technology take great strides towards 

achieving the generally applied market benchmark for 

electricity generation: the levelized cost of electricity 

(LCOE). From a commercial perspective, the project is 

already a success, with initial profit contributions re - 

cord ed in 2011. This development has helped catapult 

Evonik to the forefront of CPV technology. 




VESTAMID® for 

photovoltaics 

Dr. Franz-Erich Baumann 

Bernd Beckmann 

Claudia Behrens 

Michael Beyer 

Dr. Harald Häger 

Martin Himmelmann 

Reinhold Steiner 

Dr. Andreas Pawlik 

Dr. Martin Wielpütz 


Business Unit 

Contact 

Dr. Martin Wielpütz 


Business Unit 

+49 2365 49-86725 

martin.wielpuetz@evonik.com 


you Will find it in offshore oil pipelines and under the hood 

of a car, in toothbrushes and sports shoes, in impellers and silent 

gears—and now even in solar modules. Yet again, Evonik has 

demonstrated the versatility of its VESTAMID® high-performance 

polyamide and developed the raw materials for a new and inno - 

va tive backsheet for solar modules. This application has so far used 

exclusively a composite film of polyvinyl fluoride and polyester. 

In VESTAMID® Evonik now offers the so lar industry a fluoride-free 

solution. As it is more easily recycled, this product at last provides 

an eco-friendly alternative on the path to more ecologically responsible 

energy management. It also has superior properties—a 

devel opment that has aroused keen interest among solar module 

manufacturers and has now won it a nomination for the Evonik 

Inno va tion Award 2011 in the New Products/System Solutions 

category. 

Most of the solar modules currently installed on rooftops use 

solar cells made from silicon that convert sunlight into power. To 

create a module from the solar cells, these are soldered together, 

embedded for mechanical protection and encapsulated. While the 

front of the capsule is usually made of glass to allow penetration 

of light, the rear of the module is insulated by a plastic film. The 

film serves to protect against weathering effects and to prevent the 

electric voltage from impacting the rear of the module. 

The rear cover must resist wind, weather, and UV light, be electrically 

insulating, and, even in warm, humid weather, protect 

against condensed water, which could corrode the cells; in addition, 

it must reflect sunlight to increase the efficiency of the 

mo dule. And these properties must be retained over a period of 

more than 20 years. Due to these extremely demanding requirements, 

virtually the only suitable material so far (for decades) 

has been a plastic film composite of polyester and polyvinyl fluoride. 

Module producers have so far accepted the high price of 

this established film composite as well as the fact that its fluorine 

content considerably complicates recycling and should in fact be 

an exclusion criterion for an environmentally friendly technology. 

Evonik’s Performance Polymers Business Unit has now developed 

the raw materials for an alternative film composite of 

VESTAMID® with superior heat and light resistance to the established 

composite and also better light reflection. Close collaboration 

with customers was a crucial factor in this success: Isovoltaic 

AG (Lebring, Austria), a market leader in backsheets for solar modules, 

and Isosport Verbundbauteile GmbH (Eisenstadt, Austria), 

the largest processor of polyamide 12 films for the sports industry, 

translated this development into a new and revolutionary film composite. 

“The new film composite was launched in 2009 and the 

response was unbelievable,” says Dr. Martin Wielpütz, spokesman 

of the team nominated for the Innovation Award. “The solar industry 

had been downright waiting for an alternative to the established 

system. In VESTAMID® we are offering a high-performance system 

that has better properties and can be recycled easily. It is also less 

expensive and therefore counteracts increasing cost pressure in this 

industry.”


Process optimization 

More isophorone from 

less raw material 

Dr. Gerda Grund 

Robert Jansen 

Dr. Stephan Kohlstruk 

Martin Maier 

Dr. Jörg-Joachim Nitz 

Dr. Matthias Orschel 

Dr. Markus Schwarz 


Business Unit 

Dr. Axel Hengstermann 

Dr. Rolf Hirsch 

Dr. Norbert Richter 

Dr. Armin Rix 

Dr. Horst-Werner Zanthoff 

Process Technology & 

Engineering Service Unit 

Contact 

Dr. Jörg-Joachim Nitz 


Business Unit 

+49 2365 49-4882 

joerg-joachim.nitz@evonik.com 


in early 2014, Evonik will start up new production 

plants for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shan ghai 

(China). These plants will be the most advanced 

of their kind. As part of a large-scale project, an interdisciplinary 

team from the Coatings & Additives Business 

Unit and the Process Technology & Engineering 

Service Unit has carefully examined and optimized the 

entire process chain. The results are highly impressive: 

in the new isophorone plant in China, the selectivity of 

the process, which has already been optimized over 

several years, will achieve record levels. For this achievement, 

the team has now been nominated for the Evonik 

Innovation Award 2011 in the New or Improved Processes 

category. 

Isophorone, isophorone diamine, isophorone diisocyanate, 

and other derivatives are used to manufacture 

industrial flooring, synthetic leather, and eco-friendly 

paints and coatings, and also in composite materials and 

chemical synthesis. In its own estimate, Evonik is a 

market and technology leader in isophorone chemistry 

and its derivatives, with current production sites in 

Herne (Germany) and Mobile (Alabama, USA). The raw 

mate rial is acetone, which reacts at high pressures and 

temperatures to yield isophorone. This is a complex 

reaction and can easily lead to unwanted secondary and 

subsequent reactions. These latter reactions can be suppressed 

if only part of the acetone used undergoes 

conversion. 

The prices of raw materials, which have in general 

risen considerably and continuously over the last few 

years, are a significant cost driver in isophorone production. 

To counter the growing cost pressure, the 

selectivity of the isophorone production process had to 

be considerably improved without significantly increasing 

energy requirements in the plants. 

This was a daunting task, which the team achieved 

in a combination of different steps carried out at the 

same time. First, new chemical analysis methods had to 

be developed to clarify the mechanisms of by-product 

formation. Second, key approaches to process optimization 

were deduced from fundamental reaction engi - 

n eering considerations. At the same time, this new 

knowledge was applied in innovative concepts for plants 

and equipment. The selectivity of the existing plants 

could thus be significantly increased and the formation 

of by-products further reduced. The selectivity of the 

China plant will reach record levels. 

With this further improvement in performance, 

Evonik once again wants to restate its claim to technical 

leadership in isophorone and its derivatives, and to 

lay the foundations for further global consolidation of 

its market position. And, what’s equally important 

for Evonik, even the environment benefits because the 

improved process produces less waste, uses less energy, 

and therefore emits less CO 2 . 




New technology platform for the manufacturing 

of pharmaceutical polymers 

Quality by design 

Dr. Johannes Vorholz 

Andy Weber 


Business Unit 

Dr. Christian Meier 

Dr. Axel Monsees 


Business Unit 

Dr. Thomas Süfke 

Dr. Sabine Löchner 

Dr. Stefan Menzler 

Shraddha Bodinge 

Health & Nutrition 

Business Unit 

Joachim Heid 

Dr. Andreas Landgrafe 

Site Services Darmstadt 

Contact 

Dr. Johannes Vorholz 


Business Unit 

+49 6151 18-4714 

johannes.vorholz@evonik.com 


When a PharmaCeutiCal components supplier makes changes to the 

manu facturing process for its product, the ramifications can be momentous. If 

the change affects the quality or properties of the product in any, even minor, 

way, that product will need to be re-released—a procedure which takes a great 

deal of time and involves enormous costs. 

A cross-divisional team of experts has now developed a new polymerization 

platform, SOLUPOL, that gracefully circumnavigates this problem. The 

new technology for manufacturing the pharmaceutical polymers EUDRAGIT® 

RS, RL, and E produces exactly the same product properties as the established 

method while actually enhancing product purity, too. What’s more, SOLUPOL 

enables access to other products with new properties. That makes it a genuine 

technology platform—one that satisfies the stringent quality specifications of 

good manufacturing practices (GMP) as prescribed by the pharmaceuticals 

industry. 

SOLUPOL combines a method of solution polymerization with a state-ofthe-art 

GMP-compliant downstream processing. What makes SOLUPOL such 

an ingenious development is that, from the outset, even as initial testing was 

being performed in the laboratories, the team kept a keen eye on how process 

parameters affected chemical and physical processes in the reactor and how 

they affected the upscaling process, so as to ascertain the influence they would 

ultimately have on the product properties of the eventual pharmaceutical polymers. 

This was made possible by a miscellany of technical experiments, analyses, 

kinetic measuring, and simulation methods employed both in the course of 

process development and as part of the scale-up procedure. 

“Quality by design” is what this relatively new procedure is called—a procedure 

that does not just look to get a result but to also understand the underlying 

theory. Quality by design is a tool for manufacturers who wish to command 

the production process right from the start and in a way that will allow 

them to precisely fine-tune product quality and properties. Quality by design 

ensures consistent quality (an all-important criterion for the pharmaceuticals 

industry) as well as enabling the creation of new product properties. 

SOLUPOL offers all these attributes. This new technology sets out meticulously 

defined processing conditions that safeguard consistent product quality. 

EUDRAGIT® polymers are used for a variety of purposes, be it for tablet coating, 

for example, or as a component in matrix and pellet formulations in which 

polymers serve to precisely regulate the release of active agents even over a 

longer period of time. 

The development team conducted an extensive series of trials which proved 

that the pharmaceutical polymer manufactured using SOLUPOL technology 

meets more than 30 different product specifications. They showed that there 

was no difference between the products made using this method and those 

manufactured using the established method, most notably in terms of their 

application-relevant properties and their drug-release functions. 

The technique has since been developed to application maturity. A new 

facility that will use SOLUPOL technology to manufacture pharmaceutical 

polymers is scheduled to go into operation in Darmstadt (Germany) before 

the year-end. 

For more than 50 years now Evonik’s EUDRAGIT® polymers have been 

used to control drug release in pharmaceuticals. In the form of tablet coat ing, 

matrix tablets, or pellets, they reliably channel the active ingredient to the location 

of resorption in the gastrointestinal tract (either pH-value-controlled or 

time-controlled), they mask the odor and taste of drugs, and they not only 

insulate the active ingredient but can protect people’s stomachs, for example, 

as well. SOLUPOL now gives Evonik the tool with which to add other innovative 

properties to this list. The development of this additional tool has now 

been rewarded with a nomination for the Evonik Innovation Award 2011.


A new process makes the manufacturing 

of the TS-1 catalyst more environmentally 

friendly and economic 

It’s the mixture 

that does it 

Dr. Kai Schumacher 

Dr. Christian Schulze Isfort 

Dr. Steffen Hasenzahl 

Dr. Helmut Mangold 

Dr. Andreas Hille 

Dr. Martin Mörters 

Dr. Wolfgang Lortz 

Dr. Reinhard Vormberg 

Rainer Loutschni 

Friedhelm Collmann 

Dr. Stefan Wieland 

Dr. Michael Grün 

Dr. Jörg Pietsch 

Kurt-Alfred Gaudschun 

Inorganic Materials 

Business Unit 

Dr. Bernd Jäger 

Advanced Intermediates 

Business Unit 

Contact 

Dr. Andreas Hille 

Inorganic Materials 

Business Unit 

+49 7623 91-7262 

andreas.hille@evonik.com 


Whether the refrigerator is energy-saving, 

the house is particularly well thermally insulated, and the 

seat cushions, dashboard, and bumper in the car are 

lightweight and thus save gas, in most cases this is 

down to a special plastic – polyurethane foam. And the 

probabil ity that the titanium silicalite-1 catalyst (TS-1) 

from Evonik has made a significant contribution to its 

manufacturing is increasing: TS-1 is used in the socalled 

HPPO process which yields propylene oxide, an 

important raw mater ial for polyurethane. Researchers 

from the Inorganic Materials Business Unit have now 

come up with a new gateway to TS-1, an achievement 

which has secured the team a nomination for the 

Evonik Inno vation Award 2011 in the New or Improved 

Processes category. 

The TS-1 catalyst has remarkable characteristics 

for selective oxidations with hydrogen peroxide. One 

exam ple is the production of industrial-scale lactams, 

important nylon components. The most significant 

large-scale application, however, is the direct synthesis 

of propylene oxide from propene and hydrogen peroxide. 

The HPPO process, jointly developed by Evonik 

and Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany), marks a milestone 

in the synthesis of propylene oxide. It represents 

the first and only industrial-scale process for the production 

of propylene oxide completely free of by-prod ucts. 

This breakthrough was possible due to a customized 

TS-1 catalyst from Evonik. 

Due to the great economic importance of propylene 

oxide – in 2010 more than 6.5 million tons were produced 

and demand is still growing – the now nomi n ated 

team decided to fundamentally revise the manufacturing 

process for TS-1. Critical points concerning the previous 

process, the so-called ester route, were, in particular, 

high raw material costs and capacity limitations in 

the first synthesis step. 

The application technology challenge regarding the 

optimization of the powder handling by the researchers 

of the Catalysts Business Line could be solved by a customized 

dispersion which was developed by the dispersion 

specialists from the Silica Business Line. Close, 

multidivision collaboration of various teams of specialists 

created synergies which finally resulted in a readyto-use 

dispersion that was perfectly adapted to the 

needs of the TS-1 developers. As a result, the efficiency 

of the subsequent hydrothermal synthesis could be 

increased even further. This synthesis, which is called 

“Mixed Oxide Route,” is not only simpler and more costefficient 

than the ester route, but also more environmentally 

friendly because lower waste flows are created. 

“The market forecasts predict a continuous growth 

of the worldwide market for propylene oxide,” says 

Dr. Andreas Hille, spokesperson of the nominated team. 

“The new Mixed Oxide Route means that we are 

equipped for this in the best possible way.” 


12 ProCess teChnology 


Flexible and mobile small-scale plants minimize investment risk 

and accelerate time-to-market 

Small is beautiful 

Chemical production need not always take 

place in huge plants. Chemists and process 

engineers at Evonik are developing flexible 

small-scale processes that fit inside a container. 

Because small is profitable—not only for new 

products and volatile markets, but whenever 

time-to-market is the key to success. 

[ text Dr. Jürgen Lang, Dr. Frank Stenger, Dr. Hannes Richert ]

Who says that the chemical industry knows only 

how to build large-scale plants? Where is it written 

that chemical production is only profitable when it 

can produce ten or one hundred thousand metric tons 

per year? Much of the added value of chemical companies 

comes from fine and specialty chemicals—in 

other words, substances, mixtures, and preparations 

that markets need in relatively small quantities, but 

that are decisive for the proper functioning or quality 

of products. Certain organic additives, for 

example, make plastics for car dashboards scratch- 

resistant. Small amounts of impregnating materials 

in paints or mortar ensure that valuable buildings are 

protected against water and moisture for the long 

term. 

Of course, high-volume chemicals are a part of the 

portfolio of every globally operating chemical company. 

The problem is that investing millions in largescale 

plants is decidedly risky when no one knows 

for certain where the markets are heading to and 

whether there will be sufficient demand over many 

years or not. So construction of world-scale plants 

that cover a significant share of demand makes good 

economic sense only if the markets are already in the 

midst of a growth period—in other words, when entrepreneurial 

risk is minimized. The reverse is also 

true: only those who arrive first can open up lucrative 

new markets and demonstrate their innovative 

strength. 

Early investment in largescale 

plants is rather risky 

Not an easy situation. What makes it worse is that the 

pace of innovation and the pressure for companies to 

innovate have increased enormously. Changing consumption 

patterns, increasing mobility, and dwin - 

d l ing resources mean that new or improved products 

have to be available within a very short time. While 

innovation cycles of eight to ten years used to be the 

norm, current time-to-market timeframes cannot be 

substantially longer than two to four years. 

If nothing else, today, customers want to know in 

advance whether the new substance or the modified 

substance mixture meet their needs exactly. That 

means supplying them with material samples that exactly 

match the chemical and physical characteristics 

of the product manufactured on an industrial 333 


Life cycle of a product. Because the specific curve for a particular product 

can be drawn only in hindsight, the art is in supplying the required 

capacities at the right moment. In other words, growing with the market 

while keeping the investment risk as low as possible 

Product price 

Product price Market penetration 

Development Premium Growth Commodity 

0 Commercial introduction 

Timetomarket is becoming increasingly shorter. Changing consumption 

patterns, increasing mobility, and dwindling resources mean that new or 

improved products have to get to market faster and faster. Flexible smallscale 

plants can help in this regard and turn out to be profitable, but only when 

specific plant costs can be significantly reduced by today’s standards 

Today Future 

Cumulated cash flow 

Specific investments 

Time [years] 

Market penetration 

Time [years] 

Plant capacity 

13 




333 

scale. And since the manufacturing parameters 

often influence the properties and qualities of a substance, 

the small-scale process must replicate the 

later large-scale process at an early stage. 

For all three trends—minimization of market risk, 

shorter innovation cycles, and increasing customer 

standards—there is one persuasive answer: smallscale 

plants. At Evonik, a small group of chemists and 

engineers specifically dedicated to this innovative 

small-scale chemistry and its processes has been 

established. 

But what does “small” actually mean? Compact 

small-scale plants involve quantities of a few metric 

tons up to several hundred metric tons of product per 

year—substances that may be highly innovative but 

that the market demands in relatively small quan tities. 

But above all, the compactness of the small-scale plant 

is related mainly to its size. The group of experts at 

Evonik develops chemical plants that fit inside an 

overseas container with a footprint of three by six or 

three by twelve meters. In the final stage, the chemical 

plant in the container is an all-inclusive system— 

with reactors, product preparation, process control 

engineering, IT modules, storage space for the feedstocks, 

elements for constructive fire protection, escape 

doors, and catch basins in compliance with the 

Water Resources Law. 

Container chemistry allows smallscale 

production under reallife conditions 

The advantages of compact small-scale systems are 

obvious: compared with a commercial-scale plant, 

the investment costs are relatively low and the market 

risk is significantly smaller. The experts can develop 

a process independently of the site where subsequent 

production takes place, which saves valuable 

time. Container chemistry produces substances to 

the exact requirements of the market and customer. 

Moreover, it is no pilot plant in the traditional sense, 

because it later serves as a “real” production plant, 

often without extensive modification. Small-scale 

enables fast and simple capacity adjustment: if demand 

rises more than expected, production is expand 

ed to several containers or can even be directly 

transferred to a large-scale plant. This approach splits 

both investment costs and risks—not an insignificant 

factor for a company. 

Above all, however, small-scale plants shorten the 

time from idea to market entry. Laboratory development 

and basic engineering—planning phases that are 

otherwise strictly separated—can take place simultan 

eously. This is because the container is not only the 

place where the new process is developed but where 

production is also planned. 

Make something small from something large—it 

sounds simple, but it poses a real challenge for planners 

and developers. A reaction in the glass flask may 

work perfectly, but will it work just as well in continuous 

production with pencil-thin reaction tubes? Air 

bubbles that have no effect on the stream in a thick 

pipe can cause big problems in thin ones. Will the 

pump that performed well for a few months in the 

laboratory suffice for continuous production lasting 

several years? Is the small heat exchanger from the 

laboratory constructed of a material with an adequate 

service life for real production? 

Even the engineering is anything but trivial: space 

is limited and, therefore, valuable. Engineers must 

accommodate all the functionalities of a chemical 

plant in a space not much larger than a garage. 

Small is beautiful—but only if some central challenges 

can be overcome. On one side, small-scale production 

has specific technical requirements. Small 

volumes often mean acceleration of the mass transfer. 

Thus, the measuring and control technology must be 

far more sensitive than in large-scale plants. Acceleration 

of processes also places higher demands on 

the measuring technology. On the other hand, the 

short routes in the container enable far better heat 

integration. 

Small scale means a paradigm shift 

On the other hand, small-scale bridges the gap between 

laboratory, pilot plant, and real production. 

Because a container-based process is designed to be 

a continuous process, the engineer must work with 

structural elements, components, materials, and process 

parameters that also characterize the real-life 

production of the substance later on. For example, 

you need small pumps that run reliably and continuously 

for years, and materials with a long shelf life— 

things that are normally unachievable with standard 

laboratory equipment. To heat a reaction solution, a 

heat exchanger or coils have to be used from the 

beginning, not a Bunsen burner or water bath. When 

a substance mixture has to be separated through 

distillation, the process engineer uses a column in the 

small-scale process and not a rotary evaporator. For 

chemists, this is a true paradigm shift, since a pilotscale 

production process is usually discontinuous, 

while a commercial-scale process is continuous. 

Another type of plant raises completely different 

questions: Do I need the same logistics and division 

of labor in the small-scale process? To what extent 

can the chemistry of small-scale plants be automated? 

Because the space in the container is quite limited,

The Evotrainer mini-factory. Measuring only 3 by 

12 meters, the container holds everything needed for 

production—reactors, process control technology, 

IT modules, storage space for feedstocks, elements for 

constructive fire protection, escape doors, and catch 

basins in compliance with the Water Management Law 

multifunctionality plays an important role: a pipeline, 

for example, can also function as a support or provide 

stability. Not least, the industry still has little experience 

with cost estimation factors for a compact 

plant. 

A complete chemical plant in an extremely small 

space—how does that work in reality? Finding an 

answer to this question has been one of the objectives 

Evonik experts, in cooperation with other companies 

and several universities, have been pursuing 

since 2009 in their work on the EU research project 

Copiride. As part of the project, Evonik has part nered 

with the universities of Stuttgart (Germany) and 

Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and the Institute for 

Microtechnology (IMM) in Mainz (Germany) on the 

development of a third-generation container. The 

unique feature of the container will be its ability to 

be used anywhere. The supply system for water, process 

gases, electricity, heat, and data lines is designed 

in such a way that, theoretically, any chemical reaction 

can be run in it. 

A universal infrastructure is the 

key to success 

The beauty of the idea lies in its versatility. For example, 

one can integrate a complete chemical plant, 

but also only one single reactor for a special 

downstream processing step. High-pressure technology, 

comprehensive safety technology, and an ultracompact 

design are particularly important for the 

model reaction in the Copiride Project. The project 

will also demonstrate that the approach can be used 

to run reactions safely and easily under highly critical 

process conditions. If all goes according to plan, 

the all-round container should be available beginning 

in 2012. The Evonik site in Marl (Germany) is then 

scheduled to use the container for commercial-scale 

production of a specialty polymer. 

As part of a second EU project called Polycat, 

Evonik has been developing a high-tech infrastructure 

for production processes based on the Good 

Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard since 2010. 

The GMP standard refers to guidelines for quality assurance 

in the production processes for the manufacture 

of pharmaceuticals, but also in the food and 

feed industries. Accordingly, this type of infrastructure 

will contain special gates and other equipment 

to meet the high safety and hygienic standards of 

GMP processes. 

Regardless of the process, modularization plays a 

key role in small-scale plants. A module comprises a 

particular plant area or component with certain technical 

requirements. As a rule, modules are standardized 

and prefabricated structural elements or component 

groups that accelerate the planning and construction 

of a plant and reduce the costs of operation. 

Small-scale design and modularization are mutually 

beneficial. A module may always be less than optimal 

because of the compromises one frequently makes 

between requirements, but it can be available fast and 

at a reasonable price. If the container process is modular, 

the processes can be modified or swapped 

quickly. Inversely, modularization is advanced because 

function and design repeat themselves in smallscale 

plants. 

Prototypical: the Evonik Evotrainer 

The work carried out within the framework of the 

EU projects mentioned above builds on an existing 

prototype—the Evotrainer from Evonik. With 333 


15 



keyWord: faCtory of the future 

EU promotes the development of 

the future chemical factory 

In the chemical industry, future processes will be more cost-effective 

and continuous production more flexible. The EU expects this 

to strengthen the competitive position of the European chemical 

industry, since it will be able to minimize the cost risks associated 

with chemical plants, accelerate innovation cycles, and react faster 

to market changes than it can currently. In the medium term, large, 

inflexible production plants will lose their relevance in Europe, so 

flexible chemical production offers the opportunity to preserve 

the importance of Europe’s chemical industry. This is the guiding 

principle of Copiride, Polycat, and F3 Factory (Fast Flexible Future), 

another large-scale research project of the 

EU, in which companies, universities, and 

research institutions from Europe are developing 

the factory of the future. The objective 

of the factory of the future is to provide 

a concept and platform for modern, 

sustainable production of every kind. 

The factory of the future: the aim of Copiride 

is to be able to connect a wide range of different 

containers flexibly, as needed 


333 the Evotrainer, developers have already placed an 

important issue for nearly all chemical processes front 

and center: the means of supplying raw materials, 

energy, water, and data lines. Such infrastructure is 

needed for chemical processes to run at all, but at the 

same time, they account for as much as half of the investment 

costs of a conventional chemical plant. 

Several expansions of the Evotrainer have been 

realized over the past few years. Time and again, new 

components have been integrated, improved, and implemented 

for different processes. This can be successful 

only in cooperation with the business units. 

At the Rheinfelden site (Germany), for example, 

silane compounds (Siridion® HCDS, hexachlorodisilane), 

which are important as precursors for chip production, 

have been produced in a compact plant since 

2010. Because the electronics industry demands particularly 

high purity of its raw materials, the production 

process was designed in such a way as to simplify 

the otherwise expensive and time-consuming purification 

of the products. 

Thanks to the integrated planning process and 

close cooperation with the production, application 

technology, business development, and marketing 

units of the Inorganic Materials Business Unit, it took 

less than three years to conclude development, all the 

way through to continuous production. In this period, 

engineers were able not only to optimize the process 

and design the required equipment, but also to prepare 

the Evotrainer for Siridion® HCDS in Hanau- 

Wolfgang (Germany), commission it, and transport 

it to the final production site in Rheinfelden. Parallel 

to this, the first customers were supplied at an early 

stage with samples of Siridion® HCDS from what 

would later be the production plant. The Evotrainer 

therefore ensured prompt market launch of Siridion® 

HCDS, which made a substantial contribution to business 

success. 

The team of experts from Evonik see themselves 

not only as service providers for the various business 

units of the Group. With its innovative, full-fledged 

small-scale plants in containers, the team supplies the 

basis for significantly reducing the time from product 

idea to final production process. 

“Rent a plant” as business model 

The specialists at Evonik are also developing an interesting 

new business model for the Group’s business 

units: the rentable production plant. The idea for 

Rent-a-Plant® is that the team of experts at the Process 

Technology & Engineering Service Unit, together 

with the respective R&D departments from a 

business line, develop and construct the process for 

small volumes. After start-up testing, the finished 

production plant can then be transported to the 

desired production site in the Group—wherever that 

happens to be. If the container is no longer needed— 

for example, because a large-scale plant is required— 

it can be returned and equipped for the next process.

The Evotrainer in Rheinfelden 

The demand for a flexible technology for producing 

chemical products is growing. Small-scale plants 

allow a company to market a new product earlier. 

Prod uct and process development are accelerated, 

and the financial risk is minimized. Flexible and 

mobile compact plants adjust to demand and the customer: 

capacity can grow with the market, and the 

plant allows up-scaling without retrofitting. 

They can also be located almost anywhere. Mobile 

compact small-scale plants also enable production 

directly on the customer’s site—the Evotrainer can 

produce wherever the economic conditions are most 

favorable. The concept allows accelerated innovation 

cycles. This is a key advantage particularly for fastgrowing 

“green” technologies, since the implementation 

of technical advances is far faster than with 

classical large-scale chemistry. 

The chemical industry in Europe has lived off 

mass-produced chemicals for a long time. But times 

are changing. Pharmaceutical companies are not the 

only ones obliged to supply more new, innovative 

substances earlier than ever before—substances that 

may be needed in relatively small quantities but that 

have interesting properties and add a great deal of 

value. Miniaturized chemical production opens up 

paths to flexible, efficient and resource-friendly production 

that meets the growing demands of a globalized 

marketplace, accelerates innovation, and also 

gives large corporations a highly promising way to 

react flexibly to changing conditions. 777 


dr. Jürgen lang works in Innovation Management 

of the Process Technology & Engineering Service 

Unit. He started his career as a computer technician 

apprentice at Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm from 1979 

to 1983. After studying high-frequency and microwave 

engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology 

(KIT) from 1986 to 1995, he earned his doctorate at 

the KIT Institute for Physical Electronics with research 

in the field of plasma catalytic effects in ammonia 

synthesis. Lang joined the Process Techno l ogy unit 

of Evonik Industries after working at the Fraun hofer 

Insti tute for System Technology and Inno vation Re - 

search (FhG-ISI) from 1987 to 2000 and took over his 

current position in 2010. 

+49 6181 59-2169, juergen.lang@evonik.com 

dr. frank stenger manages the Small-Scale Processes 

group in the Process Technology & Engineering Service 

Unit of Evonik. He holds a degree in process technology 

from the Technical University of Karlsruhe and earned 

his doctorate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg 

with research in the field of production and dispersion of 

nanoparticles. He joined the Process Technology & En - 

gineering Service Unit of Evonik in 2004. Stenger has 

been working in the Particle Technology department as 

a process engineer and took over his current position in 

2010. 

+49 6181 59-6284, frank.stenger@evonik.com 

dr. hannes richert is a project manager in the 

Process Technology & Engineering Service Unit of 

Evonik. He holds a degree in process technology from 

the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg and 

earned his doctorate there with research in the field of 

computer-aided plant design. He joined the Process 

Technology & Engineering Service Unit of Evonik in 

1998. Richert works in the project department as a 

project manager, a process engineer, and as liaison to 

the IT department for topics like modern process and 

plant design methods. 

+49 6181 59-4967, hannes.richert@evonik.com 

17 


18 analytiCs 

Surface spectrometry 

Analysis tool 

for the uppermost 

nanometers 

X-ray photoelectron spectrometry enables 

analysis of the uppermost atomic layers 

of a wide variety of materials—qualitatively, 

semi-quantitatively, and quantitatively. 

The process is an important tool that can be 

used from the product development and 

description stage, through quality assurance, 

to patent protection. 

[ text Dr. Peter Albers ] 


The new XPS measuring 

system of AQura, Evonik’s 

analytics service provider 

today’s ChemiCal ProCesses have developed so far that 

even the surfaces of the materials involved in a process can exert 

a significant influence: often, changes in morphology or in the 

chemical composition of the uppermost material layer are 

enough to change the overall result of a process. This is why 

spectrometric analytical methods, which enable a description of 

concentrations and bonding states in the uppermost atomic 

layers, are so important. Particularly when it comes to the fineparticle 

products with large surface areas that Evonik has in its 

portfolio, the upper nanometer and micrometer range largely 

determine the properties of the entire material. 

But integral measuring processes—that is, those that cover 

the entire sample—only supply information on the overall composition. 

So by these methods, we are unable to make precise 

enough assertions about such details as the properties of a 

catalyst layer only a few nanometers thick, even if it significantly 

affects the activity and selectivity of the catalyst. 

In the past few decades, academia and industry have worked 

together on developing suitable new processes and instruments 

for just these issues. A good example is X-ray photoelectron spectrometry 

(XPS), which is also known as electron spectrometry

for chemical analysis (ESCA). XPS renders visible such features 

as valence change processes and chemical changes on the 

surface as a result of oxidation, reduction, formation, aging, 

contamination, or corrosion. But it can also be used to analyze 

adhesion, wettability, and water-repellency—just to name a few 

more examples from a long list of questions that XPS is able to 

answer. 

Compared to electron microprobe analysis (EMA) in scanning 

electron microscopy (SEM), the advantage of XPS is that it 

also functions well when the layer requiring analysis is only a 

few nanometers thick—a dimension 1,000 times smaller than with 

the typical EMA: XPS offers much higher surface selectivity. 

Since the beginning of the year 2011, AQura GmbH, Evonik’s 

ana l ytics service provider, has operated a new X-ray photoelectron 

spectrometer, which has replaced its 25-year-old predecessor. 

While the old device had been upgraded several times over 

its history, it was less and less able to keep up with the demands 

of today’s measuring campaigns in terms of speed, energy resolution, 

and detection sensitivity. 

In XPS, an X-ray source fires soft X-rays onto a material surface 

in an ultra-high vacuum. As a result of photoionization, also 

known as atomic or molecular photoeffect, the X-rays liberate 

bound electrons from the energy level of the sample atoms and 

from the valence bands of the material to be analyzed. These can 

then be analyzed with an electron spectrometer after emission 

from the sample surface. The original binding energy of the 

electrons can be determined from the result of their stimulation 

energy and the measured kinetic energy. This gives a direct 

indication of the chemical valence state of an element. 

An XPS system specifically measures the surface, because the 

mean free path of electrons in solids is a minimum of between 

10 and 1,000 electron volts—to exploit this material property 

exactly these electrons are used. 

Nearly all elements and nonconducting 

materials can be analyzed 

With the exception of hydrogen and helium, all elements can be 

measured with XPS. Soft X-rays supply the right energy for 

releasing electrons because they “address” other electrons in 

each element based on their energy relationships: in carbon, for 

example, the s electrons, and in palladium, the d electrons. 

333 


20 analytiCs 

Sample holder with a solar cell segment (blue), 

a piece of high-purity silicon (the shiny object), 

and an electrical component in front of the open 

loading chamber, which is flooded with inert gas. 

The task: to examine the surface chemistry and 

purity level of the surfaces, in the contact areas 

and on the busbars of the solar cells 

333 

AQura’s new XPS system has three separate specimen 

chambers that allow analysis of a wide variety of materials: 

every type of solid, high-purity powder, corrosive, contaminated, 

or even wet products. It can also measure widely differing 

mater ials in rapid succession, which would otherwise require 

time-consum ing evacuation and cleaning steps. An argon ion 

beam can also be used during the measurement to remove the 

surface of a speci men layer by layer to determine, for example, 

vertical concentration profiles in the nanometer to micrometer 

range. 

The new system can also measure non-conducting materials 

such as AEROSIL®, polymers, glass, or ceramics. This is by no 

means self-evident: when the X-ray beam strikes binding electrons, 

the number of the—positively charged—holes in the specimen, 

and therefore the work function, increases. In other 

words, the measured kinetic energy of the electrons drops. With 

heterogeneous surfaces, that would falsify the measuring result. 

Electrically conductive specimens automatically compensate for 

this undesired effect: they lie directly on potential, which means 

that the positive holes that develop are immediately filled back 

in with flowing electrons. 


In the new system, a surrounding magnetic field ensures that 

the electrons of non-conducting specimens flow back to the specimen, 

which can then merge with the holes again. During the 

measurement, it looks as if the non-conducting materials are 

also located on the spectrometer potential. The work function 

of the freed binding electrons, therefore, is no longer falsified. 

Individual atoms become distinguishable 

What XPS can do is best illustrated using typical measurements 

that AQura employees have already performed for internal and 

external customers. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), for 

example, is a material that currently plays a role in a variety of 

applications that depend on surface properties. For example, the 

beading behavior of PMMA can be influenced by the weather. 

For transport, on the other hand, the surface of the PMMA must 

be modified to allow residue-free removal of lamination films 

that are applied for protection. 

The XPS can be used to clarify the effect of these influences 

on the PMMA surface, since it can resolve the fine structure of 

the carbon and oxygen atoms of the polymer. It distinguishes the

Figure 1. 

Carbon (left) and oxygen 

signals (right) directly on 

a selectively weathered 

PMMA surface and a 

freshly fractured surface 

of this specimen. Right 

on the surface, the polymer 

“looks” chemically 

different than it does as 

a bulk material: the 

relative proportions of 

functional groups were 

changed 

Surface 

Bulk 

Figure 2. 

Change in the chemical 

valence of the palladium: 

reduced surface (deep 

purple), oxidized surface 

(gray) 

Pd 90%; PdO 10% 

Pd 15%; PdO 85% 

3,000 

2,000 

1,000 

individual atoms based on their functional groups, which in turn 

allows analysts to draw conclusions about chemical changes to 

the surface (Fig. 1). 

Catalysts are another broad field for XPS analysis. Their 

action and the quantities required largely depend on how the 

catalyst is distributed on the support, and what portion in the 

relative reaction is actually active or ensures particularly high 

product selectivity. 

AQura employees were able to determine, for example, why 

a palladium catalyst was deactivated on a support (Fig. 2). The 

catalyst was used for selective catalytic hydrogenation of acetyl 

ene to ethylene as part of the vinyl chloride production process. 

It became clear that the palladium was covered with coking and 

polymerization products as a result of an operational disruption, 

and that the chemical status of the palladium surface had been 

changed. 

XPS can also provide detailed analysis of the surface properties 

of the kinds of platinum-rhodium catalyst networks used 

in the ammonia combustion step of the Ostwald process for 

nitric acid production. These kinds of catalyst networks are also 

used in the Andrussow process for synthesis of HCN, which is 

Intensity [counts per second (cps)] Intensity [counts per second (cps)] 

0 

292 290 288 286 284 282 280 

Binding energy [eV] 

Intensity [cps] 

14,000 

12,000 

10,000 

8,000 

6,000 

4,000 

2,000 

0 

3,000 

2,000 

1,000 

analytiCs 

539 537 535 533 531 529 527 

345 340 335 330 

0 

Pd 3d3/2 Pd 3d Pd 3d5/2 

Binding energy [eV] 

Binding energy [eV], Mg 

re quired for the production of PMMA, methionine, cyanuric 

chlor ide, and a number of organic intermediates. 

Platinum and rhodium are present in the metallic state in 

unused catalyst networks. The spectroscopic signature of a used 

network is considerably different in the XPS profile (Fig. 3): 

differences in the fine structure indicate modified portions of 

metallic rhodium and oxidized rhodium on the catalyst surface. 

XPS is able to capture the cause of the changes, which is changing 

operating conditions in the reactor. With this information, 

the platinum-rhodium ratio in the catalyst can be selectively 

adjusted for optimal use on the commercial scale. 

On the other hand, XPS measurements of cerium oxide, such 

as those used in exhaust gas catalysts, sensors or in the chemical-mechanical 

polishing (CMP) of wafers, can determine the 

relative ratios of trivalent and tetravalent ceroxide (Fig. 4). The 

type of signal, therefore, immediately provides information on 

the chemical valence state. 

This information supplies developers with important data on, 

for example, the properties the oxides used in exhaust gas catalysts 

must have for optimum performance: namely, the ability 

to react as quickly and effectively to the change from a lean 333 

21 


22 analytiCs 

Figure 3. 

Above: electron micrographs of a fresh and a used 

catalyst gauze. The smooth surface of a Pt/Rh 

wire mesh becomes a rough, jagged surface with 

rho dium oxide needles (dark) and platinum crystallites 

(light). Below: XPS spectra show the changes 

in the ratios of platinum to rhodium and rhodium 

oxide under various operating conditions 

Figure 4. 

The signal structure of the cerium oxide is 

a sensitive fingerprint for the speed and extent 

of oxygen uptake and release on the technical 

scale 

CeOx, x = 1.55 

CeOx, x = 1.75 

CeOx, x = 1.80 

CeOx, x = 1.90 



22,000 

18,000 

14,000 

10,000 

Pt 


16,000 

14,000 

12,000 

10,000 

8,000 

333 air-fuel mixture—that is, one with a high oxygen content—to 

a fat air-fuel mixture by storing and releasing oxygen in the 

waste-gas stream of the combustion engine. This has a direct 

impact on exhaust emissions. 

XPS for drier baby bottoms 


10,000 

9,000 

8,000 

7,000 

6,000 

5,000 

A third material group whose function is far better understood 

thanks to XPS is superabsorbers, which have largely displaced 

cellulose fibers in the production of modern baby diapers. 

Superabsorbers are cross-linked polymers that can absorb a high 

volume of liquid but, unlike cellulose, do not release it again 

under pressure. 

For this to work properly, the surfaces of the polymers in the 

area of the uppermost nanometers must be treated with addi tives 

in a surface post-cross-linking step. This step improves per meability 

Pt 

Rh Metal 

Rh 2 O 3 

Rh Metal 

330 320 310 300 290 

Binding energy (eV) 


13,000 

11,000 

9,000 

7,000 


14,000 

12,000 

10,000 

8,000 

920 910 900 890 880 

Rh2O3 Rh Metal 

Rh 2 O 3 

Rh Metal 

330 320 310 300 290 



values, which is important for adequate and even distribution of 

liquid in the diaper, and prevents “gel blocking” effects. 

With its new XPS system, AQura employees can gradually 

etch superabsorber samples and spectroscopically analyze their 

surface. Because the signal intensity measured in this process is 

directly proportional to the concentration of the coating 

material, deep scanning can supply important information for 

improvement of the superabsorber (Fig. 5). 

These examples clearly show: XPS is an important and versatile 

tool for AQura’s customers for determining the fine structure 

and chemical composition of a variety of materials all the 

way down to the sub-nanometer range. It is a further and vital 

step on the way to opening up the transitional range of measurement 

between the atomic and molecular dimensions, on the one 

hand, and the actual nanometer world, on the other, and making 

it useful for product development. 777

Figure 5. 

Surface spectroscopy for optimization of baby diapers. XPS depth profiles 

on the superabsorber for the elements carbon, oxygen, aluminum, and 

sodium. Aluminum salts were added directly below the exterior surface. 

When liquids are absorbed, they carry the salts into the threedimensional 

structure of the superabsorber, where their capillary effects ensure even 

distribution of the liquid and optimal use of the inner surfaces. Result: 

a dry surface and a dry bottom! 

294 

538 

C 1s 

288 

O 1s 

534 

282 

530 

Intensity 

[cps] 

18 

16,000 

14 

12,000 

10 

8,000 

6 

4,000 

Intensity 

[cps] 

32,000 

28 

24,000 

20 

16,000 

12 

8,000 

80 

1,075 

76 

Al 2p 

72 

Na 1s 

Intensity 

[cps] 

2,200 

2.000 

1,800 

1.600 

1,400 

1.200 

1,000 

800 

600 

68 

1,069 

Intensity 

[cps] 

80,000 

70 

60,000 

50 

40,000 

30 

20,000 

dr. Peter albers heads the multisite Electron Micros - 

copy and Surface Analytics Competence Center of 

AQura GmbH in Hanau-Wolfgang and Marl. Albers 

studied chemistry at the University of Münster. Following 

a one-year research stipend at the Univer sity of 

Birmingham in England and research work in France 

(Institut Laue-Langevin/ILL in Grenoble) and England 

(Atomic Energy Research Establishment/AERE in 

Harwell), he obtained his doctorate in 1985 at the University 

of Münster. He has been an employee in 

Evonik’s Analytics unit since 1986. Albers’ work fo - 

cuses on such topics as the physicochemical characterization 

of catalysts for large-scale plants for industrial 

chemistry, chemical catalysts, automobile exhaust gas 

and fuel cell catalysts, industrial carbon blacks, pyrogenic 

and precipitated silicas, as well as the surface 

characterization of paints, polymers, glasses, ceramics, 

and paper. 

+49 6181 59-2934, peter.albers@aqura.de 

faCts and figures 

analytiCs 

AQura’s new XPS system 

• Three chambers with mass-spectrometric monitoring 

of the vacuum; 10 -6 to 10 -7 millibar in the prechambers, 

10 -8 to 10 -10 millibar in the main chamber; 

microfocus X-ray spot, which allows exact positioning 

on the analysis area 

• Measuring ranges between 1 mm and 10 µm possible, 

standard spots at 200 µm and 900 µm; smallspot 

analyses down to 20 µm possible; chemical 

element mapping 

• High energy resolution X-ray monochromator 

• High sensitivity allows it to prepare fast overview 

spectra and also conduct cost-effective trace analyses 

• Different techniques to compensate for electrical 

charging of a sample 

• Gas reaction cell for controlled oxidation and reduction 

preparation—for example, for catalysts 

• Angle-resolved measurements to increase the surface 

specificity for polymer analyses 

• Liquid injection system with cryo-holder for shockfreezing 

volatile or extremely sensitive samples 

under inert gas, followed by transfer to the actual 

spectrometer chamber 

23 


24 innovation management 

Corporate Foresight 


A strategic look into 

the next decade 

What medium- and long-term trends are shaping 

the world? What are the most relevant scenarios? 

And what does that have to do with Evonik? 

Nearly a year ago, Evonik established a five-person 

interdisciplinary team led by Creavis—the Corporate 

Foresight Team—to address these kinds of questions 

apart from current business activities. Its job: to identify 

new “future-proof” business areas for Evonik. 

“A world without chemistry is no longer conceivable,” 

says team leader Dr. Bernhard Schleich. “This 

is why we have to know how the world might evolve.” 

But this is not about scientific ambition. “We’re not 

looking to engage in basic research here,” stresses 

Dr. Peter Nagler, Evonik’s chief innovation officer. 

“Rather, our objective is new solutions with new 

technologies and business models.” 

The team defined megacities as a focal topic of 

2011. “The trend toward increasing urbanization will 

continue. Megacities manifest all the future problems 

of humanity living in close quarters,” says Schleich. 

This topical focus is designed to ensure that no region 

of the world is ignored, since some threshold and 

developing countries are showing such a dramatic 

change in purchasing power and offer a potentially 

enormous market. 

The team uses mini-scenarios featuring three fictitious 

megacities of the future to try to improve its 

understanding of the challenges faced by large cities— 

from water supply, through increased meat consumption, 

congested transportation routes, and climate 

change, to health care, efficient building and renovat 

ion, and an alternative energy supply. For Evonik, 

the interesting question is what kind of ideas this 

approach can yield—whether one ponders mobility, 

health, nutrition, or energy. Here, social, geographic, 

and scientific trends are interconnected. This is why 

Schleich’s core team addresses a variety of disciplines: 

chemistry, physics, politics, economics, and materials 

science. 

The focus: 

megacities and 

their problems

Since Corporate Foresight began “we have already 

developed about 50 new ideas,” says Schleich. The 

ideas now need to be monitored, developed further, 

and evaluated—including a critical look at whether it 

is worthwhile to continue pursuing them. Caretakers 

in the business units do the monitoring, and apply the 

brakes when the situation looks doubtful. “You have 

to stop before you come to a dead end,” says Schleich. 

“Stopping at the right time can even help to broaden 

your range of expertise.” 

With the Corporate Foresight team, Evonik has 

built its own methodical expertise in the area of future-oriented 

R&D—from trend analysis to strategic 

scenario analysis. This expertise is supplemented in 

specific areas by the know-how of the business units, 

the Process Technology & Engineering Service Unit, 

Creavis, and external specialists. 

“We’re not trying, as so many do, to tap growth 

potential through technology. Instead, we’re ap - 

proach ing the question from the other side: what will 

be needed in the future, and what challenges do we 

have to confront,” explains Schleich. “We intentionally 

consider all ideas—from new business models 

with existing products to the development of new 

technologies.” 777 

intervieW 

innovation management 

“Research requires passion” 

On July 1, 2011, Dr. Peter Nagler, head of Corporate Innovation 

Strategy & Management, took on additional responsibilities as 

Evonik’s new chief innovation officer, a position that was created 

recently. elements spoke with him about his tasks, goals, and vision 

for the future. 

you just returned from Japan. did you go there in your capacity 

as evonik’s chief innovation officer? 

Yes, indeed. It was the first time that we held our time-proven 

Evonik Meets Science scientific forum in Japan—or in Tokyo, to be 

exact. Of course, our central motivation was to make contacts with 

Japanese academia—adding another component to our innovation 

network in Asia. 

how do you define your new role? 

A specialty chemicals company virtually lives on innovation, and this 

is the idea I’d like to promote. The question is how we’ll organize 

this inno vation process. In a decentralized corporation like Evonik, 

you need one person to steer the innovation process internally and 

externally—a person who represents this process and to whom you 

can talk. 

so you’re now the face of evonik in research and innovation? 

(Hesitates) Yes, in theory—although I wouldn’t express it in such 

dramatic terms. If you’re talking about promoting innovation processes 

and a culture of innovation throughout the Group, then 

there’s a good chance it’ll pass over my desk. But in a global enterprise, 

innovation isn’t a one-man show. It’s the responsibility of 

every employee, and it thrives on team spirit. 

are there any role models out there for the position of chief 

innovation officer? 

Yes, there are, but they differ from each other considerably. If we 

look at the chemical industry alone, some companies favor centralized 

R&D. Evonik has a decentralized organization, which I personally 

prefer, because it’s geared to the customer, close to the 

market, and fast. Between these two poles of centralized and decentralized, 

there are a number of models for structuring R&D. 

What are your additional responsibilities as chief innovation 

officer? 

Evonik intends to grow, and my job is to support this growth strategy 

with a complementary innovation strategy. What’s essential here 

is an overarching approach, because innovation is multifaceted. It in - 

cludes technologies and processes, as well as a business model and 

expansion to different regions. 

so what would be the key elements of evonik’s innovation 

strategy? 

Evonik is committed to serving attractive growth markets, and aligns 

itself to the three megatrends of resource efficiency, health and nutrition, 

and globalization of technologies. Naturally, R&D shares 333 

25 


26 innovation management 

intervieW 


Dr. Peter Nagler, 

Evonik’s chief 

innovation officer 

333 this orientation. Right now, for example, we’re deeply 

immersed in researching the use of biotechnology and renewable 

raw mate rials. Most of the current research, about 85 percent, is 

carried out in the business units. Central innovation management 

bundles long-term strategic areas—that happens in Creavis. But innovation 

has even more facets: new methods, new partnerships, our 

network’s global expansion, the advancement of our innovation culture. 

let’s start with the new methods. What is your key focus here? 

We work with new methods for generating new ideas, gearing 

everything we do exactly to what the market says. Thus, our task is 

to distill the best from these ideas and systematically advance them. 

We’ve established an idea-to-profit process in the Group, for example, 

whereby we look at ideas and projects according to stringent criteria 

and use best-practice examples from other projects Group-wide. 

But the markets are constantly changing, too, so we have to keep on 

examining and adapting our methods and innovation processes. 

In addition, we want to understand what requirements will look 

like on the market 10 to 15 years from now and what new business 

opportunities we can convert them into. This is why we’ve established 

a group within Creavis dedicated to corporate foresight. 

does the focus on corporate foresight mean evonik is disengaging 

itself completely from topics that are already under 

development? 

Right. With Corporate Foresight, we’ve allowed ourselves to be 

guided by the question of how we come up with new areas of 

research. But here, too, we’ve intentionally integrated the business 

units to generate high acceptance for this new strategic approach 

and create a close exchange of ideas. 

But detached from the core business of the business units? 

From the inception of Corporate Foresight, we never asked ourselves, 

“What can we do?” but rather, “How might the world develop, 

considering all economic, social, environmental, political, and technol 

ogical factors, and what does that mean for Evonik?” Without 

doubt, we were reaching for ideas beyond our business areas. In the 

process, we “discovered” a few areas in which we aren’t currently 

active. 

aren’t active but want to be? 

That’s what we have to determine now. The task of Corporate Foresight 

is to generate new ideas on an ongoing basis and make decisions 

regarding which areas we might want to be involved in. We 

look for areas with high potential—the lithium-ion battery of the year 

2020, metaphorically speaking. And we want to be there! But we 

also have our eye on the fledgling projects, and intend to redouble 

our efforts to find new, interesting ideas developed by young startup 

companies, and look for models to support such companies 

through corporate venturing partnerships. 

how will evonik promote its global alignment to r&d going 

forward? 

In the next few years, the chemical industry will also grow in places 

outside Germany. The markets are developing in other regions where 

there are also outstanding universities and equally outstanding scientists. 

We have to exploit that for the Group. Within the Group, we 

need an innovation landscape in which we have well-positioned, 

harmonized competence centers in strategically important growth 

regions. One step in this direction is the construction of our Light and 

Electronics Project House in Taiwan. 

Promoting entrepreneurship and innovation culture in a precise 

way is also on your agenda. What’s the key to this task? 

Tackling ideas with the courage to take risks. Part and parcel of this is 

a culture that allows for mistakes—a culture that promotes a willingness 

to take risks and the courage to think laterally. R&D requires the 

freedom to think outside the box. And R&D requires passion. 

But at some point, ideas also have to generate sales. 

Certainly. Innovation doesn’t mean an ivory tower or chaos. We base 

our work on an innovation management process by which we find, 

evaluate, prioritize, and ultimately develop ideas, often in close cooperation 

with our customers. In this process we’re constantly asking: 

Are we doing it right? Have we made progress? 

and are we doing it right? Will the public see evonik as an 

innovative company? 

Yes, I think so. The project houses and the Science-to-Business 

Center are considered benchmarks in the industry. Other companies 

often talk to us about it. The science-to-business centers were 

recently recognized as “Places of Progress” by the Ministry of Innovation, 

Science, and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Areas 

of Competence, in which we pool various technologies on one topic, 

are an unmistakable model that differentiates us from the competition. 

But, naturally, we can always improve everywhere. 

for example? 

Without doubt, we still have work to do in some regions where our 

image as an innovative company is concerned. We have to position 

ourselves stronger in these areas to be regarded as an attractive company 

that places a premium on R&D. 777

Evonik lays foundation for two new innovation centers in Essen 

Dr. Klaus Engel, chairman of the Executive 

Board of Evonik Industries, has laid the foundation 

stones for two research and development 

centers at the Essen site (Germany): 

one for new, environmentally friendly additives 

and special binders for the paints and 

coatings industry, and one for innovative and 

sustainable prod ucts for the cosmetics industry. 

In total, the Group is set to invest some 

€ 31 million in the two building complexes. 

The innovation center for the paints and coatings 

industry is to be completed at the end of 

2012, the innovation center for the cosmetics 

industry at the start of 2013. Over 180 employees 

will then move into a new and modern 

work environment. 

“Both the paints and coatings and the cosmetics 

industry are strong market segments. 

We support both these industries with a 

wealth of experience and innovative prowess,” 

Engel said. “The two innovation centers 

will not only offer us scope for research and 

development, they shall also strengthen our 

competitiveness and our position in the 

market. We therefore want to send out clear 

signals for sustainable growth and customeroriented 

action.” 

The paints and coatings industry is an 

important market for the Coatings & Ad ditives 

Business Unit, one in which Evonik is a 

major manufacturer of binders, pigments, 

cross-linking agents, color pastes, matting 

agents, and additives. In the quest for new 

solutions and products, some 90 employees 

will conduct research activities at the first 

large (5,000 square-meter) innovation center, 

and will focus in particular on the environment 

and resource efficiency. The total costs 

of the building come to approx. € 14.4 million. 

The second innovation center, covering 

about 5,000 square meters, will develop new 

future-oriented products for the cosmetics 

Plant for products used in adhesives and sealants to be built 

Evonik Industries will build a plant in Marl 

(Germany) for producing functionalized 

polybutadiene. This liquid polybutadiene 

(HTPB) is used primarily in sealing compounds 

for insulating glass windows and in 

adhesives for automobile manufacture. With 

this plant, which should go onstream in the 

Among others, 

HTPB is used in 

sealing compounds 

for insulating glass 

windows 

Equipped to face 

new market challenges 

neWs 

industry. The total cost of this building 

amounts to roughly € 16.6 million. Among 

other products, the Consumer Specialties 

Business Unit at Evonik manufactures 

cos metic raw materials and active ingredients, 

emulsifiers, cosmetic oils, conditioners, 

and also performance additives such as 

thick eners. 

“Evonik attaches great importance to considering 

the sustainability and ecological 

compatibility of both the new buildings. We 

consider ourselves as working hand in hand 

with customers from the consumer goods 

industry, who are increasingly using the concept 

of sustainability as a way to differenti ate 

themselves,” Engel explained. 

Each of the new innovation centers will provide space for about 90 employees over an area of 5,000 square 

meters. The center for the paints and coatings industries (left) will start operating at the end of 2012 and that 

for the cosmetics industry (right) is scheduled for completion in early 2013 

fall of 2012, Evonik will be able to offer 

hydroxyl-functionalized polybutadiene for 

the first time to its customers in the adhesives 

and sealant industries. 

Evonik will market HTPB as POLYVEST® 

HT, thus rounding off its polybutadiene product 

range to include one more function alized 

type. Today, Evonik already is a notable manufacturer 

of liquid unfunctionalized polybutadienes. 

“Thanks to our several years’ worth of 

experience in producing polybutadiene and 

our proximity to customers in the adhesives 

and sealants markets, we think the chances 

are good for successfully entering the HTPB 

market,” said Dr. Ulrich Küsthardt, head of 

the Coatings & Additives Business Unit. 

Double- and triple-pane glazing in window 

construction, for which hydroxyl-functionalized 

polybutadiene is used in sealing 

compounds, improves insulation in home 

construction. In adhesives for automobile 

manufacture, which bond various materials 

and composites to one another, HTPB helps 

make it possible to use plastics efficiently 

and safely in automobile construction. The 

re duction in the weight of vehicles, as can be 

achieved by using more plastic, means that 

less fuel is burned. 

27 


28 neWs 

Appointment of Dr. Stefan Buchholz as honorary professor 

Dr. Stefan Buchholz, head of Innovation 

Management in the Advanced Intermediates 

Business Unit, has been appointed honorary 

professor at the University of Stuttgart (Germany). 

At the invitation of the university, 

Buchholz start ed giving lectures on a regular 

basis six years ago. His voluntary engagement 

has now been rewarded by his appointment 

as honorary professor. Buchholz’s first lecture 

series included presentations on industrial 

biotechnol ogy. In the last three years, his 

lecture topics have focused on “Industrial 

Orga nic Chem is try”. 

“The network between university research 

and our company is a vital component in our 

research and development strategy,” Prof. 

Buchholz stated. “It allows us to help strengthen 

teaching and research at universities in 

International environmental award for the Wind Explorer 

The Wind Explorer electric vehicle has won 

the ÖkoGlobe 2011, an international environmental 

award. A few months ago, the 

vehicle made a pioneering 4,900-kilometer 

journey across Australia—and used only 

about € 10 worth of electricity from the grid. 

The Wind Explorer received first prize in the 

Ecological Concept Car category at the Öko- 

Globe presentation ceremony in Karlsruhe 

(Germany). 

The Wind Explorer weighs in at only 200 

kilograms and is able to travel a distance of 

some 400 kilometers on a fully-charged battery. 

In late January 2011, Dirk Gion and 

Ste fan Simmerer, two extreme-sports 

enthusiasts from Germany, embarked on a 

17-day journey in this electric vehicle powered 

by wind energy and lithium-ion batteries. 

When their car battery ran low, the 

pilots could use either a mobile wind-power 

unit to reload it or, in the absence of suf- 


ficient wind, connect it to a conventional 

electrical outlet for re charging. The mobile 

wind turbine and a six-meter-high telescopic 

mast made of bamboo were easily assembled 

in no more than half an hour. Evonik 

supplied the battery technol ogy used to 

store the wind-generated power. 

The Wind Explorer was propelled partly 

by kites, in addition to wind power, achieving 

in this way a maximum speed of about 80 

kilometers per hour on the approximately 

4,900-kilometer stretch from Albany on the 

Indian Ocean to Sydney. Only in exceptional 

cases did the pilots resort to electricity from 

conventional sources. 

In building their electromobile, the duo 

opted for a tried-and-proven lightweight 

construction material: a sandwich structure 

of carbon-fiber fabric and a structural core of 

Evonik’s ROHACELL® polymethacrylimide 

(PMI) structural foam. This fiber plastic com- 

their effort to gear for the requirements of 

the industry. A further reason to support this 

exchange is the fact that it provides our 

research with new impetus. Not to forget, 

our contacts with universities contribute to 

our employer branding significantly, thus 

making Evonik an attractive employer for 

young academics.” 

Buchholz joined the former Degussa AG 

in 1993, initially holding the position of laboratory 

manager for polymer research in the 

Wolfgang Industrial Park. After spending two 

years in production at the Antwerp site, he 

was, among other things, in charge of the 

Biotechnology and ProFerm Project Houses. 

Since March 2008, Buchholz has now been 

head of Innovation Management in the Ad - 

vanced Intermediates Business Unit. 

posite is used in such applications as aircraft, 

helicopters, trains and ships, and is also rapidly 

gaining ground in automotive construction: 

ROHACELL® structures allow weight savings 

over conventional steel parts. “Every gram of 

weight saved reduces CO 2 emissions in conventional 

fuel vehicles and increases the 

range of the electric vehicles of the future,” 

says Stefan Plass, who is responsible for 

ROHACELL® business at Evonik, describing 

the driving force behind developments for 

the automotive industry. 

Reducing the rolling resistance of the tires 

is another way to save fuel, and rubber compounds 

play a key role in this endeavor. Here, 

too, it took chemistry expertise to modify the 

tire compound to appreciably reduce rolling 

resistance and, therefore, energy consumption. 

For the Wind Explorer, this extended 

the journey through Australia by a few hundred 

kilometers.

European Responsible Care Award for Evonik 

The use of STOCKOSORB® in the reforestation of argan trees in Morocco shows 

that superabsorbents can help overcome arid conditions. For this idea, the 

European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) has honored Evonik with its 

Responsible Care Award (large companies category). At the awards ceremony 

in Madrid Klaus Engel, Chairman of Evonik’s Executive Board, said: “This award 

shows that innovative ideas are vital for sustainability. Responsible Care is a clear 

commitment that we apply conscientiously. However, we can only address future 

challenges such as climate change and the short age of resources if we are creative 

and come up with unusual ideas.” 

The award was presented to Annette zur Mühlen of Evonik, who specializes 

in innovative solutions for agriculture, and Marie-Rose Chalhoub, who is respons 

ible for sales of this product, at the Global Chemical Industry European 

Convention in Madrid (Spain). Together with the Institut Agronomique et 

Veterinaire Hassan II in Agadir (Morocco) and local partners, Evonik investi gated 

how STOCKO SORB® can improve the survival of argan seedlings. 

The argan is a multipurpose tree used by the local population in south-west 

Morocco as a source of timber, fodder, and oil. It grows in extremely arid conditions 

but the area covered by these trees is regressing rapidly. Trials have shown 

that STOCKOSORB® super absorbent polymers increase the survival rates 

of saplings. STOCKOSORB® absorbs many times its own weight of water and 

releases it gradually to the plants as required. Depending on the environmental 

conditions used in the trial, survival rates increased by between 45 and 150 percent 

compared to the control. Preparations for further trials are currently under 

way in Morocco. 

The Responsible Care Award is presented by the European Chemical Industry 

Council for projects that foster cooperation, address energy efficiency and 

climate change, encourage health, safety, and environmental excellence, and 

demonstrate the business value of Responsible Care. The Responsible Care 

initiative, which is supported by Evonik, is the chemical industry’s commitment 

to the principles of sustainable development. 

Expansion of R&D Center in Shanghai 

Evonik Industries plans to expand its R&D 

Center in Shanghai Xinzhuang (China) with 

an investment of about € 18 million. The expansion 

includes construction of a four-story 

R&D building with a footprint of more than 

10,000 square meters. The new building is 

scheduled to be inaugurated in mid-2013. 

This is the third expansion of the R&D 

Center in Shanghai since its opening in 2004. 

“The rapidly increasing demand for R&D 

facilities in Shanghai reflects our focus on 

innovation in China for China,’ which is one 

of our key success factors for our growth in 

Asia, especially in the Greater China region,” 

said Dr. Dahai Yu, member of the Executive 

Board of Evonik Industries. 

As one of the global leaders in specialty 

chemicals, Evonik attaches great importance 

on innovation and proximity to customers, be 

it in the Greater China region itself or elsewhere. 

Alongside the application technology 

laboratories at various sites, the R&D Center 

in Shanghai Xinzhuang plays a key role in 

Evonik’s R&D strategy. “By further expanding 

our local R&D capacities, we are also 

expanding our activities from technical service 

to product development,” said Dr. Hans- 

Josef Ritzert, president of the Evonik Greater 

China region. After the expansion, the R&D 

Center will have a total of 35,000 square 

meters of space for housing state-of-the-art 

laboratories for research and development, 

application technology, and technical services. 

It is from here that Evonik will provide technical 

service support to customers through out 

the Greater China region and the Asian market 

beyond and will develop new product 

applications for them. 

Numerous Evonik products will be used 

in the new building: in the external walls, the 

balustrade, in lab flooring, interior decoration, 

and other elements. The ap proach is to 

make the new building a showroom, as it 

were, for exhibiting concrete examples to 

Argan oil, a highly valuable oil that is extracted from 

the kernels of the argan fruit, is rich in unsaturated 

fatty acids. It is used for culinary and cosmetic purposes 

neWs 

customers and visitors of how Evonik products 

and solutions can be put to specific use. 

What’s more, the new R&D building will be 

Evonik’s first LEED-certified building. LEED 

(Leadership in Energy & En viron mental 

Design) is a concept for build ing design and 

construction in accordance with specified 

standards that diminish much of the negative 

impact buildings can have on their occupants 

and on the environment. 

By stepping up its research activities in the 

Greater China region, Evonik aims not only 

to boost localized innovation, but to also 

fur ther expand collaboration with Chinese 

re search institutes and to develop specific 

region al expertise. Evonik has been holding 

local Evonik Meets Science events every year 

to discuss with Chinese experts the latest 

research findings in a specific field. Evonik 

has also set up a scientific advisory board for 

knowledge sharing and cooperation with 

lead ing Chinese chemicals re searchers. 

29 


30 Coating & Bonding teChnologies 

Evonik pools know-how, experience, and technology Group-wide in Areas of Competence 

Thin but powerful 

High-tech paints and coatings are complex systems. They ensure 

that the high-quality products we use in everyday life serve 

their purpose and last. Evonik’s Area of Competence (AoC) 

Coating & Bonding Technologies systematically guides the 

devel opment of new coating systems, which are possible only 

through the interaction of a broad range of expertise. 

[ text Dr. Jens Busse, Dr. Björn Lazar, Dr. Wilfried Robers ] 


detailed knoWledge and specialized professional 

experience are indispensable for developing or 

improving each chemical product. At the same time, 

however, long-term success is based on critically 

analyzing one’s own abilities, adapting to rapidly 

changing market demands, and anticipating key 

trends. This is exactly what Evonik’s Areas of Competence 

are all about. 

Group-wide, Evonik has established six AoCs—the 

name given to platforms on which experts from a 

wide variety of disciplines and business units pool 

and network their know-how, experience, and technologies. 

This approach places the resources that the 

Group has on center stage: equipment, knowledge, 

experience, processes, organization—and gives all 

business units equal access to them. 

An AoC comprises several “competence clusters,” 

in which Evonik has assembled considerable knowhow 

that it uses to find and exploit additional synergies 

across units. Within these clusters, specialists 

meet regularly to share knowledge and experience 

and advance projects. New technological developments 

in individual units are studied, and new ideas 

are born. 

Added value at the forefront 

High-tech developments are frequently based on advanced 

products from the chemical industry—even if 

customers are unable to see this at first glance. What 

the customer is able to see, however, is the added 

benefit he or she gains from the products and services. 

The path to innovative products that meet all 

the customer’s standards is not easy: markets change 

rapidly, technical requirements for products increase, 

and today, environmental and climate protection, resource 

and energy efficiency are among the inherent 

demands of sustainable chemistry. 

Evonik combines Group expertise in coating and 

bonding formulations in its Area of Competence 

Coat ing & Bonding Technologies. Nowadays, coatings 

must be environmentally friendly, high-performing,

and available in similar formulations worldwide. The 

charm of advanced thin-film technology is that a small 

amount of material creates a product with high added 

value and additional or completely new benefits for 

the customer. 

Each paint, each coating, and even many adhesive 

applications are based on thin-film technology. The 

chemical industry currently supplies a wide array of 

materials and layer systems. At Evonik, products for 

thin-film technology now account for about 17 percent 

of sales. Thin layers are not only a win for customers 

and endusers; they also support the megatrends: 

resource conservation, energy effi ciency, 

CO 2 reduction, longevity, and sustainability. 

Virtually no uncoated surfaces 

The surfaces of today’s materials and products are 

almost always coated. Examples include insulating 

glass, textiles, packaging, photovoltaic modules, and 

information and consumer electronics devices. 333 


How firmly does a coating adhere? The cross 

cutting test provides the answer: the coating is 

scored in the shape of a cross. Then, an adhesive 

tape is stuck on the coating and then removed. 

The number of segments torn off with the tape 

provides information on the adhesive strength 

of the coating 

31 


32 Coating & Bonding teChnologies 

Diagram of a thermoelectric generator. It is used to generate power from hot car 

exhaust, heat exchangers, or heating systems. With the help of thinlayer 

technology Evonik searches for new production processes for these generators 

Cover layer 

Thermoelements 

Metal contacts 

The Smart Coater, which is used as 

part of the HighTEG project, can produce 

layers with new functionalities 


Cold side (heat dissipation) 

Heat flow 

Cold side (heat dissipation) 

Hot side (heat input) 

– 

+ 

Electrical connection 

Hot side (heat input) 

333 Some coatings, such as the anti-scratch coating of 

a mobile phone display, increase the longevity of a 

product. Coating a surface, such as a car dashboard, 

can impart an appealing surface feel to it. A protective 

coat ing on industrial machines or components 

prevents corrosion, while coatings on ships’ hulls defend 

against marine organisms and thereby reduce 

the fuel consumption associated with shipping. 

The multitude of requirements can be addressed 

only by pooling a variety of competencies. To produce 

laser-markable transparent polymers, for 

example, you need not only expertise in modifying 

particle structures and particle surfaces but an optimal 

dispersion of ultra-fine particles in a polymer 

matrix and, not least, a wealth of experience in formulating 

polymer compounds. 

The same applies to scratch-resistant coatings. 

With additives from the AERODISP® line, paint 

manufacturers supply their products with high 

scratch resistance. The secret to the formulation is 

ultra-fine inorganic particles evenly suspended in an 

organic matrix. These particles reliably protect 

vehicle surfaces, displays, and components against 

mechanical influences. Here, too, Evonik pools the 

expertise of a variety of units—including the Coatings 

& Additives, Inorganic Materials, and Consumer Specialties 

Business Units, as well as the Process Technology 

& Engineering Service Unit—which combine 

their knowledge in the production of submicron particles, 

formulation, dispersion, and addivation. 

By acquiring Hanse Chemie Group and its subsidiary 

Nanoresins AG, Evonik has reinforced this knowledge, 

and the Coatings & Additives Business Unit 

now holds technological expertise in liquid nanocomposites 

based on extremely fine-particled silicas. 

Nanocomposites are used primarily in paints and 

coat ings to improve surface hardness and achieve a 

higher degree of scratch resistance without any loss 

of transparency. 

Corrosion protection is essential 

The importance of coating systems that protect 

against corrosion cannot be exaggerated. When 

bridges, drilling platforms, ships’ hulls, and wind 

turbines corrode, their function and safety are not 

the only things jeopardized—corrosion is, above all, 

expensive. In Germany alone, the annual economic 

losses from corrosion are estimated to be at €50 

billion. This is why researchers from a variety of business 

units are working together to develop solutions 

for effective corrosion protection. Their work has 

yielded such developments as new high-solids binder 

systems based on silicon-epoxy hybrid technology.

These systems stand out for their low emissions, high 

heat stability and weather resistance, and optimal impact 

on corrosive influences. 

Many of the competence clusters of the AoC Coating 

& Bonding have a tangent to other Areas of Competence, 

including Inorganic Particle Design in the 

area of cross-linking, Designing with Polymers in the 

area of binders, Interfacial Technologies in the area 

of additives, and Biotechnology in the development 

of new raw materials for coatings. As part of a joint 

annual event among the AoC, the Process Technology 

& Engineering Service Unit, and Creavis, the Evonik 

experts exchange experience with external specialists 

from academia and industry. This exchange promotes 

network formation and focuses on new trends 

and developments in the processing and functionalization 

of thin layers. 

Thinlayer technology enables new 

functional components 

Thin layers promise not only protection, longevity, 

and visual and tactile appeal. Thin-layer technology 

is also a key to developing completely new functional 

components. The Process Technology & Engineering 

Service Unit operates a technology center for functional 

layers at the Hanau site (Germany), which is 

ideal for addressing the more practical problems of 

coating technology. There, a team of experts successfully 

studies countless issues in the Group, ranging 

from coating formulation to quality assurance for 

the layers. 

The latest component of the center is the Smart 

Coater, which can be used to produce and optimize 

layers with new functionalities. It is used as part of 

HighTEG (FKZ 0327863B), a project funded by the 

German Federal Ministry of Economics, in which 

Evonik experts are developing a route for an innovative, 

highly efficient manufacturing of thermoelectric 

generators. 

Thermoelectric generators are used to generate 

power from waste heat by obtaining energy from such 

sources as hot car exhaust, heat exchangers, or heating 

systems. The goal of the project is to develop a 

cost-effective production process for mass-producing 

thin and flexible thermoelectric generators. To this 

end, specialists from Creavis and the Process Technology 

& Engineering Service Unit are conducting a 

study of various production routes, such as the printing 

of thin semiconductor layers in and on flexible 

substrate materials. 

The Smart Coater is flexible and compact, and by 

virtue of its different application systems and dryer 

zones, sintering lines, and laminating unit, can simu- 


late real-life mass production. To react fast and 

flexibly to new tasks—this is not only a requirement 

for the machines. It also applies to the scientists. Following 

their cross-unit approach, the AoC turns out 

developments faster and more professionally, and 

opens up new markets that the individual business 

units would find difficult to open on their own. Only 

those who understand, cultivate, and use their 

expertise can transfer it to new markets and satisfy 

customers’ needs. This is just as true for the chemical 

industry as other segments: if the customer discovers 

he is paying for alleged expertise, but receives 

mediocrity, his willingness to continue the partnership 

diminishes, and the company’s business success 

is short-lived. 777 

dr. Jens Busse has headed the Decentralized Energy 

Generation Development Line in the Science-to- 

Business Center Eco² since 2009. After studying 

mechanical engineering and process technology at 

the Ruhr Uni ver sity of Bochum and then earning his 

doctorate in process synthesis, he began his career 

at Evonik in 2001 as a process engineer in the Process 

Technology & Engineering Service Unit, working 

primarily in the area of training simulation and energy 

optimization of the sites. 

+49 2365 49-86509, jens.busse@evonik.com 

dr. Björn lazar has been a member of the scientific 

staff in the Process Technology & Engineering Service 

Unit at Evonik since the beginning of 2008. Much of 

his work focuses on coatings-related subject matter, 

such as processing thin, functional layers for the display 

industry. Lazar graduated with a degree in chemical 

engineering from the Technical University of Dortmund 

before earning his doctorate in nanoparticle 

synthesis in microemulsions at the Max Planck Institute 

for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg. 

+49 2365 49-19164, bjoern.lazar@evonik.com 

dr. Wilfried robers is the spokesman for the Area of 

Competence Coating & Bonding Technologies, and 

organizes cross-business unit cooperation, information 

exchange and joint market cultivation for the coatings 

and ad he sive market. He also serves as chairman of the 

Group Executive Staff Council of Evonik Industries 

AG. After graduating in physics in Münster in 1984, 

Robers earned his doctorate in the Department of 

Laser Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum 

Optics in Garching. He began his career in 1989 

at the former Hüls AG in Marl as laboratory head in 

analytics. He then worked as application engineer, 

held positions in controlling and as head of a product 

line for the production and marketing of coating polyesters 

before assuming his current responsibilities as 

AoC spokesman in 2005. 

+49 2365 49-9537, wilfried.robers@evonik.com 

33 


34 resourCe effiCienCy 


Evonik makes tailored amines used as highly efficient absorbent formulations in gas purification 

Evonik knows 

how to treat acid gases

Removing undesirable substances from major 

gas streams is all in a day’s work for energy and 

chemicals specialists. Experts at Evonik have 

now developed amine-based system solutions 

that make the purification process for natural 

and synthetic gases more efficient and less costly. 

[ text Dr. Jörn Rolker, Dr. Matthias Seiler ] 

Given its economic and ecological benefits, natural gas is commanding 

an ever-bigger degree of significance in energy supply 

around the world. The deregulation of energy markets is creating 

greater demand for smaller, more flexible power plants 

fueled largely with gas. Natural gas is also less expensive than 

oil, it is easy to transport across long distances and to store 

either in compressed or liquefied form, and it is one of the 

cleaner choices in the range of available fossil fuels, since 

methane combustion produces less carbon dioxide than oil or 

coal. The International Energy Agency estimates that gas consumption 

will increase by some 50 percent by the year 2035 to 

make up a quarter of the world’s energy mix. In Germany, as 

elsewhere, natural gas plays an increasingly important role— 

as a fuel in highly efficient gas-steam power plants, for example. 

Syngas is another such important gas stream and intermediate 

product (important, that is, in a global context). Its main components 

are hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and this mixture is 

one of the key raw materials for the chemicals industry which 

uses it to manufacture base chemicals such as ammonia, methanol, 

and aldehydes. At its site in Marl (Germany) Evonik Industries 

oper ates a facility for the generation and processing of 

so-called OXO syngas. The company uses this gas, in turn, to 

make primary products such as those that go into the production 

of plasticizers. 

What natural and synthesis gases have in common is that both 

contain undesirable elements. Subsequent to their extraction or 

manufacture, respectively, they contain methane and hydrogen 

(wanted) as well as a great number of other gases and trace substances 

(unwanted). Natural gas contains as much as 30 vol. percent 

carbon dioxide (CO 2) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) in addition 

to methane and other hydrocarbons; the actual amount of these 

unwanted substances varies depending on the origin of the gas. 

Natural gas also contains smaller amounts of sulfur, helium, and 

nitrogen. Synthetic gas can likewise contain up to 30 vol. percent 

CO 2 plus smaller amounts of H 2S as well as a host of other 

sulfur and nitrogen compounds. 


Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide both react with water to 

become acids, making them prone to cause corrosion in pipelines, 

pumps, compressors, and other metallic elements of the 

process infrastructure. CO 2 and H 2 S need to be removed from 

synthetic gas, too, at least to the extent that only residual amounts 

(minimal ppm) remain. Even small concentrations of these substances 

will cause problematic secondary reactions in subsequent 

chemical processes or lead to catalyst poisoning. 

As demand for gas grows, so we see increasing requirements 

for energetically efficient processing technologies that use resources 

sparingly. Gas scrubbing has become the most common 

means of purifying (or sweetening) larger amounts of gas. 

The process involves thoroughly mixing suitable solvents into 

the raw gas to preferentially absorb the acids. In principle, 

there are two ways of doing this: by chemical or physical absorption. 

In the physical absorption process, the acid gases are dissolved 

in a solution such as methanol, thereby capturing and 

expelling them. Physical purification methods are used mostly 

if the acid gas content is proportionately high. The drawback of 

physical scrubbing is that it causes unwanted co-absorption of 

longer-chain hydrocarbons, in addition to which it is usually not 

possible to eliminate unwanted accompanying substances to the 

desired minimum ppm level. 

Chemical absorption is therefore normally the favored 

alternative. In this process, the absorbents selectively remove 

the acidic substances. Different types of amines have been 

employed for decades now as the medium of choice. Amines 

Raw gases require elaborate 

purification – amines 

have become the conventional 

means of purification 

are inexpensive, can be produced in large amounts, and, unlike 

physical absorbents, these alkaline molecules react rapidly with 

acid gases. 

A variety of amine types are used in practice. Primary 

amines such as monoethanolamine (MEA), secondary amines 

such as diisopropanolamine (DIPA), diglycolamine (DGA), or 

diethanolamine (DEA), and even tertiary amines such as methyldiethanolamine 

(MDEA) can all be employed. In chemical absorption, 

CO2 reacts to become carbamate or carbonate, depending 

on the type of amine used. Reaction to H2S causes the absorbent 

to be protonated and a hydrogen sulfide ion to be created. 

These reactions are reversible. When the rich absorbent 

333 

35 



Makeup 

water 

Feed gas 

Figure 1. The principle of chemical gas scrubbing: CO 2 and H 2S are removed 

from the raw gas through reaction with the dissolved amines at a temperature 

of 40 to 60 °C. The gases are then released again in the desorber at raised temperatures 

Treated gas 

Absorber 

1 

0.1 

0.01 

0.001 

0.0001 

High 

pressure 

flash 

gas 

Lean 

solution 

cooler 

High 

pressure 

flash 

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 

Loading (mol H2S/mol amine) 

The cyclic capacity of Evonik’s new absorbent formulations for CO 2 is as much 

as 1.5 times greater than that of conventional ones and allows acid gases to 

be removed more efficiently 

Cyclic capacity for CO 2 between 40 °C and 120 °C 

MEA 2.0 mol CO 2 /kg solvent (30 wt.% amine) 

MDEA/Piperazine 2.5 mol CO 2 /kg solvent (50 wt.% amine) 

Evonik absorbent formulation 2.9 mol CO 2 /kg solvent (30 wt.% amine) 


Low pressure 

flash gas 

Low 

pressure 

flash 

Stripper overhead 

gas stream 

Solvent/solvent 

heat exchanger 

Desorber 

Reflux 

condenser 

Acid 

offgas 

Reboiler 

Figure 2. Absorption capacity for the separation of H 2S. The Evonik absorbent 

formulation absorbs much greater amounts at 40 °C than do stateoftheart 

components 

MDEA (4.28 molar) 

Hindered amine (2.5 molar) 

30 wt.% Evonik absorbent formulation 

Partial pressure H2S (bar) 

333 (loaded with acid gas) is heated, CO2 and H2S isolate themselves 

from the molecular group and release the absorbent. 

The technical process of chemical gas scrubbing is essentially 

quite simple, with absorber and desorber units featuring 

at the heart of the system (Fig.1). The raw gas and liquid solvent 

are fed into the absorber unit in counterflow directions, 

causing them to mix. The absorber unit contains certain random 

or structured packing which ensure intensive contact between 

the gas and the liquid and provide a large surface area 

for chemical reaction. At a temperature of between 40 and 60 °C, 

the aqueous absorbent solution reacts with CO2 and H2S. The 

cleaned gas exits the absorber section at the top end, while the 

solvent now loaded with the undesirables is drawn off at the 

bottom end and channeled into the desorber unit, where the 

opposite reaction transpires. Through heating to a temperature 

of 120 to 140 °C in the desorber’s reboiler, the amine releases 

the acid gases again and the cycle commences anew. 

Amines have proven to be effective absorbents of acid gases. 

The various conventional methods of gas scrubbing do, however, 

have their specific weak points. While primary amines do 

capture acid gases and hold them fast in the form of carbamates, 

they consequently expend a lot of energy in the process of subsequent 

desorption as well as being prone to undesirable secondary 

reactions. Tertiary amines do not capture acid gases as firmly, 

but they do so more slowly. Additionally, an objection able side 

effect of the amines commonly used is that the absorbent in combination 

with the heat-stable salts (unwanted amine-based decomposition 

products) develops corrosive properties. Last but 

not least, when certain components in natural gas are exposed 

to the absorbent they may cause unwanted foams to be created 

which will interfere with the separation process. 

For the gas-purification process to be economically viable, 

regeneration of the absorption medium needs to require little 

energy, the absorbents need to be extremely chemically stable 

and corrosion tendencies need to be low (operating costs). At 

the same time, a high level of system availability needs to be implementable 

at moderate capital expenditures. The more absorbent 

required to be pumped and heated, the less efficient conventional 

methods are in terms of their energy footprint. In most 

cases, a relatively large amount of energy needs to be fed into 

the reboiler to desorb the chemically bound acid gases. That is 

why the processes currently in use are quite costly. Achieving 

a cut in energy requirements would make gas puri fication a 

significantly less expensive undertaking in future. 

In other words, optimization of the absorbent is a highly effective 

leverage in the pursuit to make the entire gas-scrubbing 

process more efficient and thus more economical. Given the high 

investments incurred for gas-treatment plants, even minor optimizations 

would have a noticeably positive effect. 

An ideal absorbent therefore needs to satisfy multiple requirements. 

It needs to bind acid gas constituents quickly, firmly, and 

reversibly, to release sufficient quantities of bound acid gas 

without that process requiring the input of vast amounts of 

energy, and to be minimally corrosive but chemically stable in 

order to protect infrastructural equipment. 

Evonik has a wealth of know-how on amine synthesis at its 

disposal. It began exploiting that expertise for its new business 

area, acid gas removal, in 2004. A team of experts from the

Advanced Intermediates Business Unit, the Process Technology 

& Engineering Service Unit, and Creavis has succeeded in 

develop ing new high-performance system solutions for the absorptive 

scrubbing of acid gases. These solutions enable operating 

costs to be radically reduced against those attributed to 

available state-of-the-art techniques. 

Some 50 components were tested to ascertain their viability. 

The screenings showed a small group of them to have particularly 

favorable properties. These amine variations afforded 

sufficiently quick absorption, demonstrated remarkable, energetically 

optimized desorption performance, and caused an 

aston ishingly low level of corrosion. 

At the close of the laboratory phase, the choice was down to 

five very promising absorbent formulas. These were chemically 

modified in such a way as to be at least equally good, and even 

much better in many respects, at satisfying requirements as 

state-of-the-art techniques of gas scrubbing (such as a mixture 

of MDEA and piperazine). Optimization efforts were centered 

on markedly reducing the operating costs of acid gas scrubbing 

(> 30 percent) while achieving sufficiently high rates of absorption 

and high cyclic capacities. 

Optimized absorbent 

formulations make 

gas purification 

more cost-efficient 

The experts at Evonik then subjected the system solutions arrived 

at to intensive testing in a multi-year piloting phase to determine 

the following: In which partial-pressure range does purification 

work? How much energy is required for desorption? How much 

solvent is required? The developers had their sights set on achieving 

minimization in each of the key parameters, that is to say a 

reduction of the amount of absorbent required, minimization of 

energy requirements, less corrosion and foam ing, and a higher 

degree of chemical stability in the components (diminished degradation 

against that rendered by state-of-the-art techniques). 

The shortlist was ultimately reduced to two absorbent formulations 

which each exhibited excellent acid-gas-purification 

performance. Absorption capacity in the process of H 2 S capture 

is ten times as great as that achieved using conventionally employed 

MDEA (Fig.2). These system formulations also enable 

much higher H 2 S dissolubility than conventional amines, consequently 

achiev ing excellent reduction to a mere few ppm. 

The absorption enthalpy during the process of CO 2 capture 

was reduced by a factor of three against state-of-the-art absorbents 

(Fig.3), meaning that significantly less energy needs to be 

expended for regeneration of the loaded solvent (Fig.4). These 

amines also hold the promise of significant benefits with respect 

to the corrosion and foaming they cause and to their chemical 

stability. The testing revealed corrosiveness (Fig.5) to be re duced 

by a factor of three to five and even foaming to be diminished to 

a minimum. 

The use of Evonik’s customized absorbent formulations has 

a variety of positive effects: it makes the entire gas-scrubbing 333 


Figure 3. Absorption enthalpy during CO2 capture. Given the low level of absorp tion 

enthalpy, Evonik’s newly developed absorbent formulation requires the expenditure 

Performancevergleich für einen Synthesegasstrom bei jeweils gleicher CO2of 

much less energy for desorption than is the case when using standard amines 

Abtrennrate: Die Absorbentien von Evonik können den spezifischen 

Energieverbrauch bei der Regeneration gegenüber den Standardaminen im 

MEA MDEA/Piperazine Evonik absorbent formulation 

Bereich von 20 bis 60 Prozent senken und helfen damit, die Betriebskosten 

Absorption drastisch enthalpy zu [%] verringern. Die Reduzierung des Absorbensmassenstroms um 20 

bis 30 Prozent im Vergleich zu den Standardkomponenten ist eine wichtige 

100 

Voraussetzung für eine mögliche Kapazitätserweiterung der Anlage 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

Figure 4. Performance comparison of syngas streams, each at the same rate of 

CO 2 capture. Evonik absorbent formulations can reduce specific energy expenditure 

for regeneration by a range of 20 to 60 percent against that recorded for 

standard amines, thereby radically lowering operating costs. Reduction of the 

absorbentmass stream by 20 to 30 percent against that of standard components 

is an important prerequisite for possible capacity expansion of the system 

Evonik absorbent formulation B 

Evonik absorbent formulation A 

40 wt.% DIPA/40 wt.% Sulfolan 

30 wt.% MDEA/10 wt.% Piperazine 

Specific regeneration energy [%] 

140 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

40 50 60 70 80 90 

100 

Figure 5. Evonik absorbent formulations also present a convincing case with 

respect to how little corrosion they cause. Their corrosion rate is lower than that 

for MEA by a factor of seven, thus reducing material and maintenance costs 

30 wt.% MEA 

37.2 wt.% MDEA/2.8 wt.% Piperazine 

30 wt.% Evonik absorbent formulations 

Corrosion rate [%] 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

Absorbentmass stream [%] 

37 



An Evonik syngas plant for field testing 

333 process more efficient and reduces operating costs. Since 

the im proved components reduce solvent circulation, high-performance 

packing in the absorber can be used to increase gas 

flow and thus achieve capacity expansion for existing systems. 

At the same time, CO 2 impact is diminished because less 

regeneration energy is required. Minimized corrosion, a low 

foaming tendency, and increased chemical and thermal stability 

raise the level of system availability. Another significant aspect 

is the fact that these new system formulations can be used as 

drop-in solvents, meaning they are suitable for use in existing 

systems without creating any need for system alterations or technical 

adaptation. 

Extensive large-scale industrial field testing has been, and 

continues to be, conducted following the pilot plant phase. 

These field tests are being performed for specific market segments 

for syngas and natural gas. One of the measures currently 

underway is a large-scale field test conducted at Evonik. The 

pre-commercial phase will soon be completed. Tailored system 

solutions that will address varying customer demands are due 

to go to market in 2013 and will serve to significantly reduce 

operating costs and improve the performance of absorbent 

formulations as well as help to increase the capacity of gas 

processing plants. 777 


dr. Jörn rolker’s work in the Advanced Intermediates 

Business Unit’s New Business Development team is 

concentrated on absorbents for acid gas scrubbing. 

A graduate of process engineering and energy technology 

studies at the Technical University of Berlin and 

with a PhD in the field of thermodynamics/thermal 

process engineering from the University of Erlangen- 

Nurem berg, he joined Evonik as a process engineer 

in the Pro cess Technology & Engineering Service Unit 

in 2007. Dr. Rolker assumed his current position at 

Evonik in 2011. 

+ 49 6181 59-2514, joern.rolker@evonik.com 

dr. matthias seiler is director for New Business 

Development in Evonik’s Advanced Intermediates Business 

Unit. After studying process and energy engineering 

at the TU Berlin and earning his doctorate in the 

field of polymer process engineering and thermodynamics 

at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, he 

be gan his career in Evonik’s Process Technology & 

Engi neering Service Unit in 2004. Here, he last headed 

the Bringing Technology to Market Depart ment 

before moving to his current position in 2010. Parallel 

to his professional activity, he also earned an Executive 

MBA at the ESSEC & Mannheim Business School. 

+49 6181 59-3049, matthias.seiler@evonik.com

Methyl methacrylate production capacities to be increased 

Evonik Industries, one of the leading suppliers of methacrylate chemistry, 

is increasing its methyl methacrylate production capacities 

worldwide to meet rising demand. To this end, the company will implement 

debottlenecking and plant expansion projects this year and 

later at its sites in Europe (Worms and Wesseling, Germany), Asia 

(Shanghai, China), and the United States (Fortier). Upon completion 

Evonik to double its Llysine capacities in the US 

In North America, Evonik Industries is 

doubling its capacities for producing the feed 

amino acid L-lysine. The two-phase expansion 

of the Blair, Nebraska, plant to an an nual 

capacity of 280,000 metric tons is on track 

and is expected to be completed by August 

2012, six months earlier than originally projected. 

Evonik uses biotechnology to pro duce 

the essential amino acids L-lysine, L-threonine, 

and L-tryptophan for animal feed. 

“This investment further strengthens our 

significant market position in the feed additives 

business,” said Dr. Klaus Engel, CEO of 

Evonik Industries. “We recently announced 

plans to construct a new plant for expanding 

our DL-methionine capacity to 580,000 

metric tons a year, and doubling our L-lysine 

capacities will now add further growth to our 

biotechnology-manufactured amino acid 

L-lysine as well.” 

L-lysine, a biotechnology product, which 

Evonik markets under the brand name 

Biolys®, is globally known as an extremely 

effective source of lysine for animal feed, 

which helps to sustainably reduce cost in feed 

production. “We’ve seen rising demand for 

our L-lysine in the United States for the last 

few years and therefore decided to double 

our capacities,” said Engel. 

Credits 

Publisher 

Evonik Industries AG 

Corporate Innovation 

Strategy & Management 

Rellinghauser Straße 1–11 

45128 Essen 

Germany 

scientific advisory Board 

Dr. Norbert Finke 

Corporate Innovation 

Strategy & Management 

norbert.finke@evonik.com 

Evonik expects to bring the first addition al 

quantities to the market in 2011, when the 

first expansion phase, which includes doubling 

the evaporation capacities for product 

concentration, is complete. At the same time, 

Evonik has already started the second expansion 

phase, for which all permits were granted 

in June 2011. 

Thanks to effective protection measures 

that kept the water away from the plant, the 

flooding of the Missouri River in June and 

July 2011 did not affect the project schedule. 

editor in Chief 

Dr. Karin Aßmann 

Evonik Services GmbH 

Konzernredaktion 

karin.assmann@evonik.com 

Contribution editors 

Christof Endruweit 

Christa Friedl 

Michael Vogel 

Photos 

Evonik Industries 

Karsten Bootmann 

Dieter Debo 

Frank Preuß 

Stefan Wildhirt 

Getty Images/Tracy Packer (p. 8) 

Fotolia/Achim Baqué (p. 24) 

Getty Images/Lonnie Duka (p. 34) 

neWs 39 

of the projects, Evonik will be able to produce approximately 50,000 

ad ditional metric tons of methyl methacrylate. Thomas Müller, Senior 

Vice President & General Manager Acrylic Monomers, said of the 

short-notice announcement: “We’re reacting quickly to support our 

customers’ growth in these markets.” Methyl metha crylate is primarily 

used for polymethyl methacrylate resins and surface coatings. 

“We have to give Cargill credit for that,” 

noted Dr. Walter Pfefferle, head of the 

Bioproducts Business Line, although Evonik 

and the US Army Corps of Engineers provided 

active support for the protective measures 

as well. “Our collaboration with Cargill is 

excellent. We also have to thank Governor 

Dave Heinemann, who did everything possible 

to fight the flooding,” said Pfefferle. 

Cargill provides the infrastructure at the site 

and supplies Evonik with locally manufactured 

over-the-fence source materials. 

Evonik’s fermentation 

plant for the production 

of the amino acid 

Llysine in Blair 

(Nebraska, USA) 

design 

Michael Stahl, Munich (Germany) 

Printed by 

Laupenmühlen Druck GmbH & Co. KG 

Bochum (Germany) 

Reproduction only with permission 

of the editorial office 

Evonik Industries is a worldwide 

manufacturer of PMMA products sold 

under the PLEXIGLAS® trademark 

on the European, Asian, African, and 

Australian continents and under the 

ACRYLITE® trademark in the Americas 


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