BMS to make CO2 polyols from early 2016

Dormagen, Germany –  Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has installed a chemical reactor at the facility it is currently constructing for the manufacture of polyols from CO2 in Dormagen, Germany.

"We are right on schedule," explained Dr. Karsten Malsch, overall manager of the €15-million project, which is scheduled to come on-stream in 2016. The last major part of the plant - a CO2 tank - is due to be installed in autumn.

"If everything continues to run smoothly we will be able to start operations at the beginning of the coming year," said Malsch in a 29 May press statement.

BMS said it intends to use the new production line as part of the "Dream Production" project and for the first time integrate carbon dioxide as a raw material for polyols on a commercial scale.

The line is designed for an annual production capacity of 5,000 tonnes: producing polyols with around 20 percent CO2. The product, said BMS, will initially be used in the manufacture of polyurethane foam mattresses, though TPU elastomers are also a potential application.

The polyol production technology employs a catalyst developed by BMS in collaboration with the CAT Catalytic Center, a research institute at Aachen University. The catalyst enables chemically very inert CO2 to react efficiently with other substances.