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Bayer significantly strengthens its presence in China

Groundbreaking: BMS Chairman Patrick Thomas (center) and other executives at the ceremony in Shanghai.

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Groundbreaking: BMS Chairman Patrick Thomas (center) and other executives at the ceremony in Shanghai.

Shanghai – Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has successfully started production at its new 350,000 tons per year diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) complex at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai. The new plant is the largest MDI facility of its kind in the world. The company has also broken ground for a 250,000 tons per year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant in Shanghai which is due on stream in 2010.

MDI is a raw material used primarily for the production of rigid polyurethane foams, which have the best insulating properties of any material on the market. Two of their main applications are in the refrigeration chain and as thermal insulation in the construction industry. TDI is used in large quantities in the production of flexible polyurethane foam for upholstered furniture, mattresses and car seats.

The facilities set new standards in terms of energy-efficient and environmentally compatible production. The new TDI facility in Shanghai, for example, will feature the modern gas phase process. This enables energy savings of up to 60 percent compared with a conventional plant of the same size. The new process technology also uses up to 80 percent less solvent and lowers the investment volume for this type of large-scale facility by some 20 percent.

The oxygen depolarized cathode technology used to recycle chlorine at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai yields a 30 percent energy saving compared with the conventional process.