Evonik to construct new plant for hollow-fibre membranes in Austria
German speciality chemicals manufacturer Evonik is building a new hollow-fibre spinning plant for the production of gas-separation membranes at its Austrian site.
With its increased capacity, the chemicals firm aims to meet the strong demand for Sepuran membranes in biogas, nitrogen, hydrogen and natural gas applications.
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Evonik is investing a double-digit million euro sum in the new plant in Schörfling, which is scheduled to come on stream in the first quarter of 2023. The new hollow-fibre spinning plant is a construction twin of the production line that Evonik started up in 2017.
“The gas separation market is convinced of our innovative membrane technology. Having developed and established the biogas industry in close cooperation with our partners, we are establishing our Sepuran membranes as the new standard for efficient gas separation in demanding nitrogen, hydrogen and natural gas applications. The additional production capacities will secure our growth targets in these important markets for us,” says Dr Goetz Baumgarten, head of Evonik's membrane growth unit.
Sepuran membranes make it possible to separate gases such as methane, nitrogen, or hydrogen from gas mixtures. The advantages of Evonik’s membrane technology are more precise separation of the gases and higher productivity.
For example, Sepuran nitrogen membranes for efficient nitrogen generation are used in inert aircraft tanks. Sepuran Noble membranes extract hydrogen transported through natural gas pipelines selectively from the CH4/H2gas mixture at the delivery points.
Sepuran membranes enable efficient natural gas processing from gas sources with high CO2 concentrations.
“By expanding our capacities in Schörfling, we are sending an important signal to our customers that Evonik believes in the markets and will continue to support customers’ growth. The construction of the new hollow-fibre spinning plant also testifies to our clear ambition to become the market leader in membrane-based separation technologies in the coming years,” says Dr Iordanis Savvopoulos, head of the fibres, foams and membranes product line at Evonik.
Evonik is the second-largest chemicals company in Germany, and one of the largest speciality chemicals companies in the world. It is the world’s only backwards-integrated manufacturer of highly selective gas separation membranes.
The company draws on its many years of expertise in polymer chemistry and adjusts key membrane properties already at the development stage of the base material—the high-performance polymer—to produce particularly selective and robust membranes that can withstand extreme pressures and temperatures.
With over 33,000 employees, Evonik is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €12.2 billion and an operating profit of €1.9 billion in 2020.
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In August the company has raised its outlook for 2021 after posting strong earnings in the first half of the year. Demand for Evonik products increased significantly worldwide with sales prices also rising.
"We have emerged out of the crisis stronger than before and have made substantial gains in the first half," said Christian Kullmann, chairman of the board of management. "This positive dynamic will continue into the second half. Therefore, we are confident about raising our outlook. From today’s perspective, we will even end up in the upper part of the range.”
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