Bayer’s new pilot plant makes plastics from CO2

Output of polyuthrene from the plant at Chempark, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany will be directed to the automotive and building industries but later uses could include food packaging.

The technology at the plant focuses on producing a chemical precursor into which CO2 is incorporated and then processed into polyurethanes. Kilograms of CO2 are used to produce several components essential for the production of polyurethanes. Bayer MaterialScience is testing the materials which are used mainly to produce soft and rigid foams.

Substitue for petroleum​

“As a result, CO2 – a waste gas and key contributor to climate change – can now be recycled and used as a raw material and substitute for petroleum,” ​said a company statement.

If the pilot plant performs to expectation, full production will begin in 2015, a spokesperson told FoodProductionDaily. “There are huge volumes of CO2 in the air and this plant will only use a small amount. But every little helps to make a contribution​ (to reducing green house gasses), said the spokesperson.

The new process helps to boost sustainability in a number of different ways, claimed the company. Carbon dioxide may offer an alternative to petroleum, which is the chemical sector’s main source of the key element carbon.

Polyurethanes also help to reduce energy consumption and protect the climate, said the company. When used to insulate buildings from cold and heat, they can save approximately 70 times more energy than is used in their production.

Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, Bayer Board of Management member, said: “There is an opportunity to establish Germany as a market leader for these technologies and secure ourselves a leading role in a competitive international environment​.”

Energy company​

Bayer is partnering energy company RWE, which supplies the CO2 used in the process. Other partners are RWTH Aachen University and the CAT Catalytic Center, which is run jointly by the university and Bayer.
“The efficient use of CO2 is only possible because a suitable catalyst, for which experts had been searching for four decades, has finally been discovered​,” said the company. “This research breakthrough was made by scientists at Bayer and the CAT as part of the forerunner “Dream Reactions” project, which was also funded in part by the German federal government​.”

CO2 used at the plant is supplied from RWE Power’s lignite power plant in Niederaussem, near Cologne, Germany. RWE’s Coal Innovation Center operates a CO2 scrubber where the carbon dioxide is separated from the flue gas.