BMS planning new world-scale TDI plant in Germany

Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) plans to invest roughly EUR 150 million in a new production plant for TDI at Chempark Dormagen, Germany. The new plant will have a capacity of 300 kt/y and will replace the existing plants in Dormagen and Brunsbüttel, Germany. The background behind the project is the company’s European-wide optimisation of isocyanate production.

BMS first presented plans to erect a new TDI production plant in Dormagen in December 2008. The second phase of the project is scheduled to begin in April 2010 with the “scoping” hearing, to which the Cologne regional government is invited as the regulatory authority. Subject to political acceptance and approval being granted by the authorities, the world-scale plant will be built on the site of the coal-fired power plant, which will be torn down. The new TDI production plant is currently scheduled to go on stream in 2014. Dormagen will then be the sole BMS site in Europe for the production of TDI. Plans call for the production of raw materials for polyurethane rigid foams to be expanded in Brunsbüttel.

Chempark Dormagen was chosen as the site for the TDI plant in a Europe-wide selection process, with the availability of raw materials and precursors as well as the existing infrastructure being key factors in the decision. The significantly greater production capacity of the planned plant means that it will also require correspondingly greater quantities of raw materials. Whereas chlorine is already available in sufficient quantities in Dormagen, a new reformer must be built to cover the increased demand for carbon monoxide. The starting materials required for this are also available in Dormagen. Furthermore, the hydrogen produced as a byproduct of carbon monoxide production can also be further processed directly on the site.

From process innovation to large-scale production

TDI has been produced in Dormagen since 1964. The new world-scale plant will use an innovative process technology that has proved itself over the last six years in a Dormagen pilot plant. The new and patented TDI process to be used in the planned facility sets new standards worldwide in terms of energy efficiency, environmental compatibility and productivity as well as meets the most stringent safety standards, says the company. A large-scale plant based on this process, currently under construction in Caojing, near Shanghai, China, is scheduled to go on stream in mid-2011.

“Our process enables us to achieve energy savings of up to 60 % compared with a conventional plant of the same size. Furthermore, the technology requires up to 80 % less solvent. These factors contribute to a significantly better energy and environmental balance”, says Dieter Kuhne, Head of TDI Production in Dormagen.