BMS to build a world-scale plant for polymer polyols

Bayer MaterialScience (BMS), Leverkusen, Germany, plans to build a world-scale plant for the manufacture of polymer-filled polyether polyols (PMPO) at its Antwerp site in Belgium.

The plant, representing a total investment of EUR 40 million, will have an annual capacity of 60,000 t and is scheduled for commissioning in late 2008. BMS already manufactures polyether polyols, one of the starting materials for polymer polyols, at the Antwerp site. The decision to build the new plant in Antwerp enables leverage of available synergies and will further increase the efficiency of PMPO production, a company spokesman said.

The planned facility will utilize a new process developed in close cooperation with Bayer Technology Services, Leverkusen, Germany. According to BMS, this patented PMPO technology delivers products that are considerably superior to those manufactured using conventional processes and has already been successfully tested on a multi-ton scale. The end products yielded by the new process contain very low VOC levels that were impossible to achieve with the technologies used to date. In addition to improved product properties, BMS expects a reduction of 25 % in plant construction costs and in the energy consumption of the completed facility once operational.