ENGINEERINGNET.EU -- Scientists of the Bayer Group have been awarded the Otto Bayer Medal for their excellent achievements in three research projects.
The Otto Bayer Medal has been awarded regularly to outstanding researchers in the company since 1984 in memory of the inventor of polyurethane chemistry and former research head of Professor Otto Bayer, who died in 1982 and was not related to the founder of Bayer.
"The quality of our research and the expertise of our scientists are undoubtedly among our key competitive advantages in the global marketplace," said Dr. Marijn Dekkers, chairman of the Board of Management during the Bayer Science Day event, that was attended by about 900 researchers.
The projects in which the 2012 winners of the Otto Bayer Medal are involved reflect the wide spectrum of research activities at Bayer. They range from innovative technologies for family planning through a resource-saving process for polymer production to a new herbicide for crops.
Among the winners: Bayer MaterialScience, a division that develops new process technologies for sustainability and resource conservation.
A interdisciplinary team of chemists and engineers – comprising among others the Belgians Johan Vanden Eynde and Marc Buts - builds on earlier successes by colleagues to achieve long-term optimization of the melt polycarbonate technology and establish the process in Caojing (China).
The site there now operates two 100 metric kiloton melt process lines. To meet the growing market, plans to increase this production capacity are already under way. The economic benefits of the melt process have led to annual cost savings of around 5 million euros at the Caojing site.
PICTURE
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, Yun Chen, Rolf Wehrmann, Marc Buts, Johan Vanden Eynde and Marijn Dekkers.
THE AWARDED PROCESS
In the past, polycarbonate (Makrolon) from Bayer was made using a continuous melt condensation process, but thanks to progress in catalysis and the availability of innovative high-viscosity technologies, the process has been improved considerably.
The new manufacturing method is based on a multi-stage, continuous and solvent-free polycondensation sequence using customized evaporation plants, high-purity raw materials and an optimized plant design that includes side-stream recycling and cleaning.
What’s more, no solvents are needed for polycarbonate production. The specific energy consumption of the melt process is, on average, 20 percent lower than with the conventional phase boundary method and the specific water consumption a full 60 percent lower. This results in a robust process that generates significant cost savings and benefits the environment.
