Lanxess bumps up butyl rubber capacity in Belgium

ERJ staff report (DS)

Zwijndrecht, Belgium - Lanxess has boosted capacity of its halo butyl rubber plant in Zwijndrecht, Belgium. With the expansion, the capacity of the facility increased by 10 percent up to 150,000 metric tons of butyl and halobutyl rubber per year. The expansion representing an investment of EUR 20 million was completed at the end of 2011, several months ahead of schedule.

In addition to the new capacity, Lanxess has built two new pilot plants for the development of production technology for butyl rubber.

The new pilot plants at Zwijndrecht have been built in order to test a new production technology. Current butyl polymerisation takes place at temperatures around -95C, which require considerable energy input. “These pilot plants represent our large-scale implementation of the new process we are developing. The aim of the new technology is to use fewer resources and thus be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman of the Board of Management at Lanxess.

In addition to the expansion in Zwijndrecht, Lanxess is building a new butyl rubber facility on Jurong Island, Singapore, with a total capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year. The plant is expected to start up in the first quarter of 2013. Lanxess has another butyl rubber plant in Sarnia, Canada, with a capacity of 150,000 metric tons per year.

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Press release from Lanxess