Evonik inaugurates new building for applied technology

ERJ staff report (TP)

Wesseling, Germany – Evonik Industries inaugurated a new building to house precipitated silica applied technology for tire and rubber at its Wesseling site near Cologne on 15 May.

In so doing, the firm has added applied technology to the world’s largest facility for precipitated silica production and research. Evonik invested an amount in the “low tens of millions of Euros” in the new building. The 2,500-square-metre building was completed in 13 months and 34 technicians and scientists have been working there since October 2013.

Dr Johannes Ohmer, head of the inorganic materials business unit, said: "The unified and strengthened Wesseling team will now be able to work on qualitatively first-class production and on ideas for the future with its colleagues worldwide in an even more targeted and efficient manner. We and our customers will use these to grow our businesses throughout the globe together."

A combination of precipitated silica and sulphur-functional silanes produced for the tire and rubber industry enables tire manufactures to reduce their products’ rolling resistance and improve their wet-grip. This can reduce fuel consumption by up to eight percent in comparison to conventional tires.

Recently, the company has undertaken a series of worldwide capacity expansions. In March 2014, it opened an expanded precipitated silica facility in Thailand; in May 2013, it initiated planning for a new facility in Brazil; and it will begin operations later this year in an expanded facility in Chester, Pennsylvania, US. Global silica production capacity will increase by approximately 30 percent over its 2010 capacity by the end of 2014.

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Press release from Evonik