Lanxess Lifts Black Pigment Output at Krefeld
Through debottlenecking, German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess has added more than 5,000 t/y of capacity for its black synthetic iron oxide pigments at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site, which it claims as the world’s largest plant for manufacturing synthetic iron oxide pigments. The company said it is responding to increased demand from the construction industry, especially for products to color concrete.
With the capacity upgrade, Holger Hüppeler, head of the Inorganic Pigments business unit, said Lanxess is continuing the systematic expansion of its production capacities for synthetic iron oxide pigments. It is the only supplier worldwide to produce these pigments using the environmentally friendly Laux process.
According to Lanxess, the pigments produced using the Laux process are the only synthetic iron oxides specially certified by an independent testing institute for safe use in ultra-high-strength concretes (UHPC). Used in construction projects where high load capacities and lightweight, customized structures are required, they are also certified for their high content of recycled raw materials by leading auditor SCS Global Services
New ion exchange resin for consumer care
Separately, the Leverkusen-based company is extending its portfolio for the consumer care segment to include its new macroporous, strongly basic anion exchange resin Lewatit PH 1074 HEP. In addition to the decolorization of fermentation broths and sugar, this resin is said to be particularly suited to the purification and intermediate storage of heparin. Lanxess plans to use the product to acquire new customers in the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industry and further strengthen its market position.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
