Lanxess opens new rubber production line in Dormagen

LANXESS has completed the expansion of its Baypren polychloroprene solid rubber production operations in Dormagen. Werner Breuers, member of the Lanxess AG Board of Management, and Jan Paul de Vries, head of Lanxess’ High Performance Elastomers business unit, officially inaugurated the new production line.

The new production line uses the innovative dry finishing production technology developed, tested and taken to the market-ready stage by Lanxess specifically for this purpose. This technology enables Baypren to be manufactured in a more resource-friendly way. Lanxess s also adding two new variants of this high-performance synthetic rubber to its product portfolio at the Dormagen site. The specialty chemicals company has invested some EUR 18 million in expanding production.  

By expanding its Baypren plant, Lanxess aims to provide the market with new impetus and  innovative production technology. The innovative dry finishing technology now being used at the Baypren facility in Dormagen reduces the number of production steps and conserves resources when manufacturing the synthetic rubber, among other things by dehydrating the rubber in a special extrusion device. This means far less water is required, which also reduces the amount of wastewater generated. The natural gas previously needed to dry the rubber is no longer necessary either, so less waste air is produced.

 As a result of the production expansion, Lanxess is also offering its customers two new Baypren grades under the names “Baypren High Performance” and “Baypren Green Finishing.” Both variants are manufactured on the dry finishing production line. ‘Baypren Green Finishing’ grades feature enhanced crosslinking, while ‘Baypren High Performance’ benefits from further optimised flow behaviour. These properties help increase the speed of the injection molding process for technical moldings and reduce energy consumption.  

The existing production lines will remain in operation to meet the continuing customer demand for “traditional” Baypren grades. By expanding the plant, Lanxess is increasing its annual production capacity in Dormagen by some 10 percent to a total of 63,000MT of solid rubber.