Wacker Chemie AG and Dow Corning Corporation officially started the construction of the second phase of their pyrogenic silica plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, China.
Production plant for pyrogenic silica at Zhangjiagang (China). The new plant is a key facility of this integrated silicone manufacturing site. (photo: Wacker Chemie AG)
The pyrogenic silica plant, together with a siloxane plant, is a key facility of an integrated silicone manufacturing site developed by both companies at Jiangsu Yangtze River Chemical Industrial Park in Zhangjiagang to produce materials used extensively in industries including construction, beauty and personal care, power and automotives. Covering an area of one million square meters, the site is China's largest facility of this kind and among the world's largest and most advanced integrated production complexes for silicones.
The overall nameplate capacity for both siloxane and pyrogenic silica, including the second phase silica plant , is expected to be approxi-mately 210,000 metric tons per year. Investments from both partners for the new pyrogenic silica production plant will amount to a mid double-digit million euro sum.
During a groundbreaking ceremony held in Zhangjiagang today, Dr. Udo Horns, the project's director for Wacker Chemie AG, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment: "As with siloxane, pyrogenic silica is a key intermediate for manufacturing finished silicone products. The new investment will allow us to better serve our customers' needs, and to drive the development of the silicone industry in China," Horns said.
Mr. Brian Austin, Dow Corning Zhangjiagang Site Director, comment-ed: "Key application industries of siloxane and pyrogenic silica in-clude: construction, automotive, electronics, beauty & personal care, healthcare, power & utility, solar, textile, and paper. Our investment in this site significantly enhances our ability to meet our customers' needs of using silicone to enhance the performance of their own products and also to help spur the growth of many key industries in this region.
It demonstrates our commitment as a company to sustainable development, using our long history of expertise and technology know-how to create environmental, economic and social benefits wherever we operate."
Pyrogenic silica is a nano-structured specialty chemical. It can be used as an active filler in silicone elastomers, a viscosity-adjusting agent in coatings, printing inks, adhesives, unsaturated polyester resins and plastisols or as a flow aid, for example in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food-processing industries.
Both companies also own and manufacturing plants for finished silicone products at the Zhangjiagang site. Marketing and sales are undertaken independently by each company.