Evonik said March 30 that it has invested at least €10 million (U.S. $11 million) to increase capacity for isobutene derivatives by more than 50 percent at its site in Marl, Germany. Production will include intermediates used to produce lubricants and lubricant additives.
The company said it invested a double-digit million euro sum to increase the production capacity. It did not disclose the full production capacity.
The isobutene part of the company’s C4 hydrocarbons production network produces the petrochemical specialties tertiary butanol, di-isobutene and 3,5,5-Trimethlhexanal, known as TMH. The uses for di-isobutene include production of high-performance lubricants, improving engine efficiency. TMH is used to produce high-performance lubricants – especially cooling lubricants – and lubricant additives, Evonik said.
The company said conversion work at the Marl Verbund site will increase the purity of the TMH produced there from about 88% to more than 95%. TMH is an aldehyde with high isomeric purity. “Customers will benefit from this,” Evonik stated. “In the future, they will be able to use the isobutene derivative directly in their own production process without having to purify it first.”
In 2020, the company began the targeted expansion of its C4 site and the elimination of bottlenecks in production and logistics, Hinnerk Gordon Becker, head of the specialties market segment at Evonik Performance Intermediates, said in a news release.
The recently completed expansion was also aimed at improving security of supply, flexibility and product quality, the company said. The business line is also optimizing logistics. “In the course of the expansion, we have taken extensive measures to significantly increase both production and delivery flexibility,” Becker said.
Evonik also produces isobutene at its site in Antwerp, Belgium.