Covestro Nominated for the 2020 German Innovation Award

Among numerous innovative projects and business models, the jury of the German Innovation Award honoured Covestro as one of three finalists in the "Large Companies" category for developing a new technology for chlorine production: oxygen-depolarized cathode (ODC). This award recognizes extraordinary, groundbreaking innovations developed by German companies that advance markets and industries through their innovative capabilities. The award is presented under the patronage of the Federal Ministry of Economics by WirtschaftsWoche, consulting firm Accenture and energy supplier EnBW.   Covestro Chief Technology Officer Dr. Klaus Schäfer commented: "We congratulate Dürr on winning first place." Schäfer continued: "We have made a leap into the best group composed of a broad and strong field. Being nominated by an independent expert jury reflects the high level of our innovative strength and the outstanding expertise and commitment of our employees that made this achievement possible in the first place."  

Determining voltage significantly lower

Covestro employee Andreas Bulan and his team, together with Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlor-Engineers, were responsible for developing ODC technology. This method is based on the conventional membrane process, which uses rock salt, water and electricity to produce chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen. In the ODC process, an oxygen-depolarized cathode is placed in place of the normal hydrogen-producing electrode. This suppresses hydrogen formation and leaves only chlorine and caustic soda solution.   What makes this process so special is that the required voltage is only two volts instead of three. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 25 percent. This means that the continuously increasing demand for basic chemical chlorine can be met in a much more resource and environmentally friendly manner than before. And that is not all: with the same plant size, the new process can produce approximately 30 percent more chlorine.

New process has potential for other applications

Hanno Brümmer, who is responsible for the production of base chemicals at Covestro, says: "Our innovation has two positive effects at the same time; lower emissions in the production of the required electricity and ideally more efficient management of renewable energies." "Over a long process, we succeeded in overcoming this challenge with determination."   Approximately 80 million tonnes of chlorine are currently produced worldwide annually, and this trend is rising. If this were to be based entirely on ODC technology, it would save approximately 35 million tonnes of CO2 annually worldwide. At the same time, the potential of this technology extends far beyond chlorine production; for example, it can also be used in stationary energy storage systems, power generation from hydrogen or decentralized water treatment. Covestro uses ODC technology at a chlorine production facility in Krefeld-Uerdingen and is currently building the first large-scale production facility based on ODC technology at its facility in Tarragona, Spain.