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Start up of new production unit for Solkane® 227
Start up of new production unit for Solkane® 227
Hanover, August 2009. After a planning and construction period of approx. one year Solvay Fluor has commissioned a new production plant for Solkane® 227. „About three million Euro have been invested by Solvay in this plant which is operated at the Bad Wimpfen plant in combination with the existing Solkane® units“, said Dr. Andreas Meier, Managing Director of Solvay Fluor GmbH and Head of the Regional Business Unit Europe, Middle East, Africa. „In view of the further difficult economic environment, this plant is an important investment for the site.”
Until early in 2008, the plant was operated at the Spanish Solvay plant in the industrial park Tarragona. During the planning and construction phase the engineers and technicians of both sites brought together their experience, in order to erect the Bad Wimpfen plant, in which essential components could be reused from the plant in Spain, according to the latest state of the art. „We have gained a lot of experience in the synthesis of fluorinated gases and thus the plant’s start-up was flowing smoothly“, said Dr. Meier.
Fire fighting with Solkaflam®
Under the brand name Solkaflam®227, Solkane® 227 is mainly used for fire fighting – for example, to fight fires in aircraft jet engines, on offshore platforms or in computer rooms and data centres. The non-flammable and non-toxic gas is suitable, above all, to rapidly suppress fire sources or to effectively fight burning, inflammable or explosive gases. The advantages of Solkaflam® are particularly brought to bear in situations where the fire must be suppressed within short time and without any residues. Data centres and clean rooms are prototypical examples where personnel, equipment and buildings must be protected because water or dry chemicals would cause considerable damage.
Solvay is commercialising a broad range of refrigerants and propellants in the long-standing markets. Under the brand name Solkatherm®, Solvay is now selling a working fluid which enables a more efficient utilization of excess heat which, otherwise, would be released, e.g. in combined heat and power plants or industrial plants, via air coolers into the environment. By means of Solkatherm® and the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology, residual heat can be directly used to generate electric power. For this purpose, Solkatherm® is evaporated and the arising pressure is used to drive an expansion engine, for example, a turbine with a generator. Especially during the summer months excess heat from plants cannot be used to heat any buildings but, by using the ORC technology, it can be directly converted into electricity.
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