LANXESS introduces its new red pigments at the ECS

In addition to its current extensive portfolio of inorganic pigment products, specialty chemicals company LANXESS will be displaying test panels introducing its new red shades at the ECS. The Inorganic Pigments business unit currently produces these new grades in its German pilot plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen, but from 2016 they will be manufactured in the new production plant in Ningbo, China. They will be marketed globally under the trusted Bayferrox brand name and represent a further expansion of the product portfolio of the world’s largest iron oxide producer.

The new plant for iron oxide red pigments in Ningbo, which has been built to the latest environmental standards, is being designed for an initial annual synthesis capacity of 25,000t. On the same site, LANXESS is now also erecting a mixing and milling plant for pigments with an annual capacity of 70,000t. "The trend toward urbanisation is driving the demand for environmentally friendly, sustainably-produced iron oxide pigments. With our new facility in China, we are expanding both our global production network and our product line. We can thereby continue to grow with our customers and remain a reliable partner," says Jörg Hellwig, head of the Inorganic Pigments business unit.

Visitors to the LANXESS stand at the show can view a 1:250 scale model of the production plant. In the morning on the first two days of the ECS there will also be a live relay from the construction site in China with information on the progress of construction.

Energy-efficient facility sets new environmental standards
In the Ningbo Chemical Park, the company will for the first time employ its optimized Penniman process in which improved water treatment and waste gas purification ensure a high level of environmental compatibility. Optimisations in the production process will also significantly reduce the quantities of nitrogen oxides generated. Emissions of the greenhouse gas N₂O (nitrous oxide) will almost completely be converted by an efficient after-treatment into nitrogen, water and oxygen – all naturally occurring substances.

Compared to all currently available iron oxides, the innovative and sustainable Penniman process produces the brightest and most yellowish red pigments. Significantly higher colour values on the red axis (a*) in the L*a*b* colour space are achieved, and the same is true for the colour development on the yellow axis (b*). No other iron oxide production process provides the option of such a flexible and precise production of colour shades.

Effective milling reduces the proportion of aggregates and agglomerates, which makes it possible to wet the pigments quickly during incorporation into colour systems. "New Red” pigments exhibit very good colour stability during milling, even with the use of agitator mills. Their resistance to heat is extraordinarily good.

The new bright yellowish Bayferrox red pigments have also been tested for use in highly filled paste systems: the viscosity curve of these systems is nearly Newtonian. As a result, the systems can be highly concentrated, which gives the user flexibility in control of the process.

Detailed information on the new red pigments will be provided in the presentation entitled "The reddest iron oxide pigments ever,” which will be given by Stephan Spiegelhauer, head of the IPG Global Competence Center Paints & Coatings on April 20 at the 2015 European Coatings Congress in Nuremberg.