Reverse osmosis membrane elements from LANXESS in Bitterfeld: Production capacity to double in 2017
40 million euros invested in the site in the past five years
“Our foray into the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane business five years ago has truly been a success story. We have almost reached the limit of our current capacity so we are going to double production capacity in the coming year,” said Jean-Marc Vesselle, head of the LANXESS Liquid Purification Technologies (LPT) business unit, on the occasion of a celebration of the five-year anniversary of the Lewabrane plant operated by IAB Ionenaustauscher GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the LANXESS specialty chemicals company.
For 5 years specialty chemicals company LANXESS has been producing membrane filtration elements in Bitterfeld, Germany, in order to deliver ready-to-use elements for reverse osmosis purposes to customers worldwide. The building measuring around 4,000 square meters houses not only production and logistics facilities but also highly modern laboratories and offices.
LANXESS AG
The specialty chemicals company has invested a total of 40 million euros in the site in the last five years alone. In addition to the membrane elements plant, LANXESS also operates the world’s largest ion exchange resin plant in Bitterfeld.
Vesselle emphasized the company’s association with the site and the region. “In 2011 – before the membrane plant – we had about 100 employees in Bitterfeld. That number has now grown to about 160 and will continue to increase. We value the skills, commitment and reliability of the workers here, which is a key element in our success.”
Expansion of capacity to meet increasing demand
The market for RO membrane elements is currently projected to grow at an above-average rate of 10 percent annually in coming years (CAGR 2015-2020). Because the plant is already operating at almost the limit of its capacity, LANXESS has decided to double the corresponding capacity at the Bitterfeld site. The additional capacity is scheduled to come on line in the second half of 2017. The expansion will create up to 10 new jobs.
Commitment to research, training and development
LANXESS is demonstrating its commitment to the Bitterfeld site in a number of different ways, including in Research & Development. In this regard, Vesselle said: “We are continuously conducting research in all areas of modern water treatment so that we can continue to provide our customers with the requisite expertise from a single source.” For that purpose LANXESS is cooperating with technical universities and other research facilities in the region such as the Fraunhofer Institutes for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) in Magdeburg and for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) in Halle.
A total of 18 apprentices have started their careers with IAB Ionenaustauscher GmbH since the site was expanded, with eight currently in training. After completion of their training, these chemical production technicians, chemical laboratory assistants, industrial mechanical engineers and electrical engineers for automation technology can look forward to promising careers, not least with the company itself. Of the 10 apprentices who have already completed their training seven were taken on.
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