Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) and Chinese chemicals producer Fuhua Tongda Chemicals Company (Fuhua) have signed a license agreement for Fuhua to build a new hydrogen peroxide plant in Leshan, Sichuan Province, using Evonik’s know-how. Furthermore, both partners will evaluate a cooperation to jointly produce and market specialty grades of hydrogen peroxide with the aim to meet the rising demand for those applications on the Chinese market.
The signing ceremony took place on 15 November in Hanau, Germany. According to the agreement, Fuhua will use Evonik-licensed technology to build an industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide plant with an annual capacity of 200 kilotons. The envisaged Evonik-Fuhua collaboration would then further purify the hydrogen peroxide into specialty grades for applications such as solar panel production or aseptic packaging for food and beverages.
“This move supports the mission of Evonik’s Active Oxygens business line to ‘futurize peroxide’,” said Lauren Kjeldsen, head of Evonik’s Smart Materials division. “Through business models like this one, we are pooling our expertise in peroxides with the local market knowledge of important industry players in order to deliver solutions that meet the needs of a growing population.”
Fuhua Chairman Zhang Hua said, “This collaboration with Evonik on industrial-grade and specialty-grade hydrogen peroxide projects is another major step towards Fuhua’s strategic goal of company transformation, upgrade, and high-quality development. The signing marks a concrete milestone in the long collaboration between our two companies. We believe that the combination of Fuhua’s advantages in resources, value chain, and local market with Evonik’s first-class expertise, technology, and production management will better serve the market and contribute to a better life for humankind.”
Specialty hydrogen peroxide grades can be used in a wide variety of future-facing applications. For example, hydrogen peroxide is a crucial ingredient in the production of photovoltaic cells for solar energy. It is used as a bleaching, disinfection, and oxidizing agent in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Or it can act as a sterilant in aseptic packaging in order to extend the shelf-life of food and beverages. And because hydrogen peroxide breaks down into only water and oxygen, it leaves minimal residues as compared with other chemical alternatives.
Fuhua is a comprehensive global chemical enterprise integrating mining resource development and R&D of applications for basic chemicals and fine chemicals. Products cover fine chemicals and basic chemicals.