Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) is expanding its production capacity for dispersible polymer powders in Germany. The Munich-based chemical company is currently building a new spray dryer with a capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) at its Burghausen site, investing an amount of around €20 million. The facility is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015 and is said to be one of the largest of its kind worldwide.
“Worldwide, demand for high-quality dispersible polymer powders is rising particularly in residential construction and infrastructure measures,” explains Arno von der Eltz, president of Wacker Polymers. “We started to extend our dispersible polymer powder production at our Nanjing site at the end of last year and now want to push ahead with expanding our capacities in Burghausen, too – and thus strengthen our global position as a leading manufacturer of dispersible polymer powders.”
Wacker has been producing dispersible polymer powders as binders for dry-mix mortars in Burghausen, Germany, since 1957 and, today, is a global technology and market leader in this field. Dispersible polymer powders find use in various construction applications such as tile adhesives, self-leveling flooring compounds, plasters, repair mortars, external thermal insulation composite systems and cementitious waterproofing membranes. They enhance important end-product properties, such as adhesion, cohesion, flexibility and flexural strength.