Sud-Chemie Inaugurates Emission-Free Core Plant

Sud-Chemie AG inaugurated a new plant in Moosburg, Germany, this week, where it will produce a line of casting cores using its new Inotec process. The plant will be operated by Sud-Chemie’s WD-Giesserei-Technik GmbH business unit, which already is producing Inotec cores at another plant in Fuldabruck, Germany. Inotec is an inorganic sand-binding system developed and patented by Ashland-Sudchemie-Kernfest GmbH, a joint venture between Sud-Chemie and Ashland Inc. Because the binder has no silicates it’s said to be free of emissions, and environmentally friendly, with the effect that core production needs no air extraction or amine washing functions. The Inotec process has been optimized for automotive aluminum casting, in cooperation with a BMW foundry at Landshut, Germany. BMW aims to reduce its use of organic binding agents, and from 2010 forward plans to use only inorganically bound cores. Beginning in May, the new Moosburg plant will be producing core packages for the cylinder blocks of BMW’s new 6-cylinder diesel engine. Sud-Chemie says the Inotec binder system strengthens its “broad, green chemistry portfolio” of process and environmental catalysts, bentonite based additives, water treatment, catalysts for second generation biofuels, and heavy metal free plastic additives. Dr Hans Jurgen Wernicke, deputy chairman of the managing board of Sud-Chemie AG, stated: “With the development of core production, hitherto unique in this form, optimized to the Inotec binding agents, we make a significant step forward to realizing our vision of emission-free foundry processes in the automotive industry.”