Covestro Deutschland AG

• Covestro develops material solutions for infrastructure and smartphones
• Cooperation with Deutsche Telekom and Umeå Institute of Design
   
  
  5G is the latest generation of mobile communications and was developed to respond to private demand and the economic environment of 2020 and beyond. 5G will become the basis for a fully mobile and networked society; it is a key technology for the digitalization of all areas of life and the economy. The new technology enables close networking of devices such as cell phones, tablets, vehicles, household appliances, industrial plants and many others to form an Internet of Things (IoT). 
  
  With the installation of 5G, the demand for base stations, active antenna units (AAU) and other equipment will increase dramatically. Covestro is developing innovative and sustainable material solutions and contributing to a smart infrastructure, including sensor technologies and a digital communication environment. The company is cooperating closely with Deutschen Telekom and the Umeå Institute of Design. Covestro will present some prototypes at K 2019. The project is part of the company´s comprehensive digitalization strategy. Together with its partners, the company is committed to achieving Goals 9 (Innovation and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities) of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. 
  
  New telecommunications infrastructure
  Polycarbonates and their blends have proven themselves in a wide range of electrical and electronic applications and, thanks to their outstanding properties, should also be the materials of choice for 5G technology: "They are mechanically robust, lightweight, transparent to radio frequencies and suitable for injection molding," explains Fabian Grote, who is a core member of the global 5G team at Covestro. Some grades also show good weather resistance or thermal conductivity or are suitable for two-component injection molding and laser direct structuring (LDS). 
  
  To increase public acceptance of an expanded network of antennas and base stations, Covestro is working with students from the renowned Umeå Institute of Design and Deutsche Telekom to seamlessly integrate these technical facilities into the cities of the future. The project includes the development of attractive base stations, their color matching and surface structuring. Düsseldorf served as a reference city for the project.
  
  Flexibility in antenna design
  In this project Covestro will enter this market in a hypothetical scenario with its own product range. The actual product is the outer sheath of a third-party antenna, which is designed to adapt to specific environments by either fitting in or protruding from it, depending on the environment and population density. This is where the best potential can be exploited with products that deliver the technical requirements and either integrate or reinforce the character of a city with a 5G network. "At K 2019, we will be showing a series of technical and design prototypes for small cells in the frequency range of 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz," says Grote.
  
  When 5G technology progresses to higher frequency, e.g. the millimeter wave band, signal transmittance could become a design challenge. “We can help our customers to enjoy more design freedom while ensuring the 5G data transmittance performance with state-of-art  testing capabilities in a broad frequency range of up to 50 GHz under a variety of environmental conditions, all in our Asia Pacific Innovation Center in Shanghai,” says Nan Hu, Global Head of Electronics at the Polycarbonates Segment of Covestro.
  
  New film solution for 5G smartphones
  5G technology, with its high transfer rates, will also have a significant impact on smartphone design. The antennas for 5G technology require more space. That is just one reason why metal solutions used to date for the back of devices will in future be replaced by ceramics, glass or plastics. 
  
  A Makrofol® SR multilayer film solution with acrylic top layer combined with a new manufacturing process results in mobile phone back covers that look like glass but are not fragile. "The film laminate can be formed in three dimensions, and the film solution also meets the requirements for transmission at high radio frequencies with wavelengths in the millimeter range," explains Echol Zhao, Head of Specialty Films Greater China at Covestro. 
  
  This crystal clear, 3D formable and 5G compatible film material is specifically engineered for optimal design freedom for mobile phone brands to create fashionable mobile phones using decoration technologies such as UV patterning and non-conductive vacuum metallization (NCVM). More than 50 percent of the mobile phone market in China is currently switching to such multi-layer PC/PMMA film solutions – a sign of a promising future for the coming 5G era.
  
  

• In focus: added value for customers
• More efficient processes through computer simulation
• New formula finder for viscoelastic foams
   
  
  Digitalization is one of the most important drivers of growth in the chemical and plastics industry. Covestro hopes to take advantage of resulting opportunities with a comprehensive strategic program. The central focus of the program is the goal of providing customers with added value and setting new standards in customer collaboration. To accomplish this, the company is incorporating digital technologies and processes into production, the supply chain, research & development, at all customer contact points and in new business model development. 
  
  A current emphasis of the new business models is the digitalization and optimization of process flows. By simulating process steps, development times at customers and along value chains can be reduced considerably, and process flows can be designed more efficiently. At the K 2019, for example, Covestro is presenting a new formula finder for viscoelastic foams, which are used primarily in pillows and mattresses – also in the medical and care field.
  
  Calculating properties and formulas on the computer
  “With an easy-to-use web-based calculation tool, customers can enter the desired physical properties of the foam and wait for the matching formulas to be calculated based on our raw materials,” explains Dr. Lutz Brassat, an expert for polyurethane flexible foam at Covestro. “It can also do the reverse and determine the properties of a finished foam for a predefined formula. In any case, it saves time and materials and also costs.” The company is also increasing the processing power in a research project and is investing in advanced hardware.
  
  To develop the digital tool, an interdisciplinary team at Covestro first manufactured various viscoelastic foams with the aid of predefined formulas and identified their properties. Based on these data sets, the team then generated an algorithm, which uses the properties of these foams to calculate other foam densities, hardness levels and viscoelastic behaviors. 
  
  More comfort in bed
  Viscoelastic foam provides a high level of comfort and is therefore enjoying increasing popularity among consumers. For older or bed-ridden patients, it effectively prevents dreaded bed sores. Under the influence of its own weight and heat, a body lying on the foam sinks slowly into it, but is also supported by it. A special feature of a viscoelastic foam is its shape memory: as soon as a person changes position or gets up, the foam slowly regains its original shape. 
  
  Comprehensive program for digitalization
  Covestro bundles its global digitalization activities in the comprehensive program “Digital@Covestro,” which is based on three pillars. The first relies on digital operating processes in production. Its aim is to make the construction, operation and maintenance of global production facilities more efficient and transparent. This also includes evaluating real time data with the help of end devices, in order to optimize plant maintenance. 
  
  Another pillar of the digitalization strategy is a digital trading platform for chemicals, which was developed according to the needs of customers and is currently being tested. Here, customers can buy standard products efficiently online at current market prices. Since April 2018, Covestro has also been selling products via a flagship store on 1688.com. This online platform of the Internet giant Alibaba is currently China's largest marketplace for business customers. 
  
  The third pillar involves new business models, primarily digital technical services. They are important for developing efficient production processes at customers and, above all, for digitalizing entire value chains. Covestro offers a comprehensive range of services here, which extends from chemical synthesis, to developing formulas, to processing and the subsequent handling of plastic products.
  
  

• Covestro and RWTH Aachen University develop industrial process
• Reduction in use of crude oil and contribution to the circular economy
• Further milestone in the use of CO2 as an alternative raw material
  
   
  Dress with CO2: Two research projects have succeeded in making elastic textile fibers based on CO2 and so partly replacing crude oil as a raw material. Covestro and its partners, foremost the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University and various textile manufacturers, are developing the production process on an industrial scale and aim to make the innovative fibers ready for the market. They can be used for stockings and medical textiles, for example, and might replace conventional elastic fibers based on crude oil. 
  
  The elastic fibers are made with a chemical component that consists in part of CO2 instead of oil. This precursor called cardyon® is already used for foam in mattresses and sports floorings. And now it is being applied to the textile industry.
  
  “That’s a further, highly promising approach to enable ever broader use of carbon dioxide as an alternative raw material in the chemical industry and expand the raw materials base,” says Dr. Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro. “Our goal is to use CO2 in more and more applications in a circular economy process and save crude oil.” 
  
  Sustainable production process
  The fibers are made from CO2-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) using a technique called melt spinning, in which the TPU is melted, pressed into very fine threads and finally processed into a yarn of endless fibers. Unlike dry spinning, which is used to produce conventional elastic synthetic fibers such as Elastane or Spandex, melt spinning eliminates the need for environmentally harmful solvents. A new chemical method enables carbon dioxide to be incorporated in the base material, which also has a better CO2 footprint than traditional elastic fibers. 
  
  “The CO2-based material could be a sustainable alternative to conventional elastic fibers in the near future,” states Professor Thomas Gries, Director of the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University. “Thanks to our expertise in industrial development and processing, we can jointly drive establishment of a new raw materials base for the textile industry.” 
  
  Development of the method of producing fibers from CO2-based thermoplastic polyurethane has been funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). It will now be optimized as part of the “CO2Tex” project, which is to be funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) so as to enable industrial production in the future. “CO2Tex” is part of “BioTex Future,” a project initiative of RWTH Aachen University. The initiative is devoted to developing production and processing technologies to facilitate the future market launch of textile systems from bio-based polymeric materials.
  
  Development partners display interest
  What makes the CO2-based TPU fibers so special is their properties: They are elastic and tear-proof and so can be used in textile fabrics. Initial companies from the textile and medical engineering sectors have already tested the CO2-based fibers and processed them into yarns, socks, compression tubes and tapes. 
  
  The aim of launching CO2-based textiles on the market is to promote a material cycle in the textile and clothing industry based on sustainable resources.
  
   
  
   
  
  

• Efficient manufacture of rotor blades with polyurethanes
• Covestro delivers first commercial order of raw materials to China
• Efficient Pasquick® coating technology provides protection
   
  
  Power generation from renewable sources is a key part of the sustainability concept of Covestro and underlines its commitment to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular goal number 7 for renewable energy (UN-SDG 7). This applies above all to wind power, which is one of the most promising renewable energy sources due to its global availability and the technical progress already made. 
  
  This is also reflected in the development of wind power capacity, which is seeing double-digit annual growth across the globe. China is the world’s largest wind power market with 221 GW of installed capacity at the end of 2018, according to the World Wind Energy Association.[1]
  
  Concept for cost-efficient production of rotor blades
  However, cost-efficient processes for manufacturing wind power plants are in greater demand than ever to enable further expansion and for competing with traditional energy resources. Once in operation, the aim is for turbines to be used over a lengthy period with the lowest possible maintenance requirements.
  
  In order to meet this challenge, Covestro has joined forces with partners and developed a polyurethane (PU) resin and a manufacturing technology, which – in conjunction with glass fiber mats and an efficient production process – enables shorter cycle times. “This is a clear cost advantage for manufacturers,” says Dirk Soontjens, who coordinates the global wind power activities of Covestro. “Its advantage over epoxy resins used so far is that it flows more easily and ensures better wetting of the glass fiber mats used for reinforcement.” The resin also exhibits very good mechanical properties and meets many regulatory and industry performance standards. 

Progress in China and Europe
Only recently, Covestro has processed the first commercial order for utilization of the PU resin for production of eighteen wind rotor blades with a length of 59.5 meters each, together with the respective spar caps and shear webs, all manufactured by Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology (TMT), one of the largest wind blade manufacturers in China. The blades were delivered to Envision, a leading global wind turbine technology company, and are scheduled to be installed in a wind farm in Eastern China in July 2019. 

Also in Europe, Covestro collaborates with leading players of the wind power industry and intends to commercialize its technology shortly. Besides that, Covestro operates a new wind power laboratory in Leverkusen, which expands its global lab capacities in Asia and Europe to support customers and innovation.

High performance coatings with higher productivity
Covestro has also developed coating solutions with higher cost efficiency. For instance, protective coatings based on Pasquick® technology for steel towers as well as gel coatings for blades of wind power plants significantly increase productivity and ensure a long lasting performance with significantly reduced maintenance. This is due to the fact that the use of Pasquick® requires one layers less than conventional corrosion protection and that the coatings have a lower curing time. 

Besides that, waterborne topcoats based on Bayhydur® and Bayhydrol® provide long-lasting performance with low solvent emissions. Last but not least, Covestro also offers leading edge protection for rotor blades based on products of the Desmodur® line, providing long lasting protection against abrasion.


[1] https://wwindea.org/blog/2019/02/25/wind-power-capacity-worldwide-reaches-600-gw-539-gw-added-in-2018/