BASF to build new DHDPS plant in Ludwigshafen
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In mid-January of 2007, BASF started the construction of a new plant for the production of the base material DHDPS in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 6000 metric tons and is expected to go on line in mid-2008. DHDPS (dihydroxy diphenyl sulfone) is a feedstock for the manufacture of the high-performance plastic Ultrason® E (polyether sulfone: PES) that BASF has been producing in Ludwigshafen since the early 1990s.
DHDPS is produced by means of a new, complex process developed by BASF itself. Implementing the research findings in a large-scale plant as well as obtaining the requisite high-quality DHDPS for further processing into Ultrason posed a great challenge to the researchers. Assistance for the plastics experts came from BASF's integrated network, the "Verbund": "Our colleagues from Leather Chemicals have extensive know-how when it comes to the production of DHDPS, which has been made so far in a small plant and in a different grade for a completely different application purpose, namely, for tanning leather. We collaborated with them to transfer the new process to an industrial-scale plant," explains Matthias Dietrich, head of BASF's Ultrason® global business unit.
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