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Things couldn’t be better: chemical company Chemours is ordering more than ever before. The company aims to use even more efficient selective ion exchangers to filter out larger amounts of the “forever chemical” PFAS from wastewater. Sales employees Bart Goossens and Dirk Steinhilber, Application Technology Manager, are initially enthusiastic about the idea – but also cautiously skeptical: “Will it really work? Can we increase the surface area of the ion exchangers enough for them to absorb more PFAS? That remains to be seen.” But of course they’re on board.

They then discuss the concept with colleagues from the Research, Application Technology, and Production departments. Together, they look for practical solutions – both for their major customer and for LPT. To increase the surface area of the polymer beads, they must be made smaller. “One thing we asked ourselves was whether the beads would still be stable enough to allow the wastewater to pass through them,” says Steinhilber. The business unit had already gained experience with fine-bead ion exchangers in chloralkali electrolysis, however. Here, the little beads had worked well. So the teams in the laboratories in Bitterfeld and Leverkusen got started right away and reported back after a very short time: “When the diameter of the polymer beads is reduced from 0.6 mm to 0.4 mm, they can bind twice as much PFAS.” As a result, they only produce half as much waste and are more environmentally friendly. These PFAS-selective ion exchangers from the laboratory were then sent to the customer for testing. “They were very impressed and immediately ordered three batches,” says Steinhilber. This quantity now needed to be delivered as quickly as possible. In April, Chemours underwent an audit with an environmental authority in the Netherlands. As regulations on PFAS filtration are becoming increasingly stringent there too, the customer wanted the audit to demonstrate that it is successfully working on new solutions to the PFAS problem.

India Was Immediately Ready to Go
The LPT team got right to work: “We manufactured the pure polymer beads in Bitterfeld and then flew them to Jhagadia,” explains Steinhilber. Five multidisciplinary teams worked on the process together in a highly agile manner. The Indian team was ready to go as soon as the polymers arrived. It treated them chemically, applied PFAS-selective groups, and flew them back. The three batches arrived at the beginning of January. “That was an amazing achievement by our logistics team,” says Lisa Demes, Global Segment Head Specialized Water. The majority went to Chemours in the Netherlands, and the rest were sent to other interested customers as samples. “The feedback we received was quite promising.” But even more important was whether the large batch worked as well as the laboratory sample. Chemours confirmed that this was the case and even reported that they were able to treat more than double the amount of wastewater as initially expected. The customer was extremely satisfied and expressed – without being asked – that the beads from LPT were superior to those from our competitors. The fact that the LPT team accommodated Chemours’ wishes on many levels certainly contributed to this positive feedback. Within a span of only ten months from the initial idea for these ion exchangers to the delivery of the batches, everything went smoothly. And the customer received them before their audit.

At the moment, Europe is the driving force pushing the PFAS issue. “We see a great deal of potential here for our PFAS-selective ion exchangers,” says Demes. The current major customer is eager to ensure that we can deliver reliably over the long term. Because of this, the BU would prefer to relocate the entire production of the beads to Bitterfeld. “That would make logistics much easier,” says Demes.

Revenue Rose Sharply
This new product, Lewapole® TP 108, won the grand prize at the Innovation Awards. It perfectly embodies the spirit of the Innovation Award: An existing product was quickly improved to meet customer requirements and can now generate several times the average LANXESS margin. Chemours and LPT worked closely together to achieve this. Revenue increased significantly thanks to the new product, and further customers have already expressed interest. All that remains to be said is that things really couldn’t have gone any better.

… A HYBRID INNOVATION
SMOOTT PERFORMANCE STARTS WITH THE RIGHT GREASE

Electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly gaining popularity, particularly in China. However, this rise brings new challenges in maintaining their optimal performance. One significant issue is the increased vehicle weight due to the heavy electric car batteries. For instance, a high-end model like the Mercedes EQS 580 4Matic weighs around 3.5 tons. This added weight compared to traditional vehicels with Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) puts extra strain on the drivetrain, especially on the constant velocity (CV) joints that transfer motion and torque to the front wheels. Proper lubrication of CV joints is crucial; otherwise, they wear out quickly and produce undesirable noise. Unfortunately, the existing greases on the market are not adequate for lubricating these new Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV).

Novel Hybrid Grease
This is where the LAB BU team stepped in. LAB, a pioneer and market leader in calcium sulfonate complex (CSC) greases, recognized the need for a better solution. Although polyurea (PU) greases are commonly used for electric cars, they are not perfect. Kevin Liu, an application engineer at LAB BU in the AADC in Shanghai, noted that the team, led by Wayne Mackwood, head of technology for grease and detergents at LAB BU in West Hill, Canada, had long understood that superior grease for CV joints would be key to entering the large battery electric mobility market, particularly in China. "We aimed to develop a hybrid grease that combines the advantages of our CSC greases with those of PU greases," explains Kevin Liu. The multinational team succeeded, filing a patent for their new PU-CSC hybrid grease in 2018. Major electric car manufacturers, such as the Chinese BYD Group, are currently testing it in the field. "All tests should be completed by the end of this year," says Lucy Li, Head of Application Technology APAC. She and her colleagues are optimistic about the success of their novel hybrid formulation. Wayne Mackwood adds, "We offer exceptional wear protection, low noise, low friction, and a long service life for CV joints. Our PU-CSC grease can handle the higher loads caused by the weight and torque of electric vehicles, where conventional greases fail. Our long-term goal is to become the leading manufacturer of CV joint grease in the battery electric vehicle segment."

But that's not all. Su Mi Beack, Head of Product Management for Transportation Additive, envisions further applications for these new greases: "This grease technology serves as a platform from which we can tailor formulations for specific applications. Our technology and sales teams in China are already making inroads into steel manufacturing with products tailored to meet those requirements. We also see potential in the lubrication of industrial electric motors." Mackwood believes that the successful collaboration between colleagues from Canada, the US, and China holds great promise: "It is even conceivable that we could manufacture this new technology using bio-based or other sustainable materials in the future.”

For Sarah Korwek, Global Product Manager for Grease, one thing is clear: "Without this new technology development from LAB, these key applications and industries would likely have remained closed to us, along with a major opportunity for growth in this key business segment of LAB."

The Innovation Award jury clearly agreed and honored the team for their achievement.

… A NEW SALES MODEL
HOW MONEY STRENGTHENS RELATIONSHIP

Life isn’t fair, and this is especially true in business – years ago, a former employee sold the plans for a Velcorin® plant to a Chinese manufacturer. This company built the plant on the basis of these plans and then attempted to lure the MPP BU’s customers away with a lower sales price. LANXESS naturally took legal action against the manufacturer and eventually won the case. But by that time, another copycat had appeared. “These unfair competitors wanted to take control of our patent-protected market by distributing their copy of Velcorin® in our established and operated ecosystem – dosing pumps, service infrastructure, regulations. This would have allowed the competitor to offer its product at a significantly lower price, as it wouldn’t have had to bear any costs for the ecosystem, whereas we have to keep the entire system up and running. So we had to and must continue to better protect ourselves against this,” explains Matthias Hüttl, head of the Beverage & Food market segment, MPP BU. To make matters worse, the patent for Velcorin® expires in 2027, at which point everyone in the market can offer it in any way they see fit.

Service as a Differentiator
Up until then, the BU sold its customers a dosing system and helped them train their staff to ensure that the addition of Velcorin® to fruit juices, wines, and isotonic sports drinks went smoothly. The same applied to the natural preservative Nagardo®. “Velcorin® is an additive that requires a good bit of explanation at first. That’s why we also rent out our dosing systems, so that customers can gain experience with them first.” The service offered with Velcorin® and Nagardo® ultimately gave the team the idea for the “pay per liter” sales model. Similar models have long been in use in other industrial sectors – think of printers or copiers, for example.

With the new model, customers receive a complete dosing service. The system is provided to them, and MPP also receives the customer’s consumption data via the web-enabled dosing system. The customer determines in advance how many drinks they want to mix with the cold sterilizer. The MPP team calculates the required amount and provides the customer with a monthly estimate, similar to how an electricity provider operates. If the customer doesn’t produce anything, they don’t have to pay anything. This also means they can avoid the high upfront cost of investing in their own equipment. “Our pilot customer in the US was so thrilled with the idea that they added Velcorin® to another drink,” says Hüttl. Anyone who doesn’t want the full service package from MPP can also simply rent the dosing system. “The advantage for us is that if the customer wants to switch to another provider, we take back our equipment and discontinue our service. Since we control the entire process, we would also immediately see if a customer were to purchase a competitor’s product.” Then the system would be removed from their premises. The team hopes that this will enable it to retain all of the BU’s strategically important customers – even after the patent expires.

“The biggest problem that arose when launching the new model was essentially an administrative issue. Our accounting department wanted to know how much of the price for the complete package was for service and how much was for the actual product. This question is important for tax purposes in many countries. In addition, the new model somewhat overwhelmed our SAP system.”

Inspiring Others
The team submitted the project for the Innovation Award and was selected as one of the three finalists. “We are extremely pleased about this and also want to show that a new sales model offers new opportunities to boost customer loyalty. Perhaps we can inspire colleagues in similar situations to try it too,” says Hüttl.