Polyamide 12 precursor plant gets green light to restart

After nine months of supply disruptions to the auto sector for a key raw materials used in automotive fuel tubing, Evonik Industries (Essen, Germany) has got the go-ahead from authorities to restart its cyclododecatriene (CDT) plant at Chemiepark Marl in Germany in December. CDT is used in the manufacture of polyamide 12 and the plant outage due to an explosion on March 31, 2012 caused shockwaves throughout the auto sector, prompting automakers to seek alternative supplies and materials.

PA 12 shipments to be shipped from rebuilt Marl plant in January.

In addition to fuel lines and air brake lines, Vestamid compounds are also used to produce other air and liquid-conveying lines, such as clutch line systems.

The extensive work to repair the damage caused by the fire at the CDT plant of Evonik Industries at Chemiepark Marl has now been completed. In November, the Münster district government issued an operating permit pursuant to the German Federal Emissions Law (BImSchG). All mechanical systems of the CDT plant were in place by the end of November, and as planned, the CDT plant will start operating in December. The first shipments of the company's Vestamid polyamide 12 made from the precursor material to be produced in the plant are scheduled to go out in January 2013. The full product portfolio will be gradually reestablished to restore the company's full polyamide 12 capacity.

According to an independent expert retained by the attorney general's office in Essen, Germany and subsequently Evonik to investigate the cause of the accident, an overdosage of a catalyst caused the explosion. Furthermore, Evonik has engaged an independent institute to establish additional safety measures for the restored CDT plant based on the expert report in order to rule out a recurrence of the incident. The recommendations of the expert were fully implemented during the reconstruction of the plant.