The new production facility for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) was first announced by Bayer MaterialScience in 2008. Construction work began at the Chempark Dormagen site in the spring of 2012 and has just reached an important phase. Six extremely large components have been transported to the construction site and put in position. This included the heaviest component of the new plant, which weighed almost 170 tonnes. A special tracked crane was needed to position the heavy components. The individual parts of the crane were delivered on 35 trucks. Work is also going ahead at full speed in other areas of the Dormagen site. Several hundred workers are currently involved in the construction of the large-scale TDI facility, with the aim of ensuring that production can begin next year. The most obvious progress has been made on the steel frame of the new plant, which has already reached a height of around 50 metres. Less noticeable, but equally important, is the installation of the piping systems, for example. Work on assembling more than 60 kilometres of pipes has already begun.

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© Bayer MaterialScience