WACKER Builds New Pyrogenic Silica Plant in the USA

On December 14, Wacker Chemie AG announced that it will build a new production.plant for its HDK? brand of pyrogenic silica.at its Charleston site in the US state of Tennessee. The new facility, with an annual capacity of about 13 000 metric tons, is anticipated to involve capital expenditure of some US$150 million. Construction work will start in the second quarter of next year, with completion planned for the first half of 2019. WACKER already produces hyperpure polysilicon for the solar and semiconductor sectors in Charleston.
   The new facility is a key addition to the Charleston site’s supply chain. The main.byproduct of polysilicon manufacturing is tetrachlorosilane, which either has to be converted and fed back into the production loop or can be used to create added value by being further processed into HDK. By integrating the polysilicon and HDK? production systems, as already operated at its Burghausen and Nünchritz sites in Germany, WACKER achieves maximum flexibility in the reprocessing of tetrachlorosilane, avoids the need to dispose of waste products, and thereby enhances the efficiency of the integrated production system as a whole.
WACKER produces HDK? pyrogenic silica.at Burghausen and Nünchritz in Germany and Zhangjiagang in China. The Munich-based chemical company is the world’s third-largest manufacturer in this sector. Ultrapure amorphous silicon dioxide powder is used as afiller in silicone elastomers and as a rheology-control additive in paints, adhesives, unsaturated polyester resins and.plastisols. It also serves as a flow aid in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and.food-processing industries.