Evonik and SINOPEC to Collaborate in OSN Membrane Technology

The German specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries AG and SINOPEC Beijing Research Institute of the Chemical Industry (BRICI) have signed a collaboration agreement to build a process development laboratory for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration (OSN) membrane technology.
Based on its solid technical expertise and comprehensive OSN product portfolio, Evonik will act jointly with BRICI to develop new processes for Sinopec. “Starting up the OSN lab is a consistent step in our growth plan for the attractive membrane business,” notes Dr. Dominic Stoerkle, Vice President & General Manager of the High Performance Polymers Business Line Asia Pacific at Evonik. “Based on the close partnership with BRICI and our active participation in the open platform, we anticipate further growth to result from the new joint OSN laboratory. ”
Professor Li Hongbo, president of the Yanshan Branch of BRICI, particularly emphasized his organization’s willingness to enter into a more extensive cooperation with Evonik, “The joint OSN laboratory is a novel approach to fostering collaboration. It is well aligned with our regional innovation strategy and future development vision. Evonik will contribute advanced technology, which Sinopec will make accessible to various business stages. With Evonik’s support, we will also build up a pilot plant unit in one of Sinopec’s production sites as an OSN reference plant.”
When Evonik initiated the first contact with BRICI in 2015, both parties showed strong interest in potential OSN applications for the petrochemical industry. In the following year, a series of laboratory-scale tests were successfully conducted for a lube oil dewaxing application. To enter into a partnership with the aim of developing more processes and setting up a long-term collaboration, both sides initiated several management-level meetings to discuss a future collaboration strategy. The joint OSN laboratory was officially established in early 2017, when Evonik’s first (lab-scale) equipment arrived at BRICI.
In the future, the laboratory will focus on the petrochemical industry to open up substantial markets in both China and the entire Asian region for OSN applications.