Borealis boosts step change in innovation

• New R&D polymerization reactors to boost time-to-market for product solutions
• EUR 5.5 million investment part of Borealis step change in innovation strategy

Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, announces a significant breakthrough in its on-going strategy to accelerate product development and advance its step change innovation programme. The successful completion of laboratory reactors for polypropylene (PP) polymerization at Borealis’ Innovation Headquarters in Linz, Austria, heralds a new approach to the use of bench-scale reactors to accurately mimic a continuous pilot or plant process. This will result in faster product evaluations and the opportunity to bring innovations to the market more quickly at a substantially lower development cost.

The first polymerization was carried out in a laboratory PP reactor capable of mimicking Borealis’ proprietary Borstar® technology. The polymerization showed excellent activity, process stability and polymer morphology.

The reactors will provide a reliable tool for accelerated product development in close co-operation with experts in catalysis, process and polymer design, various business units, pilot, plant and asset management. Key end-use markets for Borealis’ pioneering PP grades set to benefit from this investment include applications in infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging.

Construction of the reactors and an accompanying gas purification system and supply station was completed according to highest safety standards within only four months without a single safety incident. The EUR 5.5 million investment reflects the company’s decision to develop Linz as the headquarters for its international research and development activities.

“Considering the technical and organizational complexity of the overall project, the successful start-up of both reactors from the very first experiment is a significant breakthrough achievement” says Alexander Krajete, Borealis Polymerization Expert and Project Manager of the PP investment.

“This valuable research tool complements our new Parallel Pressure Reactor (PPR) catalyst research facility in Finland, opening up new opportunities for Borealis to respond more quickly and efficiently to the needs of our customers,” comments Alfred Stern, Borealis Vice President for Innovation and Technology. “We are looking forward to exploring the full potential of this research system across our business teams”.