With the rapid development of China’s economy, frequent environmental protection policies, and people’s continuous improvement of environmental awareness and environmental protection requirements, the polyurethane industry has also begun to seek breakthroughs and transformations. Among them, water-based polyurethane products rely on their superior environmental performance And stability is constantly replacing the original technology, becoming the mainstream of industry development. As a pioneer of polyurethane technology, Covestro developed waterborne polyurethane products as early as the late 1980s; over the years, Covestro has not only focused on technology research and new product development, but also valued cooperation with downstream customers. Through the cooperation of the industrial chain, the promotion and application of advanced polyurethane technology has achieved breakthroughs in many fields such as furniture, automobiles, and large-scale rail transit.
Recently, Covestro held a “new development of water-based technology” media meeting at the company headquarters. Vice President Mr. Li Jinqi had an in-depth exchange. Mr. Li shared Covestro’s advanced waterborne polyurethane technology with the media reporters, and introduced a series of innovative achievements made by Covestro in China’s waterborne coatings market.
Focus on the coordinated development of upstream and downstream
In the third quarter of 2017, the sales volume of the core business of the coatings business segment increased by 4.3% compared with the same period last year. Mr. Li said that this was mainly due to the gradual expansion of the market for water-based polyurethane raw materials.
In terms of rail transit, the application market of Covestro’s water-based easy-to-spray polyurethane technology is gradually being opened. Since 2008, Covestro’s water-based easy-to-spray polyurethane technology has painted 38,000 large vehicles, including buses, vans, subways and trucks, and some trucks for export; among them, Huabao Paint adopts Covestro’s easy-to-spray two-component waterborne polyurethane coating technology to develop a product that can be applied to Coating solutions for multiple coatings, including primers, primers, topcoats, and varnishes, make their performance far superior to traditional solvent-based systems in terms of corrosion resistance and UV (aging) resistance, and their service life is improved by a factor of 1 In terms of household surface paint, Covestro and Clivia established a wood coating joint laboratory in Shanghai in 2016, focusing on the research and development of water-based wood coatings To meet the needs of local furniture for high-performance water-based environmentally friendly coatings, Clivia Coatings has developed a water-based polyurethane coating with high hardness that can meet surface protection and has excellent fullness and transparency by using Covestro’s Bayhydura and Bayhydrola two-component water-based polyurethane systems ;In addition, through cooperation with Douding Manor and Huayun Wood, Covestro has extended the latest high-performance two-component waterborne polyurethane coating technology to the field of children’s furniture and high-end solid wood furniture;In terms of household products, Water-based adhesive technology has been extended and expanded, such as water-based sofa glue, and neoprene technology has made sponge bonding technology more and more perfect, which can meet the adhesive performance and greatly reduce the volatilization of voc gas; in the automotive interior In terms of application,Covestro continues to make breakthroughs in the development of water-based vehicles. At the same time, in the future, it will also increase the application scope of auto parts, such as the application of automotive roof glue, sponge seats, synthetic leather and other interior decorations to achieve The development process of water-based vehicles.
Practicing energy conservation and environmental protection, efficient emission reduction
While maintaining the rapid growth of sales business, Covestro has never forgotten to fulfill its social responsibility of energy conservation and emission reduction, and has made many contributions to energy conservation and emission reduction for different application industries.
For example, in the automotive field, Covestro actively promotes energy-saving and emission-reduction solutions for automotive interiors, applying water-based technology to textile leather coatings, and seats made of polyurethane synthetic leather can greatly reduce carbon emissions. Compared with traditional solvent-based synthetic leather, the square meter polyurethane synthetic leather can reduce the trend of global warming mitigation by 45% and reduce water consumption by 45%. If water-based polyurethane synthetic leather technology is applied to the entire textile or synthetic leather industry, water and soil pollution can be reduced by 20%, and the daily water consumption can be reduced to meet the daily domestic water consumption of 340,000 people. In addition, Covestro has greatly reduced the VOC emissions of automotive topcoats and varnishes by promoting the water-based technology of automobile bodies and the promotion of two-component high-solid polyurethane varnishes. The VOC of the topcoat of the body can be reduced by more than 50%. Replacing the inherent adhesive with water-based adhesive can greatly reduce the volatile gas brought by organic solvents such as ceiling glue.
In the integrated production of the furniture industry, Covestro also cooperates with downstream sewage treatment partners to assist customers in solving subsequent sewage treatment and discharge problems. Covestro adopts the upstream and downstream industrial chain cooperation model to solve actual problems for customers to the problem.
For the large transportation industry, Covestro is based on the�The component waterborne polyurethane raw materials Bayhydur® and Bayhydrol® systems have introduced waterborne easy-to-spray polyurethane technology, allowing downstream end users such as passenger cars, trucks, and train manufacturers to easily adopt this technology for large-scale construction. Compared with the traditional solvent-based system, the water-based easy-to-spray polyurethane technology can not only reduce the VOC content of the coating by more than 2/3, but also has superior corrosion resistance and ultraviolet aging resistance, and the service life can be increased by more than 1 times.
Competitive Advantages of Waterborne Technology
As the current water-based market is gradually being recognized by the market, different polyurethane technical properties are gradually accepted by the market. Mr. Li said that the performance requirements of special products such as home furnishing and automobiles also determine that the future market of water-based polyurethane will have a good development prospect. At present, the overall growth rate of global PU is 4%, but the average growth rate of water-based PU is stable at more than 10%. We can see the advantages of its future development.
In 2017, Covestro and Sina Home Furnishing jointly released the “Investigation Report on the Current Situation of Coating Application in Chinese Furniture Enterprises”. The data shown in the report intuitively analyzed the current situation and practical problems of coating application in large and medium-sized local furniture enterprises; According to the survey, compared with the mature European and American markets, China’s water-based furniture paint is in a critical period of development. As far as the domestic furniture industry is concerned, the market share of water-based furniture paint is still less than 10%, but its market is growing rapidly. Covestro predicts that the annual growth rate of water-based furniture coatings in the Chinese market will exceed 20% during 2015-2020. Among them, the growth of high-performance two-component waterborne polyurethane may be faster, because it can improve the appearance and performance of furniture at the same time.
With the increasing demand in the fields of furniture and automobiles, the development of water-based adhesives has been actively promoted. Mr. Li mentioned that Covestro set up a related production plant in Caojing in 2016. At present, the automotive industry is the most popular field of water-based polyurethane technology except for the shoe rubber industry. Basically, domestic mainstream manufacturers have realized automotive intermediate coating and surface coating. Water-based paint, and car companies are also further exploring the water-based application of the whole vehicle, such as the water-based application of auto parts such as bumpers, car interiors, and car seats. “Standing at the technological source of the industrial chain, Covestro is also trying its best to promote the water-based development of the overall body.” Mr. Li said.
For future development goals, Covestro always maintains a clear direction for future development. Mr. Li said that the future development direction of Covestro focuses on three aspects. One is to adhere to the goal of sustainable development. Covestro takes the 2005-2025 decade as the benchmark to reduce environmental pollution and further reduce carbon dioxide by 50% by 2025. The second is continuous innovation and continuous investment in research and development. In 2013, Covestro upgraded its Shanghai Polymer R&D Center to the Asia Pacific Innovation Center. The Asia Pacific Innovation Center focuses on waterborne polyurethane dispersion products, and its main applications cover footwear and textile coating technology and adhesive technology; its The third is to adhere to the coordinated development of the industrial chain, combine the actual needs of the downstream, achieve the goal of helping customers grow, and continue to commit to the common development of the entire industrial chain.
“2017 coincides with the 80th anniversary of the advent of polyurethane technology. As the inventor of polyurethane technology, Covestro has a very long history in the field of polyurethane applications; Covestro has never stopped exploring and innovating. Continue to make breakthroughs in the field of technology and application.”Mr. Li said with confidence.
Introduction to Li Jinqi
Li Jinqi joined Bayer MaterialScience (the predecessor of Covestro) in 2003 and has been working in the technology development department, mainly responsible for automotive original paint, refinish paint, plastic paint and vehicle paint , and later textile and specialty coatings. Because of his excellent working ability, he was sent to the United States by the company in 2012 as a project development manager. A year later, he returned to China as Director of Technical Sales in China. In April 2017, Li Jinqi was appointed as Vice President of Technology Application Development Asia Pacific of Covestro Coatings, Adhesives and Specialty Chemicals business unit.
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