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April 3, 2008
Business
BASF And Dow Target Wind Turbine Market
Chemical leaders launch new epoxy products at Paris composites show
Michael McCoy
The world’s two biggest chemical companies have announced initiatives aimed at the growing market for wind turbines used to generate electricity.
At the JEC Composites Show in Paris last week, BASF and Leuna-Harze said they would cooperate on a European supply of epoxy resin systems for fiber-reinforced composites, which are used to fabricate wind turbine blades. BASF sells curing agents, accelerators, and additives for epoxy resin processing, and Leuna-Harze produces the resins themselves, including specialty bisphenol-F-based resins.
Gregor Daun, head of BASF’s new epoxy system development and marketing unit, notes that the certification firm Germanischer Lloyd has approved the partners’ new systems for use in producing wind turbine blades.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemical introduced a family of epoxy products, called Airstone, for fabricating wind blades that are “stronger, lighter, and easier to manufacture.” Dow says its Styrofoam brand insulation is also used in wind blade construction.
David E. Kepler, Dow’s chief sustainability officer, says the new epoxy family demonstrates the company’s ability to “derive business value from innovative chemical solutions while meeting the most pressing world challenges.”
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