German chemical and plastics producer Lanxess (Cologne; www.lanxess.com) has invested around EUR 8m in significantly expanding storage capacity for its phosphoric acid ester plant at its Leverkusen / Germany site. The new storage facility for liquids consists of six 150 m³ tanks, giving a total volume of 900 m³, and replaces the previous, smaller tank farm, which had a capacity of only 145 m³.

In addition to the expanded tank farm, the company has also built an unloading station to transfer raw materials from tankers. The installation of the facilities has been completed and they can go into operation as soon as the necessary permits have been issued – this is expected by the end of July.

Phosphoric acid ester is used as a flame retardant in plastics, among others. The flame retardants portfolio of Lanxess´ Rhein Chemie subsidiary consists of two families: "Levagard" and "Disflamoll". The latter is primarily used in plastics, including in PVC applications, in rigid and flexible PU foams as well as in coatings, adhesives and sealants.