New challenges

But this doesn't mean the end of the success story. In Yorkshire, an industrial region in northern England with considerable mining damage, the drinking water pipelines have even ruptured in places, presenting Bayer MaterialScience with yet another challenge.
The Inventor Company responded and in spring 2005 introduced to the market a new, likewise aliphatic and solvent-free polyisocyanate prepolymer in less than twelve months of development time. Since then, E. Wood has been using it to formulate Copon Hycote 169 HB, a two-component polyurethane coating system for complex semi-structural linings that is adapted specifically to the stricter demands. With a layer thickness of just five millimeters, the self-supporting protective coating not only stabilizes heavily corroded pipes, it is also elastic enough to offset underground shifting of the pipelines.
The spray system has been approved by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) and no difficulties whatsoever have been reported about its use.
The robotic sprayer can renew pipe sections up to 150 meters long in a day, which just may be a world record. The technology naturally is protected by multiple patents.
For this technology, customer E. Wood was presented with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, a distinguished prize given to successful British businesses, and the responsible Bayer MaterialScience CAS team won the Global Champion’s Cup. Both awards were in the category “Innovation.”

A healthy environment

Bayer MaterialScience and its partners clearly have every reason to celebrate these achievements. “Together with our partners, we worked meticulously to develop an innovative technology to the point of market-readiness and established first it in Great Britain,” Homann summarizes. “Both systems are now to be introduced in other European countries and then in the global marketplace, because demand is skyrocketing. It’s a very good example of how a new technology can secure new market shares for us and our customers.”
Homann reaches for a glass of water, hesitates momentarily and, before taking a modest sip, adds: “Apart from future markets and growth opportunities, there is yet another, much more important aspect: in line with our corporate philosophy, ‘Science For A Better Life,’ it is the aim of Bayer MaterialScience ultimately to focus on people and a healthy environment. Unfortunately, however, most people still underestimate the vital importance of water.”

Leverkusen, 2006-12-04