Vintron GmbH has commissioned Krupp Uhde, of Dortmund, for the construction of a turnkey vinyl chloride plant and expansion of the alkali chloride plant at its chemicals complex at Knapsack, near Cologne. The contract for the two plants is valued at some DM 200 million. The assignment on the vinyl chloride plant covers Krupp Uhde GmbH's complete range of services, from process engineering via detail engineering though to procurement services, construction and equipment installation. This plant is to have a capacity of 330,000 tonnes of vinyl chloride (VCM) per annum, making it one of the largest and most modern plants of its type in Europe.

In the case of the alkali chloride plant, the capacity of the existing facility is to be raised to 250,000 t/a. Thoroughly proven, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly Krupp Uhde membrane technology will be installed.
The unusual feature of this order is the exceptionally short completion time. Mechanical completion of both plants is scheduled for October 2001.
With a market share of around 40 % and an installed capacity of some 4.5 million tonnes, Krupp Uhde is the market leader in the EDC field. A completed production capacity of more than 2.7 million tonnes/a also puts the Dortmund engineering company among the world's front runners in VCM. Vinyl chloride is a feedstock for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Krupp Uhde is a company of the Engineering segment of the Thyssen Krupp Group and has a workforce of 3,500 employees worldwide. The company's activities concentrate on the design and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: fertilisers, organic chemicals and plastics, electrolysis processes, oil & gas and energy technology.

Vintron, a Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG subsidiary, has its headquarters at the Knapsack Chemicals Park around 15 km to the south-west of Cologne and produces a range of important chemicals, including chlorine, caustic soda solution, dichloro-ethane and vinyl chloride.