Case History: LO-CAT® Process LO-CAT II Process For Chemical Plant Desulfurization

KRONOS' facility in Leverkusen, Germany produces titanium dioxide, the most important material used by the paints and plastics industry for whiteness and opacity. When new German guidelines set maximum emission limits for SO2 in 1989, KRONOS was required to eliminate the COS from the off-gas at their titanium dioxide production facility to meet the new requirements. Complicating this application, the COS removal process that KRONOS needed had to be built in an area with other existing processes, so its design was quite intricate. Since plot space is limited at the Leverkusen site, the unit also needed to be placed on various levels of a building housing other proprietary processes.

Titanium dioxide pigment is a fine white powder used in paints, plastics or paper to provide for maximum whiteness and opacity. It gives paint high hiding power, meaning the ability to mask or hide a substrate. It does this more effectively than any other white pigment. Today, titanium dioxide pigment is by far the most important material used by the paints and plastics industry for whiteness and opacity.