Munich-based chemical company, Wacker Chemie AG recently presented the “Alexander Wacker Innovation Award” to Erich Schaffer, Dr Steffen Dörrich, Dr Florian Hoffmann and Dr Harald Voit for their research into the behaviour of silicones at high temperatures. The four specialists developed silicone fluids with resistance to high temperatures as part of their work at the Group’s in-house research centre, the “Consortium für elektrochemische Industrie.”
The first product, Helisol, can be heated up to 425°C, while its viscosity remains low even at -40°C. Used in solar thermal power plants, the fluid enables efficiency levels that are impossible to achieve with conventional heat-transfer media. This year, the EUR10,000 innovation award – now in its twelfth year at Wacker – focused on basic research.
Helisol, the first product to emerge as a result of this research activity, is used as a heat-transfer medium in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. Here, reflecting parabolic troughs concentrate sunlight onto pipes filled with a heat-transfer medium. The level of efficiency of such CSP plants primarily depends on this heat-transfer medium’s heat resistance.
Helisol can withstand warmer – by some 30° – operating temperatures than existing standard products. At the same time, the silicone fluid’s freezing point of -55 degrees Celsius is far lower than that of conventional heat-transfer media. This renders trace heating, which is usually required, unnecessary and thus considerably reduces energy consumption. As a result, the efficiency of CSP plants increases, in turn making the production of energy significantly cheaper. More than 2,000 metric tonnes of Helisol have already been used in an industrial CSP plant.
Auguste Willems, Wacker Chemie Executive Board member presented the award to the team of developers at the group’s annual R&D symposium in Burghausen (Germany). This year marked the event’s 45th anniversary. “The hyperpure polysilicon has become a key player in the production of clean solar energy The research is helping Wacker expand its product portfolio in the field of sustainable energy generation and, at the same time, support efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” he said.