Dow increasing capacity for Voratron products

AHLEN, Germany.—With the mechanical completion of its adhesive and gap filler product line at its facility in Ahlen, Dow is poised to increase ten-fold its capacity for its Voratron Polyurethane Systems family of products. And there is good reason for the growth.

"By 2030, more than one in four new passenger cars sold will be electric vehicles," Esther Quintanilla, Dow's global MobilityScience marketing director, said in a statement. "Dow's investment in this adhesive and gap filler production line is well-timed to capture this new demand."

Driven by demand from the e-mobility industry, the expansion helps to ensure Dow has capacity to meet battery assembly materials needs. The high-strength adhesives and thermally conductive composites are designed to achieve the needed performance across a range of electric vehicle battery designs, while aiding with sustainability aims, Dow said in a news release.

"The battery is the key to the automotive evolution, and this advancement allows us to serve the current and future EV segment," Quintanilla said. "Dow is committed to supplying our customers with a reliable supply of high-performance materials for the battery assemblies, which are among the most critical technologies enabling this growth."

Among the performance parameters, Voratron Polyurethane Systems:

• Support the automotive industry's ambition for vehicle weight reductions with low-density characteristics;
• Improve processability, such as low squeeze force;
• Provide versatility and efficiency to different assembly processes with optimized rheology and kinetics; and
• Enable a combination of tailored mechanical properties and efficient thermal management (critical to safety, range and reliability of electric vehicles) through its thermally conductive adhesives and gap fillers.

Performance aside, Dow is working to ensure greener supply chains for its partners and maintain its own sustainability aims of reducing carbon emissions worldwide. The Ahlen site is fully powered with renewable energy, and its process machines, forklifts and movers are driven by electrical motors.