SOLVAY DEVELOPS ON-SITE FLUORINE GAS PRODUCTION UNITS TO DRAMATICALLY DECREASE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN THE PHOTOVOLTAIC AND SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY

Brussels, 23 August 2011, at 7:30 a.m. (Brussels time)
 
 SOLVAY DEVELOPS ON-SITE FLUORINE GAS PRODUCTION UNITS TO DRAMATICALLY DECREASE
    GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN THE PHOTOVOLTAIC AND SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
 
     New cost-effective F(2) production units enable substitution of potent
   greenhouse gas NF(3) in photovoltaic, semiconductor and display industry
 
Solvay  announced today that it is going  to test a new on-site electronic grade
fluorine  gas (F(2))( )production  unit at its  industrial site in Onsan, Korea.
After  testing, the unit will  be installed at a  customer site. This production
equipment  with a capacity of 100 metric tons electronic grade F(2) gas per year
makes it possible to produce this rather limited quantity in cost-effective way.
And as the device is modular, it is easy to increase capacity if needed.
 
F(2)  is a good replacement for nitrogen trifluoride gas (NF(3)) as cleaning gas
in  the photovoltaic, semiconductor  and display industry  as F(2) has no global
warming  potential  compared  to  NF(3)  which  is  a  17,200 times  more potent
greenhouse  gas than carbon  dioxide (CO(2)). Furthermore,  replacing NF(3) with
fluorine gas decreases both the consumed gas volume and the cleaning time, which
both enable the customers to increase productivity.
 
"With  this  breakthrough  technology  we  can  offer  our customers tailor-made
solutions  whatever  their  needs.  With  its  long-standing experience as Fluor
producer,  Solvay is the only company able  to offer to customers a reliable and
optimal  solution for any  quantity, from a  limited number of  kilos to several
hundred  tons pure fluorine  gas per year,"  says Bernd Wilkes, Senior Executive
Vice President of Solvay's Global Business Unit Special Chemicals.
"This proprietary technology combines significant advantages for the environment
with  clear productivity improvements and cost  savings for the customers, which
brings  Solvay  once  again  a  step  closer  to  becoming  a  global  leader in
sustainable chemistry," he adds.
 
SOLVAY  is an  international industrial  Group active  in Chemistry. It offers a
broad  range of products  and solutions that  contribute to improving quality of
life.  The Group is headquartered in Brussels and employs about 14,800 people in
40 countries.  In  2010, its  consolidated  sales  amounted  to EUR 7.1 billion.
Solvay  is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels, Belgium (NYSE
Euronext:  SOLB.BE  -  Bloomberg:  SOLB.BB  -  Reuters:  SOLBt.BR).  Details are
available at www.solvay.com.
 
For further information please contact:
 
 ERIK DE LEYE              PATRICK VERELST
 
 Corporate Press Officer   Head of Investor Relations
 
 SOLVAY S.A.               SOLVAY S.A.
 
 Tel: +32 2 509 7230       Tel. +32 2 509 7243
 
 erik.deleye@solvay.com    patrick.verelst@solvay.com
 
Press Release: 
http://hugin.info/133981/R/1540209/470865.pdf
 
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Source: Solvay S.A. via Thomson Reuters ONE
 
[HUG#1540209]