Silica Verfahrenstechnik GmbH

Plant engineering from Berlin – everything from a single source

Silica Verfahrenstechnik GmbH engineers and manufactures turnkey plants and components for the purification and drying of gases and organic liquids as well as for the liquefaction of biogas and natural gas. The product range includes adsorption drying plants with dew points down to below −80 °C, catalytic and adsorptive gas purification plants, hydrogen purification plants for green hydrogen, exhaust air purification and solvent recovery with exhaust air throughput of up to 300,000 m³/h, as well as modular LNG/LBG liquefaction plants. In addition, process engineering apparatus, test and pilot plants, adsorbents, activated carbons and catalysts are offered, along with engineering services such as process design, piping statics and strength calculations. Engineering, manufacturing and assembly take place on the company premises in Berlin-Wittenau, with the assembly of large plants carried out weather-independently in a 14 m high assembly hall. Customers come from the process industry and the hydrogen and natural gas/biogas sectors; the company has been based in Berlin since 1929.

Site

Berlin

Processes

Adsorption drying plants for gases and liquids (dew point down to below –80 °C), Liquid drying by pervaporation (PERVAP™ membranes, water content from 30 % to 1 ppm), Catalytic and adsorptive purification plants for gases (platinum/palladium catalysis,, Hydrogen purification plants for green hydrogen (electrolyzer matching), Liquefaction of biogas and natural gas (LNG/LBG; biogas from 300 m³/h; LNG 6–400 tonnes/day, with, Exhaust air purification and solvent recovery (activated carbon plants, steam/inert gas, Apparatus construction (process engineering apparatus, pressure vessel design), Engineering: process design, piping statics, strength calculation, basic and detail engineering

Materials

Adsorption Drying, Pervaporation, Catalytic Gas Purification, Molecular Sieve Adsorption, Activated Carbon Plants, Gas Liquefaction

Certificates

ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, EN ISO 3834-2 (welding quality requirement), SCC**, AD 2000 / HP0, Module A2, EN ISO 3834-2

Founded

1929

Industries

Process industry / chemical industry, Hydrogen / green hydrogen (electrolysis), Natural gas / biogas / LNG, Artificial leather and hard paper industry (historical), Heavy goods transport and inland waterway shipping (LBG/LNG as fuel)

1. 01

   Basic and detail engineering

2. 02

   Process design

3. 03

   Manufacturing and apparatus construction

4. 04

   Assembly (indoor assembly hall)

5. 05

   Commissioning

6. 06

   Maintenance, modernization, optimization

Processes and Materials

Site Berlin

Berlin-Wittenau

DE

Headquarters, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, commissioning

Materials

Steel, stainless steel (apparatus and plant construction)

• Assembly hall with 14 m height (2015)

Plants and Apparatus

Inside the production

Processes & technical limits

Quality and Certification

Quality assurance is carried out in accordance with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 (SGS) as well as EN ISO 3834-2 (TÜV Rheinland) for welding production, supplemented by SCC**, AD 2000/HP0 and Module A2. Qualified welding, supervisory and inspection personnel as well as design according to pressure vessel regulations ensure plant-specific manufacturing and inspection quality.

Over 90 Years of SILICA in Berlin

1. 1929

   Founding of SILICA Gel Gesellschaft m.b.H. on 26 April in Berlin, entry into the commercial register on 6 May 1929; the sole shareholder is the US-American SILICA Gel Corporation (300,000 Reichsmark). Further development of the adsorption plants designed by Borsig; sales of

2. 1935

   Sale of the shares by SILICA Gel Corporation to the engineers Adolf Koopmann, Fritz Krull and Dr. Kurt von Lüde, including process documentation and patents for silica gel production.

3. 1936

   Move to larger business premises at Reichskanzlerplatz (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz); expansion of design and the physical laboratory.

4. 1939

   Acquisition of a factory in Berlin-Spandau; start of in-house production of apparatus and plants.

5. 1945

   After the end of the war and confiscation of the business premises, re-registration as an operational business on 10 May 1945; reconstruction of dismantled solvent recovery plants.

6. 1950

   Construction of a new adsorbent factory in Bad Homburg (due to the imminent expropriation of the silica gel factory in Coswig).

7. 1962

   Sale of the Bad Homburg factory to the US competitor Grace and supply agreement; financing of a new plant in Rosbach (Hesse).

8. 1966

   Expansion of the Berlin-Spandau plant; focus on the design and construction of plants for gas purification and solvent recovery.

9. 1978

   Construction of a new heavy-fabrication hall at the Spandau plant.

10. 1979

    Death of Adolf Koopmann (24 February); his son Günter Koopmann takes over the management of the company.

11. 1990/91

    Re-establishment of SILICA Verfahrenstechnik GmbH and SILICA Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG under majority participation of the Austrian Berndorf AG.

12. 1991

    Hans-Joachim Redlich takes over the management.

13. 1992

    Günter Koopmann retires from management on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

14. 1994

    Move to the current site at Wittestraße 24 in Berlin; entry into large-scale plant construction with natural gas conditioning plants (individual orders up to 22 million euros).

15. 2015

    Inauguration of a new assembly hall (14 m height) at Wittestraße for weather-independent indoor assembly of larger plants.

16. 2025

    Delivery of two skid-mounted purification and drying units for Air Liquide's Normand'Hy project (200 MW electrolyzer, Port-Jérôme, France).