Media Releases

With the HydroSeal product, Voith has successfully participated in the Environmental Technology Award in Category 3 - Technologies for Emission Reduction, Treatment and Separation. The company came second.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy of Baden-Württemberg has been awarding the Environmental Technology Award since 2009. It is awarded every two years for excellent and innovative products in environmental technology. The prize money amounts to 100,000 euros and is spread over four categories ("Energy Efficiency", "Material Efficiency", "Technologies for Emission Reduction, Treatment and Separation" and "Measurement and Control Technology") and a special prize of the jury. Participation is open to companies with head offices or branches in Baden-Württemberg. The award recognizes products that make a significant contribution to resource efficiency and environmental protection and are nearing launch onto the market or that will be on the market in not more than two years. This year's awards ceremony by Environment Minister Franz Untersteller took place on 7 July 2015, in the Römerkastell (Roman Fort) in Stuttgart.

"We see our ranking as a special award for our commitment to the development of innovative environmental technology." The HydroSeal product is a new sealing strip system with integrated lubricating water supply for suction rolls in a paper machine. "Compared to previous sealing strip systems the new design from Voith, for which several patents have been filed, saves water and energy at the same time and furthermore results in a number of additional process advantages and thus a high customer value", explained Marc Erkelenz, R&D Manager of Mechanical Roll Service at Voith. The environmental benefit is immense: with the rebuild of only one suction roll savings in fresh and waste water of up to 20,000 m³/year (compared to about 8 Olympic swimming pools), and about 1 million kWh/year (the equivalent annual energy consumption of approximately 667 persons) can be achieved – depending on the size and type of the machine.
"With the Environmental Technology Award Baden-Württemberg we honor products and technologies that manage to bring the needs of people in line with the needs of the economy and at the same time protect the environment," said Environment Minister Franz Untersteller, who together with the jury of experts chose the prize winners and the nominated companies from the applications. The other jury members are Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth (director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology as well as director of the Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Plasma Technology at the University of Stuttgart), Joachim Kaufmann (CEO Dürr Systems GmbH), Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bauer (director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Work Management and Organization and director of the Institute for Industrial Ergonomics and Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart) – represented by Mr. Michael Bucher (head of Competence Team Shared Systems Design IAO), Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Alexander Sauer (director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP) of the University of Stuttgart and director of Development Group Efficiency Systems at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA), Dr.-Ing. Hannes Spieth (managing director of Environmental Technology BW) and Ingolf Baur (physicist and presenter at SWR).

Voith Paper is a division of the Voith Group and the leading partner to and pioneer in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-saving products to reduce the use of energy, water, and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith today has more than 39,000 employees, sales of €5.3 billion and locations in more than 50 countries, making it one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe.