Open Factory Program

The doors of our factories in Brazil and Argentina are open seven days a week.

A unique transparency initiative.

Open Factory is a permanent program of visits to Unipar’s facilities that works every day of the year. Unlike a regular open day, the Open Factory proposal consists in establishing a relationship of full transparency with our visitors and the local communities that live in the area round our factories.

Established in November 1985, this action turned 35 years old in 2020.

The Open Factory Program was created in Cubatão, amid a difficult moment for the global chemical industry. The town had been classified as “the most polluted city in the world,” which made it the target of harsh criticism.

Late in the eighties, the region started an ambitious plan to reduce its environmental impact and, in this context, Unipar decided to make a giant and unprecedented leap forward. While the sector was trying to understand how to improve its relationship with the environment and the society, the company created this program with the goal of showing what it was doing and proving that is was possible to produce in harmony with nature.

In 2018, the Open Factory Program was implemented in Unipar’s units in Santo André (São Paulo) and Bahía Blanca (Argentina).

As of today, there are no other programs like this in the chemical industry of Brazil and the world, and it is hard to find similar initiatives, even in activities that are directly related with the final consumer.

Available in all the units of Brazil and Argentina, the Open Factory Program shows how we produce while respecting the environment and prioritizing the health and safety of our collaborators and neighbors.

Participate with us by visiting our plants!

Until we can receive you in person, we invite you to take the virtual tour of our factories!

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Sodium Hypochlorite Reactor

 Hypochlorite is produced by a reaction between gaseous Chlorine and a Caustic soda solution being cooled down.

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EDC Reactor

EDC (Dichloroethane) is obtained through a reaction between liquid chlorine and ethylene (inserted through a tube) and it is purified by distillation.


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Hydrochloric Acid Reaction Furnace

Hydrochloric acid is produced by a controlled combustion reaction of Chlorine and hydrogen, followed by absorption in treated water.

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Evaporation

Caustic soda is produced by electrolysis and reduced through the evaporation process.

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Cooling

 Then, the Soda is cooled down and stored in tanks, before being shipped.

Phases

(8) Cooling Chlorine

(9) Chlorine Withdrawal

(10) Chlorine Compression

(8) The produced gaseous chlorine is cooled down, (9) dried out and (10) compressed. After being compressed, it turns into a liquid state at low temperature.


Stages

(3) Treatment

(4) Filtration

(5) Control

(3) The PICKLE is about eliminating foreign bodies; it is filtered (4) and undergoes a strict control (5) before feeding the ELECTROLYTIC CELLS.

Etapas

(3) Tratamiento

(4) Filtración

(5) Control

(3) La salmuera se trata para eliminar impurezas, se filtra (4) y pasa por un estricto control (5) para alimentar las CÉLULAS ELECTROLÍTICAS.

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Start

If there are salt (sodium chloride) and water in stock, you need to supply our transformers with electricity.

Etapas


(11) Licuefacción de Cloro

(12) Almacenamiento de Cloro

(11) El cloro en esta forma se almacena en tanques (12) donde se carga en camiones especiales

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Sala de Celdas

La ELECTRÓLISIS tiene lugar en la celda. Y así, la energía eléctrica actúa sobre la salmuera y la transforma en SODA CÁUSTICA, CLORO E HIDRÓGENO.

News coming soon

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Evaporação

A Soda Cáustica é produzida na eletrólise e concentrada pelo processo de evaporação.

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Cell Room

The ELECTROLYSIS takes place in the cell. This way, electric energy acts on the brine and transforms it into CAUSTIC SODA, CHLORINE AND HYDROGEN.

Etapas

(3) Tratamento

(4) Filtração

(5) Controle

(3) A SALMOURA é tratada para eliminar impurezas, filtrada (4) e passa sob um rigoroso controle (5) para alimentar as CÉLULAS ELETROLÍTICAS.

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Pickle

Next, prepare the PICKLE obtained from dissolving the salt in the water to use afterwards in the ELECTROLYSIS.

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