From Operating Error to Award-Winning Invention

An Oil Catastrophe Provides the Crucial Evidence

In any case, the top executives at Deurex, which is based in the small city of Elsteraue in Germany, decided not to dispose of the material. Who knew what it might be good for? In fact, the “Eureka!” moment would come more quickly than anyone thought. The Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico put CEO Günter Hufschmid on the right track in April. He had his chemists check to see if the substance could soak up oil since it appeared to have a spongy structure. His assumption was confirmed – impressively. The chance product was capable of absorbing six or seven times its own weight in oil.

Astounding Outcomes

The substance exhibited a capillary effect that quickly soaked up oil. But it did not bind with water. And then there was the enormous surface of Deurex Pure, as the inventors of the product called it. One gram could be spread out over a surface of three square meters. That meant 100 kg of Deurex Pure could eliminate more than 600 liters of oil from the surface of a body of water. The substance was surprising for its other advantages: Even in saturated form, it floated on the surface and thus could be easily collected. Compared to the customary binding agents up until that point, it absorbed the oil more quickly and left no residue. Afterwards, it could be cleaned relatively easily and reused. The synthetic wax not only bonded with oil but with other chemicals, such as alcohols and surfactants, as well. Employees at Deurex AG have a special way of demonstrating how effective and high-performing this chance product is: They pour oil into a container filled with water, add the binding agent and let it soak up the oil. And then they take a swallow of the water containing the oil.

The effectiveness of the oil binding material is impressive. Water contaminated with waste oil becomes pure again.

European Inventor Award 2017

The benefits of the chance invention were impressive enough for Deurex AG to receive the European Inventor Award in June. “This groundbreaking innovation has the potential to redefine how oil and chemical pollution are managed," said Benoît Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office, which gives out the awards, when Deurex Pure was nominated. Not least of all because it had already proven its suitability in practice, for example, in the Niger delta, where an environmental organization turned to the so-called “magic cotton” to clean the water. In 2013, it also reliably soaked up leaked heating oil during flooding along the river Elbe and in southern Germany.

Leakage of Heavy Oil from Wind Power Facilities

This new product also demonstrates its advantages for wind power stations. The gearboxes of these high-performance machines contain several hundred liters of heavy oil. When oil escapes from time to time due to the enormous stresses, a collar with Deurex Pure attached under the gondola ensures that any leakage is immediately captured. Since the material is permeable to water, rainwater continues to flow through it without obstruction. Incidentally, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) handles leakage issues in wind power facilities with a different technique: With seals especially developed for these facilities, it ensures that heavy oil does not escape in the first place but stays where it belongs.

Recognizing and Exploiting the Value of Chance

The story of Deurex Pure illustrates the role that chance can play in innovations and new, original projects. But it is never chance alone. To a greater degree, it comes down to the recognition of the potential of these accidents. In the November edition of our customer magazine ESSENTIAL, among other things, we look at other examples of extremely successful innovations where chance is the model. The title of the edition will be “Awakening.”