German automotive manufacturing company Continental will invest EUR 9.5 million in a technical solution aiming to reduce smell discomfort at its plant in Romania’s Timisoara.

The investment is part of the company’s social responsibility strategy and the equipment’s testing started in November 2013, according to the company.

The operating principle of the technical solution, called Non-Thermal Oxidation - Cold Plasma technology (active oxygen), consists in an alternating current that generates a field of plasma that decomposes the oxygen and water in the air into oxygen radicals (active oxygen). This produces an oxidation reaction at the contact with the air from the tire manufacturing process, which neutralizes the odor molecules.

Also, the company will install an equipment called Regenerative Thermal Oxidation (RTO) that will destroy the volatile organic compounds which appear in the production process, by oxidizing them at high temperature.

The project is to be implemented by end-2015.

In over 13 years of operations in Romania, Continental Anvelope Timisoara made total investments of EUR 350 million and created over 2,100 jobs.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com