BASF biogas plant
Monomers

Smoke but no water

Ultramid® H – the innovative thermoplastic polyamide with high water permeability

Chemicals
Monomers
Polyamides and precursors | BASF
Ultramid® H

Monomers

Ultramid® H

The world’s first thermoplastic polyamide with high water permeability

The unique combination of strength and water permeability makes Ultramid® H an innovative material for e.g. artificial casings in which sausages can be smoked and then dried.

Such casings have so far been made of collagen or cellulose, for instance. As the new polyamide can be used to produce artificial casings with significantly thinner walls due to its strength, it is an attractive alternative to these materials. Thanks to the hydrophilic properties of Ultramid® H, the desired smoke aromas pass through the artificial casing made of pure polyamide into the sausage products during the smoking process. The high water permeability allows subsequent drying directly in the casing.

Properties of thermoplastic polyamide

  • Material strength
  • Low material usage
  • Smoke/water permeability
  • Not edible
  • Good peeling behavior
Production of orange-sausages with artificial casings of Ultramid®H

With the development of Ultramid® H, BASF is setting new standards for polyamide research and applications.

New fields of application

Ultramid® H opens up new fields of application for thermoplastic polyamides that were previously beyond technical capabilities and is unique among thermoplastics. It can be processed like any other polyamide, enabling our customers to incorporate Ultramid® H into their production processes without making any adjustments.

Rolls of artificial sausage casing

Weight loss of water-filled sealed casings* ( 23°C / 50% RH )

chart of certified mass balance according to Redcert®
*100g of water in 25µm strong casing

Comparison of time required for evaporation of water

The graph shows the comparison of time required for evaporation of water from sealed artificial casings. Ultramid® H shows superior water permeation properties compared to conventional PA6. This is a significant advantage in the drying or smoking process of e.g. sausages.


 

Differentiate yourself from your competition by developing new products with Ultramid® H
 

Ultramid® H

Dr. 
Rolf Minkwitz
Product Development Polyamides BASF

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Let’s discuss how we can support you in developing high-quality and sustainable solutions for your business.
 

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Customer stories

Replace fossil with recycled feedstock: reduce fossil resource consumption by using renewable feedstock like bio-methane or bio-naphtha in the production process

Smaller product carbon footprint: Ultramid® BMB products have a smaller product carbon footprint compared to conventional fossil-based products. The cradle-to-gate PCF is calculated according to Together for Sustainability methodology, accounting for biogenic uptake.

Virgin-quality output: Ultramid® BMB products have the exact same properties as conventional materials without attributed renewable feedstock.

Drop-in solution: never change a running system! You can process our BMB products in the same reliable way as our conventional products. You can use them in applications with high demands on quality, hygiene, and performance, be it in food packaging, yarns, compounds for automotive applications and many more.

With our biomass balance approach, renewable resources such as bio-naphtha or biomethane derived from organic waste are used as feedstock in the very first steps of chemical production. The bio-based feedstock share is attributed to specific products certified according to recognized mass balance schemes. 

Both the mass balance procedure, by which the proportion of renewable feedstock is attributed to the product, and the BMB products themselves are audited by independent certification bodies and certified according to well established schemes, such as REDcert2 or ISCC PLUS.

You can find all details about the available Ultramid® BMB products on our customer portal:


  My Polyamides Portal