Adaptability

At first glance, it is a rather unassuming material that emerges from the hopper mixer in hall 61 at the DSM site in Grenzach, Germany: a white, odorless powder resembling ground limestone. And yet everyone present knows the significance of this substance they call Bovaer. After more than a decade of research and development, DSM was able to prove that the feed additive suppresses the last enzyme step in a cow’s first stomach, the rumen, which is responsible for methane production. This reduces enteric methane emissions, contributing to a smaller environmental footprint for meat, milk and dairy products. Site manager Martin Häfele explains: “If a farmer feeds each animal a quarter teaspoon per day, the effect is a 30 percent reduction in enteric methane emissions from dairy cows and 45 percent from beef cattle. Feeding Bovaer to three cows is like taking one family-sized car off the road.”

The effectiveness of Bovaer is raising international hopes for climate protection. The EU approved the additive, noting the contribution made to its sustainable “farm to fork” strategy. Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile have also given Bovaer the green light. And among the first pilot customers is Arla Foods, one of the world’s largest dairy cooperatives. In order to meet the demand, in December 2022 DSM began investing more than 100 million euros in construction of a new plant in Dalry, Scotland, which is scheduled to start operating in 2025. According to Sjef Arets, Vice President of Manufacturing & Technology at DSM, Endress+Hauser is the main instrumentation vendor for the Bovaer project. Arets and his team are responsible for manufacturing and technology development within DSM’s Animal Nutrition & Health division at locations in Europe, China and Latin America. He too is very enthusiastic about the feed additive. “Bovaer looks to have real game-changing potential for the world’s net zero ambitions,” he says. At the same time, he emphasizes that “there is a lot more to DSM than this specific project”.

Marketing of Bovaer has only just begun, with sales still at an early stage. However, the feed additive exemplifies the strategic foresight that goes into decisions made at the company’s headquarters in Heerlen, the Netherlands: when research into Bovaer began more than 10 years ago in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, hardly anyone in the world was concerned about methane emissions from livestock. Another example of what Arets calls a “revolution” in the field of animal nutrition is Veramaris. A joint venture with chemical company Evonik centers on harnessing algae to produce omega-3 fatty acids. These are an indispensable feed additive in aquaculture, which currently uses omega-3 sourced from fish oil. According to DSM, Veramaris can produce amounts of omega-3 equivalent to that obtained from 1.2 million tons of wild-caught fish – more than the annual catch from the Mediterranean Sea.

DSM would be happy to see this reach extend further still. The company is seeking growth through new products – and improvements to established ones. “That’s what makes evolutionary improvements to processes in our existing plants equally important,” says Arets. “Partners like Endress+Hauser play a vital role here.” The evolution of a process established for decades is evident in Grenzach, where every processing step of the recently modernized vitamin D3 production runs with instrumentation from Endress+Hauser. From reliable level switches to high-precision Coriolis flowmeters, the entire portfolio is employed. Martin Häfele, Managing Director of DSM in Grenzach, explains from the perspective of his location: “I’m happy that we are buying not only measurement instruments but a solution that makes our processes better overall. That helps us to offer our quality at a competitive price.”

Key to this is a special partnership. Endress+Hauser sees DSM as a strategic customer, as Michael Sinz, Director of Strategic Business, explains. “We aim for close relationships with customers who are leaders in their sector and who are open to collaboration. What we seek here are opportunities to learn and generate long-term growth. Ideally, there should be a good fit in terms of brand values, commitment to quality and corporate culture. And that’s the case with DSM. We have similar mindsets, we are strongly driven by innovation and oriented toward sustainability.” From an operative standpoint, Endress+Hauser supports DSM and all of its worldwide locations with a global network that includes services and engineering.

In terms of process measurement technology, the cooperation between DSM and Endress+Hauser is bearing its most recent fruit in Sisseln, Switzerland, where the partners installed a Raman analyzer in a chemical plant. “This technology’s biggest advantage is that we can monitor the process directly and in real time, which enables us to respond immediately to changes,” explains Sjef Arets. Making this possible are measuring probes that use a laser light-scattering technique to determine the chemical properties of a substance – all without detouring through the lab. Compared to other technologies, Raman spectroscopy supplies more comprehensive process data, operates more reliably and requires less maintenance.

The partners also hold regular discussions on future technological challenges. One of those is digitalization of the production environment, which DSM aims to accelerate in the coming years. Production expert Sjef Arets is confident about one thing: “We will further automate processes and increase connectivity in our plants. For this we need enabling partners to help us generate new added value from digitalization.”