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### Effective Protection Against “Stowaways” Effective Protection Against “Stowaways”

Ballast Water Management System of Hamann and Evonik Receives Final Approval

The final hurdle has been overcome for the SEDNA ® ballast water treatment system using PERACLEAN ® Ocean. The system, which was developed jointly by the German companies Hamann AG (Hol lenstedt near Hamburg) and Evonik Industries AG (Essen), has no w also been granted Type Approval by the relevant national regulatory authority, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH, Hamburg) . In April 2008 the system had already received Final Approval from the Londonbased International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency responsible for all maritime traffic. The system provid es global shipping with an effective and environmentally sound process for preventing nonindigenous organisms from being introduced with the bal last water of ships.

Type Approval was preceded by an extensive testing and tria l program, which involved external experts such as Dr. Stephan Goll asch from GoConsult in Hamburg. During the tests, the entire syst em was operated at length in fully automatic operating mode: on land a nd on a test ship. The tests focused particularly on efficiency, reliabili ty, and safety. Experts from NIOZ, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, documented the test results in a detailed report that form ed the basis for the approval of the German administration (BSH).

The world's first operational system with The world's first operational system with F F inal Approval Approval Approval and

Type Approval Approval

With certification by the IMO and the national admini stration, this is the world's first system that complies with the IMO Conven tion on Ballast Water Management of 2004 and has obtained both, Basic a nd Final Approval for its active substance as well as for the en tire system. The Convention stipulates that new small ships should be fi tted with appropriate systems from the year 2010 onwards, and lar ger ships from 2012; older ships should be retrofitted by 2016 at the l atest. This is no trivial undertaking: about 40,000 cargo ships current ly sail the world’s June 11, 2008

Rolf Hartmann Rolf Hartmann
Evonik Services GmbH
Communication Services
Phone +49 69 218-2897
Fax +49 69 218-62897
rolf.hartmann@evonik.com

Mathias Schmidt Mathias Schmidt
Hamann AG
Bei der Lehmkuhle 4
21279 Hollenstedt
Phone +49 4165 2211-32
Fax +49 4165 2211-52 mschmidt@hamannag.com

Evonik Degussa GmbH Evonik Degussa GmbH
Weissfrauenstrasse 9
60287 Frankfurt am Main
Phone +49 69 218-01
Fax +49 69 218-3118
www.evonik.com

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Dr. Werner Müller Management Board Management Board Dr. Klaus Engel (Chairman), Dr. Alfred Oberholz (dep.chm.), Ralf Blauth, Dr. Manfred Spindler, Heinz-Joachim Wagner,
Patrik Wohlhauser

Registered office: Essen
Local Court: Essen Commercial Register B 20227Page 2 of 4

seas, and about 800 new ships are put into service every year. Evonik has been active for many years in this new application area for active oxygen products. “The Type Approval is an important mi lestone and a great success for all the members of our project team,” sa ys Dr. Thomas Haeberle, head of Evonik’s Industrial Chemicals Busines s Unit.

The SEDNA ® (S afe, E ffective D eactivation of N on-Indigenous A liens) system developed by Hamann treats the water in several steps during the intake only. Initially, hydro cyclones are used to separ ate out the solid material by application of centrifugal forces. This el iminates large species and significantly reduces sediments, to which liv ing organisms often attach themselves. A filter then removes all remaining particles larger than 50 micrometers (A micrometer is one milliont h of a meter.). “This two-stage physical process ensures that the vario us types of solids in the water and a wide range of living organisms are eff ectively separated out,” says Dr. Matthias Voigt, an executive b oard member responsible for research and development at Hamann.

This cleaned water is then disinfected with PERACLEAN ® Ocean, a special formulation of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide from Evonik, which is easily biodegradable. “Even at very low concentration s, our product shows excellent biocidal and fungicidal properties and i s also effective over a wide range of temperature and pH,” says Bernd Hop f, project manager at Evonik’s Global Competence Center Active Oxygens . In practice no more than 150 liters of PERACLEAN ® Ocean are needed for 1,000 metric tons of ballast water. Whatever the number a nd type of organisms, the ballast water satisfies the IMO Convent ion’s strict requirements after only 24 hours retention time in the tan k.

Great advantages from linking mechanica Great advantages from linking mechanical treatment and c hemistry l treatment and chemistry l treatment and chemistry

The combined process by Hamann and Evonik offers consi derable advantages. The SEDNA ® system is suitable for a particularly wide range of ships. Thanks to its modular concept, it can be ad apted to various capacities of ballast water pumps ranging from 50 to 2,000 cubic meters per hour. The mechanical pretreatment separates out all of the larger components and significantly reduces the sediment load that would otherwise have entered the ballast water tanks. “Low energy consumption and the low level of wear and tear are further importantPage 3 of 4

advantages for the operation of the SEDNA ® system on a ship,” underlines Mathias Schmidt, sales manager at Hamann.

PERACLEAN ® Ocean is highly effective against all the remaining organisms. It is compatible with all the commonly used ballast water tank coatings and can be used in salt water, freshwater or brackish water. It has a long shelf life, is easily dosed, econom ical to use, and— most importantly—it is environmentally compatible.

The extend of the “stowaway” problem in ballast water is often underestimated. Experts regard it as one of the most impor tant environmental topics, on par with global warming. The destruction of ecosystems by foreign invaders—whether viruses and bacter ia, fungi, algae, or plankton—costs the U.S. alone approximately $138 billion every year. About 20 systems for treatment of ballast water ar e currently being developed worldwide, including those using physical metho ds such as UV-radiation, oxygen deprivation, or heating. So far, however, no other process has proved to be as effective and environmentally sound as the

SEDNA ® system using PERACLEAN ® Ocean.Page 4 of 4

Company information Company information Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Es tate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generati on from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employe es generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of mor e than €1.3 billion.

Disclaimer Disclaimer In so far as forecasts or expectations are expresse d in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, exp ectations or statements may involve
known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual re sults or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements
contained in this release.

Hamman AG Hamman AG is a long-running family company that can look back on 80 years of maritime experience. The company has been operating under the name Hamann Wassertechnik GmbH since 1972, and specialized in t he production and marketing of wastewater treatment systems for the m aritime industry. Moreover, Hamman AG offers products such as freshwater produc tion and exhaust-gas cleaning systems. In 2001 Hamann began developing t he future-oriented SEDNA® ballast water treatment systems. Hamann AG i s represented worldwide with more than 35 service stations and an agency ne twork.