5 Sep 2022
Technology has potential to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 90% compared to conventional steam crackers
Ludwigshafen, Germany – Three major chemical companies, BASF, Sabic and Linde have started construction work on “the world’s first” demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces.
The new technology will replace natural gas with electricity from renewable sources to operate a steam cracker, said the three companies in a statement 1 Sept.
The process is claimed to have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions of a cracker – one of the most energy-intensive production processes in the chemical industry – by at least 90% compared to technologies commonly used today.
The demonstration plant will be fully integrated into one of the existing steam crackers at BASF’s integrated Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
It will test two different heating concepts, processing around 4 tonnes of hydrocarbon per hour and consuming 6 megawatts of renewable energy.
The start-up of the demonstration plant is targeted for 2023.
BASF and Sabic are investing together into the project and the demonstration plant will be operated by BASF.
Linde is the engineering, procurement and construction partner for the project and in the future will commercialise the developed technologies.
The German federal government has granted the project €15 million, to support the development of new furnace technologies.
Steam crackers play a central role in the production of basic chemicals and require a significant amount of energy to break down hydrocarbons into olefins and aromatics.
Typically, the reaction is conducted in furnaces at temperatures of about 850 degrees Celsius.
Today these temperatures are reached by burning fossil fuels.
The project aims to reduce the CO2 emissions by powering the process with electricity.
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