By contrast, we expect lower volumes of steam cracker products due to scheduled shutdowns of the steam crackers in port arthur, texas. Basf feeds oil derived from plastic waste into its verbund production site. Following the severe explosion at the basf chemical plant in ludwigshafen on monday, german authorities continued on tuesday to investigate the cause of the blast which killed at least two people. Basf in ludwigshafen requires a good 20 million metric tons of it every year. The first citral plant at the ludwigshafen site started operations in 1981 and had an annual capacity of 2,200 metric tons, which was increased stepwise to 10,000 metric tons. Production sites cracker products basf building blocks of the.
The basf feedstock recycling process was designed to handle mixed plastic waste, as supplied by the dsd duales system deutschland green dot packaging collection system. Steam crackers are the core of the petrochemical industry. Basf already operates a butadiene extraction plant at its verbund site in ludwigshafen, germany, with an annual production capacity of 105,000 metric tons. Both steamcrackers are among the largest of basfs production facilities in ludwigshafen and form the heart of the facility. Steam cracker ii, the largest individual plant at basfs ludwigshafen site. Through this investment program capacity expansion for vitamine e to 20,000 metric tons per year in ludwigshafen and the construction of a plant for producing an annual 3,000 metric tons of vitamin b2 in gunsan, korea, have begun. Ludwigshafengermany, antwerpbelgium the plant in antwerp is basfs second butadiene extraction plant in europe. In the fast growing asia pacific market, basf operates two verbund sites in kuantan, malaysia and nanjing, china. Basf has increased the plants energy efficiency by 28% compared with 2012 and reduced costs by around 3 million over this period. Other verbund plants, especially in the ethylene and. In december 2009, a fire at the ethylene cracker forced basf to shut down the unit.
The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane tpu. The company closed the steam cracker in ludwigshafen following a fire, a spokeswoman said, after it idled a similar plant in antwerp, belgium, on dec. Basf starts a new butadiene extraction plant in antwerp. Massive explosion at german chemical plant leaves two dead. Basf investigates establishment of second verbund site in. A steam cracker with a planned capacity of 1 million metric tons of ethylene per year would be the starting point of the value chains at the new integrated site.
This will be basfs largest investment and will take the form of a highlyintegrated verbund site. Chemical and plastics industry, construction, detergent, hygiene, automotive, packaging and textile industries. The first batch of this oil was fed into the steam cracker at basfs site in ludwigshafen in october 2018. This giant has been in operation since 1981 and breaks down crude gasoline by adding steam at around 850 degrees celsius. Steam cracker ii, the largest individual plant at basfs ludwigshafen site, is about the size of soccer fields, and uses steam to crack naphtha. Steamcracker ii, the largest single plant at basfs ludwigshafen site, covers an area of around 64,000 square meters equivalent to football pitches. News of the explosion came less than two hours after basf said four people were injured in a gas explosion at its lampertheim facility, a plant near. A push for green crackers chemical engineering page 1. Both steamcrackers are among the largest of basf s production facilities in ludwigshafen and form the heart of the facility. Basf restarts steam crackers at ludwigshafen following explosion.
Figure 1 a view of the steam crackers at ludwigshafen in germany. The cracker is also the heart of the verbund production. The verbund structure at large sites intelligently links production facilities, energy flows, logistics and infrastructure providing clear advantages for basf customers and partners when it comes to availability and flexibility. Basfs verbund in ludwigshafen is the largest verbund location. The complex is centred around a cracker producing 600,000 tpa of ethylene. The sites steam cracker units, used in a chemical procedure to produce lighter hydrocarbons, have been shut down for safety. This giant plant has been operating since 1981 and uses steam to crack naphtha at about 850c 1,562f. These basic products for the processing industry are used in end products that help to meet demand for clothing, food, housing and mobility as well as medication and personal care items. Welcome to a 360degree insight into the world of basf. This giant plant has been operating since 1981 and uses steam to crack naphtha at. This process leads mainly to ethylene and propylene, both indispensable feedstocks for manufacturing numerous products in ludwigshafen. A whole range of important basic chemical components for production are generated here on site. Basf says explosion at german chemical plant leaves one dead.
Steamcracker im basfwerk ludwigshafen steam cracker at basfs. Also in december, basf, ludwigshafen, germany, announced progress in plastic waste recycling via its chemcycling program. The number of successfully started units at the complex totaled 10, and included a 600,000metricton steam cracker and nine downstream plants. The steam cracker in ludwigshafen has stateoftheart information and automation technology at its disposal.
Basf said it was still investigating the precise cause of the blast. This produces olefins like ethylene, propylene and the c4products as well as. Naphtha is the feedstock and the main products are ethene and propene, used to make polymers. How industry tackles plastics plague chemical processing.
Three of the incidents leaks of nitric oxide, chlorobenzene and formaldehyde occurred in september alone. A large pilot plant, with a substantial capacity of 15000 tonneyr, was started up in ludwigshafen in 1994. Basfs butadiene extraction technology with nmp nmethylpyrrolidone solvent is the leading technology for recovery of high purity butadiene. Two steam crackers at the worlds largest chemical complex in ludwigshafen, germany, have been restarted following a fatal explosion and blaze at the plant that claimed the lives of four employees last month. Basf strengthens its business with watersoluble polyacrylates for use in household and commercial cleaning products and industrial applications. The citral synthesis is integrated backwards to the steam cracker within the verbund at the ludwigshafen site of basf. This process leads primarily to ethylene and propylene, both indispensable feedstocks for manufacturing numerous products in ludwigshafen. Basf has been beset by a number of problems at its integrated ludwigshafen complex this year, five of which required reporting to authorities. German authorities to inspect basf tdi plant chemanager. In contrast to conventional power plants, which are only used to generate electricity, they also produce steam as well as electricity. Sales and earnings for the segments basf online report 2018. One of the strengths of the ludwigshafen site is its verbund structure. Basf to build usd10 billion integrated chemical plant in.
Basf officially inaugurates its new citral plant in. The pyrolysis oil goes to a steam cracker figure 2. Basfs ludwigshafen site has two steam crackers which process about 2m tonnes of naphtha per annum, according to the companys website. Cracker capacity petrochemicals europe cracker capacity. Basf gets this feedstock for the pilot products from the partner recenso gmbh remscheid, germany. The page provides an overview of the capacity kt ethyleneyear of crackers located in europe in 2016.
In the initial phase, the basf project would include petrochemical plants the heart of the wellestablished verbund system. Basfs citral synthesis benefits from the synergies offered by the ludwigshafen verbund site and can be traced back as far as the basic chemicals from the steam cracker. This giant plant has been operating since 1981 and. The whole site is the largest continuous chemical site in the world. Roughly half of it comes from the three power plants at the site. Basf operates six similar highlyintegrated plants at present including two in europe and north america. In august, technical problems led to a flareoff at the sites steam cracker. Basf is the worlds leading chemical company, employing 110,000 people at all and about 35,000 a few years ago, the employee total was about 55,000 of them in the ludwigshafen plant, which is also the largest chemical plant in the world.
Basf to cut 6,000 jobs in organizational realignment. Due to the fire, the raw material supply of the steam crackers was halted, basf stated. Saving day and millions with a new inspection process. Basf profit warning weighs on chemicals sector marketwatch. When separation produces new bonds, its because at basf, we create chemistry. The steam crackers alone occupy 64 000 m 2, which is about the size of football fields. Basf said that tdi from ludwigshafen, germany, produced between aug. Steam cracker ii, the largest individual plant at basfs ludwigshafen site, covers a surface area of about 64,000 square meters, which is about the size of soccer fields. With a singledigit millioneuro investment, basf has enhanced the flexibility of its watersoluble polyacrylate production plant at the companys ludwigshafen site, germany, and slightly expanded. Each year, a total of around 620,000 tonnes of ethylene and 350,000 tonnes of propylene are produced at the two plants.
Steam crackers, for example, thermally break down a feedstock such as. Twenty companies operate 50 steam crackers in eu28. These sites are further strengthened by the steam cracker in port arthur, texas. Basf produces the full range of cracker products, from ethylene and propylene to butadiene, butene and benzene. Basf runs two large steam crackers in ludwigshafen, germany.
Basfypc integrated petrochemical complex, nanjing chemical. The steam cracker is also the heart of basfs verbund production strategy. The verbund interconnects the production plants in one location, making use of. London icisthe deadly explosion and fire at basfs ludwigshafen site on monday is having a major impact on the company with logistics flows for more than 20 plants at the site affected. At that time dsd estimated the total volume of mixed packaging plastics available for feedstock recycling at. Numerous value chains are started in the crackers, where straight run. The ninesquarekilometer project includes a whollyowned steam cracker with a planned capacity of one million metric tons of ethylene annually and several plants for consumeroriented products and solutions. In august of 2005, the basf ips achieved successful startup of the final plant at the integrated complex in nanjing, the peoples republic of china. Basfs steam cracker ii at ludwigshafen lies at the heart of the companys verbund production strategy. Basf ludwigshafen naphtha demand hinges on cracker restart. In a pilot project at ludwigshafen, the company manufactured its first trial products using pyrolysis oil made from chemically recycled plastic waste. Six other people were seriously injured in the blast, the global chemicals giant said on its twitter account. It is the worlds largest single train butadiene extraction unit with a world.
Operations at the new methylamines plant began in 2011. In its latest update about contaminated toluene diisocyanate tdi supplied to. Basf total petrochemicals, llc the butadiene plant, also a joint venture between basf and total, started operations shortly after the steam cracker. The two steamcrackers, the synthesis gas plant and the acrylic acid works are core. The company closed the steam cracker in ludwigshafen following a fire. The term cracker products comes from the steam cracker, one of the most important basf plants. The cornerstones of basfs presence in the important north american chemical market are the sites in geismar, louisiana and freeport, texas, both of which operate according to the verbund principle. Steamcracker im basfwerk ludwigshafen steam cracker at.
The plant has an annual production capacity of 155,000 metric tons. Basf commissioned a new aromatics plant at its antwerp site in belgium in. Basf restarts steam crackers at ludwigshafen following. Ludwigshafen germany afp two people were killed and two others were missing after an explosion monday at a chemical plant at basfs headquarters in western germany, the firm said, advising local residents to stay indoors. Basf, total revamp port arthur steam cracker to process. Cause of deadly explosion at basf chemical plant in. Basf acknowledged as global leader in sustainable water. Steam cracker ii, the largest individual plant at basfs ludwigshafen site, covers a surface area of about 64,000 square meters.
Basf ludwigshafen feedstock recycling alberto noto. This process takes weeks and more than 1,000 people work on. The companys main products are fertilizers, dye, coolants and many other chemical substances. Steamcracker im basfwerk ludwigshafen steam cracker at flickr. Have a look around and get an insight into working at the worlds largest chemical company with a virtual tour of our steam cracker in.