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BASF secures funding for world’s most powerful industrial heat pump for CO2-free steam generation
23/10/2024
News
BASF is to receive up to €310mn from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action to build what is claimed to be the world’s largest industrial heat pump for CO2-free steam generation at its Ludwigshafen chemicals production site in Germany.
The heat pump will have a capacity of up to 500,000 t/y of steam. It is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 98% at Ludwigshafen, reported to be the largest contiguous chemical site in the world.
‘Incorporating new technologies into our chemical production processes is one of the key components of the green transformation at BASF,’ says Markus Kamieth, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. ‘The planned plant will be the first of its kind to be used for steam generation – there are no comparable industrial pilot projects anywhere in the world.’
The heat pump will use waste heat, generated during the cooling and cleaning of process gases in one of the two steam hydrocarbon crackers at Ludwigshafen, as its thermal energy source. Powered by electricity from renewable energy, most of the CO2-free steam generated will be used in the production of formic acid.
‘Electrifying steam generation is a crucial step towards generating the energy we so urgently need in the chemical industry in a more sustainable way,’ says Uwe Liebelt, President European Verbund Sites, BASF SE. The company plans to turn Ludwigshafen into ‘a leading, sustainable chemical production site for Europe’.
The new plant is scheduled to be commissioned in 2027. Expected to reduce GHG emissions at the site by up to 100,000 t/y, the project will contribute to BASF’s goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
As part of its ‘green transformation’ BASF is testing and developing a range of new technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of its chemical products. These include a water electrolyser currently under construction at Ludwigshafen and a demonstration plant for electrically heated steam crackers that was commissioned in April 2024.
