On 17 April, the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracking furnaces, a collaborative project carried out by BASF, Sabic, and Linde, started up at BASF’s Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Steam cracking is a petrochemical process in which saturated hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller, often unsaturated, hydrocarbons. The process consists of several steps: naphtha is first mixed and evaporated with water vapour, then heated to around 850°C for a fraction of a second, causing the naphtha to break down into smaller components. The hot gas is very rapidly cooled immediately afterwards and then compressed. The first products form as a result of these process steps, for example pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis gasoline. Finally, the products in the mixture formed - primarily ethylene, propylene, butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline and hydrogen - are further separated by distillation.
The process requires a significant amount of energy and has been powered by conventional fuels until now. The demonstration plant aims to show that continuous olefin production is possible using electricity as a heat source.
“It is our common goal to demonstrate that it is possible to electrify the petrochemical industry and to operate a steam cracker with sustainably generated electricity,” said Jürgen Nowicki, CEO of Linde Engineering. “The STARBRIDGE technology brings the vision of an emission-free petrochemical industry a step closer.”
The project was initiated in 2021, with actual construction starting in 2022. By using electricity from renewable sources, the new technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions of one of the most energy-intensive production processes in the chemical industry by at least 90% compared to technologies commonly used today.
“With the development of electrically operated steam cracking furnaces, we are getting our hands on a key technology that will help to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the chemical industry. It fills me with pride and joy that we have achieved this success together with our partners Sabic and Linde. The demonstration plant here in Ludwigshafen will provide us with valuable experience on the final step towards the industrial application of this technology”, said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.
The demonstration plant is fully integrated into the existing steam crackers in Ludwigshafen. Two different heating concepts will be tested in two separate demonstration furnaces. In one furnace, direct heating, through the application of an electric current directly to the cracking coils will be tested; in the other, indirect heating will be used using the radiative heat of heating elements placed around the coils in the second furnace.
The two electrically heated furnaces together process around 4 tonnes of hydrocarbon feedstock per hour and consume 6 megawatts of renewable energy.
“The e-furnace’s technology holds huge potential for the sustainability of the global petrochemical industry,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, CEO of Sabic. “We are proud to be here together today to celebrate the power of collective action on our journey toward a circular carbon economy.”
To support the development of the novel furnace technology, the project was granted €14.8 million by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action under its “Decarbonization in Industry” funding programme. The programme is supporting the efforts of energy-intensive industries in Germany to achieve carbon neutrality.