【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1618–2024: World’s First Large-Scale Electrically Heated Steam Cracker Put into Operation

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Happy May Day 2024 – safety first! **********************【A decade of progress in chemical processing equipment】Ongoing updates and summaries available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Forum Website) ***************** In April 2024, BASF, Saudi Basic Industries, and Linde held a ceremony to mark the completion of the world’s first large-scale electrically heated steam cracking unit. After three years of development, engineering design, and construction work, this demonstration unit has now been put into operation at the integrated production facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany. In March 2021, the three companies signed a joint agreement to jointly develop and promote electric heating solutions for steam cracking units. Steam cracking furnaces play a key role in the production of basic chemicals, and they require a large amount of energy to break down hydrocarbons into olefins and aromatics. Typically, the occurrence of such cracking reactions requires a temperature in the furnace of around 850 degrees Celsius, and currently, heating is achieved primarily through the combustion of fossil fuels. However, the energy demand for the cracking process is enormous: for example, an average of 11,470 MJ of energy is required to produce 1 ton of ethylene, with nearly 90% of this energy being used to heat the furnace. And this process requires a material that is currently regarded as a major issue by the political community, the business world, and the public: natural gas. It is no wonder that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is providing up to 14.8 million euros in funding as part of a program to support the decarbonization of industry, as this program can help Germany’s energy-intensive industries achieve their goal of carbon neutrality. Of the approximately 30 TW·h required annually by the BASF Ludwigshafen plant, only 1/5 is supplied by electricity. However, the carbon footprint of this reaction facility is not without issues either: to date, producing 1 ton of ethylene releases nearly 700 kg of carbon dioxide. Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Executive Board of BASF Europe, explained: “BASF is committed to achieving carbon neutrality, and advancing the electrification of steam cracking units, which consume large amounts of energy, represents an important milestone on our path toward a net-zero emission future.” ” Natural gas accounts for 44% of the energy consumption in the chemical industry; it can be said that no other industry aside from the chemical industry relies on natural gas to such an extent. “Furthermore, natural gas plays an important role in the manufacture of chemical products, with about 30% of chemical products requiring the use of natural gas. ”Explained Anna Wolf, an industry expert at Germany’s Ifo Economic Institute. No wonder everyone hopes to minimize the use of natural gas in chemical product manufacturing processes in order to save costs. Reduction, substitution, and electrification should help reduce dependence on natural gas. Given the need for massive investment, this may not be achievable in a short period of time, and in reality, it’s impossible to expect immediate results. Comparison between traditional cracking furnaces and electrically heated steam cracking furnaces. This demonstration unit has been fully integrated into the existing steam cracking plant in Ludwigshafen; it is used to produce olefins such as ethylene and propylene from saturated hydrocarbon feedstocks, and it may also be used to produce long-chain olefins. Its daily operation is aimed at collecting key data on material properties and processing under commercial operating conditions, as well as accumulating practical experience, in order to promote the mature development of this innovative technology in the industry. This operation will test two different heating modes in two separate demonstration reactors. One demonstration furnace uses \"direct heating\", with electric current applied directly to the pyrolysis coil, while another uses \"indirect heating\", utilizing the radiant heat from heating elements to affect the area around the coil. Two electric heating furnaces can process approximately 4 tons of hydrocarbon feedstock per hour, consuming 6 megawatts of renewable energy. Based on the comprehensive knowledge and intellectual property developed through tripartite cooperation for new technologies, the demonstration plant located in Ludwigshafen will be operated by BASF. Linde was responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the facility. In the future, Linde will commercialize the technologies it has developed under the new trademark STARBRIDGE™, helping the petrochemical industry achieve its decarbonization goals by replacing traditional combustion technologies.