BASF begins installation of industrial heat pump to deliver net-zero steam at Ludwigshafen

BASF

CONSTRUCTION of an industrial-scale heat pump has begun at BASF’s sprawling Ludwigshafen chemicals complex in Germany, with the goal of producing net-zero steam in the company’s formic acid production line.

BASF said the 2,000 m² unit, due to come online in mid-2027, will be “one of the world’s most powerful” industrial heat pumps.

Designed by Austria-based GIG Karasek, the heat pump uses mechanical vapour recompression. Waste steam from one of the site’s two steam crackers will be compressed by 11 electrically powered blowers, raising its temperature before being transferred to provide heat for formic acid production.

BASF says the blowers will be powered entirely by zero-carbon electricity, likely supplied by Vattenfall’s wind farms, with whom BASF has a longstanding partnership for its European operations.

Julia Aichchorn, managing director of GIG Karasek, says the technology “will set new standards far beyond this site”. She added: “It demonstrates that industrial waste heat is not a byproduct, but a valuable energy source for the future. “

BASF says the heat pump system will provide 50 MW thermal output, amounting to 500,000 t/y of steam – just over 3% of Ludwigshafen’s entire steam demand. Around half of Ludwigshafen’s steam is generated by gas turbines, with the remainder produced from exothermic chemical reactions. The company believes the technology could reduce emissions from formic acid production by up to 98%, saving 100,000 tCO2e/y, or around 0.5% of BASF’s total global emissions in 2024.

Electric dreams

Helmut Winterling, president of BASF’s European chemicals sites, said the “electrification of pivotal production processes and of energy generation is a key component for the chemical industry in achieving climate neutrality”. Covering 10 km², Ludwigshafen is the biggest chemicals complex in the world, and the heat pump system will add to the site’s already huge electricity consumption of 4.5 TWh/y – roughly 1% of Germany’s entire power demand.

Yet the success of projects like BASF’s will hinge on policy as much as technology. David Simmonds, a retired energy professional and IChemE Fellow, told TCE that without sensible measures to reduce industrial electricity costs, “electrification projects will fail” – a warning underscored by recent INEOS plant closures in Germany.

To address the problem, the European Commission’s Chemicals Industries Action Plan pledged to expand eligibility for carbon levy compensation for energy-intensive industries. A key aim of the plan is to support the “deployment of a wide array of decarbonisation technologies such as electrification”. The plan also highlighted the “European Grid Package” which promises to improve access to the electricity grid for chemicals manufacturers.

BASF’s continued commitment to the electrification programme at Ludwigshafen was welcomed by the German government, which had already invested €310m (US$362m) in the heat pump project. Gitta Connemann, parliamentary state secretary to the ministry for energy, said it showed the country was “shaping the transformation not by imposing bans, but by being open to new technologies”.

She added: “We are confident that investing in future technologies today will create the jobs and added value of tomorrow – and making tackling climate change a successful business model.”