[ Chemical Industry ]
[ Chemical Industry ]
Also in Antwerp , the chemical company BASF is developing a CCS project with the plant engineering and industrial gases specialist Air Liquide . The Global CCS Institute has researched 200 commercial CCS projects in 2022 - a total capacity of 244 million tonnes per year . But this is just the beginning : the United Nations IPCC estimates that at least 4 gigatonnes of CO 2 must be saved annually by 2050 via carbon management and removal technologies to reach the 1.5 degree target . For this to become a reality , intensive cooperation between chemical companies that supply technologies and chemicals for CO 2 capture and plant engineering companies with scale-up expertise is necessary . CCS also has what it takes to massively accelerate the transition to a climateneutral hydrogen economy . Because water electrolysis from sustainably generated electricity will not deliver the quantities of green hydrogen needed by industry and the chemical sector for a long time yet , blue hydrogen is a climate-friendly option that is available very quickly . In this process , hydrogen continues to be produced from natural gas , but the carbon dioxide produced in the process is captured and stored .
Decarbonisation changes chemical plant engineering However , it is clear that the mammoth task of decarbonisation is also changing chemical plant construction itself . In recent years , the flood of projects and rising prices have led to a paradigm shift in contract design . While clients were able to commit their contractors to fixed-price contracts a few years ago , the wind has now shifted in favour of EPC providers : chemical plant builder Worley , for example , reports that the share of fixed-price contracts ( lump sum turn key ) in turnover has fallen to 1 %. The company now bills 80 % of its contracts on a reimbursable basis . In the future market of hydrogen , manufacturers of electrolysis plants are planning to expand their capacities massively . These include , for example , Thyssenkrupp Nucera , ITM Power , and Siemens Energy AG , which is cooperating with Air Liquide to scale up electrolysis capacity . The chemical plant construction sector will invest massively in its own technology and corporate development in the coming years . And
Climate protection is a central component of the BASF strategy as it continuously reduces its CO 2 emissions . Research is developing innovative processes , such as the synthesis gas direct conversion for the synthesis of olefins , the intermediate substances for the production of cleaning materials , aroma chemicals or superabsorbents . New process technologies and catalysts can reduce the carbon footprint of olefin production by up to 50 %. Picutred are Lab Team Leader Sabine Schuster and chemical laboratory technician Oliver Secosan changing the catalysts in the new synthesis gas direct conversion plant . Photo courtesy of BASF SE .
because investors are increasingly attaching importance to sustainable business models , companies in the chemical plant engineering sector must operate according to ESG criteria . This is why almost every annual report in the industry recently contains a reference to progress in the areas of environmental , social and responsible corporate governance .
Automation of engineering Because not only personnel but also other resources important for chemical plant construction will remain scarce in the coming years , the industry is focusing on increasing productivity : digitalisation and automation of engineering processes and artificial intelligence are just some of the levers with which the industry is tackling the issue . The Korean chemical plant manufacturer Samsung Engineering , among others , is pursuing a radical approach : this year , the company wants to change its EPC processing so that the effort in engineering and on the construction site is halved compared to 2018 . A key role is played by datadriven engineering , which focuses on an engineering data platform instead of documents . This allows planning processes to be automated to an unprecedented extent . A similar approach is also pursued by the Danish plant manufacturer Haldor Topsoe , which has set itself the goal of realising more projects at lower costs through data-centric engineering . Other chemical plant builders are also increasingly using machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify risks in projects , for example , or to read P & ID drawings and make them digitally evaluable . In the future , robots , drones and 3D printers will also be used on the construction site to shorten construction time . A striking example is the HUGRS project of the Saudi petrochemical group Aramco , where Samsung Engineering is creating a building entirely from a 3D printer for the first time . With its solutions expertise , the global chemical plant engineering industry is an important enabler for the decarbonisation of chemistry and the energy transformation of the economy . The industry is tackling the challenge of scarce human and engineering resources through digitalisation and investment in its own business .
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