CHEMICALS & PETROCHEMICALS
BASF is expanding its MDI plant in Geismar , Louisiana , USA
Introductory
Do you suffer from recycling angst ? Have you ever stood before a line of rubbish containers , unsure of which bin to use for any given object ? Paper and plastic are easy to distinguish , but what about paper packaging with a plastic window ? Or an object made of metal and plastic ? And how can one be sure that the sorted objects will be recycled anyway , rather than consigned to a landfill ? Chemicals and petrochemicals have transformed our lives . Plastics have been taking over from wood and metals , and one suspects that the revolution has only just begun . Self-repairing materials , self-sealing tyres , invisibility cloaks , ever more sophisticated recycling processes , bio-sourced and / or biodegradable products , new technology to store and recycle CO2 , and more efficient catalysts : these are just some of the marvels being developed right now . However , these successes have brought significant challenges for the rapidly expanding petrochemicals industry : it will need to do more to reduce its environmental footprint . And despite the recent development of bio-sourced products , the industry is still hugely dependent on fossil fuels .
The BASF-MAN heat pump being installed in Ludwigshafen will enable the production of steam using electricity from renewable sources .
Projects
In a way , the industry is a victim of its own success . It is growing so rapidly that efforts to reduce its environmental footprint risk will almost inevitably fall short of what is required . Petrochemicals is a USD 37.5 billion industry ( 2021 ) projected to reach a value of USD 61.2 billion by 2028 , with an annual growth rate of 8.5 % between 2022 and 2028 . Building ( paints , coatings ), transport and packaging are just some of the industries where demand is surging . One of the major areas of growth is in North America , where competition has been enhanced by cheap shale gas and where some of the major players are headquartered . Among Chevron ’ s plans are the construction of a 1-hexene unit in Texas , a propylene unit in Baytown , Texas , and a polymers facility on the Gulf Coast . ExxonMobil has doubled its polypropylene production at Baton Rouge , and a large olefin facility using KBR technology is being contemplated . In Europe , the focus is on Belgium . Here , Ineos is building a new olefin complex with an ethylene cracker , and Chevron is building an HDS unit and expanding its PAO capacity . The dominant player in Europe is BASF , which is modernising its chloroformate and acid chloride production at Ludwigshafen and building a new alkylethanolamines plant in Antwerp . BASF is also active on other continents . With China ’ s Sinopec , the Verbund site in Nanjing , China , is being expanded , and its
16 Valve World February 2023 www . valve-world . net