INSIGHT: The Electric Cracker revolution has begun! The call for green energy grows louder

Joseph Chang

07-Sep-2022

NEW YORK (ICIS)–The electric cracker (e-cracker) revolution has begun! It will take a few years to validate and scale up this groundbreaking technology to decarbonise the petrochemical industry, but a commercial solution could become available by mid-decade, leading to a wave of retrofits of conventional crackers.

BASF, SABIC and Linde on 1 September kicked off the construction of the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces at BASF’s Ludwigshafen, Germany site with start-up targeted for 2023.

The e-cracking technology has the potential to slash carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 90% versus conventional crackers with the use of renewable energy to generate the electricity, according to the companies.

The time for e-cracking is now, as this would eliminate the use of large quantities of natural gas to fire up cracker furnaces 24/7.

“The current situation in Europe highlights the urgency of the transition to renewable energy to get less dependent on oil and gas, and to find joint powerful answers to climate change,” said BASF CEO Martin Brudermuller at a special event in Ludwingshafen with partners SABIC and Linde that was streamed on LinkedIn Live.

“The electrification of steam crackers is an important technological step on the road to net zero CO2 emissions for our chemical industry,” he added.

Switching from gas to electricity to heat cracker furnaces sounds easy but in fact presents a number of technological challenges, including around making sure the electricity can generate high levels of heat (850 degrees Celsius) where needed, around the clock.

Linde Engineering CEO Jurgen Nowicki called the start of construction of the demo plant a “pioneering event”, not just for the companies involved but for the world.

“We are confident to scale this up very quickly and we hope to make a commercial solution available to the market as early as the end of 2024. Then we will give access to this groundbreaking technology to the world,” said Nowicki.

“This is one of many building blocks [for decarbonisation] – they are painful, they are expensive, they are also exciting. But it is a great project that shows our commitment,” he added.

E-cracking technology, if it works and can be scaled, not only can help decarbonise the petrochemical industry, but also offer additional advantages to the production process.

“It allows for a very uniform application of heat and very tightly controlled heat to the cracking coils. That will extend the life of the coils, it will lower the frequency of the de-coking process, and probably improve the product yield as well,” said Nowicki.

“A further benefit is flexibility. It can not only be used in new plants but as a retrofit for existing plants, and there are many crackers all around the world,” he added.

GREEN ENERGY BUILD-OUT CRITICAL

The build-out of green energy capacity is critical to the ultimate success of electric cracking. It is clear much more will be needed to revolutionise the way process heat is generated for the global petrochemical industry.

“It is very important to point out that all that work will only make sense if we are able to provide the green energy. It must come from sustainable sources – otherwise this work doesn’t make any sense,” said Nowicki.

“And believe me, a lot of renewable energy is required to replace natural gas – a lot – much more than most of you can imagine,” he added.

The relatively small pilot plant in Ludwigshafen, which will be integrated into the smaller of the two crackers at the site, would alone require 3-4 wind turbines to generate the amount of electricity needed to operate this continuously, the Linde Engineering CEO pointed out.

Here’s where government can play a critical role.

“We urge the government, the administrative bodies, the policymakers, the industry and civil society to decisively take the steps necessary to enable the production and transport of efficient green power. Otherwise, all we are celebrating here does not make sense,” said Nowicki.

The demonstration plant project itself has been granted €14.8m by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action under its “Decarbonization in Industry” funding programme.

At the special event in Ludwigshafen, Axel Bree, head of division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, presented the funding document for €14,825,680.02 to BASF’s CEO.

“We see, especially in the initial phase, there are huge investment costs as well as operating costs for the companies which cannot be generated on the global market. So financial support is needed,” said Bree.

These grants for bold and innovative projects help, but bringing more renewable energy capacity onstream should be priority number one for Germany and the EU.

“If you look at the situation in Germany or Europe where we have the gas shortage and skyrocketing prices, I think it becomes clear to everyone that part of the solution is… renewable energy,” said Brudermuller.

“From a competitiveness point of view, I think that is the only way for Europe to get out of the mess we are in,” he added.

ADJUSTING PRODUCTION WITH INTERMITTENT POWER

The intermittent nature of wind and solar power may require the petrochemical industry to adjust production based on how much renewable energy is available, said the BASF CEO.

“The chemical industry could also be one that can maybe shift its demand when there is excess energy because one part is storage, and the other part is switching on and off demand and consumption,” said Brudermuller.

“So we can also think about chemical plants that can not only operate 8,000 hours [continuously] but maybe 4,000 hours and you buffer materials. That can be a societal business case which is supported,” he added.

COLLABORATION IS KEY

We’ve heard it many times, but effective collaboration between companies and governments will be key to solving the energy crisis and the path to net zero carbon emissions.

“I’m very happy today to see more and more of a collaborative approach with governments because governments have more of a role to play in bringing these solutions not only for the chemical industry itself but also for the entire world,” said SABIC CEO Yousef Al-Benyan.

“This is a great moment for our industry… This moment represents how the chemical industry is committed to carbon neutrality. If we fix this, I think we are moving into a stronger future,” he added.

Insight article by Joseph Chang

Thumbnail shows Linde Engineering CEO Jurgen Nowicki (left), SABIC CEO Yousef Al-Benyan (middle) and BASF CEO Martin Brudermuller (right).

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