Power-to-steam

Steam is the most important energy source for chemical production and is needed in huge quantities. We use it to dry our products or to heat reactors. When steam is generated from fossil fuels, CO₂ is produced. In future, we want to generate steam electrically and avoid these emissions. How this can be achieved?

In order to produce steam CO2-free in the future, BASF relies on electricity-based technologies such as e-Boilers and heat pumps. Additionally, e-Drives can reduce our demand for steam and allow us to replace steam directly with power.

Each of BASF's five largest production sites generates more than enough waste heat to meet its own demand for steam. So far, most of this waste heat remains unused. The task is to convert this waste heat into usable energy and use it to generate steam, for example. The key to this: industrial heat pumps.

Heat pumps transfer energy from a low temperature source to a high temperature. This works with a coolant that evaporates in a circuit under low pressure by adding heat - from the plant or used cooling water.  The gas is then compressed by a compressor. It condenses and gives off useful heat. Then the cycle starts all over again. 

If heat pumps and compressors are operated with electricity from renewable sources, the entire process is climate-neutral. By using waste heat from chemical plants and cooling water systems to generate much of the steam BASF uses in production, heat pumps will drastically reduce the need for fossil fuels.