BASF says it is building an industrial heat pump at Ludwigshafen to produce process steam using waste heat from cooling processes at one of the site’s two steam crackers. In an April 2026 project update, the company said a 95-tonne plate falling-film evaporator had been shipped to the site for installation.
BASF says the heat pump will use waste heat from steam-cracker cooling to produce process steam. BASF says it will run on green electricity, produce up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2-free steam a year and have a thermal output of around 50 megawatts. BASF says the steam will reach production units through the site’s integrated network and is intended primarily for formic acid production.
How the waste heat becomes steam
PILLER says GKT’s CompriVAP system combines a plate falling-film evaporator, a flash tank and a PILLER compressor cascade. It says six compressors in the first line raise flash steam above atmospheric pressure. PILLER says an intermediate heat exchanger prevents atmospheric air from entering the downstream process, while five further VapoFlex units compress the steam to the required pressure and temperature.
BASF says the evaporator produces oxygen-free steam suitable for industrial use. According to PILLER, the system is expected to produce up to 60 tonnes of steam an hour. BASF says the heat pump will use waste heat and green electricity to produce steam for the site’s production units.
BASF says the project could avoid up to 98% of annual greenhouse gas emissions from formic acid production, equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The company says Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is supporting the project with up to approximately €310 million under its climate protection contracts programme. Commissioning is planned for mid-2027.
