BASF Awards Linde E&C Contract to Expand Ethylene Capacity

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). BASF Antwerpen N V (Antwerp, Belgium) has awarded the engineering and construction contract for an ethylene capacity expansion to Linde AG (Wiesbaden, Germany). The Antwerp site's existing production capacity is 720,000 metric tons per year and the expansion will raise it by 360,000 metric tons per year. The cost of the project is estimated at approximately $150 million and it could take up to two years to complete. Linde will begin preliminary engineering while BASF waits on final approval from the board of directors, which is expected by the end of September. Construction is expected to begin the first quarter of 2003.

The Antwerp site was constructed in the 1960's and now employs 3,500 people. The cracker was refitted with Aspen Technology's DMCplus production control solution in the fourth quarter of 2001. It utilizes Honeywell's Distributive Control System (DCS) and a Windows NT platform. BASF's Antwerp site is the largest chemical production site in Belgium and their second largest in Europe. Antwerp is one of BASF's Verbund sites, which is BASF's title for efficient production connecting each plant by a product or process, thereby using raw materials or intermediate products to produce more end-products, saving time and the environment.