An idea takes hold
Integrate and strengthen – that’s the thrust behind BASF’s Process Intensification concept

Currently the subject of heated discussion, process intensification is an unavoidable issue for any chemicals company. In a conversation with PROCESS, Dr. Martin Strohrmann, Senior Vice President for Process Engineering at BASF, explains why process intensification has become such an issue now, how it differs from process optimization and what this new approach means over at Ludwigshafen.

Question: Dr. Strohrmann, process intensification is currently the subject of much discussion inside the Chemical Process Industry (CPI). It’s a new term but the issues are those that have always occupied the industry—how to achieve results better, faster and more efficiently. Isn’t process intensification simply a new spin on an old idea —in other words, just another name for process optimization?

Mr. Strohrmann: Process intensification isn’t actually a new term at all. Colin Ramshaw and his colleagues at ICI were talking about concepts in process intensification over twenty years ago, which they understood then to mean a reduction in plant and equipment dimensions by orders of magnitude. His aim was to integrate process technology into the machine—but he underestimated how long the development would take. There is in fact far more to process intensification than just process optimization. It’s about a new strategic concept, which gets away from the plant and is directed at intensifying heat and mass transfer.

Question: But why has the term re-surfaced in the chemicals industry of all places?
Mr. Strohrmann: One reason is clear—we’re in a far better position today to understand what physical processes are going on
inside the plant. We understand what happens at phase limits and we have access to complex simulation models which enable us to account for transfer processes using diaphragms and in fluids. Furthermore, process intensification offers a real way out of the economies of scale trap. We’re building plants that to some extent can only be run fast enough at full capacity with partners.

Question: In what kinds of context does the term process intensification apply at BASF?
Mr. Strohrmann: At BASF, we don’t use the term particularly aggressively—we pull together a number of processes under the one heading. An important point of departure in process intensification for us is the reduction in the number of processing stages by the integration of reaction and product processing—in other words, both strengthening and integrating the processes. We’re also working on intensifying mass and heat exchange procedures, in order to scale down the equipment. I prefer to use the term “process enhancement” here. The aim of integration today is without doubt to reduce variable costs specifically, thus delivering higher yields and reducing energy input.

Question: What role do you think microreaction technology has to play here?
Mr. Strohrmann: Microreaction technology is already established as a tool in research and development. For large-scale production, it will only serve more as a niche technology for some time to come. On the one hand, depending on the mass system, similar mixing intensities and dwell times can be achieved without microstructures, and on the other there still needs to be a great deal of development in catalytically active microstructures, gas/fluidic systems and the accumulation of solid mass.

Question: To some extent, it seems as if process intensification is just microreaction technology par excellence … 
Mr. Strohrmann: Of course we’re also aiming to scale down equipment. Microreaction technology offers many advantages, but I wouldn’t want to limit our understanding of process intensification to this technology alone. With process intensification, I’m arguing for a different kind of approach—one that describes industrial processing via transport processes at the microscale level and particularly of course at interphases. If we can get the description right here, then the ideal technology for implementation might use droplets or bubbles that you then just have to multiply. We need new and unconventional ideas, and we shouldn’t immediately think “how are we going to realize these processes in iron and steel?”. From there, it’s a relatively short step to going back to traditional processing equipment and machinery.