Linde, BASF and SABIC have won the ICIS Innovation Awards 2024 for their electric cracker furnace, the world's first to be built at demonstration scale.
Judges from NNFCC, Arkema, CEFIC, Evonik and ICIS looked through more than 60 individual entries for the award categories.
The categories and winners are:
- Best Process Innovation from a large company and overall winner: BASF/SABIC/Linde – World's first large scale electrically heated steam cracking furnace
- Best Process Innovation from a SME: Plastic Energy - Supporting a plastics circular economy through chemical recycling
- Best Product Innovation: LANXESS - Building up Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) value chains sourced and supplied within Western regions – New Bayoxide® iron oxide battery grades as precursor for cathode active materials
- Best Digital Innovation: Brenntag - CO2Xplorer
ICIS Chemical Business deputy editor Will Beacham, who chairs the judging panel, said: "This year the judges were really impressed by the strides chemical industry innovation is making towards tackling the climate emergency. The new technology offered by the overall winner, for example, could reduce CO2 emissions by at least 95% compared to technologies commonly used today, according to the companies."
Michael Reitz, technology manager for BASF said: "We are honored to win this award. We are part of a large team from all three companies working together so I'd like to recognize the spirit of cooperation we have within this project."
Martin Hofstaetter, process engineer for furnace technology at Linde added: "It's great to get the recognition for this project and also to see how the plant is working after all these years of development."
