BASF inaugurates enzyme-based production plant for biocatalyzed acrylamide

BASF celebrated the opening of a new state-of-the-art production plant for biocatalyzed acrylamide at its site in Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, Nanjing, China.

With this investment in its wholly-owned BioACM plant in Nanjing, BASF is strengthening its production set-up for reliable and high-quality supply of polyacrylamide to customers in Asia Pacific, especially in China. The plant has a capacity of more than 50,000 tons of biocatalyzed acrylamide per year.

Acrylamide is used in the production of water-soluble flocculation aids that make wastewater treatment and papermaking, as well as mineral processing and enhanced oil recovery, more efficient and less resource-intensive. This new plant further strengthens BASF’s position in the region and will help expand cost-competitive supply to meet the growing demand of these water-intensive industries.

BASF has been producing biocatalyzed acrylamide in Suffolk, USA, since 2014 and started operations at its European BioACM plant in Bradford, England, in 2016. With this successful start-up in China, BASF now has three state-of-the-art production facilities located in key markets worldwide.

“The completion of the BioACM plant in Nanjing is an important milestone. The construction of a new polyacrylamide production line is currently underway and is expected to go on stream in 2018. With investments into upstream and downstream plants, we continue to strengthen our position as a leading partner for the paper and water treatment industries,” explained Andreas Tuerk, Senior Vice President Paper and Water Chemicals from BASF.

The enzyme-based biocatalytic production method results in less waste than conventional high-pressure, energy-intensive copper catalysis. The process takes place at room temperature and under normal atmospheric conditions, resulting in energy savings and greater environmental compatibility. It also generates fewer by-products.