Krupp Uhde completes plant complex in Saxony-Anhalt
On 20th August, Gerhard Schröder, Federal German Chancellor, and Dr. Reinhard Höppner, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, visited this plant complex for the production of adipic and nitric acid which will be completed and ready to go into production next month. They were able to see for themselves that the funds provided by the Federal and Land Governments for promoting this region were put to good use.
The customer is Radici Chimica Deutschland located at Tröglitz/Saxony-Anhalt, a subsidiary of the Italian Radici Group domiciled in Bergamo/Italy. Radici is one of Europe’s largest private producers of yarn and a leading supplier of raw materials for textiles, e.g. for carpets and for the automobile industry.
Thanks to the commitment of Radici GmbH and the sponsorship by the Federal and Land Governments, 330 new long-term jobs were created in this development region about 40 km south west of Leipzig. Moreover, some 1000 persons found employment during the construction phase.
Krupp Uhde, too, contracted numerous local companies during the project execution period for the supply of process equipment and for construction services. These companies made a substantial contribution towards the successful completion of this project.
Krupp Uhde constructed this complex on a turn-key basis. The total contract value amounted to some DM 330 million, Krupp Uhde’s share being around DM 260 million.
The adipic acid plant has an annual capacity of approx. 80,000 tonnes. It operates by a proprietary process of the Radici Group. Adipic acid is a chemical raw material for the production of Nylon. This so-called Nylon 66 is a polyamide obtained by a reaction of adipic acid with hexamethylene diamine. In addition, adipic acid is used in the production of numerous other chemical products (e.g. polyurethanes).
For the nitric acid plant, likewise with an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes (100% in the form of 65% acid), Krupp Uhde used its proprietary mono-high-pressure process. This process is particularly environment-friendly with selective catalytic waste gas treatment. This ensures that the waste gas has an extremely high purity with a NOx content of only 50 ppm. Krupp Uhde ranks amongst the leading contractors in this field.
The new plants are located on the historic industrial site of the former Zeitz hydrogenation plant. In addition to the production facilities themselves, it is intended to create an infrastructure which will not only serve to supply raw materials and utilities to the new plants but also support the installation of other industrial plants, thus making for a positive development of the entire industrial estate.
In addition to supplying the complete process units, Krupp Uhde’s scope of supplies and services included the storage facilities, the rail loading and unloading systems, the filling facilities, the tank farm for ammonia and nitric acid, and the entire infrastructure within the complex.
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