Caprolactam plant at Ludwigshafen celebrates 50th anniversary
BASF world's largest manufacturer of caprolactam
Operational excellence and Verbundintegration ensure high asset availability
BASF has been producing caprolactam using a large-scale continuous process at Ludwigshafen for half a century now. During this time around 6.5 million tons of the polyamide6 intermediate have left the site. “We haveconstantly improved the production process and expandedthe capacity during continuous operation over the past 50 years without major total plant shutdowns. This demonstrates the strong competence of the production team and the advantage of operating a highly complex technologywithin an integrated structure (Verbund)”,comments Hermann Althoff, Senior Vice President of the globalbusiness unit Polyamide and Intermediates.With two more plants at Antwerp, Belgium, and FreeportTexas, USA, and a total production capacity of 800,000 tons per year, BASF today is the world's largest manufacturer of caprolactam.
A piece of BASF history
The history of caprolactam and the history of BASF areclosely intertwinedbecause caprolactam isthe starting material for polyamide 6 (PA 6), also known bythe tradename Ultramid®. The industrial production ofcaprolactam paved the way for BASF to become one of the leading manufacturers ofpolyamides today andis thebackbone of the polyamide6 value chainwithin the BASFVerbund.
As far back as 1939 when BASF first producedpolyamide 6, it wasclear what potential thisplastic had: it wasfirmer, tougher and more resistant than any of the previousthermoplastics. That same year, the first caprolactam pilot plantwasthereforebuilt atthe Ludwigshafen site. With the beginning of the plastics age in the fifties, demand for the raw material took off. As a result,theplant at Ludwigshafen, today celebrating its anniversary, came on linein November 1961. This was followedonly one year later by another plant atFreeport; 1967saw the start of industrial production atAntwerp.
Caprolactam for engineering plastics, extrusion and fibers
Today it is impossible to imagine the world of engineering plastics, extrusionand fiberpolymers without caprolactam and its downstream products. Applications range from transparent and flexible food packaging, fishing lines and nets, cable sheathings, textile fibers for outdoor sportswear and carpets through to lightweight components for cars.
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