Air Liquide (AL) and BASF have recently signed three new long-term contracts in the Antwerp basin (Belgium).

Leveraging on five existing onsite production plants in the Antwerp basin, AL has entered into a new 15-year agreement to renew its airgas supply to existing installations and provide additional oxygen to a new Ethylene Oxide plant to be built by BASF.

AL will also build and operate a new nitrogen removal unit (NRU) to supply BASF with high purity gas to enable a more efficient production of MDI, an important chemical component that is used in house insulation. This NRU is scheduled to be operational by mid-2021.

In addition, AL will purchase part of the methane fraction generated during the BASF production process and valorize it as a feedstock in its hydrogen production plants at the site contributing to reducing CO2 emissions up to 15,000 tons per year on the Antwerp site.