Arkema of France Commissions €150 Million Acrylic Acid Purification Unit

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 8, French chemical company Arkema officially commissioned a new-generation acrylic acid purification unit at its production site in Carling, Moselle, with a total project investment of nearly €150 million. The new unit employs an improved purification process that reduces energy consumption in the purification stage by 25% while maintaining existing product output levels, and lowers the carbon emission intensity of site operations by 20%.

The project investment was confirmed in 2023, and construction began in April 2024, replacing the existing acrylic acid purification process with the new technology. The new unit also optimizes solvent use, resource management, and waste handling, reducing solvent consumption in purification production. The project received support from the French government's "France 2030" plan and the EU's NextGenerationEU funding, with the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) involved in implementing the related funding programs.

The unit's construction involved 826 tonnes of steel structures, 21 kilometers of process piping, and 52 kilometers of cables. In early 2025, the project completed the transport and lifting of a large distillation column, which is 60 meters long and weighs 150 tonnes. More than 100 workers were involved in the project design phase, and over 200 personnel were on site during peak construction, with approximately 600,000 work hours completed in total.

The Carling site covers 87 hectares and houses production facilities for acrylic acid monomers, acrylic acid derivatives, and superabsorbent polymers, as well as an acrylic acid research and process center. The site currently has more than 380 employees and ships over 350,000 tonnes of products annually to customers in approximately 40 countries, mainly serving the coatings, adhesives, water treatment, and specialty materials sectors. This upgrade targets the existing acrylic acid purification stage, and Arkema has not disclosed the additional capacity brought by the new unit.

The new unit is part of Arkema's industrial decarbonization investment plan for 2022 to 2030. The plan involves cumulative investment of up to €400 million, covering energy efficiency improvements and emission reduction upgrades for existing production facilities. The Carling project has completed construction and held a commissioning ceremony, but the company has not separately disclosed the actual annual output or stable operation data of the new unit.