Borealis makes multi-million investment in Finnish cracker furnaces

15 Apr 2024 --- Borealis is investing €4.5 million (US$4.8 million) in the cracker furnaces of its olefins unit in Porvoo, Finland. The investment enables the steam cracker to increase the share of renewable and recycled raw materials used in its (ethylene and propylene) production. 

The move supports the Borealis Strategy 2030 for a circular economy. The Porvoo investment program is expected to be completed in 2025, following last year’s completion of a furnace cracker update in Stenungsund, Sweden. 

“With a focus on reinventing essentials for sustainable living, the investment in our steam cracker in Porvoo moves us closer toward a future of circular economy transformation,” says Wolfram Krenn, Borealis’ executive vice president for Operations and Base Chemicals.

“Through strategic furnace modifications and a commitment to renewable and chemically recycled base chemicals, we are poised to elevate annual production to 120 kt, forging a path of environmental stewardship and economic resilience.”

Boosting base chemical production
The Porvoo steam cracker, which has a nameplate capacity of 430 kt ethylene and 263 kt propylene annually, is a facility that thermally “cracks” feedstock — such as naphtha, propane, butane and liquefied petroleum gas — into smaller molecules. 

Furnaces are the “heart” of every cracker, stresses Borealis. Due to the investment, three of the ten cracker furnaces in the olefins unit will be modified to enable a total annual production of 120 kt of base chemicals based on renewable and recycled feedstocks. 

The renewable-based and chemically recycled base chemicals produced at Borealis’ site in Porvoo have been awarded the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus). The certification is a voluntary scheme that covers the entire supply chain based on mass balance accounting and guarantees compliance with the highest environmental standards.

This month, Borealis secured a Letter of No Objection from the US FDA, affirming the safe use of specific grades of its Borcycle M PCR plastics and closed its acquisition of Integra Plastics, an advanced mechanical recycling company based in Elin Pelin, Bulgaria.

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim