On-site nitrogen generator helps Ineos achieve major CO2 savings

Enormous flexibility

Specifically, Mikael Pilegaard and his team used nitrogen to 'purge' the plant, displacing flammable gases and any oxygen before maintenance of the plant.

"So we needed quite large amounts of nitrogen, and logistically it's quite complicated. And if we had been supplied by boat, the logistics would have been even more extensive. Here, the generator gave us great flexibility and thus much easier logistics," says Mikael Pilegaard and elaborates:

"Another advantage is that if you order bottled nitrogen, you have to be conservative and order ample quantities. With the nitrogen generator, we can produce nitrogen on-demand at a fixed price, and that just gives us tremendous flexibility."

Significant savings

Ineos has a goal of reducing its global CO2 emissions by 33% by 2030 and is, among other things, deeply involved in the Greensand project in the North Sea.

This is a carbon capture storage (CCS) pilot project working to develop methods to store CO2 in the Danish subsoil. The first successful storage trial took place in March.

In a broader context, solutions like the nitrogen generator are a small but important step towards Ineos' 2030 targets, according to Mikael Pilegaard.

As an example, Mouritsen's calculations from similar projects show that the carbon footprint per consumed m3 of nitrogen can be reduced by up to 78%.

"The climate benefits of using such a technology are of course also an important parameter. Like all other players in the industry, we want to assume our responsibility in the green transition, and therefore it is important to produce as cost-effectively and as energy-efficiently as possible," says Mikael Pilegaard.