April 7, 2025 15:19

The final four furnaces for the ethane cracker being built by Ineos as part of Project ONE have arrived by sea at the Port of Antwerp. The massive components were shipped from Thailand, where they were manufactured.
Two furnaces had already reached the Belgian port in January, marking the first shipment for the project.

Managed by Ineos Olefins Belgium, Project ONE involves the construction of a state-of-the-art steam cracker in Lillo, Antwerp. The facility will have a production capacity of 1.45 million tonnes of ethylene per year and is scheduled to begin operations next year. The total investment is estimated at more than €4 billion.

The cracker is designed to run on low-carbon hydrogen in the future and will feature carbon capture technology. It will also be capable of operating with electric furnaces once that technology becomes commercially viable.

The furnaces could not be built directly at the Belgian site due to the need for specialized expertise in both manufacturing and assembly. In addition, only a limited number of shipyards worldwide have the capacity to accommodate ocean-going vessels and construct such large-scale modules.
The Antwerp site also lacks sufficient space to store materials or assemble the massive units while civil and underground works are underway.

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