More powerful steam turbine at TIB Chemicals

Since June 2023, TIB Chemicals AG, Mannheim, has been operating a new, more powerful steam turbine in its sulfuric acid plant. To produce sulfuric acid, liquid sulfur is burned with atmospheric oxygen at a temperature of approx. 1000 degrees Celsius.

This exothermic reaction releases a very large amount of heat, most of which TIB Chemicals recycles. The heat is used to produce steam at a pressure of approx. 40 bar. This steam is used to operate two steam turbines. One turbine is used to convey the process air in the plant, while the other turbine drives a 130 kW electricity generator and the plant's feed water pump. During this process, the 40 bar steam is reduced to a pressure of approx. 8.5 bar and then made available to the plant network for heating processes and buildings, for example.

This highly efficient use of process heat from sulfuric acid production saves an average of approx. 608 tons of CO2 per year through electricity generation.