After the incident, which led to the shutdown of all four lines of the hazardous waste treatment plant, Currenta GmbH & Co OHG, the operator of the chemical park, commissioned Andritz to retrofit the severly damaged SCR II. However, unexpected corrosion damages at the SCR I unit made it necessary to put this unit out of service as well. Andritz proposed an innovative concept that minimized downtime and allowed for the earliest possible restart of both units.

The Andritz retrofit team redesigned the plate heat exchanger originally intended for SCR II to meet the specifications of the SCR I unit. At the same time, they developed a strategy to repair the damaged SCR II heat exchanger for temporary use until the new one became available.

Uwe Listner, Head of Technology for Hazardous Waste Incineration Plants at Currenta, says: “Andritz’s innovative and flexible approach substantially reduced downtime and ensured the rapid revitalization of the Leverkusen Chemical Park. We intend to continue the good cooperation with Andritz for other environmental projects.”