BASF Opens World’s First Production Plant for 3D-Printed Catalysts

BASF, a leading global manufacturer of catalysts for the chemical industry, announced that it opened the world’s first production plant for 3D printed catalysts, located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The plant will produce X3D® catalysts on an industrial scale. Increasingly, we are seeing additive manufacturing being used for production. So why was AM chosen to mass-produce catalysts?

What Are Catalysts? Why 3D Print Them?

In chemistry, catalysts are any substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction with a reactant, without itself being consumed. Since 2019, BASF has been 3D printing catalysts with its proprietary X3D® technology, combining proven active materials with a new shaping methodology. According to the company, X3D® results in high reactivity and greater design freedom. So, these 3D printed catalysts reduce costs, lower emissions, and increase efficiency.

BASF’s X3D catalysts combine high mechanical stability with an open structure.

The X3D catalysts are optimally designed, with geometries that have high mechanical stability and an open structure. This significantly reduces pressure drop in reactors while simultaneously increasing the catalytically active surface area. This allows users to achieve higher reactor throughput and improved product quality, while consuming less energy than conventional catalysts.

Catalyst Applications

External and internal customers have been using X3D catalysts for several years. The technology is versatile and can be used with a wide range of catalyst materials, including precious and base-metal catalysts, as well as various support materials. For instance, since 2019, BASF has been selling the Sulfuric Acid catalyst O4-115. In one sulfonation plant with 32 MTPD capacity, one catalyst bed of 1.2 m³ was replaced with X3D® catalyst, which resulted in $100,000 of cost savings. This was achieved by having:

• Increased conversion: 1% higher yield which equals 1 MTPD* or 25,000 €/a
• Caustic soda saving: 162.4 tons/a, or 58,000 €/a
• Energy savings due to decreased pressure drop: 106 MW/a, or 18,000 €/a

In 2025, the Chinese-based fine chemical company An Hui Jintung filled their production plant with BASF’s sulfuric acid catalysts O4-115 X3D. “The plant started up smoothly, and plant performance has significantly improved compared to before. Production achieved a record high, generating substantial economic benefits for our company. We will continue our collaboration with BASF to promote catalyst upgrades and replacements across additional units,” Eter Zhu, General Manager at An Hui Jintung, said.

Another example of a catalyst that has been successfully implemented is the N2O abatement catalyst. Since the end of 2023, the N2O abatement catalyst has been installed in a commercial Nitric acid plant for long-term operation, showing high N2O removal rates. A full catalyst bed of 0.6m3 replaced with X3D® catalyst resulted in more than €3M per year in savings. Now, with BASF’s production plant operating, X3D® technology will be more widely available, shortening market introduction timelines.

BASF’s X3D catalysts can be precisely tailored to users’ specific chemical processes.

“We are pleased that X3D technology already gives our customers a real competitive edge: We can supply catalysts tailored precisely to their specific chemical processes – quickly and in large quantities,” said Detlef Ruff, Senior Vice President Chemical Catalysts and Adsorbents at BASF. If you want to learn more,  BASF is hosting a virtual media briefing for trade journalists in April.

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*All Photo Credits: BASF