2021 Annual and Sustainable Performance Report

Long-term commitment

The plant was built by Nutrien, in close partnership with Arkema. The 40,000 metric tons of hydrofluoric acid that it will produce each year are essentially reserved for the Arkema plant in Calvert City. Both parties have gained from this groundbreaking project, which was completed on a very tight schedule. While Nutrien has found a sustainable and valuable outlet for its HFSA production, Arkema has acquired a major asset to support the development of its markets in North America. “Aurora’s production will cover all of Calvert City’s needs for the coming years”, says Christophe Villain. “We have therefore secured our supply of raw materials over the long term, at a stable and competitive price, to support the development of 1233zd (fluorogas with very low greenhouse effect) and the growth of our Kynar^® PVDF, in the areas of water filtration and electric and hydrogen vehicle batteries.”

The environment also comes out on top

In addition to the economic and industrial success, this achievement stands out in terms of its impact on the environment. “The big advantage of the new process is that it is based on a material that already exists on the market, whereas the traditional process consists of extracting fluorspar from the ground, then treating it using processes that consume a lot of water and energy in order to transform it into hydrofluoric acid.” At Nutrien, 40,000 metric tons of hydrofluoric acid will be produced without water consumption and without any waste water discharge: all the water used in the process is recycled. Comparative analyses carried out by Arkema also show that the process implemented at Aurora emits around 95% less volume of greenhouse gases (CO₂, SO₂ and NOx), than the conventional process, for the same quantity produced. Finally, the carbon footprint of the transport component is also better. Aurora’s hydrofluoric acid will be transported in block trains to Arkema’s plant in Calvert City, 1200 kilometers to the west, whereas the previous supplier shipped it from Mexico. The project as a whole offers further proof of Arkema’s ability to constantly reinvent its production methods, and to offer its markets solutions for the future that fully meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.