A rather acidic success story started at BASF 50 years ago: in the summer of 1960, the company brought on stream the first large-scale manufacturing plant for propionic acid at its integrated Ludwigshafen Verbund site. The inauguration of another facility that produces this carboxylic acid followed at the Nanjing site in China in 2005.

Having expanded the annual capacity at these sites in 2009, which brought its total annual capacity to 149,000 metric tons, BASF is now one of the world’s major propionic acid manufacturers. This organic acid, which also occurs naturally, is valued as a preservative and as a building block for synthesis, for example in the production of pharmaceuticals, crop protection products and plastics. BASF has to date produced about 2.4 million metric tons of propionic acid.

The acid’s main field of application is in preserving feedgrain. Propionic acid keeps feeds fresh for a long time because it prevents molding. Feedgrain preservation based on propionic acid offers clear economic and ecological benefits over other methods, as an eco-efficiency analysis confirms.

This study shows that using this acid to preserve feedgrain is much more eco-efficient than feedgrain preservation by means of drying or storage in air-tight silos. BASF markets preservatives based on propionic acid under the trade names Lupro-Grain® and Luprosil®.

Calcium propionate, a propionic acid salt, keeps sliced and packaged bread fresh for longer. In addition the organic acid is used to produce medicines, crop protection agents and solvents as well as thermoplastics.

“Propionic acid is a great example of the versatility of our more than 600 intermediates that prove their benefits in our daily lives,” said Dr. Beate Ehle, President of BASF’s Intermediates division, “and it also illustrates perfectly our innovative capacity and our ability to grow with our customers on a global basis.”