Today and yesterday evening we had the chance to see BASF town which is really named Ludwigshafen. We started off yesterday afternoon where we got a brief overview tour the 13 km long facility in a tour bus. This included seeing everything from the steam crackers to the harbor in which many of the supplies are delivered. The size of this facility was unfathomable when explained with words. We got to see this in person when many of the 36,000 employees frantically drove through the many roads located through out the facility.
The evening we stayed in the country side in a hostel in the hills. It contained a castle like structure where we had a wonderful evening of bbqing our own dinner and playing soccer with a few of the young children who also were staying at the hostel.
Day 2 of BASF we got to tour the pilot coater that services many pulp and paper related companies and their research. I was amazed at the capabilities of this pilot coater. I had the capability to run at 10 times the speed of any coater I have seen in person. We were luckily enough to see it run for a brief minute before a web break turned into a small fire which was easily and expect idly put out by the very experienced crew. We had the chance to also hear from many of the U.S. immersion employees and how they have adjusted to being Germany. They had high praise for the program and have no regrets. The part I found the most astounding was that the Haber-Bosch process was discovered right at this facility. For anyone who doesn't know this is the process in which ammonia is synthesized from the nitrogen in the air and the hydrogen from water. This reaction revolutionized many industries and really progressed chemical engineering closer to where it is today. For me this may have been one of the most astounding tours we have been on yet.
Besten Wunsche,
Devin Weaver
Hostel in the Country Side
A nice competitive game of futbol
BASF Interactive table
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