Electric cracking with RotoDynamic Reactor
RotoDynamic Reactor™ (RDR) electrifies steam cracking, the most energy-intensive step in olefin production. Instead of firing a furnace, its rotor blades heat the feed directly, eliminating fuel-combustion CO₂ when powered by renewable electricity. RDR is at pilot stage, with commercial launch targeted from 2029.
RDR at a glance
10+%
Ethylene and propylene yield
Zero
Fuel-combustion CO2 with renewable power
FEEDS
cracked at pilot: Naphtha, hexane and pyrolysis oil
Low coke
Longer run lengths and fewer decoking stops
Modular
Compact design, faster site construction
2029→
Commercial launch targeted
Why electrify steam cracking
Olefins such as ethylene and propylene are the main building blocks of the chemical industry, used mostly to make plastics.
They are produced by steam cracking: hydrocarbon feed, diluted with steam, is heated to very high temperatures in furnaces fired with fossil fuels – the largest source of CO₂ in olefin production.
RDR replaces that furnace firing with clean electricity, and it also suits recycled and bio-based feedstocks, which lowers the life-cycle footprint of plastics further.
Comparison
Conventional cracking compared to RDR
Conventional cracking
Feed such as ethane or naphtha, diluted with steam, flows through tubular coils inside a large furnace. Fossil fuel is burned around the coils, and the heat passes through the tube walls into the feed. That combustion is the largest source of CO₂ in olefin production.
Electric cracking with RDR
RDR heats the feed mixture directly: electrically driven rotor blades transfer energy into the gas inside the reaction zone. There is no combustion, so cracking produces no fuel-combustion CO₂ when the electricity is renewable. A short residence time at high temperature also raises olefin yield.
Advantages
Key advantages of RotoDynamic Reactor
Based on pilot results and modelling, RDR is designed to deliver:
- No combustion emissions: No fuel-combustion CO2, NOx or particulates at the cracker when powered by renewable electricity
- Higher yield: 10+% increase in ethylene and propylene yield, thanks to a short residence time at high temperature – which also means less energy and CO2 per tonne of product
- Less coking: Cooler metal surfaces form less coke, for longer run lengths and fewer decoking stops
- Feedstock flexibility: Suited to recycled and bio-based feeds such as plastic-waste pyrolysis oil
- Compact and modular: Smaller footprint and shorter construction on site than a furnace of the same capacity
Higher yield and better operability
RDR heats the feed faster and to a higher temperature than a conventional cracking furnace, with a shorter residence time. This shifts the product mix towards the valuable olefins: 10+% increase in ethylene and propylene yield. More product from the same feed also means less energy and CO₂ per tonne of olefins.
Because RDR heats the mixture directly, its metal surfaces stay cooler than furnace tubes. Less coke forms, so plants can run longer between decoking stops, with lower maintenance costs and higher uptime.
In new plants, the compact, modular RDR is expected to lower capital expenditure compared with conventional cracking furnaces.
Optimal temperature and residence time.
a short residence time at high temperature gives higher yield with less energy and CO₂.
How RotoDynamic Reactor works
RDR brings together rocket science, turbomachinery and chemical engineering. With aerodynamic action achieved through a rotating blade flow, RDR can replace conventional furnaces by directly imparting the rotor shaft’s mechanical energy to the hydrocarbon fluid needed to produce olefins.
RDR’s electric motor drives the rotors, gas is accelerated to very high velocities and then slowed down in the diffuser, creating a shockwave that converts kinetic energy into thermal energy.
From pilot to first commercial RDR
RDR has run at our MW-scale pilot plant at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands, since December 2022. It cracked hexane and naphtha and, in 2025, plastic-waste pyrolysis oil. The results are the basis for the core technology of the first commercial RDR, now in development, with commercial launch targeted from 2029.
2021 – 2025
- Establishment of strong patent portfolio
- Successful pilot program at Coolbrook’s test facility in Brightlands Chemelot Campus for RDH™ and RDR™ with more than 5,000 operating hours to date:
- Temperatures above 1,000 °C reached (RDH)
- Hexane, naphtha, and pyrolysis oil successfully cracked (RDR)
- Establishment of a wide partner network of world-leading universities, customers, and technology partners
- Development of the first commercial industrial product (RDH™)
- Signing of the first commercial delivery contract
2026 – 2028
- Delivery of the first commercial project
- Further customer orders for follow-on projects across target industries:
- Cement
- Iron and Steel
- Aluminum
- Petrochemicals
- Further expansion of the partner network with world-leading technology partners
- RDH™ and RDR™ part of electrification technology offering of key suppliers and EPC companies
- Development of core technological features for:
- High-temperature RDH™
- First commercial RDR™
2029 →
- High number of commercial deliveries to customers across target industries
- Expansion to new use cases requiring higher temperatures and power levels
- Continued partnerships within a network of globally leading industry players and decarbonization actors in different sectors
- Launch of the next generation products:
- High-temperature RDH™ capable of reaching temperatures of 1,400 °C (and ultimately 1,700 °C)
- First commercial RDR™ to decarbonize ethylene production at scale
RDR has the potential to really become the new industry standard in olefins production.
Budimir Rosic
Professor, University of Oxford
Ph.D. (Aerospace Engineering)
