Nitrogen Industry News

Nitrogen Industry News

GERMANY

Uhde celebrates its centenary with name change

The Chemical & Process Technologies business unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions is celebrating a milestone in 2021. It is one hundred years since engineer and entrepreneur Friedrich Uhde founded his own plant engineering company in a barn at his parents-in-law’s farm in Dortmund-Bövinghausen on April 6th, 1921. Now, in this centenary year, the origins of the firm are to become visible in its name again: thyssenkrupp is changing the business unit’s name to thyssenkrupp Uhde.

After its foundation in 1921, the company soon began to focus on ammonia synthesis, and fertilizer plants remain one of its main areas of business. The enterprise quickly expanded. In 1930 a subsidiary was established for high-pressure technologies which as part of thyssenkrupp now goes by the name Uhde High Pressure Technologies. In 1952 the then Uhde GmbH was acquired by Hoechst AG and in 1996 by Krupp AG, which merged into thyssenkrupp in 1999. In 2014 it was combined with other plant engineering businesses to form thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions. The core of the former Uhde company is now the Chemical & Process Technologies business unit, employing 4,500 people, and still based in Dortmund.

The first ammonia plant using the Mont-Cenis-Uhde process went into operation in 1928 and had a production capacity of 100 t/d. Today the company can build plants with capacities of up to 5,000 t/d, and is looking to produce “green ammonia” from hydrogen generated by electrolysis using renewable electricity, via technology from thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, a joint venture with Industrie De Nora and world market leader in industrial-scale electrolysis.

Sami Pelkonen, CEO of Chemical & Process Technologies/ thyssenkrupp Uhde commented: “for 100 years, the name Uhde has stood for innovation, quality, and reliability. It makes me particularly proud that our core technologies – such as ammonia synthesis together with water electrolysis – can now, with green hydrogen and green ammonia, make a key contribution to a sustainable future. So it’s really fitting that we’ll shortly be known as thyssenkrupp Uhde again.”

Uniper to establish green hydrogen hub

Uniper, one of the largest power producers in Europe, says that it will work together with energy service provider EWE to set up a hydrogen hub at Huntorf, Lower Saxony. Both companies have signed an agreement to generate hydrogen using renewable energy (wind power) in Huntorf, store it there and create transport facilities to make it available to industry and the mobility sector.

“With Uniper operating a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) power plant at the Huntorf site and EWE running a cavern storage facility for natural gas in the immediate vicinity, the project is perfectly set up to succeed in terms of location,” said EWE CEO Stefan Dohler. In the future, cavern storage facilities could also be used for hydrogen storage, and existing natural gas pipelines could transport hydrogen. EWE is currently gaining extensive experience by participating in various projects, for example the HyCav-Mobil research project on the use of salt caverns for hydrogen storage. HyWays For Future is already the first market for green hydrogen in the transport sector.

The site’s potential for expansion is currently estimated at up to 300 MW, with the individual expansion stages focused on hydrogen sales volume.

Uniper is also planning an import terminal for green ammonia at Wilhelmshaven. The terminal is set to be equipped with an ‘ammonia cracker’ for producing green hydrogen and will also be connected to the planned hydrogen network. A 410MW electrolysis plant is also planned, which – in combination with the import terminal – would be capable of supplying around 295,000 t/a or 10% of the demand expected for the whole of Germany in 2030.

NORWAY

Topsoe and Nel to offer end-to-end green ammonia and methanol solutions

Haldor Topsoe and Norwegian firm Nel ASA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly offer customers complete renewable electricity to ammonia/methanol solutions, combining Nel’s alkaline and PEM electrolysis technologies in combination with proven ammonia and methanol technologies from Topsoe. Under the MoU, Topsoe will supply licenses, engineering, proprietary hardware, catalyst and technical services for the its ammonia and eMethanol ™ technologies, as well as system integration engineering. Nel intends to supply its alkaline or PEM electrolysis technology and proprietary hardware, and subsystem engineering.

“We are very pleased to take the next step in our excellent relation with Nel. Together, we can offer end-to-end renewable electricity to ammonia and methanol solutions based on the most reliable technologies available today. Driven by our vision to be recognized as the global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies by 2024, we are excited to offer innovative and attractive low-carbon solutions to our customers. This cooperation speaks directly to our customers’ needs as we see massive interest from the market requesting basic engineering, license, and process guarantee in one package,” said Amy Hebert, Chief Commercial Officer of Haldor Topsoe.

DENMARK

Axens buys Flowvision

Axens says that it has signed a share sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of Flowvision, based in Odense, an engineering company specialising in emission abatement systems for the reduction of nitrogen oxides in industrial flue gas. Flowvision provides designs and equipment for the entire scope of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) systems, and has a wide range of references across multiple sectors, including heat recovery steam generators (HRSG), biomass boilers, waste to energy, circulating fluidised bed boilers, gas turbines, refining, heaters and steam reformers within petrochemical plants.

“The acquisition of Flowvision’s DeNOx business will strengthen our offer in the area of air pollution control and will help us better serve our customers providing them with sustainable solutions, integrated with our processes and equipment, to support their environmental and energy transition challenges,” said Jean Sentenac, Chairman and CEO of Axens Group.

RUSSIA

Acron completes ammonia revamp

Acron has completed a revamp of its Number 4 ammonia plant at Novgorod, one of the largest in Europe. The plant has successfully passed guarantee test runs to confirm its new uprated capacity of 2,500 t/d of ammonia. The plant, which originally cost $500 million, was commissioned in 2016, and was the first ammonia plant built by Russian engineers without support from foreign contractors. The revamp was conducted in conjunction with Haldor Topsoe, whose revised design included a heat exchange reformer (HTER), as well as making changes to the CO2 removal section, and other modifications. Despite the obstacles and travel restrictions seen in 2020, the team of Acron engineers and Topsoe specialists, working hundreds of miles apart, completed the revamp of Ammonia-4, and after a successful overhaul in November 2020, the plant reached its new design capacity.

”Haldor Topsoe and Acron have been in a successful partnership for quite a while and the revamp project, that delivered in November 2020, marked another milestone in our cooperation. We believe our companies’ partnership will develop further for the benefit of both companies,” said Peter Vang Christensen, Managing Director of Haldor Topsoe’s Moscow office.

Aleksandr Popov, Chairman of the board of Acron, said: “boosting the Ammonia-4 plant is an important project of Acron Group’s investment program. Increasing its capacity will allow to sufficiently increase production of nitrogenous and compound fertilizers on our Novgorod site.”

Shchekinoazot and Topsoe to work on CO2 emissions reduction

Haldor Topsoe and Shchekinoazot have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the objective of reducing the carbon footprint of Shchekinoazot’s existing and future plants in Russia’s Tula region. Shchekinoazot says that it aims to establish both green and blue methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen production using Topsoe’s experience and technologies in reforming, electrolysis, carbon capture and utilisation, and ammonia and methanol synthesis. Shchekinoazot and Topsoe have worked together for the last 15 years and have successfully implemented five projects together related to ammonia, methanol and hydrogen production, applying technologies and catalysts developed and supplied by Topsoe.

“We believe that with Haldor Topsoe’s support we’ll be able to lead the green transformation and be one of the frontrunners who will blaze the trail for the Russian chemical industry,” said Boris Sokol, President of Shchekinoazot.

EGYPT

Stamicarbon to revamp Abu Qir urea plant

Stamicarbon has signed a contract with Abu Qir Fertilizers in Alexandria, for the revamp of one of their urea melt plants (Abu Qir 3). Stamicarbon will deliver the license and the process design package for the revamped plant, which is expected to be operational in 2025. The urea plant was designed in 1996 with a nameplate capacity of 1,750 t/d and a design capacity of 1,925 t/d, using Stamicarbon’s CO2 stripping process.

The scope of the revamp includes a capacity increase 2,370 t/d and a reduction in emissions from the melt plant absorbers to meet local norms. The revamp will use Stamicarbon’s EVOLVE CAPACITY™ design with medium pressure add-on technology. This allows capacity expansion of a plant without having to invest in high pressure equipment or a high pressure CO2 compressor, while simultaneously reducing energy consumption via the use of existing margins of the installed equipment. The MP add-on technology allows for large scale capacity revamping, while reducing energy consumption per tonne of final urea product. It consists of a small add-on module connected to the existing plant structure with the option to be switched off to provide additional operational flexibility.

Abu Qir is one of the largest producers of nitrogenous fertilizers in Egypt and the Middle East, producing about 50% of all Egypt’s nitrogen fertilizers.

Contract signed for Tahrir Petrochemical Complex

A $7.5 billion contract has been signed for the construction of the Tahrir Petrochemical Complex in the Ain Sokhna industrial zone, near the Gulf of Suez. The contract was signed between the Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemicals Company and the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, in the presence of prime minister Mostafa Madbouly and Tarek Al Mulla, minister of petroleum and mineral resources.

The project will be built on an area of 3.56 million m2 and will include a 4 million t/a naphtha cracker and downstream facilities with the capacity to produce 1.4 million t/a of ethylene and polyethylene, 900,000 t/a of propylene, 250,000 t/a of butadiene, 350,000 t/a of benzene, and 100,000 t/a of hexene. A single train ammonium nitrate plant with a capacity of 1,060 t/d and a nitric acid plant will also be set up at the complex.

UNITED STATES

thyssenkrupp to instal green hydrogen plant at Donaldsonville

thyssenkrupp has entered into an engineering and supply contract with CF Industries to deliver a green hydrogen plant for the production of ammonia at the Donaldsonville complex in Louisiana. Under this contract thyssenkrupp will engineer and deliver a 20 MW hydrogen unit based on their alkaline water electrolysis as well as all necessary utilities. The plant will use renewable energy from the local grid to produce hydrogen which then will be converted to 20,000 t/a of green ammonia in CF Industries’ existing ammonia plants. Engineering and procurement activities have been started and first production is scheduled for 2023.

With six ammonia plants and several fertilizer plants, the CF Industries’ site in Donaldsonville is the largest ammonia manufacturing complex worldwide. The largest ammonia plant at the site was also designed thyssenkrupp based on the proven Uhde ammonia process. “Following the recent delivery of two world-scale ammonia and fertilizer plants to CF Industries we are honoured to have now been selected by our long-term customer to contribute to the decarbonisation of their operations”, said Dennis Lippmann, president Chemical & Process Technologies, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions USA.

Waggaman suffers delayed restart

Incitec Pivot has suffered a delayed restart for its Waggaman ammonia plant in Louisiana. The 800,000 t/a plant began a turnaround in January 2021, the first since the plant was commissioned in 2016. The turnaround was mechanically completed on March 6th, and start-up activity began shortly afterwards, but the plant was taken down again on March 17th due to a dry gas seal failure and vibrations in the turbine on the induced draft fan. Additional investigations into the root causes of both issues have, the company says, now been completed and repairs are currently underway. Incitec Pivot said that its work plan was expected to result in production recommencing by mid-April. The additional cost of the delay was put at $28 million on an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) basis. The total turnaround cost has been finalised at $62 million, which will be depreciated over a four-year period.

Waggaman’s ammonia cooler (heat exchanger) was repaired during the turnaround; however, subsequent metallurgical analysis revealed that poor workmanship of the original fabricated metal would likely prevent the repair from lasting until the next scheduled turnaround. The repairs are expected to allow the plant to restart at full production rates with a replacement of the cooler likely to be required in the next 12-24 months.

Starfire Energy secures funding for green ammonia and hydrogen plants

Starfire Energy, a Colorado-based developer of modular chemical plants for the carbon-free production of ammonia and hydrogen, has closed a major funding round. The investment round was led by AP Ventures, a significant investor in breakthrough hydrogen technologies, and included New Energy Technologies, Chevron Technology Ventures, Osaka Gas USA, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The company says that the proceeds will be used to advance the development of commercial-scale applications to decarbonise ammonia production and unlock its potential as a zero-carbon energy carrier.

Starfire’s Rapid Ramp NH3 ammonia synthesis uses only electricity, air, and water as inputs. The company says that the process can accommodate being directly powered by intermittent energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectricity. It can scale back to a zero capacity factor and rapidly scale right back to 100% or anywhere in between. Starfire Energy is currently commercializing a 50 t/d modular green ammonia plant. The company has also developed the Prometheus Carbon-free Fire, a system to crack ammonia back into hydrogen, providing an efficient means of green hydrogen storage and transportation.

CANADA

Nutrien to cut emissions 30% by 2030

Nutrien Ltd, the world’s largest fertilizer producer by capacity, has said that it is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by 2030, in a plan costing the company $500-700 million.

The plans include cutting emissions from nitrogen production by 1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually by the end of 2023. Nutrien’s target includes Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which reflect direct operations and electricity use, while addressing Scope 3 emissions – those related to on-farm activity – via a program that encourages growers to adopt sustainable practices that generate monetary credits.

The company plans to deploy wind and solar energy at four potash plants by the end of 2025, replacing electricity generated by coal and natural gas. It also plans to expand its sequestration of carbon emissions from nitrogen fertilizer production and to invest in technology to capture nitrous oxide gas from its facilities.

“We’re in a really unique spot to address two big societal challenges – food security, and in a way that reduces our environmental footprint,” said Mark Thompson, Nutrien’s chief corporate development and strategy officer.

UKRAINE

Naftogaz to buy OPZ

State-owned Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz will buy troubled ammonia and urea producer Odessa Port Plant (OPZ), according to ICIS. The company is also looking to increase its share in renewable electricity generation from less than 1% currently to 25% by 2030, and combine renewable power generation via onshore wind farms with gas production as a feedstock for green ammonia production. The company has launched a solar pilot project in the Kharkiv region, a larger plant in the Zhytomyr region and has conducted pre-feasibility studies on onshore wind in the Odessa region.

AUSTRALIA

Solar-powered ammonia for Western Australia

Engie and Yara Pilbara Fertilisers have announced plans for a solar-powered hydrogen electrolyser plant in Western Australia, which will be used to produce green ammonia. The project will initially include an 18 MW solar farm and 10 MW electrolyser plant, with the potential to grow to a 100 MW solar operation and 66 MW in the electrolysis system. The joint project has already received A$995,000 in funding from Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for a feasibility study, and a submission has been lodged with the state’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). It is estimated that the plant will produce around 640 t/a of green ammonia.

New urea plant for Western Australia

Gas producer Strike Energy says that is has begun pre-front end engineering and design (FEED) work on its planned Project Haber urea fertilizer facility, to be built at Geraldton, Western Australia. The facility will use gas from Strike’s Greater Erregulla development in the Perth basin as its feedstock. The work follows the completion of a successful feasibility study by Technip Energies, who will also conduct the pre-FEED scope of work to further refine the capital cost estimate for the plant, which is currently $1.74 billion, according to Strike. Strike says it has also engaged with JBS&G Strategen to start the environmental approvals and planning process, and is engaged in discussions with domestic and international buyers on urea offtake contracts for the anticipated 1.4 million t/a complex.

Technip has also reportedly begun studies to maximise the amount of green hydrogen input into the urea process. Strike says it plans to provide 2% of the hydrogen input via its own 10 MW electrolysis unit that would be powered by geothermal resources in the Perth basin.

SOUTH KOREA

Hanwha to quadruple nitric acid production

Hanwha Corp. plans to increase its nitric acid production more than fourfold by investing $170 million. The company’s Global Business Division says that it will build a nitric acid plant in the Yeosu Industrial Complex in South Jeolla Province by 2023. The new plant will boost the company’s nitric acid production capacity to 520,000 t/a from the current 120,000 t/a. Of the total, 390,000 t/a will be used for production of semiconductor and display cleaning solutions. “We are also laying the groundwork for a transition toward the precision chemical field,” a Hanwha official said.

The company has also announced plans to produce 180,000 t/a of dinitrotoluene (DNT), using the remaining 130,000 t/a of nitric acid. DNT is produced through reacting nitric acid with toluene, and is a raw material for toluene diisocyanate (TDI), which is used to produce polyurethane.