Nitrogen+Syngas 379 Sept-Oct 2022
30 September 2022
Nitrogen Industry News
Nitrogen Industry News
AFRICA
Stamicarbon to license urea for African project
Maire Tecnimont’s innovation and licensing company Stamicarbon has been selected as the licensor for a urea project in sub-Saharan Africa, its first license in the region. Stamicarbon will deliver the process design package for the front-end engineering and design for a 4,000 t/d urea melt and granulation plant. The urea melt plant with a pool reactor will use Stamicarbon’s MP Flash design, a melt concept with improved energy efficiency, entailing a significant reduction of steam consumption. The minimal equipment items result in a significant reduction of the footprint and the overall capital cost of the plant. Less equipment also allows for a reduction in maintenance costs and OPEX savings.
Alessandro Bernini, Maire Tecnimont CEO, said “We are proud to be part of this remarkable project. It is a genuinely solid project with an innovative concept that is bound to add value to the community and the region at large. Thanks to this project, our Group has increased its footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa and positioned itself as the world leader in cutting-edge technology and solutions to contribute to reduce the carbon footprint of the fertilizer industry”.
IFDC announces update to Africa Fertilizer Watch
The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) has announced an update to its Africa Fertilizer Watch. Covering 16-plus countries across sub-Saharan Africa, added indicators track the impact of the Russa-Ukraine crisis on the delivery and use of fertilizers to identify changes in productivity and food security across the continent. The IFDC says that the Africa Fertilizer Watch supports efficient and effective responses to the evolving food and fertilizer crises and ensures that sufficient quantities of appropriate fertilizers reach farmers.
Currently, the region has the lowest fertilizer usage in the world – insufficient to replace the soil nutrients lost every year to crop production. In addition, huge demographic shifts could have a major impact on food security. Understanding where and how barriers to fertilizer access and availability are affecting farmers is crucial for agricultural productivity.
The Africa Fertilizer Watch was developed through a partnership between IFDC’s AFO initiative and Development Gateway. It is jointly funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, through the Feed the Future Soil Fertility Technology Adoption, Policy Reform, and Knowledge Management under the Sustainable Opportunities for Improving Livelihoods with Soils (SOILS) Consortium, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the Visualizing Insights on Fertilizer for African Agriculture (VIFAA) program. Other technical partners include the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and AFRIQOM.
AUSTRALIA
Scientists achieve sustainable ammonia breakthrough
Scientists at Melbourne’s Monash University say that they have achieved a breakthrough in their quest to develop a more sustainable ammonia production process. Reporting in Nature, lead researcher Dr Hoang-Long Du and team leaders Dr Alexandr Simonov and Professor Doug MacFarlane say that they can achieve almost complete selectivity for the conversion of nitrogen from air and renewable electricity into ammonia at an unprecedented rate. The researchers have developed a unique electrolyte that produces a high-performance layer on the operating electrode to support the reaction that converts nitrogen into ammonia.
Dr Simonov said a process for the carbon-free production of fertilizers using renewable energy had been known for some time but it was not very selective. “Typically, a significant portion, sometimes as large as half of the electricity was used in making other unwanted compounds, making the process impractical,” Dr Simonov said. “Our new discovery shows how ammonia can be made with complete selectivity.”
Dr Du said another important feature of the new electrolyte was the high stability it provided to the process. “Since the electricity is exclusively used for the nitrogen to ammonia reaction, no degradation processes can occur and the process can operate stably on a long timescale,” Dr Du said. Monash has spun off a company, Jupiter Ionics, which is scaling up the process discovered by the research team.
Jupiter Ionics recently initiated a scale up project supported by funding from the Federal Government CRC Program along with partners Fortescue Future Industries, WesCEF and SJDC Produce Ltd.
Jupiter Ionics hopes to have its first prototype devices on a farm in regional Victoria next year, according to the company’s CEO Dr Charlie Day. “This new research is opening up a novel pathway to ammonia production, over a century after Haber and Bosch first developed their eponymous process,” Dr Day said. “Importantly, it will enable production at a range of scales and in a range of settings, all powered by increasingly abundant and cheap renewable energy.”
It is anticipated that the technology could be installed on farms or in regional centres producing fertilizers locally using on-site renewable energy supplies.
Contract awarded for low carbon ammonia project
US contractor McDermott International has won a pre-front end engineering and design contract for Woodside Energy’s proposed H2Perth project for the production of renewable and lower-carbon hydrogen and ammonia in the Kwinana/Rockingham area of Western Australia. McDermott says its scope encompasses pre-FEED services for a proposed export-scale production facility. Woodside plans to invest $1 billion in green hydrogen and ammonia in Australia.
“This award follows the successful completion of the concept study on H2Perth and decades of experience executing both onshore and offshore projects for Woodside Energy,” said Tareq Kawash, Senior Vice President for Onshore at McDermott. “We are pleased to continue supporting Woodside’s energy transition opportunities and are mutually aligned on the importance of driving lower-carbon energy to advance Australia’s vision as a global leader in clean, innovative, safe, and competitive hydrogen production,” he added.
The project is planned as a phased development, initially targeting 300 t/d of hydrogen production, which can be converted into 600,000 t/a of ammonia or 110,000 t/a of liquid hydrogen. Electrolysis technologies and natural gas reforming would both be used to produce hydrogen, with 100% of carbon emissions abated or offset. The initial capacity of the electrolysis component is 250 MW while the initial phase of the steam methane reformer will consume 40 terajoules per day of natural gas. The initial phase of the project has an estimated capital cost of approximately A$700 million.
Subject to necessary commercial and regulatory approvals and a positive final investment decision, construction on the initial phase of the project could commence in 2024.
Wood wins engineering oversight contract for Strike urea plant
Global consulting and engineering company Wood has been awarded the technical and engineering oversight services contract for Strike Energy’s Project Haber lower carbon ammonia-urea plant in Western Australia. The project will use hydrogen from a 10MW on-site electrolyser using large scale wind and solar generation in addition to Strike’s Perth Basin gas resources, lowering the carbon emission of production. The renewable share of production is aimed to eventually reach 170 MW, and the site will include carbon offsets including tree planting, as well as carbon capture and storage. Wood will monitor and assess work in progress, ensuring the engineering, procurement and construction contractor delivers work consistent with the project’s requirements.
Stuart Nicholls, Managing Director and CEO, Strike Energy added: “Wood is recognised as an industry leader in energy and decarbonisation, and we are delighted to have them play such a key role in the successful execution of this project. Their expertise will be invaluable as we deliver on our strategy to help supply low-cost, low-carbon energy to Western Australia, and support the competitiveness of Australia’s agricultural industry by building sovereign capability in the manufacturing of globally competitive low carbon nitrogen fertiliser.”
The Strike fertilizer plant has signed up Koch Industries as its primary offtaker and will look to meet the local demand of the Western Australia wheat belt and, as it is located near the Geraldton port, will be strategically positioned to meet export demands for product throughout the 20-to-30-year life cycle of the plant. Project Haber will use a Topsoe ammonia plant and Saipem urea plant using thyssenkrupp granulation technology to produce 1.4 million t/a of urea. First production is currently scheduled for 2026.
Urea plant still in the balance
Australia’s environment minister Tanya Plibersek is considering objections by indigenous peoples to Perdaman Chemicals planned 2 million t/a urea plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The A$4.5 billion (US$3.1 billion) development has been approved by the state government of Western Australia, but remains stalled at a Federal level over the potential threat from plant emissions to native petroglyph rock art in the region, some over 40,000 years old, which have been nominated for a UNESCO World Heritage listing. The WA government’s approval was subject to removal of the rock art to an area further from the plant, but local indigenous groups oppose disturbing the site. The Burrup Peninsula is already home to an ammonia plant and an LNG facility.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Fertiglobe reports 1H dividend of $750 million
Fertiglobe, a partnership between ADNOC and OCI, and the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia, as well as the largest nitrogen fertilizer producer in the Middle East and North Africa region, has reported that its Q2 2022 revenues increased by 105% to $1.47 billion, while adjusted EBITDA grew 155% to $770 million compared to Q2 2021. Free cash flow increased to $789 million in Q2 2022 from $328 million in Q2 2021, supporting a first half dividend of $750 million, above previous guidance of at least $700 million.
Ahmed El-Hoshy, CEO of Fertiglobe commented: “Q2 2022’s performance… [has been] driven by a favourable price backdrop supported by strong in-season demand, tight market balances and elevated gas prices in Europe, as well as higher sales volumes due to a phasing of some shipments from Q1 2022 to this quarter… The outlook for the fundamentals of our nitrogen end markets continues to underpinned by tight supply, healthy farm economics and low grain stocks globally that incentivise the use of nitrogen fertilizers. Forward curves imply that natural gas prices in Europe will remain at elevated levels through 2023 and beyond, setting breakeven pricing well above historical average global prices for ammonia and urea.”
New shiploader for Ruwais terminal
Bedeschi has been contracted by Fertil to supply shiploader for the company’s Ruwais terminal in Abu Dhabi for fertilizer and granulated urea to replace the existing one. The design capacity of the ship-loader is 1,200 t/h and it will be delivered fully erected to site. The machine will run on rails, with a towed tripper to divert the product from a wharf gallery conveyor onto a transfer belt, then to a loading boom belt.
Feasibility study for green hydrogen and ammonia plant
Brooge Energy has engaged Ernst & Young to provide consulting services for its planned green hydrogen and ammonia plant. The study will provide a market assessment with expected future prices and an overview of the competitive landscape expected. The study scope covers the project’s technical and cost assessment in addition to a financial and feasibility report, expected to be delivered during 4Q 2022. The company is developing a 300,000 t/a ammonia plant and has signed a preliminary land lease agreement for a 150,000 square meter plot that will accommodate the project.
Nicolaas Paardenkooper, CEO of Brooge Energy, said; “We are excited to begin the process of bringing this highly anticipated project to reality through engaging with the appropriate partners to see the project to completion. We strive to be in the forefront of the clean energy movement and our goal is to be one of the first private sector companies to successfully implement a green hydrogen/ ammonia project in UAE and demonstrate its economic and environmental benefits on a local and global scale.”
MIDDLE EAST
Tecnimont to build low carbon ammonia synthesis loop
Tecnimont, in cooperation with its sister company Nextchem, has been awarded a lump sum turn-key EPC contract for a low-carbon ammonia synloop to be built at an undisclosed location in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. The contract value is approximately $300 million and its scope of work includes engineering activities, supply of all materials and equipment as well as construction activities. Tecnimont has been instructed to immediately start with engineering work in relation to the project; the commencement of the procurement and construction works will be confirmed later this year when a final investment decision will be made. The project entails a 3,000 t/d approximately (1 million t/a) low-carbon ammonia plant and completion of the project is expected by the second half of 2025.
Alessandro Bernini, Maire Tecnimont Group CEO, commented: “This strategic project is extremely important since it will provide a significant contribution to the energy transition of the GCC region by reducing the carbon footprint of the fertilizer value chain. It will also contribute to the steady expansion of our green energy business.”
MOROCCO
Green ammonia pilot plant for Jorf Lasfar
Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dutch company Proton Ventures BV have signed an agreement for the construction of a green ammonia pilot plant at OCP’s chemical complex at Jorf Lasfar. The agreement covers the turnkey construction of a 4 t/d green ammonia unit using two PEM and alkaline electrolysers with a capacity of 2 MW each. This unit will also be equipped with an emulator that can simulate different electrical load profiles, in particular the hybridisation of photovoltaic and wind energy, in different geographical sites in Morocco and around the world. The plant is preparatory for plans for larger industrial projects, using knowledge and know-how generated during the exploitation phase, which will start in the first quarter of 2024.
CHINA
Eurotecnica wins contract for world’s largest melamine plant
Proman subsidiary Eurotecnica, has been awarded a contract by Xinji Energy Chemical Co. Ltd. for the implementation of the world’s largest high pressure melamine plant with a capacity of 120,000 t/a. Eurotecnica will use its 5th generation proprietary Euromel® technology for the design of this project, featuring low energy consumption, no catalyst, no added chemicals, and no effluents to be treated. It brings the company’s total licensed nameplate capacity to more than 1 million t/a in 26 plants worldwide. Xinjiang Xuefeng, the group Xinji belongs to, is the largest melamine producer in the world.
SAUDI ARABIA
Aramco and Sabic certified for blue hydrogen and ammonia production
Saudi Aramco and state fertilizer producer Sabic Agri-Nutrients have received the world’s first independent certificate of accreditation for producing blue hydrogen and ammonia products, according to the companies. TUV Rheinland, an independent testing, inspection and certification agency based in Germany, awarded certificates to the two companies. Sabic was recognised for producing 37,800 tonnes of blue ammonia, while Sasref, a wholly owned refinery of Saudi Aramco, received the certificate for producing 8,075 tonnes of blue hydrogen.
“Sabic recognises that hydrogen will play an essential role in decarbonisation and it is part of Sabic’s overall road map toward carbon neutrality by 2050, with a 20% reduction target in carbon emissions by 2030,” said Fahad Al Sherehy, Sabic’s vice president of energy efficiency and carbon management. The new initiatives will also support Saudi Arabia’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2060, he said.
Aramco recently announced it targets to produce up to 11 million tonnes per annum of blue ammonia by 2030 and is currently developing carbon capture and hydrogen capabilities. Blue hydrogen production is expected to contribute to its target to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Ma’aden 3 begins commercial ammonia production
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has announced the end of trial operations and the beginning of commercial production at its third ammonia plant. The 1.1 million t/a plant, at the eastern port of Ras al-Khair, has been built by Daelim at a cost of $900 million. Construction was completed in February and the plan has been in trial operation since then.
LIBYA
Restart for Lifeco urea plant
The Libyan Fertiliser Company (Lifeco) has restarted operations at its second ammonia/urea train. The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the daily production of urea was about 1,400 t/d, and that of ammonia was about 800 t/d, around 80% of nameplate capacity for each plant. The restart of operations comes after a two-month stop caused by the oil production/export embargo. The company said that operations at the first ammonia plant would also restart over next few days.
UNITED STATES
Paper on costs of green ammonia
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have published the results of its modelling on the costs of environmentally friendly methods that emit less carbon to produce ammonia. Argonne senior scientist Amgad Elgowainy and his colleagues used Argonne’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET® ) model to estimate the environmental impact of ammonia production from various energy sources. Then, they used a technoeconomic model to look at the cost of two different ways that ammonia could be produced more sustainably.
Their conclusion was that carbon capture can be implemented at relatively low cost, as the total cost to produce the ammonia increases by only about 20%. Fully ‘green’ ammonia, using water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, meanwhile, still has significant room for cost reduction of the electrolysis technology that could eventually make the water electrolysis pathway more cost competitive. “Research in this area could end up changing the market significantly, but it will take investment in developing and scaling up the production of the electrolysis technologies,” said Elgowainy. “With the cost reduction and efficiency improvements to meet DOE’s target of $1/kg of clean hydrogen, the electrolysis pathway could enable a close-tocarbon-free and affordable way of producing ammonia.”
Heraeus adds smelter to its recycling capabilities
Heraeus Precious Metals is expanding its precious metal recycling capabilities by building a smelter in the US at Wartburg, Tennessee, where the company already operates a recycling facility. With its expanded capabilities, the company says that it will be able to treat new recycling materials and further strengthen its position in the recycling market. The smelter is planned to be operational within the next two years.
In line with Heraeus Precious Metals’ sustainability goal to become carbon neutral by 2025, the smelter will be powered exclusively by renewable energy. It will mainly be used for the treatment of internal recycling material streams. Over the past years, Heraeus has seen strong growth at its eight recycling locations worldwide. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the quantity of internal streams suitable for smelter processing. Having the ability to treat these materials will increase the efficiency of the company’s processes and reduce overall handling complexity. Heraeus says that this allows it to reduce its exposure to increasingly unreliable supply chains and become more robust within the value chain.
“We are convinced that the precious metals recycling market will continue to grow as a result of more regional supply chains and an increasing demand for both secondary recycled materials and circular solutions,” said Uve Kupka, president of Heraeus Precious Metals Americas. “The investment in our site in Wartburg will be in the mid double-digit million dollar range and is part of a larger expansion program executed at our locations worldwide.”
Logan delivers new methanator for fertilizer plant
Logan Industries International has completed the design, manufacture and delivery of a new methantor pressure vessel to produce synthetic methane for a fertilizer plant in the mid-western United States. The company says that the new vessel is fabricated from chromium and molybdenum and complies with the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) recommended practice 934C, placing Logan in the top 10% of pressure vessel manufacturers in the US.
Dean Carey, technical director, Logan, said, “Logan is extremely pleased to participate in this effort and deliver the equipment on time to our customer. This was our first foray into API 934C specifications and we managed complex timelines, acquiring materials from both domestic and international resources and successfully mitigated a range of HSE concerns as our team completed their work within an extremely hot and challenging environment.”
BRAZIL
Unigel installs industrial-scale green hydrogen production
Unigel, one of the largest chemical companies in Latin America and the largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizers in Brazil, has installed the first industrial-scale green hydrogen production in Brazil at the Camacari industrial complex, for a total investment cost of $120 million. In the first phase of the project, Unigel installed three 20 MW electrolysers from thyssenKrupp Nucera, for a total capacity of 60 MW, which can produce 10,000 t/a of green hydrogen, equivalent to 60,000 t/a of green ammonia. The company says that it plans to quadruple its production of green hydrogen over the next few years by expanding the plant to a multi-hundred MW facility, which will produce approximately 40,000 t/a of green hydrogen.
Henri Slezynger, chairman and founder of Unigel, says: “Throughout our nearly 60-year history, we have always been attentive to technological innovations and have invested to meet industrial and agribusiness demands. With this project, Unigel takes the first step towards the decarbonization of several sectors, contributing substantially to combating climate change on the planet.”
Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of thyssen-Krupp Nucera, said: “This project is the first of its kind in Brazil and reinforces the pioneering spirit of Unigel to produce green molecules on an industrial scale. As Brazil is one of the world-leading countries in terms of installed renewable energy, we are pleased to enter this partnership to make green hydrogen an affordable energy vector already today. Only through large-scale production with robust, reliable and cost-effective technologies at competitive renewable power prices green hydrogen will become market-ready with widespread use.”
GERMANY
More ammonia shutdowns due to high gas prices
BASF has cut additional ammonia production due to high natural gas prices. In a media call following the release of the company’s quarterly results, CEO Martin Brudermüller said that the company would purchase some ammonia from external suppliers to fill gaps but warned that farmers would face rising fertilizer costs next year. BASF has already cut ammonia output at its Ludwigshafen and Antwerp plants in September.
Yara, which runs Germany’s third-largest ammonia plant at Brunsbuettel, says that its output across Europe is currently 27% below capacity due to the surge in gas prices, mainly due to production cutbacks in Italy and France, while SKW Piesteritz is in the process of resuming production after a scheduled maintenance shutdown. SKW also reduced ammonia production by 20% in September 2021. Germany faces ongoing shortages of natural gas due to restricted supply from Russia. Gazprom resumed pumping gas via its main pipeline to Europe, NordStream 1, on July 21st after a 10-day maintenance outage, but has cut supplies to Germany to just 20% of capacity.
CANADA
Terrestrial Energy signs MoU with Invest Alberta
Canada’s Terrestrial Energy and Invest Alberta (the Government of Alberta’s crown corporation promoting high-value investments) have signed a memorandum of understanding to support commercialisation of Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) Generation IV small modular reactor (SMR) plant in Western Canada.
Terrestrial Energy says the IMSR plant is designed for industrial cogeneration as well as high-efficiency, grid-based power generation and is ideally suited for natural resource extraction, low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production.
Sonya Savage, the Government of Alberta’s Minister of Energy, said: “There is great potential for SMRs to provide zero-emission energy for industrial operations in remote areas and further reduce emissions from Alberta’s oil sands.” Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy, said the IMSR cogeneration plant “provides a clear pathway for Alberta industry to achieve net zero, and develop production capabilities for industrial leadership in a net-zero energy economy of the future.”
JAPAN
Agreement on ammonia floating regasification unit
NYK Line, Nihon Shipyard, ClassNK, and IHI Corporation have signed a joint research and development agreement for the commercialisation of the world’s first ammonia floating storage and regasification barge (A-FSRB). Japan is aiming to make large scale use of ammonia as a low carbon fuel in mixed fuel combustion power generation at coal-fired power plants in order to reduce CO2 emissions. However, when using ammonia in existing thermal power plants, there are issues such as the problem of securing land for new onshore facilities including storage tanks and regasification facilities, and the large initial investment cost. The companies’ solution is an offshore floating facility that can receive and store ammonia that has been transported via ship as a liquid, and then warm and regasify ammonia according to demand, and then send it to a pipeline onshore. This offers the advantages of shorter construction time and lower costs in comparison to construction of onshore storage tanks and regasification plants.
QATAR
Uhde to build world-scale blue ammonia plant in Qatar
thyssenkrupp Uhde says it has won a new contract from its longstanding customer the Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO), for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a world-scale ammonia plant, capable of producing its full output as blue ammonia. The contract was signed on August 31, 2022, and the plant is planned to be completed by the first quarter of 2026. The project will be realised via a consortium with the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC). Thanks to the uhde® ammonia technology, the single-train plant will have a record capacity of 3,500 t/d.
Martina Merz, CEO thyssenkrupp AG, said: “thyssenkrupp has a long-standing business relationship with Qatar, and we are delighted to sign this contract today. With our proven technology and innovation expertise we are laying the foundation towards sustainable solutions jointly with our customers.” Dr. Cord Landsmann, CEO thyssenkrupp Uhde added: “the ongoing trust of our esteemed customer clearly shows that we can deliver solutions for the rising demand in clean ammonia, be it blue or green, as fertilizer or as a transport medium for hydrogen. With our proven dual pressure technology, clean ammonia can be produced in large quantities and we are very proud to be QatarEnergy’s and QAFCO’s partner in this lighthouse project. We are ready for the green transformation.”
UNITED KINGDOM
CF Fertilisers to temporarily halt ammonia production at Billingham
CF Fertilisers UK has temporarily halted ammonia production at its Billingham complex “due to market conditions”. The company says that it intends to use the site’s capability to import ammonia to enable it to continue to run its ammonium nitrate and nitric acid plants, and it expects to fulfil all ammonia and nitric acid contracts and all orders of AN contracted for delivery over the coming months.
CF says that, at current natural gas and carbon prices, its ammonia production is uneconomical, with marginal costs above £2,000/t, as compared to global ammonia prices at about half that level. The current cost of natural gas at the UK National Balance Point is more than twice as high as it was one year ago, with the NBP forward strip suggesting that this price will continue to rise in the months ahead.
The Company has notified customers who purchase carbon dioxide on a contract basis from the complex about the impending temporary halt of ammonia production. Once the ammonia plant is safely shut down, CO2 production, a byproduct of the ammonia process, will stop until the plant is restarted.
