Fertilizer International 511 Nov-Dec 2022
30 November 2022
Fertilizer Industry News
Fertilizer Industry News
AUSTRALIA
Green ammonia projects progress
Yara International has approved a project to partly convert its Pilbara plant near Karratha in Western Australia to green ammonia production.
The company gave the green light for the Yuri project in a final investment decision on the 15th September. This provides the necessary go ahead for the construction of a green hydrogen plant at the Pilbara production complex.
Yuri is joint project between French utility giant ENGIE and wholly-owned Yara International subsidiary Yara Clean Ammonia. The two partners will now move ahead and develop a new renewable hydrogen plant at the Pilbara site adjacent to Yara’s world-scale anhydrous ammonia production plant. A consortium of Technip Energies and Monford Group has been awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract for the project.
Yuri includes a 10 MW electrolyser, 18 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity and battery storage. Once completed, the project will be one of Australia’s largest electrolysers with a green hydrogen production capacity of 640 tonnes per annum.
A limited company, Yuri Operations Pty Ltd, will construct the plant and supply the green hydrogen generated to Yara Clean Ammonia. Construction was due to start in October 2022, with project completion and start-up scheduled for 2024.
The federal Australian Government has backed the project with an AUD 47.5 million grant. This was secured via funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for renewable hydrogen deployment. The Western Australian government has also supported Yuri with an AUD 2 million grant from its renewable hydrogen fund.
Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, the president of Yara Clean Ammonia, said Pilbara would be the first established ammonia plant in Western Australia to use green hydrogen for clean ammonia production.
“We value this support from government which provides further validation of the Yuri project as a credible early mover in the development of renewable hydrogen,” Ankarstrand said. “Yara brings to the project extensive operational experience, our company’s global leadership in developing a clean ammonia market for carbon-free food production, low-emissions fuels for shipping and power, and ammonia for industrial applications.”
Yara Pilbara’s general manager Laurent Trost said Yuri was an exciting and transformational project for the company’s Pilbara complex, which includes an ammonia plant and a technical ammonium nitrate unit. “Yuri is a key step in the decarbonization of our operations which already supply markets in Asia and Australia,” Trost said.
The development of the Yuri project also paves the way for the Pilbara ammonia plant to qualify for zero carbon certification. This will be first green ammonia project to receive certification from the Smart Energy Council. Bureau Veritas, the world leading testing, inspection and certification company, has already carried out technical assessments and pre-certified the plant.
Plans are also progressing to convert the Gibson Island ammonia plant near Brisbane, Queensland, to green ammonia production. Owner Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) previously announced the closure of the plant at the end of 2022 when its current gas supply contract ends (Fertilizer International 506, p10).
However, Fortescue Future Industries, in partnership with IPL, is now proposing to decarbonise Gibson Island by building a 500 MW electrolyser at the site. This would have the capacity to produce 70,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually.
Planning for Gibson Island’s conversion to green ammonia is in its final stages, according to Fortescue and IPL. A front-end engineering design (FEED) study is currently underway ahead of a potential final investment decision in 2023. The first production of green ammonia could start as early as 2025, if the project is approved.
ARENA is contributing a grant of $13.7 million towards the $38 million FEED study. This will examine the technicalities and costs required to build the electrolyser and integrate it within the existing ammonia plant. The proposed electrolyser would be supplied with an external supply of renewable energy through a power purchase agreement (PPA).
If built, the Gibson Island electrolyser would be one of the world’s largest and supply green hydrogen to the world’s first fully decarbonised ammonia plant.
UNITED STATES
Nutrien selects thyssenkrupp Uhde for massive blue ammonia project
Nutrien has selected thyssenkrupp Uhde as its technology partner and provider for a large-scale blue ammonia project at the company’s Geismar complex in Louisiana.
The blue ammonia project will have a world-leading single-train capacity of 3,500 t/day – equivalent to 1.2 million t/a. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will also abate 90 percent of CO2 emissions. With further modifications, there is even potential for the plant to move to zero emissions in future, according to Nutrien.
Conventional ammonia plant designs only achieve carbon capture rates of 70 percent maximum. Nutrien’s selection of thyssenkrupp Uhde’s autothermal reforming technology (ATR), however, enables much greater emission reductions. ATR produces almost CO2 -free syngas from natural gas and pure oxygen. Ammonia is then produced in a second step. The CO2 generated from this combined reforming process is finally captured and stored, keeping emissions to a minimum.
“This partnership marks another important milestone in our commitment to provide solutions to help meet the world’s decarbonization goals through leadership in clean ammonia production,” said Trevor Williams, Nutrien’s interim president for nitrogen and phosphate. “We are glad to have an experienced partner with both the technology and proven execution competence to join us on this journey as we strive to sustainably feed and fuel the future.”
Dr Cord Landsmann, CEO thyssenkrupp Uhde replied: “We are excited to be the chosen technology partner for this project and support the execution as well. This is another proof point that the market shifts towards sustainable, clean and green ammonia. And we can deliver easy to install solutions at the necessary scale.”
The proposed plant is designed to serve growing ammonia demand from agricultural, industrial and emerging energy markets. A final investment decision on the project is expected in 2023. The plant should enter production by 2027, if go ahead is given.
ExxonMobil and CF Industries partner on large-scale CCS project
ExxonMobil and CF Industries have agreed to invest $200 million in a CO2 dehydration and compression unit at CF’s Donaldsonville, Louisiana production complex. This will enable CF to ramp-up blue ammonia production at Donaldsonville in response to rising demand.
The large volumes of carbon dioxide captured at Donaldsonville, the world’s biggest ammonia production complex, will then be transported via Exxon’s 6,400 kilometre EnLink Midstream pipeline network to Vermilion Parish, Louisiana for permanent geological storage. Up to two million t/a of CO2 emissions could be captured and stored in this way. This is equivalent to removing the emissions of approximately 700,000 petrol-driven vehicles, according to the project partners.
Donaldsonville has a capacity to manufacture nearly eight million t/a of nitrogen products. CF expects to market up to 1.7 million t/a of blue ammonia in future as part of its product mix, once demand starts to take off.
“This agreement ensures that we remain at the forefront of the developing clean energy economy. As we leverage proven carbon capture and sequestration technology, CF Industries will be first-tomarket with a significant volume of blue ammonia,” said Tony Will, CEO, CF Industries. “This will enable us to supply this low-carbon energy source to hard-to-abate industries that increasingly view it as critical to their own decarbonisation goals.”
Ohio fertilizer plant starts construction
Tessenderlo Kerley held a groundbreaking ceremony at the end of August to mark the start of construction of a new liquid fertilizer plant in Defiance, Ohio.
Tessenderlo Kerley will manufacture its market leading liquid fertilizer brands, such as Thio-Sul® , KTS® and K-Row 23® , at the new production site. It will also produce sulphites for the industrial market.
The Ohio plant will serve Tessenderlo’s customers in the Eastern Great Lakes region via its distribution partners and will include terminal loadouts for rail cars and tanker trucks.
The new 50,000-square-foot production plant will occupy a 50-acre site and is due to become operational in 2024.
“This facility creates more certainty in the region by ensuring farmers have access to the nutrients they need for their crops to thrive,” said Russell Sides, Tessenderlo Kerley’s executive vice president.
“We look forward to joining the Defiance, Ohio community and providing stewardship to the farmers in the region. It is important that we all work together to grow the crops required for our country to flourish.”
Tessenderlo has selected leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Jōb Industrial Services (Jōb) to design and build the greenfield fertilizer plant in Defiance, Ohio.
Brian Fox, Tessenderlo Kerley’s project manager, said “We are pleased to have selected Jōb as our EPC firm for this important project in Defiance, Ohio. We know they will be a great partner in the safe execution of our vision, building a state-ofthe-art facility in an area with such a great and supportive community.”
Chris Tekiela, project manager for Jōb, said, “We are very excited about this opportunity to be a part of a project executed by such a reputable multi-national company. This will be huge for the local community as it promotes growth and high-paying jobs for rural communities.”
Nitricity raises $20 million
Californian AgTech start-up Nitricity successfully raised $20 million in October as part of a ‘Series A’ capital investment round.
The fundraising round was led by Khosla Ventures and Fine Structure Ventures. Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon Capital and MCJ Collective also participated. Nitricity has raised $27 million in total funding to date, including this new financing.
“This fundraising round brings us one step closer towards sustainable and locally produced fertilizer,” said Nicolas Pinkowski, CEO and co-founder of Nitricity. “It’s time to bring this to market. We have aggressive growth plans in motion.”
Nitricity’s innovative technology turns air and water into nitric acid using solar energy and a plasma reactor. The nitric acid generated can then be converted into a range of liquid fertilizers by combining with other inputs such as limestone, phosphate rock and potassium hydroxide.
The company’s aim is to electrify and locally distribute nitrogen fertilizer production using low-cost solar or wind. This approach disrupts the nitrogen industry’s current highly centralised and fossil fuel reliant production model.
“This electrified technology provides fertilizer in a climate-smart nitrate form, designed for efficient application, allowing it to address greenhouse gas emissions beyond ammonia-based technologies,” said Joshua McEnaney, president, CTO and co-founder at Nitricity. “This is an opportunity to attack not just the 1-2% of global GHG emissions in the production, but the additional 5% of GHG emissions in the application by mitigating nitrous oxide formation. We are pushing hard to scale up and implement this solution.”
Nitricity has shown the potential of its new approach to fertilizer production at California State University’s Center for Irrigation Technology at Fresno – where it was successfully used for the sub-surface fertigation of tomatoes. This demonstrated the ability of Nitricity’s system to produce and apply nitrogen fertilizers close to the end-user.
“Today’s fertilizer industry is facing the perfect storm of high GHG emissions, high fossil fuel consumption, rising costs and geopolitical disruptions,” said Rajesh Swaminathan, partner at Khosla Ventures. “Nitricity’s decentralized approach to manufacturing fertilizers using just air, water and renewables-based electricity was born out of a vision to completely transform a 100-year-old industry, and we are excited to be partnering with them.”
“Nitricity has made rapid progress since our initial investment in their Seed round,” said Allison Hinckley, senior associate at Fine Structure Ventures, a venture capital fund. “In response, we are increasing our support of the company to aid in bringing their differentiated, decarbonized fertilizer products to market in the near term.”
Nitricity is working hard to bring its renewables-based technology to market and is aiming to make its system commercially-available within two years.
CANADA
Canpotex buys 1,300 new railcars from National Steel Car
Saskatoon-based potash export consortium Canpotex is acquiring 1,300 custom railcars from National Steel Car (NSC) of Hamilton, Ontario.
These new custom railcars will be added to Canpotex’s existing fleet by June 2023 – increasing its total fleet size to 8,000. The railcars will be used to deliver potash from land-locked Saskatchewan to the company’s three main terminals on the East and West coasts of North America. This transport investment will increase supply chain efficiency, reliability and safety, according to Canpotex.
“This acquisition demonstrates Canpotex’s commitment to investing in our world-class supply chain and in global food security,” says Gord McKenzie, president and CEO of Canpotex. “By adding capacity within our railcar fleet, we have greater flexibility in shipping options. This increased railcar capacity ensures our potash is reliably delivered to our customers overseas, ultimately helping the world’s farmers grow higher-yielding crops on each acre of land.”
The new railcars are valued at over $155 million and represent an evolution in NSC’s custom design for Canpotex. One notable new feature – an enhanced steering system – will cut overall fuel consumption, reduce maintenance and enhance safety.
“We are proud to supply Canpotex with these custom railcars that are manufactured right here in Hamilton, Ontario at the largest ‘single site’ railcar plant in North America,” said Gregory Aziz, NSC’s chairman and CEO. “With NSC’s commitment to engineering excellence and innovation, we are confident that these quality railcars will help Canpotex deliver on its reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality potash.”
Canpotex operates a state-of-the-art railcar maintenance facility near Lanigan, Saskatchewan. This is used to maintain its railcar fleet and improve the performance and operational efficiency of potash delivery by railcar.
BRAZIL
Indorama buys Adfert
Singapore-headquartered Indorama Corp has purchased Adfert, one of Brazil’s leading speciality fertilizer and fertilizer additives manufacturers.
The buy-out – originally announced last July – was completed in early November 2022. The acquisition was made by Indorama’s wholly-owned Brazilian subsidiary Indorama Holdings Brasil Ltda (IHBL).
Adfert (Adfert Aditivos Industria e Comercio Ltda) is based in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. The company was founded in 2009 and has helped pioneer speciality fertilizers and fertilizer additives in Brazil. It has subsequently built a large portfolio of advanced, patent-protected products – and supplies both fertilizer producers and distributors.
This latest acquisition strengthens Indorama’s market presence in Brazil. IHBL previously completed the purchase of Adufértil Fertilizantes Ltda (ADF) in September 2021. Based in Jundiaí, Sao Paulo, ADF is one of the country’s top six distributors of granular NPKs.
NETHERLANDS
Nouryon acquires ADOB
Netherlands-based Nouryon has entered into a definitive agreement to buy ADOB Fertilizers, a leading specialty fertilizer manufacturer supplier.
Headquartered in Poznań, Poland, ADOB is a global leader in water-soluble fertilizers and chelated micronutrients. The company has been producing speciality products for agricultural and horticultural crops for more than 30 years.
Nouryon plans to use the acquisition to expand its product portfolio and broaden its offering to customers in the crop nutrition market.
“With its strong focus on technology and innovation including biodegradable micronutrients, high-solubility specialty fertilizers and custom formulations, ADOB’s capabilities are an excellent complement to Nouryon’s existing capabilities in crop nutrition,” said Larry Ryan, executive vice president at Nouryon and president of performance formulations and the Americas.
Adam Nawrocki, the owner of ADOB and its CEO, said: “This combination is a great opportunity for ADOB to leverage a large global organization to advance to the next stage of global growth.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2022. The purchase price was not disclosed.
INDIA
Baruani urea plant enters production
The Barauni urea plant began urea production in mid-October, according to its owner, Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd (HURL).
The plant, located in the Begusarai district of Bihar state, will boost Indian domestic urea production capacity by 1.27 million t/a.
HURL is a joint venture between Coal India Limited, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and the Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. The company has a mandate from the Indian government to revive domestic urea production at Barauni and two other sites – Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Sindri in in Jharkhand state – at an investment cost of around $3 billion.
MOROCCO
Bedeschi wins new OCP contract
OCP has awarded Bedeschi a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its Phosboucraa production complex, 30 kilometres from Laayoune.
Bedeschi will supply three new automated bulk handling and storage systems with a combined annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes. Two of these will handle fertilizers for export while the other will handle imported sulphur.
The bulk handling equipment installed at Phosboucraa as part of the contract will include three trippers, three reclaimers and six conveyor belts with a capacity of up to 2,000 t/h. These items will be similar to those already supplied and installed by Bedeschi at OCP’s massive Jorf Lasfar phosphate complex in Morocco.
UNITED KINGDOM
Worley named as preferred Woodsmith project provider
Anglo American has selected Worley as its preferred service provider for the Woodsmith polyhalite project in northeast England.
Worley has been awarded the programme management agreement (PMA) for the Woodsmith project following a selection process. Under the PMA, Worley will provide project management and concept engineering and design services to Anglo American.
The terms of the PMA will also allow Worley to provide separately-agreed engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services, as the Woodsmith project progresses.
“With the breadth and depth of our global mining experience, we’re well positioned to support the Woodsmith project, strengthening our partnership with Anglo American,” said Chris Ashton, Worley’s CEO.
Worley will execute the PMA and other project services from its UK offices, supported by the company’s global ‘Centres of Excellence’ (CoE) located elsewhere.
Anglo American’s Woodsmith project is developing a new underground mine near Whitby in North Yorkshire to extract polyhalite, a low-carbon, multi-nutrient fertilizer. The project, under its current design, include two deep shafts and a 37-kilometre underground mineral transport system (MTS). This will transport the polyhalite ore to a dedicated material handling plant and dedicated port facility at Teesside for processing and onward export. To ensure operational safety, efficiency and flexibility, all systems from mine to port will be fully integrated and automated
IFS launches free online production resource
The International Fertiliser Society (IFS) has launched FerTechInform, a comprehensive online technical resource for fertilizer production. The new digital resource combines an information knowledge base and an interactive forum for users.
The knowledge base is designed to cover the main process routes for fertilizer production. It includes essential and introductory information on manufacturing processes, process chemistry, raw materials and process equipment. This information is augmented by links that allow users to take a ‘deep dive’ into more detailed digital resources. The knowledge base also connects to relevant IFS Proceedings – a large and valuable archive of technical papers held by the Society that dates back decades.
The knowledge base was developed using reputable technical sources, including the International Fertilizer Development Center’s renowned Fertilizer Manual. This was developed by the IFDC in the late 1990s with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Other content was provided by the European Fertilizer Blenders Association (EFBA), Fertilizers Europe, the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) and others.
The online forum enables users to interact with one other. It is supported by a panel of experts who are on hand to answer questions.
Promising digestate additive
Digest-It, a new biological slurry additive from Origin Fertilisers, has performed well in UK anaerobic digestion (AD) trials. The new product reduced ammonia emissions from digestate applied to soils and increased ammonium nitrogen levels
Digest-It was shown to improve the nutrient availability of digestate during a trial at a 1.2MW AD plant in Lincolnshire that runs on a forage maize and rye feedstock. It was added to the slurry as a live bacterial liquid.
After a 12-week period, the ammonium nitrogen content of the digestate increased by 20 percent, while dry solids were reduced by 29 percent. This made the digestate easier to pump, which in turn reduced machinery wear, cut fuel use and shortened filling times.
The digestate’s thinner consistency also made nutrient uptake by crops easier, following soil application. Consequently, plants did not have to expend as much energy searching for nitrogen. Losses through volatilisation were also reduced.
The addition of Digest-it generated a 2:1 cost benefit. It also required only one application, reducing the amount of labour required compared to additives that need repeated applications.
Commenting on the trial outcome, Callum Norman, speciality sales manager at Origin Fertilisers, said: “We are really pleased with the results. The environmental benefits, such as reduced volatilisation due to the conversion of ammonia into ammonium, and supplying good microbes to the soil, will be a huge benefit to all farms and help contribute towards agriculture reducing its emissions.”
“The treated digestate had less nitrogen content than the untreated product. The upshot here is that the same amount of land can have 13 percent more digestate spread on it before Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) limits are reached – which could be hugely beneficial for growers on smaller acreages with excess digestate to spread.”
