Nitrogen Industry News

Nitrogen Industry News

CHINA

Stamicarbon secures largest ever Chinese urea project

Stamicarbon has won a contract for a large-scale urea project in China. The urea plant, with a production capacity of 3,800 t/d, will be the largest ever licensed by Stamicarbon in the country. The customer, the plant’s location and the value of the contract have not been disclosed.

The contract covers technology licensing, the plant’s process design package (PDP), and the supply of proprietary equipment in Safurex ® . The urea plant will be integrated with a dual-line melamine plant, making Stamicarbon’s know-how on coupling urea and melamine plants of vital importance to the project. The urea plant will have the capacity to provide 1,133 t/d of feed to the coupled melamine plant and manufacture 1,560 t/d of urea prills and 1,100 t/d of urea granules. This will allow the plant to serve three critical industries in China – being configured to produce urea prills, potentially urea granules, and even diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).

“We are proud to be part of this remarkable project that will bring forward best-in-class urea and melamine production in China,” said Pejman Djavdan, Stamicarbon’s managing director. “It is a genuinely solid project with an innovative concept that is bound to add value to the community and the region at large.

Green ammonia plant for Mongolia

Topsoe says that it has been chosen by Mintal Hydrogen Energy Technology as technology provider for a new green ammonia plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The new plant will be the first dynamic green ammonia plant in China, using the technology to adapt to the inherent fluctuations in power output from wind turbines. Renewable power from the turbines will be connected directly to the electrolysis unit, making it more cost-effective than using hydrogen storage, according to Topsoe. The first phase will have a maximum capacity of 1,800 t/d (390,000 t/a), with production expected to begin in 2025. Using wind to generate green ammonia will replace approximately 850,000 t/a of coal feed and so help reduce more than 2 million t/a of CO 2 from being emitted to the atmosphere.

Dajun Yang, Managing Director China, Topsoe, said: “We are thrilled to be chosen for this amazing project by Mintal Hydrogen, and we look forward to support with our know-how and hardware. Being chosen to contribute to this ground-breaking project is clear evidence of our ability to deliver state of the-art solutions and to support the energy transition and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions also in China.”

THAILAND

MHI to study ammonia co-firing at Thai power plant

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thai companies BPP and EGCO Group, as well as Japanese energy supplier JERA to jointly collaborate in a feasibility study on ammonia co-firing at a coal-fired thermal power plant operated by BLCP, an independent power producer in Thailand and a joint venture between Banpu Power Public Company (BPP) and Electricity Generating Public Company (EGCO Group). The plan envisages that MHI, with support from its power solutions brand Mitsubishi Power, conduct a study on the supply of ammonia burners, boiler facilities, and equipment necessary for ammonia co-firing. JERA will examine the procurement and transportation of ammonia fuel, and JERA and Mitsubishi Corporation will investigate the port facilities, along with ammonia receiving and storage facilities. BLCP, MHI, Mitsubishi Corporation, and JERA will also jointly conduct studies and develop plans to achieve up to 20% ammonia co-firing, supporting reductions in CO 2 emissions and decarbonisation. Thailand has said that it is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065, and plans to strengthen cooperation with Japan regarding decarbonisation technologies for fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.

MOROCCO

Ammonia storage tanks for OCP

Proton Ventures and consortium partners Société Chérifienne de Matériel Industriel et Ferroviaire (SCIF) and Engineering & Group IPS have been awarded a turnkey contract by Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) to design and build two refrigerated ammonia storage tanks at the Jorf Lasfar phosphate complex in Morocco. The project will be completed in 3Q 2024 and will enable OCP Group to increase their production in order to meet higher demand for ammonium phosphates. The scope of works includes the design, procurement, construction and start-up of an anhydrous ammonia storage, refrigeration and transfer system to the new fertilizer production units at OCP Jorf Lasfar chemical complex, Morocco.

Paul Baan, CEO of Proton Ventures said: “It has been an honour to be selected for a new storage project at Jorf Lasfar. Proton Ventures’ ammonia storage track record and capabilities in combination with an efficient collaboration with our partners SCIF and EMPI are prerequisites for a successful project.”

UNITED STATES

Topsoe selected as technology provider for clean ammonia project

Topsoe has been chosen by Ascension Clean Energy (ACE), a joint venture project led by Clean Hydrogen Works (CHW), Denbury Carbon Solutions and Hafnia, for its planned world-scale low carbon ammonia plant. The huge $7.5 billion project is aiming to produce 7.2 million t/a of low carbon ammonia in Louisiana, using Topsoe’s SynCOR ™ autothermal reforming (ATR) technology, and the project expects to achieve up to 98% percent carbon capture, corresponding 12 million t/a of CO 2 equivalent. The project will be sited on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Louisiana’s Ascension Parish, near existing infrastructure, with direct access to the river. A final investment decision is expected in 2024, with completion targeted for 2027.

Peter Vang Christensen, Senior Vice President Technology, Topsoe, said: “Low carbon solutions are vital if we are to succeed with the energy transition, and this project will have a positive impact in leading the way for large scale decarbonisation of our global energy infrastructure. We are delighted to have been selected to support this project that will showcase not only Topsoe’s world leading technology, but also ACE’s role in the transition to decarbonised fuels.”

Stamicarbon to conduct feasibility study on urea project

Stamicarbon has signed an agreement for a feasibility study with KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis, a company based in north-central Pennsylvania, to become its urea and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) technology licensor. This project is expected to produce hydrogen, automotive-grade urea, and ammonia, while capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide emissions associated with hydrogen production. The project is one of Pennsylvania’s first to use carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Pejman Djavdan, CEO of Stamicarbon said; “From the beginning, [KeyState CEO] Perry Babb inspired us with his enthusiasm and drive for this unique project. We are therefore very proud to be selected as the licensor for the urea and DEF technology. This novel combination of Stamicarbon technology with KeyState’s carbon capture approach will result in an excellent precedent for low-carbon projects in Pennsylvania and other states in the United States. We look forward to continuing our successful cooperation and entering the next project phase as soon as possible”.

JAPAN

Approval for ammonia storage and regasification barge

Japanese classification society ClassNK has issued an approval in principle for an ammonia floating storage and regasification barge (A-FSRB) jointly developed by NYK Line, Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. (NSY), and IHI Corporation (IHI). It is the first such approval for A-FSRBs handling ammonia as cargo.

The barge jointly developed by NYK Line, NSY, and IHI is an offshore floating facility that can receive and store ammonia that has been transported via ship as a liquid, warm and regasify ammonia according to demand, and then send it to a pipeline onshore. According to the companies, it offers the advantages of shorter construction time and lower costs in comparison to the construction of onshore storage tanks and regasification plants. In fact, the A-FSRB is expected to speed up the adoption of fuel ammonia and contribute to its wider use as a lower-environmental-impact next-generation fuel.

Currently, there are no international regulations for floating storage and regasification facilities when the cargo is ammonia, and it is expected that the unique requirements of ammonia will have to be reflected in the design. Therefore, the companies and ClassNK conducted a comprehensive risk identification of various contingencies and worked to identify technical issues from the initial study stage. The risk identification was conducted using the gap analysis method, which identified differences between conventional ships and offshore floating facilities (heavy oil, LNG, etc.) and evaluated the impact of such differences. Based on its review and the risk identification results, ClassNK issued the approval in principle for the A-FSRB.

JERA looking towards ammonia supply agreements with Yara, CF Industries

Japan’s biggest power generator JERA has signed ammonia supply memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with CF Industries and Yara, as it aims to co-fire ammonia in its power plants in order to reduce emissions. JERA plans to use a 20% ammonia fuel mix at all its coal-fired power plants by 2035, and to develop technology to use 100% ammonia in the 2040s as part of Japan’s target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

JERA agreed with Yara and separately with CF Industries to look at the possibility of buying up to 500,000 t/a of clean ammonia for the 20% co-firing operations at the Hekinan Thermal Power Plant Unit 4 in Japan. JERA has agreed to study “potential supply options, including an equity investment alongside CF Industries to develop a greenfield clean ammonia facility in Louisiana, as well as a supplementary long-term offtake agreement from CF Industries’ Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana”, according to CF Industries. Yara and JERA also plan to collaborate on blue ammonia production in the US Gulf and to produce more than 1 million t/a, according to Yara.

Air Liquide technology selected for low-carbon ammonia project

Air Liquide’s technology has been selected for Japan’s first demonstration project owned and operated by INPEX Corp to produce low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. Air Liquide’s autothermal refomrming technology will be used at the Kashiwazaki Clean Hydrogen and Ammonia Project in the Hirai area of Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture. Air Liquide says that, when combined with carbon capture, autothermal reforming can achieve higher energy efficiency, lower investment cost and a simplified single train production process to facilitate carbon capture of up to 99% in highly integrated industrial facilities.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Uhde and ADNOC to cooperate on ammonium ‘cracking’ plants

Thyssenkrupp Uhde and ADNOC have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a long-term partnership to create new markets for hydrogen and promote global clean energy value chains. The MoU will focus on a joint project development of large-scale ammonia cracking, to extract hydrogen from ammonia after transportation. This will be based on Uhde reformer technology, which is used in over 130 large-scale chemical plants across the world. The agreement will also lead to the exploration of opportunities in the clean energy value chain for the supply and shipment of clean ammonia from the UAE to large-scale ammonia cracking facilities globally.

Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Executive Director, Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth Directorate at ADNOC said: “We are committed to strengthening our position as a reliable supplier of lower carbon-intensive energy, creating new revenue streams and growing the global market for hydrogen. In doing so, we will work with like-minded partners, such as thyssenkrupp to deliver tangible solutions that contribute to the decarbonization of the energy sector.”

Dr. Cord Landsmann, CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde added: “Clean ammonia is the best way to transport hydrogen by ship, and together with ADNOC, we will deliver the last piece of the puzzle for global green hydrogen trade at large scale.”

Separately, ADNOC subsidiary the Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company, also known as Ta’ziz, has signed an agreement to develop a low-carbon ammonia plant with the capacity of about 1 million t/a at its Ruwais site. Ta’ziz has signed a shareholder agreement with Fertiglobe, South Korea’s GS Energy and Japan’s Mitsui for the project, which will be in the Ta’ziz Industrial Chemical Zone. Site preparation is under way, and start-up is expected in 2025.

“This is a significant milestone in the development of our low-carbon ammonia business and further strengthens the UAE’s hydrogen value proposition,” said Ta’ziz’s acting chief executive Khaleefa Al Mheiri. “We are building on the collective strengths of our partners and shareholders to develop the first-of-its-kind large-scale, low-carbon ammonia project in the Middle East and North Africa.”

OMAN

Ammonia plant inaugurated

OQ, formerly the Oman Oil Company, officially inaugurated its new ammonia plant at Salalah on January 15th 2023. Speaking at the ceremony, Kamil al Shanfari, Executive Director of OQ’s projects in Sala-lah, said: “OQ’s ammonia plant is integrated with the methanol plant and was designed to retain the hydrogen-rich purge gas generated by the methanol plant as feedstock. The demand for ammonia products in the global markets is witnessing constant growth leading to higher returns and rendering the project highly feasible. The ammonia is being used as a key ingredient in the production of fertilizers and is an important intermediate chemical in the manufacturing of synthetic resins, detergents, coolants, synthetic fibres, and polyurethanes, among other applications. Ammonia is also used in the production of green hydrogen, which is a key component of the OQ Energy Transition agenda,” Al Shanfari added.

GERMANY

Yara to expand ammonia import capacity

Yara International says that it plans to modify its ammonia terminals in Germany, enabling them to handle up to 3 million t/a of ammonia. According to Yara, this equates to roughly 530,000 t/a of hydrogen and will help speed up the hydrogen economy in Germany. The company operates two deep-sea terminals for ammonia in Brunsbüttel and Rostock, Germany. The Rostock terminal currently handles 600,000 t/a and has Germany’s largest ammonia storage capacity, according to Yara.

“Vice-Chancellor of Germany Dr. Robert Habeck and other German leaders have been crystal clear in their ambitions to ramp-up the hydrogen economy. As a response, I’m proud to say that Yara has identified a substantial potential to increase ammonia imports to Germany in line with growing market demand”, said CEO of Yara International, Svein Tore Holsether.

“By summer 2023 our export terminal in Brunsbüttel will be modified to import as well. In addition, the terminal in Rostock can increase the imported volumes. In total Yara would be able to deliver 3 million tonnes of clean ammonia if demand is there. With additional tank capacity we can expand our import capacity much further”, said Yves Bauwens, Plant Manager in Brunsbüttel.

Thyssenkrupp Uhde plans to double sales

Thyssenkrupp’s plant engineering unit Uhde says that it plans to double sales to around e2 billion ($2.2 billion) in the mid-term and is open to taking on co-owners to accelerate growth, according to the division’s chief executive. Thyssenkrupp’s Uhde division, which employs about 5,000 staff, plans and builds ferilizer, petrochemical, coking and polymer factories, wants to focus its business around sites for the production of ammonia, which is becoming more relevant as a carrier of green hydrogen.

SAUDI ARABIA

SABIC licenses sustainable ammonia technology

SABIC Agri-Nutrients has signed an agreement with Icelandic company Atmonia ehf., for SABIC to license Atmonia’s sustainable ammonia technology within Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Atmonia is developing catalysts for nitrogen electrolysers, allowing the production of ammonia in a single step process using water, nitrogen and clean electricity. The company says that the capital cost for production infrastructure is very low compared to current technology, allowing for low ammonia production costs, provided that sustainable electricity is also available at low cost (eg, from dedicated solar farms). The process they are developing occurs at ambient temperature and pressure, enabling intermittent operations, suitable for intermittent renewable power sources such as solar and wind and distributed production, further lowering cost and the emissions.

Munif Al-Munif, General Manager T&I at SABIC AN commented “This agreement demonstrates SABIC AN’s confidence in Atmonia’s ability to reach its development goals and launch the product. SABIC AN is fully committed towards the climate change challenge by production of sustainable fertilizer in the future, but today 1-2% of the global anthropogenic carbon emissions are from ammonia production. Furthermore, sustainably produced ammonia represents a promising carbon free energy carrier, or eFuel, with the potential to avoid up to additional 3% of anthropogenic emissions due to shipping emissions. Application of ammonia in aviation and for electrical grids are receiving increasing attention and interest. Application of sustainable ammonia as fertilizer and fuel are key steps to achieve a carbon neutral future.”

MALAYSIA

Petronas divests stake in urea plant

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) has agreed to divest its 25% stake in Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd (PCFS) to SMJ Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned Sabah state government company. PetChem holds a 100% interest in PCFS, sited at Sipitang in Sabah province, which has a production capacity of 1.9 million t/a of ammonia and urea.

“The divestment is part of PetChem’s strategic effort to position itself as a preferred partner in shaping and delivering the aspiration of PetChem’s and SMJ’s to sustain and grow the petrochemicals business in the state of Sabah,” the company said in a stock exchange filing. The divestment is expected to be completed in 2023.

RUSSIA

Resumption of Russian ammonia exports discussed

A deal to resume Russian ammonia exports via Ukraine looked imminent at the end of November, according to the UN’s aid chief. Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters on 30th November that a deal was “quite close” and could happen within a week.

“[If] we do not do fertilizers [exports out of Russia] now, we will have a food availability problem in a year. So, it is hugely important, almost more important than grain,” said Griffiths. “Everybody understands that the operation of the ammonia pipeline from Russia through Ukraine to the port of Odessa… it can be started within a week or two.”

The closure of the Russian pipeline and the Black Sea ports on the 24th February last year resulted in the loss of around 200,000 tonnes/month of Russian ammonia exports to the global market (Fertilizer International 507, p8). Buyers in Morocco, Turkey, Bulgaria, and India, who previously relied heavily on Russian ammonia, have been forced to find alternative suppliers.

Speaking to the Financial Times in mid-December, Russian ferilizer billionaire Dmitry Mazepin called on global commodity traders to back a deal to resume Black Sea ammonia shipments.

A UN- and Turkish-brokered deal between Russia and Ukraine in July last year – subsequently renewed in November – opened the way for exports of previously blockaded Ukrainian grain. This agreement also included a pledge to restart exports of ammonia, according to Mazepin.

He told Financial Times that he had personally discussed the plan with Russian president Vladimir Putin at a meeting in November: “I asked for help, through diplomatic channels, to once again revisit those agreements that were signed in Istanbul regarding the grain deal to open ammonia.”

The proposal from Mazepin, the founder and former owner of Russian nitrogen producer Uralchem, involves restarting the pipeline connecting the company’s massive TogliattiAzot (TOAZ) ammonia production complex in Russia to the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny.

Mazepin said ammonia exports via Ukraine could resume immediately with about 80 percent of output going to African countries. “We are ready to resume pumping,” he said.

UZBEKISTAN

ACWA Power to develop green ammonia project

ACWA Power, a Saudi developer, investor, and operator of power generation, water desalination and green hydrogen plants worldwide, has signed heads of terms agreements to develop a green hydrogen and ammonia pilot project in Uzbekistan with the country’s Ministry of Energy and state-owned chemical company Uzkimyosanoat.

Uzbekistan’s first green hydrogen project will be an integrated facility and is set to be connected to an existing ammonia plant in Chirchiq, 45 kilometres from the capital Tashkent. The project is expected to generate 3,000 t/a of green hydrogen. ACWA Power says that it will oversee the full value chain of integration to the existing infrastructure, which is expected to improve the on-stream time of the facility and reduce its dependence on natural gas. The company has plans for an accelerated development timeline for this facility and is targeting a commissioning date of December 2024.

Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman, ACWA Power, said: “Uzbekistan has emerged as one of the most exciting growth countries for ACWA Power in recent years and is our biggest destination for investment outside of Saudi Arabia.”

A second project involves a feasibility study for the development of a 500,000 t/a green ammonia plant. This project would reduce Uzbekistan’s dependence on natural gas by 600 million m3 /year, and would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 million t/a. The study will be completed by the end of 2024.

KAZAKHSTAN

Ammonium nitrate complex for KazAzot

Técnicas Reunidas has won an engineering contract to develop an ammonium nitrate plant at Aktau in Kazakhstan. The Spanish company has been selected by state owned fertilizer producer JSC KazAzot through a front-end engineering design open book estimation. Construction of the $1 billion complex will be undertaken by Técnicas Reunidas through an engineering, procurement and construction contract, once the FEED is finalised and financing is closed.

The new world scale complex will have the capacity to produce 660,000 t/a of ammonia, 577,500 t/a of urea, 395,000 t/a of nitric acid and 500,000 t/a of ammonium nitrate and will become the largest combined fertilizer production complex in the Kazakhstan. Técnicas Reunidas says that it will be a reference in its sector at an international scale due to the minimisation of environmental impact and substantial efficiency improvements, including a high level of integration with existing facilities and optimising the use of natural resources.