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Tag: Ammonia

Successful start-up of a new WSA plant

M. Baerends of Fluor reports on the conception, engineering, construction, commissioning and start-up of a new sulphuric acid plant that replaced an existing acid plant at a European sour gas processing terminal. This highly complex gas processing facility handles sour gas from an off-shore field, containing H2 S that must be removed to meet transmission grid specifications. Various issues encountered, their resolution by the joint owner, Fluor and Topsoe team, and plant operating results are discussed.

A tale of two acid tower systems

All acid towers eventually require replacement. In this article, K. Sirikan, A. Mahecha-Botero et al of NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd discuss two recently executed acid tower replacement projects. The first project involved the replacement of a brick-lined tower by an alloy acid tower for a sulphur burning plant in North America. The second project involved the replacement of a brick-lined acid tower with a NORAM designed brick-lined tower for a smelter off gas acid plant in South America. The impacts of various design considerations on acid tower replacement projects are compared, including in-situ replacement versus a new location; brick-lined versus alloy shell, and selection criteria for mist eliminators.

Shades of green

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that the question of the carbon intensity of ammonia and downstream nitrogen compound production has been one of the main industry talking points for the past year. Everyone seems to be talking about ammonia of different colours – green ammonia, blue ammonia, and all shades of turquoise in between. If you are confused, it may not be surprising, as these words have come to cover a wide variety of different methods and technologies for producing ammonia, and their green credentials consequently come in a whole range of different shades.