The impact of coronavirus on both supply and demand continues to provide considerable uncertainty to the market. Industrial demand seems to have been worst affected, and fertilizer related demand has largely kept up, although shutdowns in India’s ammonium phosphate sector have also affected demand. Spring is traditionally the strongest time for fertilizer demand, and this has helped support prices at least in the short term.
Southeast Asia has been a major site for new syngas projects in recent years as countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei continue to monetise their natural gas resources.
Imagine an industry that only uses carbon-free fuels and does not have any carbon footprint. Assume this is feasible within a decade. Now wouldn’t that be an ambition worth pursuing? Duiker believes this is achievable. A. Lanser provides Duiker’s view on how its SCO technology can act as an enhancer for reducing industrial carbon footprint.
Alistair Wallace, Head of Fertilizer Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for nitrogen.
Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media
Digitalisation and the analysis of big data are playing an increasing role in fertilizer production. Innovative digital and cloud-based services are being offered by a range of technology companies, including Casale, tkIS, Topsoe and TOYO.
Nutrien has temporarily shut down one of the four ammonia plants at its Trinidad production site.
R. Kranenburg of Duiker discusses the latest applications of SCO units in refineries and petrochemical complexes. The SCO unit is typically integrated in the sulphur recovery unit and is intended for processing ammonia, while also treating the tail gases from the upstream SRU.
The UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has awarded £28 million ($36 million) of government funding to five demonstration projects for low carbon hydrogen production, as part of a larger stimulus package to cut industrial carbon emissions. The projects targeted for funding include:
The Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) is a World Bank sponsored programme to end wasteful and CO2 - intensive flaring of natural gas from oil production and stranded shale wells, and has been looking to small-scale methanol and GTL projects as a way of utilising this gas for productive ends.