What lessons can be learnt from the successful commissioning and start-up of major fertilizer industry construction projects? Recent case studies from the nitrogen, phosphate and potash industries provide some interesting answers.
As recently as five years ago, decarbonising fertilizer production was little more than an aspiration.
Sulphur’s annual survey of recent, current and future sulphur recovery unit construction projects maps the developing shape of brimstone production from fuel and gas processing plants worldwide.
Tecnimont has been awarded a $1.5 billion contract by Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council to carry out rehabilitation works at the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State, run by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). The contract covers engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities for a full rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery complex, aimed at restoring the complex to a minimum of 90% of its 210,000 bbl/d nameplate capacity. Tecnimont says that the project will be delivered in phases from 24 and 32 months and the final stage will be completed in 44 months from the award date.
Although 2020 saw a contraction in GDP by 10% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the country had been one of the fastest growing of the world’s top 10 economies, with growth of 8.3% in 2016, although this had slowed to 4.1% in 2019. Its population is growing, and it is due to become the most populous country in the world by 2027 according to UN figures, with total population reaching 1.64 billion by 2050. The country thus continues to require more food, leading to rising sulphur/sulphuric acid consumption for the phosphate industry on the one hand, although increasing vehicle use and growth in domestic refining is also leading to some additional sulphur production.
Ineos subsidiary Inovyn has announced the permanent closure of its ‘sulphur chemicals’ (mainly sulphuric acid) plant at its Runcorn site, and its withdrawal from the UK sulphur chemicals market. The company said in a statement that the decision follows a management review of the business in the light of recent events. Specifically, in October 2020, an unexpected interruption to the third-party power supply to the Runcorn site resulted in the plant being taken offline, and during restart, it was identified that a number of critical plant components had suffered significant damage. As a result, to ensure the safety and integrity of the plant it was taken back offline. Since then, in spite of significant effort and investment to rectify these issues, Inovyn says that it has become clear that it will not be possible to safely restart the plant for at least a further 18-24 months, and the company has decided to close the plant permanently.
Phosphogypsum is finding increasing use in plaster and cement manufacture, roadbed construction and afforestation. We look at how previously unwanted solid waste generated by the phosphate industry is being turned into a valued resource.
From new materials of construction and improved equipment designs to the latest digital tools, Casale, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, Saipem, TOYO and Stamicarbon report on some of their latest achievements.
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.
Demand for nickel sulphate is expected to rise rapidly this decade to feed increased battery production for electric vehicles. At the same time, diminishing sources of high grade nickel ores are leading to a renewed focus on high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of laterite ores, with a significant impact on sulphur and sulphuric acid demand.