The recently-published IEA Ammonia Technology Roadmap sets out a future pathway for decarbonising the nitrogen industry. New technology options for low-carbon ammonia production are emerging and project activity is on the rise.
By using modular construction, operational modelling and digital plant control, thyssenkrupp Uhde can offer customers fast-build, capital efficient green ammonia plants. Dr Christian Renk and Dr Klaus Nölker explain the company’s innovative approach to plant construction, design and control.
The Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK is starting to benefit from Anglo American’s ownership, with the mining major leveraging its key advantages to good effect. These include the company’s operational size and financial stability, its vast mineral extraction experience, and premium product marketing expertise. The company also believes that the fertilizer sector will benefit from its leadership in mining industry sustainability.
Heat recovery systems at sulphuric acid plants have been providing carbon-free energy for decades now and continue to improve. There is also potential to combine the clean power generated at acid plants with hydrogen production from water electrolysis. This could provide the basis for green fertilizer production.
Economically viable production of green ammonia requires plants that can react to fluctuations in renewable power thanks to their flexible design. Casale’s Francesco Baratto, Giovanni Genova and Sergio Panza explain how new tools are helping design green ammonia plants that deliver the highest possible production at the lowest possible cost.
A new fully automated process has been developed that combines real time H2 S readings from an H2 S analyser and Q2 Technologies’ proprietary scavenger chemistry to treat high H2 S crude oil on demand. The process provides an efficient and effective way to administer the chemical product to avoid overtreating or undertreating. In some cases, the end user is seeing greater than 50% savings. It is a unique confluence of technology including IoT, advanced chemistry, and oil and gas personnel incentivised to demonstrate continuous improvement.
US refiners have upgraded to take advantage of generally cheaper, sourer crude feeds. However, a ban on oil imports from Russia may make that harder to come by.
For some years the fastest growing sector of the methanol market was Chinese olefins production. However, with growth there flattening out, it is traditional chemical uses which are taking over again as drivers of demand growth, with, longer term, a major prospect from fuel and energy applications.
Ammonia synthesis catalysts have seen major improvements over the last 100 years, and they are highly optimised with respect to activity, thermal stability, and poisoning resistance. Improving such catalysts even further requires a deep understanding of their structure and the impact of different parameters on performance. Clariant, Johnson Matthey and Topsoe report on their studies and developments in ammonia synthesis catalysts.
Switzerland-based EuroChem Group AG says it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire the nitrogen business of the Borealis group, after having submitted a binding offer. One of Europe’s leading fertilizer producers, Borealis operates fertilizer plants in Germany, Austria and France, as well as more than 50 distribution points across Europe. It supplies 3.9 million tonnes of fertilizer products per year, including 800,000 t/a of technical nitrogen solutions and 150,000 t/a of melamine via the Borealis LAT distribution network. It is a market leader in melamine, with its operations in Austria and Germany supplying primarily the woodworking industry. EuroChem says that melamine and technical nitrogen solutions represent important new business lines for the company to expand its nitrogen-based product portfolio in Europe.