After just 10 short years in business, there is a reason why Verdesian Life Sciences has lived up to its mantra ‘the Nutrient Use Efficiency People’. This is not just a slogan – it defines the company’s philosophy and culture. It also sums up Verdesian’s mission to help the world’s farmers do more with less through the company’s broad portfolio of sustainable nutrient efficiency products.
An eclectic mix of delegates from established fertilizer companies and technology start-ups gathered in Dallas, Texas in September for CRU’s inaugural AgriTech Forum. We report on the highlights of this lively networking event.
Industrial end-markets and food manufacturing provide significant global demand for pure and high value phosphate products. The growth potential for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) used in vehicle batteries is also a major industry talking point currently, as Alberto Persona, Fertecon’s principal phosphates analyst, explains.
The capabilities of OGT’s ProTreat ® simulator were recently enhanced by the addition of gas treating with hybrid solvents. The functionality was developed generically to make it as broadly applicable as possible. In this article, Ralph H. Weiland of Optimized Gas Treating investigates the effect of TEG as a contaminant on the performance of DEA, MDEA, and piperazine-promoted MDEA in a gas treating application.
Operating plants in extreme environments can present unique challenges. If these challenges are not anticipated and addressed in design and commissioning, the plant will not be able to start up nor meet its specification. This article examines the challenges faced in commissioning amine plants operating in three diverse environments (extreme heat, extreme cold, and offshore) and the technical and procedural solutions employed to resolve them. Mike Sheilan, Ben Spooner, Kaiyr Tekebayev, and Philip le Grange , Amine Experts.
With energy prices skyrocketing, sulphuric acid plant operators face a heightened challenge to improve plant efficiency. Martin Alvarez from Topsoe discusses how the company’s new high-activity catalyst, VK38+, can help acid plants maximise energy efficiency to secure important economic benefits while simultaneously reducing their carbon footprint.
Daniel R. Egger of Sulzer Chemtech Ltd discusses mist elimination challenges in strong sulphuric acid applications and presents the unique Sulzer KnitMesh XCOAT™ mist eliminator as an ideal solution for corrosive services such as in sulphuric acid drying towers.
Topsoe has agreed to supply an initial 500 MW of industrial-scale, solid oxide electrolyser cells (SOEC) to First Ammonia, a US company aiming to produce green ammonia for transportation fuel, power storage and generation, as well as fertilizer, at sites in northern Germany and the southwestern United States. The companies envisage that over the lifetime of the agreement some 5 GW of SOEC electrolysers will be supplied, potentially replacing almost 5 bcm of natural gas and eliminating the emission of 13 million t/a of CO 2 emissions. The facility to manufacture the electrolyser cells will be built in Herning, Denmark, and has recently received a final investment decisions from Topsoe’s board.
Industry focus on technologies to reduce the carbon intensity of ammonia and methanol production has been intensifying. In this article thyssenkrupp Uhde, Proton Ventures, Toyo Engineering Corporation, Stamicarbon, BD Energy Systems and KBR report on some of their latest technology developments towards decarbonisation.
Refractories are heat resistant materials used in high temperature processes to protect industrial equipment such as utility boilers, heaters, and ammonia primary and secondary reformers against heat and chemical attack. In this article Hasan Akbari of Kermanshah petrochemical Industrial company (KPIC) reports on experiences of different stages of refractory casting in the secondary reformer of an ammonia plant, located in Kermanshah province of Iran (KPIC – Phase II). The pouring operation was carried out in three stages and each section was cast nonstop for a period of three days in total.