Tag: RATE

Boron is a key micronutrient required by fruit and vegetables and crops such as corn, cotton, rice, soybean and sugar cane. The agricultural importance of boron and the wide range of products on the market are described.

BHP has finally given the go ahead for stage one of its Jansen potash mine project in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Venkat Pattabathula, a member of the AIChE Ammonia Safety Committee, reports on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Safety in Ammonia Plants and Related Facilities Symposium, held virtually on 30 August to 2 September 2021.

The fact that biuret is toxic to plants has been known for a long time – since the middle of the last century. Very sensitive (pineapple, citrus), moderately sensitive (cereals, legumes) and resistant (conifers) plant species were identified. The maximum concentration of biuret in urea for each species has been established for soil application and foliar application. Most field crops easily tolerate foliar fertilization with urea, which contains 1 wt-% biuret. Potatoes and tomatoes are more sensitive – for foliar feeding of these crops, it is advisable to use urea with an admixture of biuret of no more than 0.5 wt-%. Citrus fruits and pineapples are so sensitive that biuret in urea for foliar feeding should be no more than 0.35 wt-%.

Arun Murugan and Mike Antony of FITIRI and Venkat Pattabathula of SVP Chemical Plant Services discuss the COORS Analytics system for more accurate prediction of the performance of a CO 2 removal system.

Johnson Matthey’s latest methanol synthesis catalyst, KATALCO™ 51-102, was introduced in 2018 to offer improved catalyst stability and therefore higher end-of-life activity and extended lifetimes than conventional methanol synthesis catalysts. Since launch, KATALCO 51-102 has been successfully installed in two methanol plants and a third is planned for later in the year. In this article Johnson Matthey provides an update on the proven performance of KATALCO 51-102 during lab and pilot scale testing as well as in customer plants. The application of catalysts made using the KATALCO 51-102 technology for methanol synthesis via new ‘green’ routes, such as using captured and purified CO2 in conjunction with ‘green’ hydrogen, is also discussed.

Johnson Matthey and MyRechemical have formed an alliance to commercially develop waste to methanol technology. In this article, two different approaches to waste disposal and chemical production are analysed: a post combustion scenario with waste incineration and hydrogenation of the CO2 recovered from flue gas to produce methanol, and a precombustion approach with waste gasification followed by conversion of synthesis gas into methanol.

MegaZonE™ is a newly introduced layered loading technology for boiling water-cooled reactors used for methanol synthesis. This new concept is one of the latest results of the long-standing collaboration between Air Liquide Engineering & Construction and Clariant Catalysts to improve the methanol process flowsheet and optimise catalyst performance in the complete reactor system.

India’s power and renewable energy minister RK Singh has placed draft plans before the cabinet for the country’s refining and fertilizer sectors to switch to renewable ‘green’ hydrogen feeds. Other energy intensive sectors such as steel and transport are likely to follow. The policy suggests that refiners must have 10% of their hydrogen consumption generated from renewable electricity by the end of financial year 2023-24, rising to 25% by 2030. The comparable figures for ammonia/urea production are 5% and 20%, respectively. India is pursuing some of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy targets of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the end of 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.

Tightening regulations and growing global competition are increasing the pressure felt by sulphuric acid plant operators to reduce emissions and improve energy output. Conservation of energy is a continuous focus for operators, and environmental communities have grown more vocal in their desire for greater emissions oversight. In this article, DuPont Clean Technologies examines simple, tried, and true tactics, as well as new products and designs that can be incorporated into existing plants to address operating efficiency and emissions and to help to prolong the life of the plant.