New phosphate demand – India and Brazil
The centre of gravity of the phosphate industry continues to shift, with Chinese exports less important, and fresh demand coming from India and Brazil.
The centre of gravity of the phosphate industry continues to shift, with Chinese exports less important, and fresh demand coming from India and Brazil.
In 2019 Topsoe launched its ClearView™ technology for WSA and SNOx sulphuric acid plants. This article focuses on the results and learnings from the first implementation of ClearView™ at a new WSA plant at Anglo American Platinum’s Polokwane smelter in South Africa.
Indonesian imports have increased in 2023 so far on a year earlier. As new nickel high pressure acid leach projects ramp up, demand for sulphur is expected to increase further. Swing buyers have been importing significant volumes of sulphuric acid, affecting short term sulphur demand in the second quarter. It remains to be seen if this will continue, we expect sulphur demand to ramp up further in the second half of the year, bringing import expectations for the year to around 2 million t.
Single superphosphate (SSP) is relatively easy and cheap to make. Yet traditional gas scrubbers often limit production and create plant maintenance issues.Fortunately, an innovative scrubbing technology developed by Armatec Environmental can overcome many of these problems. Based on high efficiency void towers, this new approach helps SSP producers meet stringent global emissions standards, explains Armatec’s Shane Pope , while simultaneously maximising production and improving worker conditions.
Meena Chauhan , Head of Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for sulphur.
The production of renewable fuels by retrofitting existing refineries and their infrastructure is witnessing exponential growth. The impact on the existing amine, sour water and sulphur recovery units is inevitable. Based on several case studies, Worley Comprimo discusses the various options available to holistically review the sulphur block to determine the impact and mitigation of processing bio-feed.
Worley has been awarded a contract to supply Chemetics’ CORESO2™ technology for a sulphuric acid plant and associated oxygen unit at the Arafura Rare Earths project, sited 135 km north of Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory. A greenfield mine will extract and process neodymium and praseodymium to create ultra-strong permanent magnets for a range of applications, such as household electronics and high-performance motors for electric vehicles.
The Sulphur Institute (TSI) held its World Sulphur Symposium in Edinburgh from April 25th to 27th.
New sulphur burning capacity in India is expected to come online in the coming months at fertilizer producer operations. This will lead to an increase in sulphur import demand but also impact sulphuric acid imports to the country.
BASF is challenging traditional catalyst shapes and performance relationships using 3D-printing technology and is using sulphuric acid catalysts as the pilot to pioneer new ground.