Metso has appointed Sami Takaluoma the company’s new president and CEO, effective from November 1, 2024. Metso’s outgoing president and CEO, Pekka Vauramo , will continue with the company as per his contract until the end of 2024, to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. Sami Takaluoma has been with Metso since 1997 and has led Metso’s Services business area since 2021. He has been a member of Met-so’s Leadership Team since 2017.
Global sulphur prices underwent increases in some key benchmark markets during October, but spot activity nevertheless remained muted, with demand subdued and availability tight. Market participants continue to closely track geopolitical developments.
The development and implementation of modern process instruments and control systems in sulphur recovery units has increased significantly over the last decade. In this article, the impact of BTEX on sulphur plant operations and how the BTEX concentrations can be measured are discussed.
NextChem has been awarded two contracts to upgrade and expand the capacity of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) industrial complex in Baku by state oil company SOCAR. As part of the contract, NextChem will conduct a technological assessment and deliver a process design package to upgrade the existing sulphur recovery unit (SRU) with oxygen enriched air, a cost-effective and flexible solution for expanding its current sulphur production capacity. Additionally, NextChem will provide the licensing and the process design package based on its proprietary NX SulphuRec TM technology for a new SRU. NX SulphuRec TM is a portfolio of proprietary sulphur recovery technologies, based on the integration of modified Claus and tail gas treatment processes, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of acid and sour gases produced during the refining process.
India’s phosphate production is using increasing volumes of sulphuric acid, but new domestic smelter and sulphur burning acid capacity may mean reduced imports in future.
Continuing growth in Chinese ammonium sulphate production is leading to a continuing flood of exports, as greater awareness of the utility of sulphur as a fertilizer leads to increasing global demand.
Optical gas imaging technology, enhanced by artificial intelligence, offers a groundbreaking approach to monitoring SO2 emissions in real time. Andrés Russu of SENSIA introduces SENSIA’s RedLook solution which offers fully autonomous, 24/7 continuous monitoring of SO2 leaks, providing industries with the tools they need to maintain environmental integrity and operational safety.
China’s acid production continues to grow as new smelters come on-stream. But high domestic demand from phosphate production as export restrictions are lifted and a shortage of copper concentrate may limit the potential for acid exports.
Veolia says that its subsidiary Veolia North America has signed an agreement for the divestment of Veolia North America Regeneration Services, which includes its sulphuric acid and hydrofluoric acid regeneration activities for refineries, to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $620 million. These activities represented revenues of around $350 million in 2023. The financial closure of the transaction is expected soon. Veolia’s Sulphuric Acid Regeneration Business includes its sulphuric acid and potassium hydroxide regeneration, as well as sulphur gas recovery, and sulphur-based products production businesses.
This troubleshooting case study describes an incident at one of the sulphur recovery units at BPCL Kochi Refinery, India. Following a maintenance turnaround of the unit in 2022, unusually high H2 S and SO2 were observed at the outlet of the Claus section. This created an additional load on the tail gas reactor, which led to frequent plugging in the quench column and frequent outages in the tail gas unit, creating environmental and reliability issues in the unit. The activities to identify the root cause of the incident are described and the measures to solve the problem are shared.