Chemetics describes a variety of ways to extend the life of sulphuric acid plants. Debottlenecking, emissions reduction and/or energy recovery projects require a systematic, phased approach to maximise the potential of economic and operational benefits to the owner.
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.
A. Goudarzi of CECO Industrial Solutions discusses the science behind NOx content and how it impacts sulphuric acid producers. In a recent project in Korea, TWIN-PAK® candle filter technology was successfully used to reduce NOx emissions in metallurgical oleum tower production. After installation of the candle filter mist eliminators the plant was compliant with environmental regulations enabling the producer to operate the plant without penalties or shutdowns.
To comply with stricter stack emission obligations, industries are required to recover more heat from flue gas and to clean it before it can be discharged into the atmosphere. J. Kitzhofer of APEX Group discusses the challenges and limitations of the majority of current heat recovery systems and reports on a new family of acid resistant tubular and plate-type heat exchangers developed by APEX Group that overcomes these problems. The new heat exchangers are resistant to dew point corrosion. The heat transfer elements are constructed from an acid resistant polymer composite with high thermal conductivity, allowing the design of new trouble-free heat recovery systems and the upgrade of existing systems to meet heat recovery and stack emission targets.
M. Østberg and M. Rautenbach of Haldor Topsoe describe ReShift ™ technology, a new high temperature CO 2 reforming process, where preheated CO 2 is added directly downstream of a main reformer and then equilibrated in an adiabatic reactor. This new technology makes use of the high temperature of the reformer effluent to circumvent carbon formation, while at the same time maintaining an overall minimum steam to hydrocarbon carbon ratio, depending on process specific conditions. An increase in the amount of CO 2 added to the process will result in an increased fraction of CO in the produced synthesis gas. Synthesis gas with H 2 /CO ratios in the range 0.5-3 can be produced. These CO-rich gases are typically utilised in the production of functional chemicals and synthetic fuels.
With the sulphur content of crude oil and natural gas on the increase and with the ever-tightening sulphur content in fuels, refiners and gas processors will require additional sulphur recovery capacity. At the same time, environmental regulatory agencies of many countries continue to promulgate more stringent standards for sulphur emissions from oil, gas and chemical processing facilities. Rameshni & Associates Technology and Engineering discusses options for compliance with new regulations on emissions regarding IMO 2020 compliance and report on the results and evaluation of three case studies. Worley Comprimo reports on the revamp of a sulphur complex built in the late 1980s at a refinery in East Asia with the aim to increase the capacity, improve the availability and reliability and make the unit environmental compliant.
Reducing the carbon footprint in the synthesis of chemicals is a new global challenge as the world works towards providing sustainable products designed to minimise their environmental impacts throughout their whole lifecycle. This article looks at the role of blue technologies as part of a roadmap towards the decarbonisation of fuels and chemicals.
We highlight recent advances in ammonia and dust scrubbing systems for urea plants from Stamicarbon, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions and Toyo Engineering Corporation.
The economic conversion of phosphogypsum waste into a valuable product has been pursued for decades. Results of intensive research by thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (tkIS) in this area are presented by Peter Stockhoff, Dirk Koester, Stefan Helmle and Carsten Fabian. The approach developed by tkIS shows great potential as a controlled treatment process for phosphogypsum.
An industry-wide push for greater environmentally accountability is driving the need for improved fertilizer cooling methods. Not only is indirect cooling technology more environmentally-friendly, says Igor Makarenko of Solex Thermal Science, it also provides fertilizer manufacturers with a better product.