Category: Sustainability/Environment

A move towards so-called ‘sustainable aviation fuels’ (SAF) could see refineries having to recast their operations. What might this mean for sulphur production?

The fertilizer price and supply chain shocks caused by the war in Ukraine have supercharged the debate about the shift to more sustainable and efficient crop nutrition – with farmers and governments urgently looking for different approaches to maximise crop productivity.

Producing efficient fertilizers that deliver nutrients directly to crops in exactly the right amounts has clear economic and environmental benefits. Recent advances in controlled-release and stabilised fertilizer technology are highlighted.

M. Rameshni and S. Santo of Rameshni & Associated Technology & Engineering (RATE USA) report on advanced catalysts for increasing the sulphur recovery efficiency of new and existing sulphur recovery units to meet stricter environmental regulations.

The recently-published IEA Ammonia Technology Roadmap sets out a future pathway for decarbonising the nitrogen industry. New technology options for low-carbon ammonia production are emerging and project activity is on the rise.

By using modular construction, operational modelling and digital plant control, thyssenkrupp Uhde can offer customers fast-build, capital efficient green ammonia plants. Dr Christian Renk and Dr Klaus Nölker explain the company’s innovative approach to plant construction, design and control.

Heat recovery systems at sulphuric acid plants have been providing carbon-free energy for decades now and continue to improve. There is also potential to combine the clean power generated at acid plants with hydrogen production from water electrolysis. This could provide the basis for green fertilizer production.

Economically viable production of green ammonia requires plants that can react to fluctuations in renewable power thanks to their flexible design. Casale’s Francesco Baratto, Giovanni Genova and Sergio Panza explain how new tools are helping design green ammonia plants that deliver the highest possible production at the lowest possible cost.

Florian Gruschwitz of MAN Energy Solutions takes a look at the current investment decisions influencing green hydrogen projects on the path to decarbonisation, reviews technologies that are available today, and discusses what it will take to ramp up a global green hydrogen economy.

The COP-26 summit in Glasgow last year signed into force new rules on carbon emissions trading which may gradually start to see carbon pricing spread worldwide, with knock-on effects on emissions intensive industries like ammonia and methanol.