Category: Sustainability/Environment

Nitrogen-rich wastewaters remain a major issue for fertilizer and other industries. Saipem’s new electrochemical technology, SPELL, is an important step towards the overall objective of zero industrial pollution. A complete engineering review of the technology, its alignment with all international applicable standards, and optimisation has now been concluded and the technology is ready for deployment for the removal of ammonium nitrogen from industrial waters and wastewaters. Saipem discusses the key features of SPELL and reports on the first two industrial references.

RSK and its subsidiary ADAS have developed a sustainable solution for the disposal of sulphur waste generated from a natural gas processing facility in Iraq. C. Teulon of RSK reports on the research that was carried out to test whether the waste sulphur from a biological sulphur removal process could be applied in agriculture to increase the quality and quantity of crops in Iraq.

Major fertilizer industry players such as Stamicarbon, Nutrien and CF Industries are ramping up investment in ‘green’ and ‘blue’ fertilizer production. Consequently, low-carbon production technologies are being scaled-up and deployed commercially.

Buss ChemTech AG offers the international phosphate industry a robust solution to create added-value products from fluorosilicic acid (FSA). Thomas Dahlke, the head of the company’s process engineering department, and Emre Sen, sales manager for fluorine technologies, explain how this can be done in a sustainable manner.

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.

By utilising state-of-the-art technologies, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate producers are able to reduce the environmental impact of their production plants and make a key contribution to climate protection.

During this time of disruption, keeping connected and informed has never been more important. While the in-person events the industry usually relies on are not possible, CRU’s virtual Sustainable Fertilizer Production Technology Forum, 20-23 September, offers exceptional information sharing and networking opportunities.

The European Union is seeking to create a climate-neutral and circular economy through its flagship Green Deal policy. The fertilizer industry can support these objectives by adopting inhibitor treatment technology (ITT) and controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) based on biodegradable polymers. These two innovations have a vital role to play in improving nitrogen use efficiency and the shift towards more sustainable resource use, says Dr Matthias Potthoff of thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology.

Plans to decarbonise power production and shipping are leading to increasing interest in using ammonia as a fuel, but technical and economic barriers still remain to be overcome.

Philippe Malsan of Technip Energies explains how high recovery Diplo phosphoric acid technology can generate phosphogypsum suitable for industrial reuse. Industrial cases studies for Senegal and Austria show how phosphogypsum from this process has been successfully recycled on a large scale for cement, plaster and other end uses.