Category: Technology

While there has been a lot of talk about decarbonising ammonia and methanol production, for as long as blue and green production is more expensive than conventional production, uptake will be dependent upon markets which are prepared to pay a premium for such chemicals, perhaps because they have no other reasonable choice, given environmental mandates. One sector above all has dominated the prospects for medium term demand for low carbon ammonia and methanol alike, and that is shipping.

Large-scale ammonia cracking technology and catalysts will enable the full potential of ammonia to be realised as industries transition towards low carbon energy. In this feature we report on the current status of ammonia cracking processes and catalysts.

Low emissions hydrogen is expected to play an increasing role in the syngasbased chemicals industry, but cost and technical challenges remain.

Anton Kariagin and Stefan Gebert of Clariant discuss the benefits and commercial performance of the new low temperature shift (LTS) catalyst – ShiftMax 217 Plus. A case study demonstrates the benefits of this catalyst, providing ultra-low methanol formation resulting in increased ammonia production and/or energy savings.

Johnson Matthey's latest KATALCO™ 71-7F high temperature shift catalyst with its robust shape provides lower lifetime pressure drop.

Ammonia has been recognised as an advantageous hydrogen and energy carrier. This article focuses on the use of ammonia as fuel in steam reformers and ammonia crackers in order to reduce or completely eliminate direct CO2 emissions. Ammonia combustion knowledge is especially important for ammonia crackers with respect to the recycling of unconverted ammonia. Air Liquide is constructing an industrial scale pilot plant in Antwerp, planned to be operational in 2024, that will be used to demonstrate ammonia cracking and combustion in a process furnace with a multiple burner configuration.

The implementation of WSA technology to recover sulphur as sulphuric acid from lean sulphurous off-gases offers significant environmental benefits. These include waste reduction, resource efficiency and reduced overall CO2 e footprint, while also producing profitable sulphuric acid. By embracing such practices, industries can ensure improved or better consumption and production patterns and foster a more sustainable and responsible future. J. Feddersen and S. S. Johansson of Topsoe illustrate these benefits using three distinct industrial applications where WSA technology provides a smarter way to treat sulphurous off-gases. It is not only waste stream management in the three cases, but also reduced transportation of chemicals, reduced opex and reduced CO2 e footprint.

As environmental SO2 emission regulations become more stringent, tail gas treating options become limited. To potentially achieve lower opex and improved plot plan, utilising a biological desulphurisation process as an alternative to a conventional amine-based TGT unit is becoming of increased interest in the oil and gas industry. At the same time, demands for increased SRU capacity and reliability favour the use of medium and high-level oxygen enrichment.

Falling volumes of sulphur from refining and sour gas could turn Europe into a sulphur importer.

In the final part of this two-part article, Michael Huffmaster , Consultant, presents case study results using a discrete reactor model incorporating heat, mass transfer, and activation reaction kinetics to assess the impacts of these variables on in-bed temperature profile and activation effectiveness. Tailoring gas rate, composition, and temperature progression can achieve in-bed exotherms which improve CoMo catalyst activation effectiveness for low temperature tail gas units.