Edition Tag: Nitrogen Syngas 2020-05-31

Tecnimont SpA has signed an EPC contract worth approximately e200 million with Gemlik Gübre Sanayii Anonim Sirketi for the construction of a new urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) solutions plant at Gemlik, 125 km south of Istanbul. The plant will have a capacity of 1,640 t/d of granular urea and 500 t/d of UAN, and will be based on Stamicarbon urea technology, a fully owned subsidiary of the Maire Tecnimont group. The scope of work includes engineering, supply of all equipment and materials and construction and erection works. Project completion is planned within about three years of the contract beginning.

CRU has announced the appointment of William Etchell as Chief Financial Officer, based in the company’s London headquarters. Etchell joins CRU from GUS Holdings, a global higher education provider. Previously, he was CFO at EPG, an education services provider, and prior to that he was Group Finance Director at BPP Professional Education Group. He has over 25 years’ experience working in finance across a variety of sectors, having qualified with Arthur Andersen in the 1990s. Since then he has worked in a number of organisations including British Airways, Time Warner and Interpublic Group, as well as running his own nursery school business.

Haldor Topsoe has launched a new methanol synthesis catalyst, MK-181 PRIME, based on new technology developed via close study of copper-zinc interactions on the catalyst surface.

The impact of coronavirus on both supply and demand continues to provide considerable uncertainty to the market. Industrial demand seems to have been worst affected, and fertilizer related demand has largely kept up, although shutdowns in India’s ammonium phosphate sector have also affected demand. Spring is traditionally the strongest time for fertilizer demand, and this has helped support prices at least in the short term.

Southeast Asia has been a major site for new syngas projects in recent years as countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei continue to monetise their natural gas resources.

Methanex has said that, in light of the uncertainty in the global economy from the Covid-19 pandemic, it will defer approximately $500 million of previously announced capital spending on its $1.4 billion Geismar 3 methanol project for up to 18 months. Geismar 3, which is intended to eventually produce 1.8 million t/a of methanol, will be placed on temporary “care and maintenance” for up to 18 months, enabling the company to complete the project when market conditions improve. Methanex says it will spend $100 million in Q1 2020 and a further $200 million from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021 on the project, the majority of which is spending that occurred or was committed during Q1 2020. This is approximately $500 million lower than the $800 million that was expected to be spent over that same period. Construction activity and procurement of non-critical equipment and bulk materials will be suspended until market conditions allow the Geismar 3 project to restart.

Imagine an industry that only uses carbon-free fuels and does not have any carbon footprint. Assume this is feasible within a decade. Now wouldn’t that be an ambition worth pursuing? Duiker believes this is achievable. A. Lanser provides Duiker’s view on how its SCO technology can act as an enhancer for reducing industrial carbon footprint.

Olefins production from methanol, particularly in China, has come to dominate the methanol market over the past few years. However, environmental and market concerns complicate the outlook there.

A Stamicarbon urea plant attempts to start up after a scheduled turnaround. Due to maintenance issues, it is necessary to shut down and block in the synthesis section several times. Although licensor’s procedures have been followed, several signs of active corrosion are noticed in the liner of the reactor. What could the cause be for this unexpected behaviour? Can sharing experiences from colleagues from other urea plants provide valuable support to find the root cause or even provide new insights into possible new causes? One observation is that the typical heating up rate of a liner in a reactor is much higher than recommended (refer to diagram). The condensation heat of steam heats up the liner much faster than the carbon steel pressure bearing wall. This creates stress on the liner and affects the lifetime of the liner. Another observation is a temperature rise in the reactor during a blocking in situation. This can be a cause for loss of oxygen required for passivation, resulting in higher corrosion rates.

As existing facilities grow older, service requirements increase. Equipment needs to be low maintenance and back in operation quickly after service and repair. Technology licensors are expanding their technical services with new digital tools, using digitalised expertise with real time insights and data driven analytics to boost chemical production and ensure that equipment operates reliably and efficiently, while maintaining product quality.