Combining a deep scientific knowledge, engineering and field experience with state-of-the art technology, Johnson Matthey is proud to introduce its next generation of digital simulation tools via its JM-LEVO™ digital portals to further support customers in achieving their operational and sustainability targets.
Advances in clean hydrogen and ammonia production is fuelling worldwide interest in a new market for hydrogen and ammonia to provide a reliable low-carbon energy future. Ammonia cracking, the dissociation of ammonia back into hydrogen, delivers a pathway to large-scale sustainable hydrogen production. In this article KBR, Johnson Matthey, thyssenkrupp Uhde, Duiker, Proton Ventures and Casale report on their technologies and approaches to ammonia cracking in a low carbon economy.
With the market for green ammonia set to grow significantly in the coming years, modularisation of ammonia plants can bring many benefits to new projects, including optimised cost, speed of delivery and reducing overall risks. thyssenkrupp Uhde is committed to further develop standardised, modular solutions for its clients. Tobias Birwe and Dustin Mayor explain the company’s modularisation concept.
In 1967 Stamicarbon revolutionised the urea process by the invention of the high-pressure CO2 stripper by Petrus J. C. Kaasenbrood. The high-pressure CO2 stripper led to following benefits:
Last year, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the associated disruption to fertilizer and grain exports from both countries, there were dire predictions of the impact upon global food supply. That the worst of these predictions have not so far come to pass is in no small part due to the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 to allow exports of grain and fertilizers from Black Sea ports. According to the UN, since last July, some 29.5 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine via the Black Sea, including nearly 600,000 tonnes in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen. Before the war, Ukrainian grain fed the equivalent of up to 400 million people worldwide, and the deal ensured that Ukrainian grain exports ‘only’ fell by 5 million t/a over the past year.
Mining, metals and fertilizer business intelligence company CRU has launched a new low-emissions ammonia (LEA) price assessment in its Fertilizer Week price reporting service. The price takes a value-based approach, whereby a premium on the Northwest European ammonia price is calculated on an emissions-mitigated basis, and leverages CRU’s proprietary nitrogen asset emissions data combined with weekly European carbon prices to calculate the value of emissions mitigated. CRU says that it has leveraged its Emissions Analysis Tool to develop the premiums on an emissions-mitigated basis as opposed to a cost basis, allowing end-users to assess how the switch to LEA can deliver value to their business while contributing to their decarbonisation strategies. The Emissions Analysis Tool is a comprehensive asset-byasset emissions dataset for the nitrogen industry.
Pipe reactors in ammonium nitrate plants suffer from short lifetimes due to serious corrosion and erosion issues. A new solution from NobelClad could provide a unique opportunity to address the problem faced by licensors and end-users in the pipe reactors of ammonium nitrate plants. The NobelClad solution provides higher safety and reliability standards and less downtime and maintenance leading to an attractive payback time.
Rising costs of fossil fuels in many markets, including coal in China and high gas costs in Europe are pushing up ammonia production costs. Can the falling cost of electrolysis make green ammonia production cost competitive in the near future?
Previously, recuperative reforming has been mostly applied for capacity increase revamps, but nowadays it is a key enabler for efficient low carbon hydrogen and syngas production. Jan-Jaap Riegman of Technip Energies, Francesco Baratto of Casale and Stefan Gebert of Clariant discuss the benefits of recuperative reforming for reducing the carbon footprint of existing assets.
Storing urea under hot and humid ambient conditions can be a chall enge. Several quality parameters of the urea product itself like moisture, temperature and particle size distribution are critical. Fluctuations of these parameters over time are also important and can lead to caking issues and complaints by clients. Off-spec product means big losses in revenue and results in a troublesome stream that has to be handled separately. Learning from each other’s experiences is vital to minimise and avoid these problems. n