Magazine: Nitrogen+Syngas

Ammonia pricing in the US Mid-West stood at $625/st f.o.b. in February, with applications to field continuing to ramp up. Prices in the US Gulf remain pegged in the low-to-mid$400s/t f.o.b. Recent production outages in the region have largely subsided, though an unexpectedly early uptick in seasonal demand from local buyers is likely to provide a degree of price support moving forward. The Tampa ammonia settlement for March has been settled by Yara and Mosaic at a $445/t c.fr rollover, largely in line with market expectations. The North American market remains detached from the considerably more oversupplied global ammonia scene.

Agropolychim has announced that CEO Philippe Rombaut will become chairman of Agropolychim’s board of directors, with a focus on steering the company’s strategic development. His new appointment will make way for Teodor Petsov to assume the role of head of production operations. Petsov has 22 years of production experience and a management background. In his capacity as the new production director, he will be responsible for orchestrating, overseeing, and coordinating all aspects of the company’s production activities.

A summary of papers presented at CRU’s Nitrogen+Syngas conference, this year held at the Gothia Towers in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Indian fertilizer producers Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers (MCFL) and Paradeep Phosphates (PPL) have announced that the companies intend to merge, allowing them to consolidate their operations, according to a company statement. The new merged company, to be called PPL, will have a total production capacity of 3.6 million t/a of fertilizers.

Christof Group SBN presents groundbreaking sensor technology for accurate and reliable continuous monitoring of individual heat exchanger tube wall thickness in high pressure, high temperature industrial conditions.

Methanol continues to be a front runner among alternative fuels for the shipping industry. However, concerns remain over the availability and cost of green and blue methanol.

This article explores the opportunities presented by Stamicarbon’s tertiary abatement technology for both existing and grassroots nitric acid plants to enhance sustainability and efficiency and discover the advantages of incorporating these technologies into a green fertilizer complex.

NextChem Tech, has signed a contract with Paul Wurth SA, a subsidiary of SMS group, and Norsk e-Fuel AS for a licensing and engineering design package relating to its NX CPO (catalytic partial oxidation) technology, which will be used in an industrial scale plant producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from green hydrogen and biogenic CO2 in Mosjøen, Norway. NextChem’s NX CPO technology produces synthesis gas via a very fast controlled partial oxidation reaction. When applied to synthetic fuel production, it can improve carbon efficiency recovery yield. The first plant developed by Norsk e-Fuel will have a production capacity of 40,000 t/a of green fuel and will enter operation after 2026. Based on the initial design, two additional facilities with a capacity of around 80 000 t/a each are planned to be built by 2030. The fuels will current aviation emissions.

The US is experiencing a new boom in nitrogen projects, with a number of carbon capture ammonia plants under development.

Catalyst development for nitric acid plants is strongly dependent on operating pressures and nitrogen loading levels. Johnson Matthey reviews some of the key catalyst design principles, emphasising the critical role of operating pressure in catalyst selection and highlighting the innovative contributions of Johnson Matthey in advancing catalyst technology for ultra-high-pressure ammonia oxidation in nitric acid plants.