Magazine: Nitrogen+Syngas

In August 2020 the tragic explosion of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the port of Beirut caused many fatalities and injuries. This was a wake-up call for the entire industry to review the design of plants and storage facilities, as well as the procedures for plant operation and the handling of products. The key factor for safe new installations is the process design: the right choice of unit operations, operating temperatures and pressures, the control of process variables and the design of key items of equipment. A modern ammonium nitrate (AN) plant design not only mitigates the environmental impact, but also reduces investment costs and contributes to the key factors mentioned. M. Pieper and P. Kamermann of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions discuss how, by using the right design, safety in ammonium nitrate plants can be easily achieved, while maintaining outstanding product quality.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

Gasification technology offers the promise of being able to convert the increasing volumes of municipal waste generated by society into useful chemical products. In spite of a patchy commercial record, interest in the process remains high.

A recent report from BloombergNEF (New Energy Foundation) looking ahead to 2050 argues that green hydrogen can be cheaper than natural gas. It finds that ‘green’ hydrogen from renewables should become cheaper than natural gas (on an energy-equivalent basis) by 2050 in 15 of the 28 markets modelled, assuming scale-up continues. These countries accounted for one-third of global GDP in 2019. In all of the markets BNEF modelled, ‘green’ hydrogen should also become cheaper than both ‘blue’ hydrogen (from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage – CCS) and even ‘grey’ hydrogen from fossil fuels without CCS. The cost of producing ‘green’ hydrogen from renewable electricity should fall by up to 85% from today to 2050, the report predicts, leading to costs below $1/kg ($7.4/MMBtu) by 2050 in most markets. These costs are 13% lower than BNEF’s previous 2030 forecast and 17% lower than their previous 2050 forecast. Falling costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity are the key driver behind the reduction; BNEF now believes that PV electricity will be 40% cheaper in 2050 than they had thought just two years ago, driven by more automatic manufacturing, less silicon and silver consumption, higher photovoltaic efficiency of solar cells, and greater yields using bifacial panels.

By using a Rectisol™ demonstration unit at one of Air Liquide’s industrial production sites, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has gained unique know-how in Rectisol™ column design with structured packings. S. Schmidt, R. Szabo, M. Linicus and S. Corbet report on how the application of commercially available structured packings in the absorber columns of a Rectisol™ unit results in significant capex and opex savings.

Hans Vrijenhoef has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Proton Ventures with immediate effect. He will continue to serve as non-executive chairman of the management board for at least another three years to support the growth of the existing business of green ammonia production technologies. Paul Baan succeeded Hans Vrijenhoef as of April 1st, 2021. Baan has served in leadership positions at Ørsted and EON. He is an engineer by background who has a strong understanding of Power to X technology and business cases.

Gas availability and pricing continues to affect ammonia and methanol output from Trinidad, while Venezuela struggles with sanctions and political instability.

Although the urea market has weathered the pandemic relatively well, a significant amount of new capacity is due to come on-stream in the next year or so, and could keep prices depressed unless more Chinese capacity closes.

Judging by the pages of the project announcements in our news section, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the ammonia and methanol industries were all running off hydrogen generated from electrolysis, and that we had already entered an era of ‘clean’ chemical generation which did not require fossil fuels as a feedstock. Of course, while companies can naturally be forgiven for wanting to put the best public face on their green credentials, it does obscure the fact that for the moment 99% of syngas generation comes from natural gas, coal, and some coke or naphtha.

Reducing the carbon footprint in the synthesis of chemicals is a new global challenge as the world works towards providing sustainable products designed to minimise their environmental impacts throughout their whole lifecycle. This article looks at the role of blue technologies as part of a roadmap towards the decarbonisation of fuels and chemicals.