Magazine: Sulphur

Although China remains the world’s largest phosphate producer, it has been overtaken as the largest exporter by Morocco in recent years as domestic producers face continuing restrictions on exports.

Chile’s environmental regulator SMA has filed a charge against state-owned Codelco, alleging emission violations at its Potrerillos copper smelter in the Atacama region of northern Chile. An audit showed the company had not implemented a monitoring system for sulphur dioxide emissions and other procedures in accordance with environmental standards for the plant, Reuters news agency reported. The SMA labelled the charge as serious, which could lead to a fine of around $4.1 million, and possible revocation of the environmental permit or closure. Codelco had ten days to submit a compliance plan, and 15 days to present a defence.

A complete listing of all articles and news items that appeared in Sulphur magazine during 2024.

The Caspian Sea region is home to extensive sour gas reserves which produce large volumes of sulphur. Exports are difficult, but the Kazakh uranium industry is consuming an increasing amount.

Due to ever stricter legislation towards lower SO2 emissions, superior catalyst shape and composition has become ever more important. Jochen Willersinn of BASF SE explains how BASF’s high-performance catalyst O4-116 Quattro combines the benefits of an increased surface area with a superior caesium-promoted active phase composition enabling significantly lower ignition and operating temperatures and thus reducing SO2 emissions.

This study introduces a new platinum-promoted honeycomb catalyst for sulphur dioxide oxidation, designed to enhance energy efficiency and reduce emissions in sulphuric acid production. Compared to conventional vanadium oxide based catalysts, the platinum-based catalyst demonstrates higher catalytic activity, lower ignition temperature, and significantly reduced toxicity.

Sulphur prices may remain stable before decreasing on muted demand and transactions may increase in frequency contributing to price decreases in the first half of 2025.

Continuing growth in Chinese ammonium sulphate production is leading to a continuing flood of exports, as greater awareness of the utility of sulphur as a fertilizer leads to increasing global demand.

India’s phosphate production is using increasing volumes of sulphuric acid, but new domestic smelter and sulphur burning acid capacity may mean reduced imports in future.

NextChem has been awarded two contracts to upgrade and expand the capacity of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery (HAOR) industrial complex in Baku by state oil company SOCAR. As part of the contract, NextChem will conduct a technological assessment and deliver a process design package to upgrade the existing sulphur recovery unit (SRU) with oxygen enriched air, a cost-effective and flexible solution for expanding its current sulphur production capacity. Additionally, NextChem will provide the licensing and the process design package based on its proprietary NX SulphuRec TM technology for a new SRU. NX SulphuRec TM is a portfolio of proprietary sulphur recovery technologies, based on the integration of modified Claus and tail gas treatment processes, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of acid and sour gases produced during the refining process.