Highly efficient N2 O abatement technologies, coupled with the continually rising CO2 e price/ tonne are the driving forces behind nitric acid plant operators looking for increasingly sensitive and precise measurements of the N2 O mass emission. David Inward of Sick AG discusses new state-of-the-art emission monitoring technology which provides the measurements required.
Continuing growth in energy uses indicate robust demand for methanol over the coming years, but the current slate of new projects does not look sufficient to meet it. Is methanol approaching a supply crunch?
CRU’s Nitrogen + Syngas conference convened at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower in Barcelona, from March 5th-8th.
The world’s most common syngas production method remains steam methane reforming, a process which has a substantial CO2 footprint as the necessary reaction heat is supplied by combustion of hydrocarbons. Topsoe’s eREACT™ technology allows for the first-of-its-kind electrification of the traditional SMR process. The reaction heat for eREACT™ is instead generated directly by (renewable) electricity, thereby eliminating the flue gas altogether. Having gone through scale-up from bench scale to industrially relevant pilot scale the technology is now ready for industrial application.
When revamping the steam methane reformer, a detailed analysis of the whole reformer by an experienced technology licensor with deep plant knowledge is required to achieve the best solutions. Casale presents two case studies which provide examples of what can be achieved when following this approach.
Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media
The EU benchmark TTF natural gas price had fallen to $16.89/MMBtu on average for February, down 19% on January’s average and 36% lower than the figure for February 2022. By the end of the month it had fallen to $14.83/MMBtu, its lowest level since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. EU gas storage was assessed as 61% full on 28 February, compared to a five-year seasonal average of 40%, due to strong LNG imports and mild weather over the winter. Over one third of European ammonia capacity has returned to production as gas prices fall.
Brazil’s agricultural industry continues to expand at the same time that most of its nitrogen fertilizer industry has shut down. Meanwhile, Venezuela continues to deal with the consequences of years of underinvestment and mismanagement, and elsewhere, gas discoveries in other parts of the continent have not led to the new plant construction boom that had once been hoped for.
The steam methane reformer is at the heart of most world-scale synthesis gas plants for ammonia, methanol or hydrogen production, and its optimum performance will maximise plant production and efficiency. This article studies the wide variety of parameters that need to be considered if a steam methane reformer is optimised.
A complete listing of all articles and news items that appeared in Nitrogen+Syngas magazine during 2022.