Section: Features

New sulphur production from Chinese and Indian refineries and Middle Eastern sour gas and the ramp up of nickel leaching projects in Indonesia continue to change the direction of sulphur trade.

The progressive closure of smelter capacity in Australia poses potential problems for acid consumers across the country.

Titanium dioxide is one of the major chemical uses for sulphuric acid outside of phosphate and metals processing, and sulphate route plants remain concentrated in China.

A round-up of current and proposed projects involving non-nitrogen synthesis gas derivatives, including methanol, synthetic/substitute natural gas (SNG) and gas- and coal to liquids (GTL/CTL) plants.

As well as a recent US Chemical Safety Board report on an ammonia release incident, the past year has seen considerable focus on safety of ammonia at sea, in preparation for its possible use as a clean burning maritime fuel.

This year’s International Methanol Technology Operators’ Forum (IMTOF) was held at the Holiday Inn Regents Park hotel, London, from June 15 to 18.

Increased merchant ammonia capacity over the next few years may lead to longer term price declines.

VK Arora of KPI examines the technical and operational challenges of decarbonising legacy and new ammonia plants, drawing on a European case study of full-scale conversion supported by robust process and integration design. It also presents three US case studies exploring partial strategies, such as green hydrogen blending and oxygen enrichment, to reduce CO2 emissions and improve throughput. Together, these examples highlight a phased, cost-effective approach to decarbonisation, with blue hydrogen serving as a near-term transitional feedstock.

Casale is specialised in revamping natural gas-based methanol plants. Decarbonisation of methanol plants is a goal for many producers achievable with a proper revamping strategy. Pietro Moreo of Casale discusses how Casale’s innovative technologies and extensive experience ensure reliable efficient capacity and performance enhancements together with CO2 emissions reduction tailored to meet revamping project targets.

This article describes an unusual tube failure incident which resulted in fire escaping the furnace box during normal operation of a hydrogen plant. Ken Wohlgeschaffen of Chevron Products Company shares the sequence of events leading up to the incident, the extent of damage caused by the incident, and most importantly the causes and lessons learned from this incident to prevent recurrence.