The past year has been a difficult, even disastrous one for Europe’s fertilizer producers. High natural gas prices have kept plants shuttered, with 70% of the continent’s ammonia production shut down at times. It remains uncertain how much of this will return to production this year, or indeed ever.
Stamicarbon has won a contract for a large-scale urea project in China. The urea plant, with a production capacity of 3,800 t/d, will be the largest ever licensed by Stamicarbon in the country. The customer, the plant’s location and the value of the contract have not been disclosed.
This UreaKnowHow.com round table discusses the process upset condition of a high urea concentration in the ammonium carbamate recycle. It is commonly known that the urea formation reaction from ammonia and carbon dioxide via ammonium carbamate is an equilibrium reaction and that the urea conversion in any urea plant is limited. That is why downstream of the urea synthesis section the urea is separated from the ammonium carbamate in a recirculation section. Ammonium carbamate is dissociated into ammonia and carbon dioxide gases by means of low pressure and the addition of heat. The ammonia and carbon dioxide gases are dissolved in water and recycled back to the urea synthesis section. The urea content should be minimal as urea in the ammonium carbamate recycle leads to lower efficiencies. What are the causes and remedies for a high urea concentration in the ammonium carbamate recycle? n
CRU has appointed Mark Jeavons as the head of its CRU Sustainability division. He will be based out of London with a global remit.
CRU Events will host the 2023 Fertilizer Latino Americano conference at the Sheraton Grand Rio Hotel & Resort, Rio de Janeiro, 29 January to 1 February.
The International Fertiliser Society (IFS) has launched FerTechInform, a comprehensive online technical resource for fertilizer production. The new digital resource combines an information knowledge base with an interactive forum for users. IFS Secretary Steve Hallam explains how it works, who it is for, and why it came into being.
After just 10 short years in business, there is a reason why Verdesian Life Sciences has lived up to its mantra ‘the Nutrient Use Efficiency People’. This is not just a slogan – it defines the company’s philosophy and culture. It also sums up Verdesian’s mission to help the world’s farmers do more with less through the company’s broad portfolio of sustainable nutrient efficiency products.
An eclectic mix of delegates from established fertilizer companies and technology start-ups gathered in Dallas, Texas in September for CRU’s inaugural AgriTech Forum. We report on the highlights of this lively networking event.
The Russian-Ukraine conflict and price volatility have affected the supply/demand dynamics of the Brazilian fertilizer market and the buying behaviour of growers. As a consequence, Brazil’s fertilizer consumption is expected to fall for the first time in eight years. Debora Simoes and Cleber Vieira of leading consultancy Agroconsult offers their key market insights.
Fertilizers are always political to some extent, sitting as they do at the intersection of key commodities such as oil and gas on the one hand and food on the other. Markets for major nitrogen derivatives have often been distorted by political decisions to achieve self-sufficiency in fertilizer production, such as in, e.g. China or India. But over the past couple of months ammonia has found itself particularly in the political spotlight, in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which continues to shape and indeed re-shape global commodity markets.