Tag: Hydrogen

Maire Tecnimont subsidiary MyRechemical has been awarded a basic engineering contract for a waste to methanol and hydrogen plant to be located in Empoli, Tuscany. The scope of work includes the basic engineering design of the plant and the provision of necessary documentation to start the plant’s public authorisation process with the Tuscany region. The basic engineering phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Once completed, the plant will process 256,000 t/a of non-recyclable waste and will produce 125,000 t/a of methanol and 1,400 t/a of hydrogen. The plant will use MyRechemical’s chemical conversion technology which allows the recovery of waste that cannot be mechanically recycled, or other types of unsortable dry waste. The carbon and hydrogen in the waste are converted via gasification into synthesis gas, which is used to produce low-carbon methanol and hydrogen.

Maire Tecnimont’s innovation and licensing company Stamicarbon has been selected as the licensor for a urea project in sub-Saharan Africa, its first license in the region. Stamicarbon will deliver the process design package for the front-end engineering and design for a 4,000 t/d urea melt and granulation plant. The urea melt plant with a pool reactor will use Stamicarbon’s MP Flash design, a melt concept with improved energy efficiency, entailing a significant reduction of steam consumption. The minimal equipment items result in a significant reduction of the footprint and the overall capital cost of the plant. Less equipment also allows for a reduction in maintenance costs and OPEX savings.

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

A record rise in gas prices at the end of August triggered a spate of ammonia production curtailments across Europe. These included major shutdown announcements from CF Fertilisers UK, Grupa Azoty, Yara International and others.

Effective and efficient wastewater management is a vital task that is being aided by the introduction of new treatment technologies. The recovery of economically-valuable nutrients from wastewaters is another priority.

Saudi Aramco has confirmed a phased development approach for its $100 billion-plus Jafurah unconventional onshore gas project, which is expected to produce up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas by 2030, raising the company’s overall gas production capacity by 50% over that time frame. Aramco says that the first development phase for the Jafurah gas plant is likely to come on stream by 2025, and it is progressing with the phased development of a project that will reach a raw gas processing capacity of 3.1 bcf/d.

Marco van Son and Frank Bela of Comprimo share lessons learned from SRU war stories, including: inadvertent NH3 destruction in an oxidising atmosphere, rich amine emulsion, SWS fixed valve trays, H2 spiking of SRU feed, rich amine flash drum early warning, V-ball fuel gas safety shutoff valves, TGTU methyl mercaptan, and commissioning and Murphy’s Law.

CRU has appointed Zain Ajlouni as its regional director of sales, marketing and customer services for the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA). She will be Dubai-based and cover the mining, metals and fertilizer sectors across the region.

Some 410 delegates from 208 companies and 45 countries participated virtually in the IFA Global Sustainability Conference, 28-31 March 2022. We report on the main highlights of this four-day event.

The recently-published IEA Ammonia Technology Roadmap sets out a future pathway for decarbonising the nitrogen industry. New technology options for low-carbon ammonia production are emerging and project activity is on the rise.