Tag: Maire

Maire Tecnimont has announced the resignation of Pierroberto Folgiero from the positions of Director, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective from May 15, 2022. Interim appointments to senior positions are subject to article 2386 of the Italian Civil Code, with a list drawn up at the time of appointment. However, with designated successor Alessandra Conte unwilling to accept the position, it has passed to Alessandro Bernini, previously Group Chief Financial Officer of the company since 2013, who will now also become the new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Maire Tecnimont. The company board has also conferred on Bernini executive powers for the management and coordination of the Group's activities. The resolutions will be effective from 15 May 2022. Alessandro Bernini will remain in office, according to the law, until the next shareholders' meeting of the Company.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the consequent sanctions imposed by European and North American countries, and fears over further sanctions and a widening of the conflict have had sent a systemic shock through the world trading system. Stock markets dropped sharply, and the Russian rouble lost 30% of its value. The most immediate short and medium term impact is likely to come from Russian banks being cut off from the SWIFT international payment system, making exports of commodities more difficult, although no direct restrictions or embargos have been imposed on Russian products as of time of writing.

Saipem, Stamicarbon, Toyo Engineering Corporation and KBR showcase recent projects and latest technology for urea and nitric acid plants.

Improvements to equipment and materials are driving greater operational performance and higher efficiencies at urea plants. Recent advances are reviewed.

Stamicarbon offers advanced scrubbing technologies for fertilizer granulation plants and prilling towers. This article describes the technology and experience with the second operational MMV scrubber, which is installed at the Dakota Gasification Company’s (DGC) urea granulation plant, and highlights the successful pilot test with its JV scrubbing technology.

State-of-the art technologies offered by thyssenkrupp, Casale and Stamicarbon are helping make nitrates production more secure and sustainable.

Topsoe has begun operations at a demonstration plant for the production of methanol from biogas. The aim is to validate the company’s electrified technology for cost-competitive production of sustainable methanol from biogas as well as other products. The project is supported by the EUDP Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program and is developed together with Aarhus University, Sintex A/S, Blue World Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Energinet A/S, Aalborg University, and Plan-Energi. The demonstration plant is located at Aarhus University’s research facility in Foulum, and will have an annual capacity of 7.9 t/a of CO 2 -neutral methanol from biogas and green power and is scheduled to be fully operational by the beginning of 2022. It uses Topsoe’s eSMR ™ technology, which is CO 2 -neutral when based on biogas as feedstock and green electricity for heating. It also uses half the CO 2 that makes up about 40% of biogas and typically is costly to separate and vent in production of grid quality biogas.

China’s private sector Shenghong Petrochemical refining complex is targeting a startup in late November, following the receipt of its first cargo of crude in October. The greenfield refining complex in the eastern Lianyungang petrochemical zone has a capacity of 16 million t/a, including a 320,000 bbl/d crude unit – the largest single stream CDU in China – and a 76,000 bbl/d naphtha reformer. Product capacities include 56,000 bbl/d of gasoline, 41,000 bbl/d of diesel and 32,000 bbl/d of jet fuel. Construction began in mid-2019, delayed from 2018 by late approval of its environmental impact assessment, but has been achieved within two months of the scheduled completion date in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. Shenghong Petrochemical is owned by Eastern Shenghong, a producer of petrochemical products and chemical fibres.

More than 230 delegates from 45 countries participated in CRU’s Sustainable Fertilizer Production Technology Forum, 20-23 September 2021. To highlight this successful virtual event, we report on keynote and selected technical presentations.

Improvements to nutrient use efficiency (NUE), particularly for nitrogen, can deliver dual environmental and economic benefits. We report on recent developments in nitrogen management and global progress on NUE.