Tag: Production

Debopam Chaudhuri of Fluor Daniel India Pvt Ltd and Michiel Baerends of Fluor B.V. Netherlands investigate how SO2 impacts the Claus furnace temperature in an SRU and the ways to mitigate it. This article studies the extent of quenching experienced in the Claus furnace with varying amounts of SO2 in the Claus feed. A case study is presented based on real operating data of a refinery Claus plant with a feed gas cocktail that includes substantial SO2 recovered from a regenerative flue gas desulphurisation unit.

The modern sulphur industry is in effect a response to the environmental problems created by the presence of sulphur compounds in oil and gas, and the consequent release of sulphur dioxide when they are burned. The tens of millions of tonnes extracted, formed, traded and used for sulphuric acid production every year would otherwise be entering the atmosphere and causing health issues, especially in major cities, or returning as acid rain. One of the most recent step changes in sulphur recovery has come from the extension of rules on sulphur content of fuels that have been commonplace for road vehicles for many years into the maritime transport sphere. The International Maritime Organisation has mandated a reduction in sulphur content of bunker fuels to 0.5% worldwide, and 0.1% in busy shipping regions that have become designated emissions control areas (ECAs). Because bunker fuels were made from refinery residues, they often had high concentrations of sulphur in them; the limit before 2020 was 3.5%. As a result, a recent paper by two climate scientists calculates that global SO2 emissions have dropped by as much as 10% since 2020 because of the IMO limits. Given that atmospheric sulphur dioxide is responsible for an estimated 20-90,000 preventable deaths per year, this is surely a good thing.

Metso Outotec’s annual general meeting (AGM) in early May approved the board of directors’ proposal to change the company name to Metso Corporation. “After the successful integration of Metso and Outotec, we will focus on growing a strong unified Metso company and brand,” says President and CEO of Metso, Pekka Vauramo. “We have combined two valuable companies into one strong Metso. Our focus is clear: we continue enabling sustainable modern life and transforming the industry with a clear strategy and strong culture, supported by a name that is short yet established and well recognized among all our stakeholders. Services are an extremely important part of our business, requiring a strong name.”

SABIC’s general assembly has approved the appointment of Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh as SABIC CEO, and an executive member of the board of directors until April 9, 2025 – the Board’s tenure end date. In its previous meeting, the Board of Directors, had agreed to appoint Dr. Mohammed Yahya Al-Qahtani as vice chairman. At the meeting, Khalid Al-Dabbagh, SABIC Chairman, noted that the past year had been difficult one, though “SABIC managed to face the challenges by intensifying its development programs to achieve record numbers in terms of production, sales, and revenues that exceeded the achievements of the previous year. However, its net profits have not met its aspirations and have shrunk compared to last year due to the worsening global conditions.” He also said that SABIC is pursuing plans to manage working capital through the Cash Cost Transformation program, and is sparing no effort to achieve sustainable growth, adopt long-term strategic goals for sustainability, and reduce emissions related to the life cycle of its products across the value chain.

Johnson Matthey (JM) has signed an LCH™ technology licence with Equinor and Linde Engineering for H2H Saltend, one of the UK’s largest low carbon hydrogen projects. JM was selected alongside EPC partner Linde Engineering for the major FEED contract by Equinor. The licence counts towards JM’s milestone of winning more than ten additional large-scale projects by 2023/24.

Combining a deep scientific knowledge, engineering and field experience with state-of-the art technology, Johnson Matthey is proud to introduce its next generation of digital simulation tools via its JM-LEVO™ digital portals to further support customers in achieving their operational and sustainability targets.

Advances in clean hydrogen and ammonia production is fuelling worldwide interest in a new market for hydrogen and ammonia to provide a reliable low-carbon energy future. Ammonia cracking, the dissociation of ammonia back into hydrogen, delivers a pathway to large-scale sustainable hydrogen production. In this article KBR, Johnson Matthey, thyssenkrupp Uhde, Duiker, Proton Ventures and Casale report on their technologies and approaches to ammonia cracking in a low carbon economy.

Last year, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the associated disruption to fertilizer and grain exports from both countries, there were dire predictions of the impact upon global food supply. That the worst of these predictions have not so far come to pass is in no small part due to the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 to allow exports of grain and fertilizers from Black Sea ports. According to the UN, since last July, some 29.5 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine via the Black Sea, including nearly 600,000 tonnes in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen. Before the war, Ukrainian grain fed the equivalent of up to 400 million people worldwide, and the deal ensured that Ukrainian grain exports ‘only’ fell by 5 million t/a over the past year.

Anglo American’s CEO Duncan Wanblad spoke in detail about the company’s new strategy for the Woodsmith mine during an annual results presentation on 23rd February. Selected highlights are provided below.

Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh is the new CEO of SABIC. He is also the current chairman of SABIC Agri-Nutrients, the company’s fertilizer division.