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Tag: Production

Nitrogen Industry News Roundup

OCI subsidiary Fertiglobe says that it has partnered with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), to enable the sale by ADNOC of the first cargo of blue ammonia to Itochu in Japan, for use in fertilizer production. Fertiglobe, a 58% − 42% partnership between OCI and ADNOC respectively, will produce the blue ammonia at its Fertil plant at Ruwais in Abu Dhabi for delivery to ADNOC’s customers in Japan. This represent the first production milestone of a planned scale-up of blue ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to include a low-cost debottlenecking program at Fertil. In addition, it was announced in June that Fertiglobe will join ADNOC and sovereign wealth fund ADQ as a partner in a new world-scale 1.0 million t/a blue ammonia project at Ta’Ziz in Ruwais, subject to regulatory approvals. The design contract for this project has been awarded, with a final investment decision expected in 2022 and start-up targeted for 2025. A feasibility study was also agreed in July betweenh the state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (Jogmec), Inpex and JERA as well as ADNOC to explore the possibility of producing 1.0 million t/a of blue ammonia in Abu Dhabi and transporting it to Japan.

Ammonium salt formation conditions based on measured vapour pressures

ASRL has conducted studies on ammonia destruction in the sulphur recovery unit (SRU) for over a decade1-5 . Other studies at ASRL have investigated mechanisms for ammonium salt formation and deposition downstream in the Claus plant, as well as the potential sources of ammonia (NH3 )in a gas plant7 . A less understood subject is addressing how much residual NH3 is tolerable or at what temperature will residual NH3 cause ammonium salt deposition. In this study, existing knowledge on thermal stability of ammonium salts and new measurements have been used to identify the gaseous components required for deposition, through reversible vapour pressure expressions.

Oil assets and ‘net zero’

Mining giant BHP’s decision this August to dispose of its oil and gas assets to Woodside Petroleum (see Industry News, page 11) in a deal estimated at $29 billion is certainly eye-catching. But it is also part of a larger pattern of divestment of fossil fuel assets by oil and gas companies who have dominated the industry for decades. It follows divestment by investors, institutional and otherwise, as efforts to tackle climate change consistently point towards a future where we will be using gas, and especially oil, far less – indeed, where many are talking about achieving ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by the middle of the century or shortly thereafter.