This year appears to be determined to illustrate the limitations of forecasting. Projecting trend lines into the future, looking at expected completion dates for major projects and global economic projections are all worthwhile activities, and can provide valuable insights for business people, but any prediction is apt to be derailed by what one of our prime ministers supposedly once described airily as; “events, dear boy, events.”
Fluor/GAA continue to strive to improve the performance of the D’GAASS out-of-pit liquid sulphur degassing technology based on commercial operating experience and ever-changing environmental emissions regulations. T. Chow and S. Fenderson of Fluor Energy & Chemicals/ Goar, Allison & Associates discuss operating experience that has led to the improvements of the new patent-pending third generation D’GAASS 3G technology.
Kuwait is in the middle of a major overhaul and expansion of its refining capacity, as well as boosting LPG output and sour gas processing.
R. Kranenburg of Duiker discusses the latest applications of SCO units in refineries and petrochemical complexes. The SCO unit is typically integrated in the sulphur recovery unit and is intended for processing ammonia, while also treating the tail gases from the upstream SRU.
What a difference two months can make. When I came to write the editorial for the January/February issue, the talk was all about climate change and sustainable production in the wake of Australia’s bushfire crisis, but these days there appears to be only one story that it is obsessing the world, and that of course is the Covid19 pandemic. The focus of concern has pivoted in recent days and weeks away from China and east Asia, which seem – hopefully – to have weathered the worst of the storm so far, and across to Europe and North America, where some difficult weeks and perhaps months clearly lie ahead.
Russia’s urea research & design institute, NIIK, introduces the Foam Hydrofilter – a completely new type of wet scrubber for air pollution control at urea plants. The Hydrofilter offers the same operational efficiency as many conventional scrubbing systems while avoiding many of their drawbacks.
We look at state-of-the-art technology used in phosphate and potash mining, including equipment and systems for excavation, tailings thickening, transport, tunnelling and processing.
Concerns are growing about the health impacts of the heavy metals present in phosphate-based fertilizers and their accumulation in soils. In response, regulators and international agencies are currently seeking to limit human exposure to these potentially harmful elements. Encouragingly, a number of sustainable options with minimal market impacts are available, as Mikhail Pleschev, Boris Levin and Juan von Gernet of PhosAgro explain.
India consumed just under 57 million tonnes of fertilizers in 2018/19, cementing its position as the world’s second largest fertilizer marketplace. MP Sukumaran Nair provides an update on the country’s fertilizer industry, its continuing import reliance and the strong influence of government policy.
The end of winter each year is always a good time to reflect on the state of the fertilizer industry. This year was no exception with the usual flurry of fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2019 emerging mid-February. Less of a flurry, actually, more of an avalanche.