RNZ Group is positioning itself as the most innovative and sustainable fertilizer producer in the UAE. In partnership with Shell, the company has been manufacturing sulphur-enhanced fertilizers using Thiogro technology since the end of 2022. Raza Soomar , RNZ’s managing director, provides an overview of the company and highlights recent business successes.
We look at current progress towards the greater use of recovered phosphorus, and whether there are lessons to learn from the success of the fast-growing carbon capture industry. We also highlight two pioneering European companies, EasyMining and Glatt, who are racing to bringing recovered phosphorus products to market.
Methanol continues to be a front runner among alternative fuels for the shipping industry. However, concerns remain over the availability and cost of green and blue methanol.
The nickel market has been through a period of unprecedented change over the past few years due to demand for batteries for electric vehicles, with Indonesia becoming a centre for production via high pressure acid leaching.
As producers and regulators become increasingly concerned about the ‘circular economy’, there is increasing focus on regenerating waste sulphuric acid for re-use.
Evonik explores the development of catalyst reuse and how recycled hydroprocessing catalysts can be successfully applied in tail gas treating units to deliver cost and performance gains.
Incorporating sulphur into polymers is known to improve their properties. New research is looking into the varied world of sulphur co-polymers, unlocking new materials for batteries, structural applications and clean technology.
Lithium miner Ioneer Ltd has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Shell Canada Energy for the supply of sulphur to Ioneer for its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Ionner said in a statement that “securing the supply of key reagents for ore processing is an important step along the critical pathway to developing the Rhyolite Ridge project”. Under the memorandum, Ioneer will purchase up to 500,000 t/a of high-quality sulphur from Shell, which would fulfil the estimated annual sulphur requirement for the Project.
In its final report on the June 2019 explosion and fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions in southwest Philadelphia, the US Chemical Safety Board has said that US refineries need to strengthen their safeguards surrounding the use of hydrofluoric acid, and has also recommended that the US Environmental Protection Agency take steps to improve its oversight of the chemical, which is used as an alkylation agent.
T he end of August saw a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society by Dr Mark Maslin of University College London. Widely reported, it looked at the prospects for sulphur production in an era of declining fossil fuel use, concluding that there could be “a shortfall in the annual supply of sulphuric acid of between 100 and 320 million tonnes by 2040, depending on how quickly decarbonisation occurs”. It added that “unless action is taken to reduce the need for sulphuric acid, a massive increase in environmentally damaging mining will be required to fulfil this resource demand.”