Gouda Refractories continues to upgrade its refractory solutions for the sulphur recovery industry as well as developing new superior products for installations operating at higher temperatures due to oxygen enrichment.
As plants move towards full unit control, Jochen Geiger of Ametek Process Instruments provides an overview of how the latest sulphur plant analysers are providing greater insight into sulphur plant operations.
A sulphuric acid plant in Northwest China is looking to capture its low-grade heat for re-use. With the support of Alfa Laval’s semi-welded plate heat exchangers and energy recovery expertise, in winter, all of the recovered low-grade heat could be put back into their system with 30% being used in production and the remaining 70% going to heating. During the summer, 14% of the energy that is no longer needed for indoor heating could be used to preheat boiler feedwater. This would enable them to significantly reduce the amount of fossil fuels used in production, without redesigning their entire factory footprint.
Tecnimont, part of MAIRE’s Integrated E&C Solutions business unit, has signed a letter of award with ADNOC for the onshore processing plant of the Hail and Ghasha Development Project. The award was signed at ADIPEC, the world’s largest energy summit. The project aims to operate with net zero CO 2 emissions, in part due to the facility’s CO 2 carbon capture and recovery units, which will allow the capture and storage of CO 2 . The project will capture 1.5 million t/a of CO 2 , taking ADNOC’s committed carbon capture capacity to almost 4 million t/a. The company recently announced its decision to double its carbon capture capacity to 10 million t/a by 2030. The Hail and Ghasha CO 2 will be captured, transported onshore and stored underground, while low-carbon hydrogen will be produced to replace fuel gas and further reduce emissions, according to ADNOC. The project will also use power from nuclear power plants and renewable sources from the grid.
Following the completion of expansion work on the ultra-sour gas Shah field in May 2023, production has been ramped up. Occidental, which owns 40% of the Shah project and which operates the field in conjunction with ADONC Sour Gas, reported in July that it had achieved record output at Shah, with gross gas sales reaching 722 million scfd in Q2 2023 (equivalent to 1.1 billion scf/d of raw gas, which is 23% H2S and 10% CO 2 ). The expansion has taken processing capacity at Shah to 1.45 billion scf/d and forms part of the UAE’s plans to achieve gas self-sufficiency by the end of the decade. The expansion was conducted by Saipem, who were awarded a $510 million contract in 2021 to expand output from 1.3 billion scf/d to the current 1.45 billion scf/d. Work was completed two months ahead of schedule, according to Occidental.
As producers and regulators become increasingly concerned about the ‘circular economy’, there is increasing focus on regenerating waste sulphuric acid for re-use.
In this case study Johannes Derfler of AGRU Kunststofftechnik reports on how a new condenser design, engineered by OMV and INWA AG using PFA sheets from AGRU, was implemented at OMV refinery in Austria to address maintenance problems due to corrosion of the wet sulphuric acid (WSA) condensers and the follow-up units. As a result of the renovation, maintenance costs have been cut in half, while both maintenance intervals and overall operational safety has increased.
A new burner design for the combustion of natural gas with either combustion air or pure oxygen as the oxidiser has been developed by CS Combustion Solutions. The new Oxijet® -Burner has been designed to perform both start-up and main operation functions with one burner. The key objectives, challenges, and burner design considerations are discussed.
Ammonia production at Billingham in Teesside looks set to end, bringing to a close a history of production that dates back almost a century.
Intermodal Solutions Group (ISG) is introducing a container-based storage, transport and ship loading system for bulk fertilizers. The company’s innovative Pit to Ship Solutions ™ system could transform fertilizer logistics and help the sector meet its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals.