Tag: Urea

Alistair Wallace , Head of Fertilizer Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for nitrogen.

US agricultural demand is expected to pick up in 1Q 2020, and farm inventories are low.

Maire Tecnimont and its urea licensing subsidiary Stamicarbon celebrated the 10th anniversary of Tecnimont’s purchase of Stamicarbon from DSM at Limbricht Castle in the Netherlands. The event, attended by Stamicarbon employees and the management of both companies, was an opportunity for the companies to reflect on the past ten years, as well as future developments and opportunities. From Maire Tecnimont’s point of view, it has enabled them to become a leading technology provider for urea production, and strengthened the group’s identity as a major technology licensor and EPC contractor for fertilizer plants. Stamicarbon was able to broaden its value proposition thanks to effective synergies with the group’s sister companies, while leveraging Maire Tecnimont’s network to expand its international footprint.

CRU’s Nitrogen + Syngas conference and exhibition takes place this year at the World Forum, The Hague, in The Netherlands, from 17 to 19 February 2020.

Brazil is the main centre for new nitrogen demand in Latin America, but in spite of major oil and gas discoveries in the 2000s, has failed to develop a downstream nitrogen fertilizer industry.

Liquid ammonia is one of the feeds to the urea plant. It typically comes from the ammonia plant at a pressure of about 20 bar. In the urea plant this liquid ammonia is further pumped up to synthesis pressure conditions, sometimes after passing through a buffer tank, a heater and/or a filter. According to the ammonia phase diagram, when liquid ammonia flashes to atmospheric pressure temperatures can drop to as low as -33°C under worst case conditions. In case one or more of the above mentioned items of equipment needs to be drained for maintenance, a decision needs to be made where to drain this liquid ammonia. In a urea plant the options are the ammonia water tank or the vent stack, but which is best option?

The theme of the 26th Arab Fertilizer Association Annual Fertilizer Forum & Exhibition is ‘Reshaping the industry future’. This year’s Forum will be held at the Semiramis Intercontinental, Cairo, 11-13 February 2020. New AFA Secretary General, Raed Soub , provides a preview of what is the Arab region’s showcase annual fertilizer event.

We look ahead at fertilizer industry prospects for the next 12 months, including supply and demand growth, and explore the key agricultural, macroeconomic and geopolitical drivers likely to shape the market during 2020.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

Most urea plants operate a two-stage evaporator section. Both stages operate under vacuum pressure conditions and both pressures and temperatures are critical to achieve the right urea product quality. It is not always easy to determine the exact cause of non-optimum values for certain process parameters like, for example, low vacuum pressure in the second stage evaporator. Many factors can influence this vacuum pressure as discussed below.