Introduction To Ammonia Production - AIChE
Introduction To Ammonia Production - AIChE
Introduction To Ammonia Production - AIChE
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BACK TO BASICS
SEPTEMBER 2016
Most people associate the pungent smell of ammonia (NH3) with cleaners or
smelling salts. However, the use of ammonia in these two products represents only a
small fraction of the total global ammonia production, which was around 176
million metric tons in 2014 (1). To appreciate where the industry and technology are
today, let’s first take a look at how we got here.
Ammonia has been known for more than 200 years. Joseph Priestley, an English
chemist, first isolated gaseous ammonia in 1774. Its composition was ascertained by
French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet in 1785. In 1898, Adolph Frank and
Nikodem Caro found that N2 could be fixed by calcium carbide to form calcium
cyanamide, which could then be hydrolyzed with water to form ammonia (2):
CaO + 3C ↔ CaC2 + CO
CaC2 + N2 ↔ CaCN2 + C
did not occur until the early 20th century. Because this process required large
iron catalyst at 1,000°C and 75 barg pressure. He was able to produce larger
not feasible because it was difficult or almost impossible (at that time) to produce
Nonetheless, both Haber and Nernst pursued the high-pressure route to produce
ammonia over a catalyst. Haber finally developed a process for producing
Haber realized that the amount of ammonia formed in a single pass through a
converter was far too low to be of commercial interest. To produce more ammonia
from the makeup gas, he proposed a recycle system, and received a patent for the
equilibrium, Haber recognized that reaction rate was a determining factor. Instead
temperatures and pressure was an even more difficult task. An early mild steel
reactor lasted only 80 hours before failure due to decarbonization. Lining mild steel
reactors with soft iron (which was not vulnerable to decarbonization) and adding
grooves between the two liners to release hydrogen that had diffused through the
soft iron liner solved this problem. Other major challenges included designing a
heat exchanger to bring the inlet gas to reaction temperatures and cool the exit gas,
and devising a method to bring the catalyst to reaction temperature.
The first commercial ammonia plant based on the Haber-Bosch process was built by
BASF at Oppau, Germany. The plant went on-stream on Sept. 9, 1913, with a
▲Figure 1. This is a simplified flowsheet of the first commercial ammonia plant by BASF.
Figure 1 is a flowsheet of the first commercial ammonia plant. The reactor contained
an internal heat exchanger in addition to those shown on the schematic.
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Ammonia production has become one of the most important industries in the world.
Without the crop yield made possible by ammonia-based fertilizers and chemicals,
the global population would be at least two to three billion less than it is today (3).
Ammonia production has increased steadily since 1946 (Figure 2), and it is
estimated that the annual production of ammonia is worth more than $100 billion,
In 1983, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of AIChE’s founding, a blue ribbon
world’s ten greatest chemical engineering achievements (4). Embracing such feats
as wonder drugs, synthetic fibers, and atomic energy, the citation also included the
Withinexperience
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decades, chemical
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of fertilizer. Most of the remainder goes into the production of formaldehyde. China
produced about 32.6% of the global production in 2014, while Russia, India, and the
U.S. produced 8.1%, 7.6%, and 6.4%, respectively (1). While most of the global
production of ammonia is based on steam reforming of natural gas, significant
quantities are produced by coal gasification; most of the gasification plants are
located in China.
In the mid-1960s, the American Oil Co. installed a single-converter ammonia plant
engineered by M.W. Kellogg (MWK) at Texas City, TX, with a capacity of 544
m.t./day. The single-train design concept (Figure 3) was so revolutionary that it
pressure of 152 bar, and final compression to an operating pressure of 324 bar
occurred in a reciprocating compressor. Centrifugal compressors for the synthesis
loop and refrigeration services were also implemented, which provided significant
cost savings.
The^ key
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ammonia plants
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generating steam from the waste heat for use in steam turbine drivers
equipment size, and catalyst volumes was incorporated throughout the plant.
Most plants built between 1963 and 1993 had large single-train designs with
synthesis gas production at 25–35 bar and ammonia synthesis at 150–200 bar.
Another variation by Braun (now KBR) offered slight modifications to the basic
design. The Braun Purifier process plants utilized a primary or tubular reformer
with a low outlet temperature and high methane leakage to reduce the size and cost
of the reformer. Excess air was added to the secondary reformer to reduce the
methane content of the primary reformer exit stream to 1–2%. Excess nitrogen and
Some recently built plants have a synthesis gas generation system with only one
reformer (no secondary reformer), a pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) system for H2
exitingOur
the synthesis converter from about 12% to 19–21%. A higher conversion per
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pass, along with more-efficient turbines and compressors, further reduced energy
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of 28 GJ/m.t.
When the first single-train plant was built in the 1960s, it contained a high-pressure
synthesis loop. In 1962, MWK received an inquiry from Imperial Chemical
Industries (ICI) for a proposal to build a 544-m.t./day plant at their Severnside site.
MWK proposed a 152-bar synthesis loop instead of a 324-bar loop.
Because the development of kinetic data for the ammonia reaction at 152 bar would
take more time than MWK had to respond to the ICI inquiry, they contacted Haldor
Topsøe to support their plans. Topsøe had data covering the entire pressure range of
interest to MWK. In addition, they had a computer program for calculating the
quantity of catalyst that was required at the lower operating pressure. Even though
ICI chose Bechtel to design the plant, MWK was able to develop a flowsheet for a
Approximately twice as much catalyst was required at 152 bar as at 324 bar, an
increase that seemed economically feasible. Although the converter would need
twice the volume, the lower operating pressure would reduce the required thickness
of the pressure shell. As a result, the weight of metal required for the converter plus
the catalyst remained about the same. The lower-pressure synthesis loop also
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allowed the use of centrifugal compressors instead of reciprocating
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Another improvement was recovering heat to generate high-pressure steam for
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steam turbine drives.
Plant designs in the 21st century
During the first few years of the 21st century, many improvements were made in
ammonia plant technology that allow existing plants to increase production rates
and new plants to be built with larger and larger capacities. Competition between
▲Figure 4. Modern ammonia plants designed by KBR employ its proprietary Purifier design.
Most of the ammonia plants recently designed by KBR utilize its Purifier process
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(Figure websites use cookies to offer you a better browsing
4), which combines low-severity reforming in the primary
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N2 wash purifier downstream of the methanator to remove impurities and adjust
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the H2:N2 ratio, a proprietary waste-heat boiler design, a unitized chiller, and a
horizontal ammonia synthesis converter.
28 GJ/m.t. Because the secondary reformer uses excess air, the primary reformer
can be smaller than in conventional designs. The cryogenic purifier (shown in
Figure 4 in light green with a light orange background), which consists of an
H2:N2 ratio of the makeup gas in the ammonia loop to the optimum level. The
ammonia concentration exiting the low-pressure-drop horizontal converter is 20–
21%, which reduces energy requirements for the recycle compressor. KBR also
offers a low-pressure ammonia loop that employs a combination of magnetite
catalyst and its proprietary ruthenium catalyst.
▲Figure 5. Haldor Topsøe offers an ammonia plant design that has a proprietary side-fired
^ reformer
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reformer, which uses radiant burners to supply heat for the reforming reaction.
Haldor Topsøe also offers a proprietary iron-based synthesis catalyst, radial-flow
converters consisting of one, two, or three beds, and a proprietary bayonet-tube
waste-heat boiler. More recent developments include the S-300 and S-350
converter designs. The S-300 converter is a three-bed radial-flow configuration with
internal heat exchangers, while the S-350 design combines an S-300 converter with
an S-50 single-bed design with waste-heat recovery between converters to maximize
ammonia conversion.
m.t./day to over 1,750 m.t./day. The LAC process scheme (Figure 7) replaces the
costly and complex front end of a conventional ammonia plant with two well-
proven, reliable process units:
Ammonia Casale’s plant design has a production rate of 2,000 m.t./day. One of the
key features of this design is axial-radial technology in the catalyst bed (Figure 8).
In an axial-radial catalyst bed, most of the synthesis gas passes through the catalyst
bed in a radial direction, creating a very low pressure drop. The rest of the gas
passes down through a top layer of catalyst in an axial direction, eliminating the
need for a top cover on the catalyst bed. Casale’s axial-radial catalyst bed technology
Other technologies
Some technology suppliers have offered gas-heated reformers (GHRs) for the
production of ammonia in small-capacity plants or for capacity increases. Unlike
conventionally designed plants that use a primary reformer and secondary reformer
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operating in series, plants with GHRs use the hot process gas from the secondary
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reformer to supply heat to the primary reformer. This reduces the size of the
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primary reformer and eliminates CO2 emissions from the primary reformer stack,
making the process more environmentally friendly.
China produces more ammonia than any other country, and produces the majority
of its ammonia from coal (Figure 9).
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The basic processing units in a coal-based ammonia plant are the ASU for the
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separation of O2 and N2 from air, the gasifier, the sour gas shift (SGS) unit, the acid
gas removal unit (AGRU), and the ammonia synthesis unit. Oxygen from the ASU is
fed to the gasifier to convert coal into synthesis gas (H2, CO, CO2) and CH4. There
are many gasifier designs, but most modern gasifiers are based on fluidized beds
that operate above atmospheric pressure and have the ability to utilize different coal
After gasification, any particulate matter in the synthesis gas is removed and steam
is added to the SGS unit. The SGS process typically utilizes a cobalt and
After reducing the CO concentration in the synthesis gas to less than 1 vol%, the
syngas is fed to an AGRU, where a chilled methanol scrubbing solution (e.g.,
Rectisol) removes CO2 and sulfur from the synthesis gas. The CO2 overhead is either
vented or fed to a urea plant. The sulfur outlet stream is fed to a sulfur recover unit
(SRU).
Syngas that passes through the AGRU is typically purified by one of two methods:
a nitrogen wash unit to remove residual CO and CH4 from the syngas before it
is fed to the synthesis loop
Closing thoughts
During
^ Ourthe past 60
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to offer you aprocess technology has improved
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Plant layouts evolved
experience from
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trains websites,
in the front end and
you consent synthesis
to our loop, to single-train designs. Synthesis gas
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preparation in the front end of the plant increased from atmospheric pressure to
30–50 barg pressure. Capacities increased from 100 m.t./day to as much as 3,300
m.t./day in a single train.
To improve process control and safety, distributed control systems (DCSs) for
advanced process control, as well as safety-instrumented systems (SISs), are now
standard in ammonia plants. Before any process goes online, hazard and operability
(HAZOP) studies and layer of protection analyses (LOPAs) are performed. Advances
in training simulators and education practices ensure that operators and engineers
can perform their duties safely and effectively.
minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/ds140-nitro.xlsx (Last
Modified: Jan. 28, 2016).
2. Slack, A. V., and G. R. James (eds.), “Ammonia,” Parts I, II, and III,
Marcel Dekker, New York, NY (1974).
3. Smil, V., “Enriching the Earth – Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the
Transformation of World Food Production,” The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
(Dec. 2000).
Acknowledgments
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