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an be solved in two different ways, either with an in–line and/or with an end-of-pipe solution. The combination of the equilibrium reaction and the presence of inerts make an in-line solution not feasible. Therefore end-of-pipe solutions to eliminate ammonia emissions in both urea melt and finishing plants are still needed to obtain a green and environmentally sustainable process. This paper covers the different available end-of-pipe solutions such as absorbers (including emergency absorber), acidic scrubbers and flares. These options have a wide range of operating windows for further optimization and achieving optimum environmental performance. Flaring reduces the ammonia emission by converting the ammonia into carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Therefore, the environmental impact evaluation - after implementation of the new end-of-pipe solution - needs to be reviewed, especially when applying continuous emission flare because the environmental impact of these new type emissions are not more tolerable than ammonia emission. Stamicarbon believes that a green urea process combines optimum process conditions with a good choice of end-of-pipe solutions. The available alternatives for end-of-pipe solutions target an optimum “Triple P” balance, i.e. the balancing between financial-economical achievements (profit), environmental impact (planet) and public acceptance (people).

d upon natural gas produce a ratio of 1.3 to 1.5 carbon dioxide to ammonia of which about 18% is in the form of flue-gas. •Ammonia plants based upon coal gasification produce a ratio of 2.7 to 2.8 ton per ton of ammonia

. The Urea Synthesis section had a nameplate capacity of 908 tonnes per day, while the urea granulation section consists of two trains (North and South), each with a nameplate capacity of 544 tonnes per day. These two trains are independent of each other. Over the last 20 years, the Fort urea plant has been operated at rates up to 1250 tonnes per day while producing good quality granular product. Well over 6 million tonnes of urea have been produced. It was decided to convert the Fort Saskatchewan granulation trains to Stamicarbon technology. The conversion project was completed in three months1 and the granulation plant was restarted on September 30, 2003. This paper presents a summary of the project, the changes completed, the operating results, potential savings in operating costs, and the product characteristics associated with the conversion.

has been given to developing and optimizing the synthesis- and recycling-section in the urea plant, that in the last decade increased attention has been given to developments and optimizations regarding Urea shaping technology (granulation and prilling), whereas over the entire Urea history, also much attention has been given to storage and handling, indicating the importance of product quality, storage and handling. The most important problems occurring in Storage and Handling are directly or indirectly related to (results of) caking, like lump-formation and dusting. Therefore the mechanism of caking of Urea has been made the subject of a paper because we realize that large efforts and considerable amounts of money can be involved with the consequences of caking. In this paper the mechanism of caking via water sorption and desorption is discussed. Especially the caking, spreading through a heap of Urea, observed even in Urea of good quality will be highlighted. This is often caused by moisture migration. The mechanisms of caking are then explained by discussing some examples from practice.

Stripper replaced a bi-metallic designed Snamprogetti stripper in 2003 which suffered extreme corrosion issues within a short period after startup in the bottom channel section of the vessel that caused persistent operational outages and huge financial losses. The problems encountered with the original HP bi-metallic stripper and results of the decision to replace the bi-metallic tube stripper with a HP Safurex® stripper are addressed. The subject Safurex® stripper was in service for 850 operational days from March 2003 up until November 2006, after which the subject stripper was returned to Canada and installed in another Snamprogetti urea plant in 2007. The subject stripper has been in operation in Canada since 3Q 2007 and has had no issues in its new location as of this writing.

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nless steel loose liners are commonly applied. With a loose liner a hazardous situation may arise if a leak occurs and carbamate containing fluids enters the space between liner and carbon steel. For this reason Stamicarbon designed a system which continuously monitors for leaks to allow safe operation of said equipment.

n the system is checked by opening atmospheric valves and breaking the vacuum on a defined frequency of one month. We could not check the blockage on this defined frequency, we performed a blockage test after a period of 10 months; blockage was found in valves V-16 & V-17 in the leak detection system of the HP Stripper. After further investigation it revealed that the blockage in the leak detection system was inside the stripper top dome. We tried to de-block the system with instrument air having a pressure of 7 bar and with low pressure steam but this failed. Then on the running plant we tried to de-block using an argon cylinder having a pressure of 100 bar and de-blocked the lines at 30 bar. The root cause of the blockage was corrosion inside the leak detection tube due to moisture ingress through the atmospheric valves. The equipment condition was found healthy on inspection during a turnaround.

long to the so-called accident plants. For these plants it is required that the security is improved constantly. The management wants to constantly improve the environmental-protection and upgrading the technological conditions to increase the production and to save energy.

ay the equipment is constructed  eliminates most of the measuring principles available. Radio-active level measurements are common practice in urea synthesis equipment, but there is a tendency in the market to eliminate radio-active level measurements in Urea plants, due to several reasons (maintainability, public aversion against radio-activity, legislation, etc). During the symposium of 2008 the radar level measurement was introduced as an alternative for radio-active level measurements in the Urea synthesis equipment, based on experience of a few radar measurements in operation at that moment. Currently, 4 years ahead, radar technology became Stamicarbon’s standard for level measurement applications in the urea synthesis. This document gives an update on our latest developments, experiences and requirements, which results in a reliable radar level measurement in Urea synthesis equipment.

tripper performance.  The stripper level indication (Radioactive type) LT-1043 got erratic at our plant and we sustained plant operation without this indication by: 1. Keep the plant load constant and avoid any changes in plant load.  2. Observe the stripper outlet temperature as this temperature will change with increase or decrease of the stripper bottom level.  3. Observe the steam consumption of the stripper as the steam flow will change with a change in the liquid level. 4. Observe the N/C Ratio and keep it constant. 5. Observe the downstream section pressure at constant plant load.

ia inside the process equipment is essential from a safety,environmental andeconomica lpoint of view

gas lines was again AISI316L-UG, because there were still some such tubes in stock, dating from the time the plant was constructed.The affected areas showed evidence of stress corrosion cracking (SCC), but reduction in the wall thickness was also observed. This was attributable to condensation corrosion, which is normally observed in the gas lines. It was most severe in the heat-affected zones (HAZ) near the welds. The affected elbows were subjected to metallographic examination in Brazil as well as in Stamicarbon laboratory. This paper presents the investigations carried out on the elbows and piping removed from the urea synthesis gas lines in order to find the root cause of the leakages. 

ase and thus the efficiency of the reactor will go down. However, by changing the internals of the reactor (using a different type of trays) the efficiency in the reactor can be improved. In the past two types of trays were used in Stamicarbon Urea plants: the conventional trays and the high efficiency trays. Now a new type of trays is introduced, which improves the efficiency of the reactor and thus results in savings of the high-pressure steam consumption. These trays are called the Siphon Jet Pumps. The first trays have successfully been installed in SKW Piesteritz. In this paper the Siphon Jet Pumps are introduced and several aspects around these trays are discussed.

weld overlays) are in passive state

to use this information to take corrective action and prevent recurrences. Stamicarbon has been recording major process safety incidents in urea facilities for 48 years, but because they are on the whole so few and far between it is questionable whether they provide sufficient input to identify common causes and inadequate protective measures for them to be corrected before a serious incident actually takes place. Near misses and lower-consequence incidents are increasingly thought of as the most important indicators of major accidents; therefore, we have expanded our database of major process safety accidents to include them in the interests of improving understanding of process safety.  Besides our major incident database we also consult internet news channels and fertilizer industry associations to find more incidents within urea manufacturing facilities. But it has to be acknowledged that we will only hear about major events from these sources; lower-consequence incidents are unlikely to see the light of day. So we are left with lagging indicators instead of the leading indicators that are so badly needed!  Also, incident databases at customers’ individual sites contain insufficient data points to uncover common causes. This is why urea manufacturers need to work together and build an incident database from which all can benefit. To enable the urea community to learn more from near misses and low-consequence accidents, Stamicarbon is launching a process incident sharing portal service for its customers. The service will contain the following:  • Stamicarbon will host the HSE platform and subscribing members can access the posted HSE information at any time, free of charge.   • Subscribing members will periodically receive a report by e-mail to learn about relevant accidents and near misses and possible improvements in terms of process design and operational practices.   • Customers who report an incident or near miss to Stamicarbon can receive tailored HSE support under an applicable service agreement. • The incident report and other relevant HSE information that Stamicarbon considers appropriate to share with its customers can also be downloaded from the HSE portal. The procedure for reporting incidents is as follows.  • To obtain access to the HSE portal the customer will first need to register on the Stamicarbon HSE portal http://hse.stamicarbon.com . • Customers will initially provide a rough description of their process safety event by filling out a simple incident notification form, which is designed to minimize their administrative effort.  • Stamicarbon’s HSE engineer will contact the issuer of the notification to find out in detail exactly what happened. Further administration will be handled by Stamicarbon.

actices’ give guidelines about the necessity and sizing of emergency relief systems, aiming at protection of the plant under emergency conditions. Traditionally, disposal of the ammonia containing gases from such emergency relief systems (safety valves or rupture discs) from urea plants has been done as direct discharge into the atmosphere. Recently a study was conducted by Stamicarbon to see whether this practice is acceptable from a safety point of view, taking into account progressing insight gained in the subject of emergency relief in recent years.

duction. At the same time, we must expect that society will focus even more on safety and environmental issues associated with fertilizers, such as Health and safety risks from working in fertilizer plants Major accident risks, to avoid disasters like the explosion in Toulouse Terrorist acts, using fertilizers for bomb-making Pollution risks from the manufacturing processes and from the use of fertilizers Climate change and the role of fertilizers and agriculture Use of limited energy and mineral resources, such as phosphates The public perception of Good Citizenship has changed over the years. Today, many people look upon the chemical industry as a burden to future sustainability. This perception will deepen if the industry has a poor safety and environmental performance. It is vital to perform well and to eliminate bad practices. Otherwise we must expect that much stricter regulations will be enforced upon the industry. In this paper I will focus on the 3 first bullet points above, those that are related to safety and product stewardship, with some practical advice on actions the industry should take in order to be in command and avoiding over regulation.