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or transporting their product, plant owners are low.

ily meet the emission levels prescribed by law. Because it recovers waste water for re-use and produces ammonium salts that can be processed and sold, this technology is environmentally friendly in comparison with other cleaning methods that can produce additional emissions (for example, NOx and CO2 in the case of flaring). It has a CAPEX advantage because it requires less infrastructure investment than do other technologies. It requires neither the catalyst needed in SCR (selective catalytic reduction) nor the high operating temperatures and costly construction materials associated with incineration. Last but not least, wet scrubbing is simple to operate and it does not entail the extra safety precautions needed with, for example, flaring.

possible ways to eliminate ammonia emissions from continuous emission sources in the urea melt synthesis and purification sections, as well as from discontinuous ammonia emissions during upset conditions. Stamicarbon flare designs and recent innovations with regards to the thermal treatment of ammonia are discussed. Guidelines for a safe design of flares and for a so called “ADVANCE DESIGNTM Thermal Treatment” system are given. The paper highlights and explains the catalytic and non-catalytic combustion technologies offered and elaborates on the pros and cons of these technologies. It is shown that for eliminating continuous ammonia emissions during normal operation, the ADVANCE DESIGNTM Thermal Treatment system offered by Stamicarbon has significant advantages in comparison with flaring. Not only is the environmental impact significantly less; also both investment and operating costs are much lower.

ine for this discussion by focusing on three key questions: Which acid should preferably be used? Which outlet for the resulting ammonium salt is preferred? Should the dust and NH3 scrubbing be combined in one scrubber?  

n with Stamicarbon’s fluidized-bed urea granulation technology. By SpiralMist quenching and accelerating the granulation exhaust gas through MicroMist™ Venturi (MMV) tubes, particulate emissions as low as 10 mg/Nm3 can be achieved. An additional polishing Star Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (Star WESP) can further reduce particulate emissions to as low as 5 mg/Nm3. This paper discloses the fascinating story of the conceptual development, pilot testing, detailed design and fabrication of the Stamicarbon-Envirocare MMV scrubbers for two new grass-root urea granulation plants in the USA.

and the 1st stage evaporator heater, the steam consumption can be lowered considerably. For instance, for a urea melt plant with prilling as finishing technique, the turbine extraction steam consumption can be lowered from 868 kgsteam/tonproduct to 558 kgsteam/tonproduct. The design challenges for the critical equipment in this low energy concept with respect to corrosion and sizing have been addressed and solved.

d by Stamicarbon and IPCOS combines the benefits from MPC and Nonlinear optimization of Urea plants into one solution.

ralChem co-operates in joint research with Moscow State University and Stamicarbon. UralChem is to revamp the urea plant of its subsidiary in Perm, the operating company Mineral Fertilisers OJSC (PMF) Perm

rojects: Reference projects (Conventional) 

melt feed to finishing: 75-125 kg/h (165-275 lb/h) What can we do about this ? •Reduction of the ammonia emissions via scrubber technologies •More specifically we will see scrubbing with aqueous acid solutions is used broadly

f publications available, but little data for validation

wanted interconnections for the minimum of investments. Stamicarbon was asked to come up with options for realizing that aspiration, making maximum use of the existing equipment or – if needed – reusing second-hand HP equipment available from elsewhere within the company. Stamicarbon presented two options, the first based on the customer’s initial revamp ideas, the second on a custom adaptation of Stamicarbon’s EVOLVE FINISHING™ UAN Design. The benefits of the EVOLVE FINISHING™ UAN Design (the second option) over the “conventional” revamp (the first option) were so evident that no further discussion was needed. The project, option 2, is currently being executed. This paper shows that even older plants can be brought up to date for limited investment.

acity.

highlight the revamp capabilities of Stamicarbon, as much in terms of developing the optimum process scheme as in terms of troubleshooting and elegantly solving capacity limitations.

an producers • Investments drivers for North American projects • Key take-aways

-aways

d Training 6. Conclusions

t to boost yield, enhance the nutrients.

vely hit the market?