Nitrogen+Syngas
The magazine for the nitrogen and syngas industries

Latest issue:
November/December 2019

• Plant Manager+ Problem No. 57: Higher moisture content in urea melt due to vacuum pressure issues
  To illustrate the direct effect of vacuum level on the moisture content of urea prills please refer to the wt-% urea melt graph for aqueous urea at 140°C. As the absolute pressure increases (lower vacuum) the urea melt declines in concentration (water content % increases). With this illustrative graph, one can quickly see the effect of suction pressure on the moisture content of the urea melt. A non-optimum vacuum pressure is one cause of high moisture content in the urea melt, but there are also other possible causes as you will read in the round table discussion below. Sharing troubleshooting cases leads to a much wider view on the possible causes and helps to solve problems more quickly.

  Full article: 955 words | add to basket (£25)

• Trends in the urea market
  The urea market is currently still oversupplied and operating rates are low. In spite of Chinese plant closures and the potential impact of sanctions on Iran, continuing capacity expansions could keep prices depressed for some years to come.

  Full article: 2,984 words | add to basket (£25)

• Chemicals as energy carriers
  Hydrogen, methanol and even ammonia have all been suggested as a way of transferring energy, perhaps renewable energy, produced or gathered in one place to a destination where the energy is required.

  Full article: 2,463 words | add to basket (£25)

• Carbon pricing and the siting of syngas capacity
  This year, Canada is beginning to implement a federal carbon pricing scheme, while the EU's emissions trading scheme has finally moved out of the previous oversupply of permits via its Market Stability Reserve programme. Will these merely drive capacity to non-regulated environments ('carbon leakage'), or encourage innovation into lower carbon production of ammonia and methanol?

  Full article: 3,097 words | add to basket (£25)

• 2019 AIChE Ammonia Safety Symposium
  Venkat Pattabathula reports on the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Safety in Ammonia Plants and Related Facilities Symposium, held 8-12 September in San Francisco, USA.

  Full article: 2,674 words | add to basket (£25)

• Nitrogen efficiency use and environmental sustainability
  Enhanced efficiency fertilizers will have a role to play in the sustainable increases in crop reduction that will be required to feed a growing population. Controlled release and stabilised urea products are capturing a greater share of the market. Innovative biodegradable polymer coatings are being developed to meet the requirements of new regulations in Europe.

  Full article: 6,151 words | add to basket (£25)

• Real time urea process analysis and control
  A new powerful tool for on-line urea process analysis and control in real time is now available. L. Rugnone of Casale SA, C. Uerpmann of Kaiser Optical Systems and C. Minnich of S-PACT GmbH discuss the development of this breakthrough analyser which is designed to measure the full composition and the most important key performance indicators in urea synthesis.

  Full article: 3,104 words | add to basket (£25)