07-04-2020
Clariant’s ReforMax 330 LDP Plus catalyst is a major success at OCI Nitrogen
The first commercial reference for Clariant’s ReforMax 330 LDP Plus catalyst is a major success. Installed at OCI Nitrogen’s ammonia production plant in Geleen, Netherlands, the new catalyst has significantly reduced pressure drop, allowing the customer to benefit from a considerable increase in energy and production efficiency leading to savings of more than 300,000€ over the catalyst lifetime.
OCI Nitrogen is one of the European market leaders in mineral fertilizers and the world’s largest producer of melamine. As the company synthesizes its ammonia for both of these products, efficiency is of great importance. The company’s AFA 2 ammonia plant is a Bechtel design with a capacity of 1550 mtpd and runs a side-fired Foster Wheeler reformer. Before the turnaround in 2018, pressure drop over the front end was a crucial production limitation for OCI at AFA 2. The installation of the new ReforMax 330 LDP Plus catalyst, and optimization of catalyst volumes in other reactors, have removed this limitation, significantly increasing the plant’s energy and production efficiency.
Since its start-up in June 2018, ReforMax 330 LDP Plus has demonstrated very stable operation and provided a significant reduction in pressure drop across the catalyst bed in the reformer tubes. This improvement will avail the plant with savings of more than 300,000 € over the expected catalyst lifetime of 8 years, compensating for the catalyst investment.
Andy Vluggen, Chemical Engineer at OCI Nitrogen, commented on the improvements, saying, “We are extremely pleased with the performance of Clariant’s new primary reforming catalyst, which started up in our plant one year ago, and I recommend ReforMax 330 LDP Plus for all plants with similar pressure drop limitations.”
Recently launched by Clariant, ReforMax 330 LDP Plus is a novel steam reforming catalyst for ammonia, hydrogen and methanol production. The catalyst owes its pressure drop reduction capacity to an innovative proprietary 8-hole floral LDP Plus shape, which allows higher gas throughput and/or lower pressure drop as well as improved heat transfer. Combined with the catalyst’s high activity and selectivity, these factors enable extremely efficient operation with reduced energy consumption.
Besides the supervision of loading and start-up of the new catalyst, Clariant also provided thermal imaging services <https://www.clariant.com/en/Business-Units/Catalysts/Syngas-Catalysts/Thermal-Imaging> for accurately monitoring tube wall temperatures to evaluate the catalyst’s performance and identify potential problems of the steam reformer to optimize the reforming process. The thermal imaging evaluation at OCI Nitrogen’s ammonia plant demonstrated optimal heat distribution throughout the furnace, as well as excellent catalytic activity.
Stefan Heuser, Senior Vice President & General Manager at Clariant Catalysts, expressed his satisfaction with the results, stating “OCI Nitrogen’s ammonia plant is the first commercial reference for ReforMax 330 LDP Plus. We are grateful for the close cooperation with the OCI team and delighted that our novel steam reforming catalyst delivered the solution they sought and the advantages we promised. The catalyst’s innovative 8-hole design and exceptional capacity to reduce pressure drop are outstanding in the industry.”
News Category:
-
Beyond processbook & PI vision: Exploring today’s industrial analytics tools
(Webinar) - In the Manufacturing 4.0 era, industrial organizations have more data at their fingertips than ever, offering the promise of higher production rates, more ...
04-06-2024
-
Sasol provides state of the art catalysts to INERATEC for the production of sustainable e-fuels
The catalysts will be used, among others, in the first large-scale industrial Power-to-Liquid (PtL) plant that INERATEC is currently building in Frankfurt, Germany, which ...
24-04-2024
-
Baker Hughes to supply 17 centrifugal compressors to Saudi Master Gas System project
Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, announced Tuesday that it has received an order by Worley, for and on behalf of Aramco, to supply gas technology equipment ...
23-04-2024
-
SABIC Fujian Petrochemicals select Phenol yechnology from KBR
KBR announced today it has been awarded a contract by SABIC Fujian Petrochemicals to license KBR's market-leading phenol technology in China. Under the terms of the ...
22-04-2024
-
Lummus Expands R&D capabilities to enhance innovation and water and wastewater technologies
Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the opening of its cutting-edge research and development (R&D) ...
17-04-2024
-
Clariant launches new CATOFIN® 312 propane dehydrogenation catalyst
Clariant, a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, today announced the launch of CATOFIN 312, its latest propane dehydrogenation catalyst. The new catalyst ...
16-04-2024
-
Yokogawa and GridBeyond conclude investment and strategic partnership agreements
Yokogawa Electric Corporation and energy IT solutions provider GridBeyond of Ireland announce that they have concluded a strategic partnership agreement. Furthermore, ...
16-04-2024
-
Heraeus Precious Metals launches Circlear
Heraeus Precious Metals, a globally leading company in the precious metals industry and one of the largest recyclers of precious metals, has introduced its new offering ...
16-04-2024
-
EMA and JERA to cooperate on LNG procurement and supply chains
The Energy Market Authority and JERA Co Inc, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on mutually beneficial areas in liquefied natural gas procurement ...
16-04-2024
-
Hexagon and Dragos unveil technical partnership to strengthen industrial cybersecurity
Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence division today announced a strategic partnership with Dragos, a global leader in cybersecurity for operational technology (OT). ...
16-04-2024