Training Report

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT
ON
INDIAN FARMERS FERTILISER
COOPERATIVE LTD. (IFFCO)
KALOL UNIT
SUBMITTED BY :
SIDDHARTHA SHARMA
ENROLLMENT NO. - 14729
B.TECH CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
NIT HAMIRPUR (H.P.)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
UREA MANUFACTURING PLANT-
IFFCO
It gives me immense pleasure in submitting this in plant training report at the

end of training period from 1st June 2016 to 28th June 2016 at IFFCO Kalol
Unit.
To show deep sense of gratitude towards them the word thank you is not
satisfactory but I would like to thank them to express my gratitude in words, I
would like to present my heartiest thanks to the JGM (Technical) Shri. O.P.
Dayama and Sr. Manager (Training) at IFFCO Kalol and all other who have
provided me this great opportunity to work in this premier organisation and
helped me to make me stand in this competitive area.
I also thank Dr. Pamita Awasthi ,HOD-Chemical Engg. Of our college and
all lecturer of NIT Hamipur (H.P.) for guidance and helping in preparation of
project.
Thank you
Siddhartha Sharma
ABOUT IFFCO
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IFFCO
The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited ( IFFCO ) was
registered as a multiunit co-operative society, under the co-
operative societies action November 3, 1967. IFFCO, a pioneer
in the cooperative sector, has been making a steady progress
in the realms of fertiliser production, capacity utilisation and
rendering services to the farming community .
IFFCO is the federation of about 36144 co-operative societies.
IFFCOS four modern fertiliser plants at Kalol and Kandla in

Gujarat and Phulpur and Aonla in Uttar Pradesh, have a total
annual production capacity of 56.63 lakhs tonnes of fertiliser.
The annual production capacity of four plants is given below.
Product Annual capacity in lakh tonnes
Kalol Kandla Phulpur Aonla

Ammonia 3.63 -- 7.92 9.90
Urea 5.445 -- 14.157 17.292
NPK / DAP -- 19.74 -- --
Table of Contents Page no.
1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................6
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IFFCO
2. UTILITY PLANT7
Raw Water System.7

Water Treatment Plant8
Inert Gas Plant12
Plant and Instrument Air.13
Steam Generation Plant14
Cooling Towers16
3. OFFSITE FACILITIES21
Ammonia Storage and Handling.21

Effluent Treatment Plant.23
Diesel Power Generating Sets (DG sets).26
4. AMMONIA PLANT..27
Natural Gas Supply and Desulphurisation...28

Water gas Shift reaction...32
CO2 absorption and stripping...34
Methanation..35
Ammonia Synthesis..36
Refrigeration.39
Compressor system...41
Purge gas recovery41
5. UREA PLANT45
CO2 supply and compression..45
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IFFCO
NH3 supply and pumping46

Reaction/High pressure synthesis47
Recirculation system 50
Urea hydrolyser and desorber..55
Steam and condensate .................57
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IFFCO
IFFCO KALOL UNIT
INTRODUCTION
The IFFCO Kalol Unit, spread over on 96 hectares of land, is located 26
kms. away from Ahmedabad on the Ahmedabad Mehsana state
highway. The unit started commercial production in April1975. The unit
consists of plants to produce ammonia, urea, liquid CO2 and dry ice along
with offsite facilities. Originally the 910 tpd ammonia plant was based on
natural gas steam reforming process of M/s. M.W. Kellogg, USA and 1200
tpd urea plant was based on CO2 stripping process of M/s. Stamicarbon,
The Netherlands. Both the plants have been revamped in 1997 to enhance
capacities to 1100 tpd ammonia and 1650 tpd urea. The Natural gas
(NG) provided by GAIL INDIA is used as feed stock for the manufacture
of ammonia. Associated gas is used as a fuel. Water is supplied by GIDC
from 15 borewells installed around the unit. Power is supplied by Gujarat
Electricity Board (GEB).
Consumption of inputs for the production of 1100 tonnes of ammonia

1650 tonnes of urea every day are given below.
Natural gas : 450,000 Sm3/day
Associated gas : 200,000 Sm3/day
Water : 18,000 m3/day
Power : 8,500 KVA
Chemicals : 60 tonnes/day
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IFFCO
UTILITY PLANT
Utility plant consists of
1. Raw Water
2. Water treatment plant,
3. Inert gas generation plant and
4. Plant & instrument air supply.
5. Steam generation plant,
6. Cooling Towers,
1. RAW WATER SYSTEM
Raw water is required in the plant mainly for :-
Cooling tower (CT) makeup water after partial treatment in

WTP.
Blending to cooling tower make up water.
Boiler feed water make up after treatment in WTP
Drinking water
Fire water
Service water & other miscellaneous uses.
Water to township.
Horticulture
Source of water supply for IFFCO Kalol plant is Narmada River

Water, Off take point located at Jaspur, In water treatment plant
water is coming from Narmada pre-treatment plant.
Drinking water
Safety showers
General use
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IFFCO
The pumped water passes through a sand filter for removing
turbidity, foreign material and then distributes into various
locations of the plant for domestic usage such as wash-basins,
toilet-blocks etc. After passing through the sand filter a part of
water enters into reverse osmosis (RO) units. for further
treatment to make suitable potable water. The potable water
separated in reverse osmosis units is stored in a RO water storage
tank. With the help of transfer pump RO water is sent to all
water coolers in the plant through a separate piping network thus
ensuring a good quality of potable water for drinking purpose only
.
2. WATER TREATMENT PLANT
1) Exchange of cations in strong acid cation exchangers,

2) Exchange of anions in weak base anion exchangers,
3) Dissociation of carbonic acid in degasser unit,
4) Strong base anion (SBA) exchangers and
5) Strong acid cation and strong base anion resin mixed bed
exchangers.
Cooling tower make up water is drawn after weak base anion

exchangers and the
boiler feed make up water is supplied after removal of silica and
traces of cation and anions in mixed bed units.
This deposited layer is highly non-conductive and acts as insulator

instead of good conductor which is very essential for maximizing
thermal efficiency of the boiler and heat exchangers. Modern high
pressure boilers need feed water, which should be of high degree of
purity and conditioned with certain chemicals.
The dissolved salts are of numerous kinds but most significant
among them are chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, bicarbonates, and
silicates of calcium, magnesium, sodium and iron. The dissolved
salts of calcium and magnesium make the water hard.
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IFFCO
Hardness is of two types, Temporary and Permanent
Hardness. Temporary hardness is due to the presence of
carbonates and bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium. Permanent
hardness is caused by chlorides and sulphates of calcium and
magnesium. Bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium and sulphates
of calcium form hard scale on boiler tubes.
Silica gets deposited on the blades of condensing turbine resulting
in lower turbine efficiency and unbalance of rotors causing
mechanical failure.
The water that could be used in Plant (D. M. Water) should have
following specifications:
PH 9.5
Silica < 0.02 ppm
Total Electrolytes 0.1 ppm (Max)
Hardness Nil.
Demineralization
Demineralization is the process of removing the mineral salts from

water by ion exchange. Only those substances which ionize in water can
be removed by this process. Demineralization use exchange of ion as a
method of purification. Ion exchange is actually a chemical reaction in
which mobile hydrated ions of a solid are exchanged for ions of like
charge in solution. Demineralization process involves two ion exchange
reactions. The cations (positive-ions) such as calcium, magnesium and
sodium are removed in cation exchanger, and anions (negative-ions)
such as chlorides, sulphates, nitrates etc. are removed in anion
exchanger.
Quality of water comparable to that of distilled water is required for

high pressure boiler operation. The presence of silica in such water is
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IFFCO
most undesirable, since the silica may permit the formation of boiler
tube deposits or vaporize with the steam and cause turbine blade
deposits. It is therefore necessary for demineralized water to have a
very low silica content in order to be useful for boiler feed water
purpose.
a.) Cation exchange reactions

Reaction in cation exchanger can be represented by the following
equations.
2ReH + CaSO4 Re2 Ca + H2SO4
Re2Ca + 2HCl 2ReH + CaCl2
Usually the SAC (strong acid cation ) resins are co-polymers of

styrene and di-vinyl benzene having active sulfonyl group (-H S0 3)
which take part in the ion-exchange process. SAC removes all the
Cations.
b.) Anion exchange reactions
The following equation can be used to illustrate the manner in which

anion exchange resins operate.
ReOH + HCl ReCl + H2 O
ReCl + NaOH ReOH + NaCl
The first reactions are the cation or anion removal and second one
are resin recovery reaction.
c.) Degassing
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IFFCO
For removing the carbonic acid formed by the removal of cations of

carbonates a degasser is provided which will remove H 2CO3 by the
process of stripping with air. The reaction is as follows. No
additional chemical is used in this process.
H2 CO3 H2O + CO2
d.) Silica removal by strong base anion exchanger

The strongly basic anion exchangers will remove silica, sulphides and
carbonates as
well as the other common anions. For this reason, direct silica removal is
possible.
The removal of silica by strongly basic anion exchanger resin can

be represented as follows :-
ReOH + H2SiO3 ReHSiO3 + H2O.
(Basic Exc. Resin) (Silicic acid) (Resin silicate)

(water)
In the operation of a strongly basic anion exchanger with downward

flow, the anions of the strong acids, chlorides and sulphates will be
removed at the top of the bed with silicate representing one of the
last anion to be removed.
At IFFCO Kalol, water Treatment Plant (WTP) is broadly divided into

two major categories :-
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IFFCO
Water treatment plant consisting of five units of strong acidic
cation exchangers and weak base anion exchangers (DM
Streams) for partially treated water as cooling tower makeup
water
Boiler feed water (BFW) treatment plant consisting of one

common degasser unit, four units each consisting of one strong
basic anion (SBA) and one secondary mixed bed (SMB)
operating in series for mixed bed exchangers (MB streams).
e.) Secondary Mixed Bed

The mixed bed is like a polishing unit which removes any left out
ions from the preceding units. It is having both SBA and SAC resins.
The reaction taking place in the unit is similar to that of in SBA unit
and in SAC unit. The regeneration cycle reactions is also similar to
that of SBA and SAC resins respectively.
3. INERT GAS GENERATION PLANT
Inert gas (IG) is used for preservation of catalyst and for purging of
pipe lines and vessels mainly in ammonia plant before handing
over for maintenance. IG can also be supplied to ammonia, naphtha
and LSHS storage areas, CO2 compressor and steam generation
plant.
At Kalol plant, nitrogen (N2) is used as inert gas. The inert gas (IG)
is almost dry and contain very low level of active impurities since
the inert gas will come in contact with various catalysts in ammonia
plant in reduced condition. Ammonia plant also requires hydrogen
(cracked gas) to reduce fresh charge of LTS catalyst. During the
plant turnaround and shutdowns of ammonia plant the fresh
catalyst can be reduced using the cracked gas and inert gas
generated in inert gas generation plant, IG thereby saving around 6
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IFFCO
to 7 days of startup time of ammonia plant. Also LTS catalyst can be
heated with inert gas during plant start-up to reduce plant start-up
time.
IFFCO Kalol has two independent inert gas generation plants for
producing inert gas (nitrogen gas). In both the plants inert gas is
produced by ammonia cracking process.
In the ammonia cracker, ammonia dissociates at 850C into

hydrogen and nitrogen in presence of a nickel based catalyst.
2NH3 (g) 3H2 (g) + N2 (g) H = +10.96 kcal/g mol
In combustion chamber, air is supplied so as to maintain O2 slightly

less than the theoretical requirements for reaction with hydrogen to
retain slight unreacted hydrogen in the gas leaving the combustion
chamber. The combustion reaction is :
2 H2 + O2
(g) (g) + N2 (g) 2H2 O(g) + N2 (g) H =-57.798 kcal/g mol
In deoxo unit, the traces of oxygen react with hydrogen in presence

of palladium catalyst.
2 H2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H2 O (g) H =-57.798 kcal/g mol
4. PLANT AND INSTRUMENT AIR

Plant air and instrument air are the same except the moisture
content. The instrument air is dried in dryer to achieve dew point of
-40 C at atmospheric pressure. The compressed air is available
through two sources i.e.
High pressure air available from the air compressor of ammonia

plant.
Reciprocating air compressors in compressor area of utility
section.
The compressed air at around 7.0 kg/cm2g pressure is used as plant

air and the header goes to all the consuming points. The
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IFFCO
compressed air after dehumidification process is used as
instrument air. The instrument air at 7.0 kg/cm 2g pressure is
supplied to all consuming points mainly for instrumentation and
control purpose.
The plant air is supplied to :
ammonia plant,
urea plant,
utility / off-sites plant,
workshop,
bagging & material handling plant,
on line air masks and
various local connections.
The instrument air is supplied to :
ammonia storage tank,

water treatment plant,
urea plant,
bagging and material handling plant.
steam generation plant,
effluent treatment plant,
cooling towers,
inert gas generation plants,
CO2 compressors,
ammonia plant during plant shutdown and
for emergency start-up of 0.860 MW diesel generating set when
its compressor is not available.
5.) STEAM GENERATION PLANT
The modern steam generator is an integrated assembly of several

essential components. Its function is to convert water into steam at
a predetermined pressure and temperature. It is a physical change
of state, accomplished by transferring heat produced by combustion
of a fuel, to water. Commonly it is a constant pressure process. The
steam generator is a pressure vessel into which liquid water is
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IFFCO
pumped at the operating pressure. After the heat has vaporized the
liquid, the resulting steam is then ready either for delivery to the
user or for further heating in a superheater.
At IFFCO-Kalol Plant, a BHEL make boiler of 80 t/h (net) capacity

was commissioned on 5th October1982 and is in operation since
then.
The BHEL boiler is water tube type, bidrum, forced draft furnace. It
is oil and/or gas fired boiler of 80 t/h capacity at 61.5 kg/cm 2g
pressure and 410+ 5 C temperature.
Steam :-
Steam is the vaporized form of water. The vapour is commonly

visible as cloud escaping from the spout of tea kettle in which water
is boiling. The water in the tea kettle produces 1600 times more
volume in steam form.
These properties of steam, its ability to carry a large amount of heat

and the large quantity of steam which can be made from a small
amount of water, make steam an ideal substance for transferring
heat conveniently and economically to every corner of the plant.
Another property of steam is the way its volume varies with change
in temperature and pressure of the steam.
We take advantage of these properties by generating steam at high

pressure to operate steam turbines, drive generator, compressor
and pumps. The low pressure exhaust steam from the turbines is
then used for process requirements.
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IFFCO
Steam itself will not burn nor will it support combustion and this
property of steam is utilized to purge or remove oil or gas or
extinguish a small fire.
Principles of steam formation and circulation
Within the steam generation system, the formation of steam is

hinged upon a successful transfer of heat. Once this transfer is
made, steam formation will start. Steam formation can best be
described by use of a simple drum heated from beneath. Steam
forms in bubbles at the heated surface. The bubbles and the heated
water are displaced by heavier cold water, with circulation currents
bringing bubbles to the surface where the steam is released into the
space above. Here in simplest form, three part cycle is common to
every steam generator:
1.Flow of water to the heated areas

2.Flow of steam and heated water to upper areas
3.Release of steam
There is a drum which has connected to it a loop of tubing, one leg

of which is heated and the other unheated. Steam bubbles form in
the heated leg, generally called a riser. The resulting steam-water
mixture is displaced by the relatively heavy water in the unheated
leg or down comer and circulation flow is established. Under
operating conditions, there is a continuous flow of water from the
drum where steam releases. The factors influencing circulation are
that the column of water in the downcomer leg weighs more than
equal column of steam water mixture in the downcomer leg. This
difference represents the force available to overcome friction and
maintain circulation.
As actual steam generator consists of many tubular circuits, with a

drum or drums acting as a distributing and collecting device and
releasing point for steam. However, actual steam generators are not
built up by merely multiplying the number of simple individual
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IFFCO
loops, the circuits are more complex and the number of individual
paths for steam water flow varies from point to point. The three
systems of circulation adopted in boiler are (I) Natural circulation
system (ii) Controlled circulation system (iii) Combined circulation
system
6. COOLING TOWERS
Most industrial processes need cooling medium for efficient and

proper operation. Water is the most effective cooling medium used
today because
It is normally plentiful
It is easy to handle and can carry large amount of heat per unit
volume
It does not decompose

It is normally readily available and is in-expensive.
The systems using water as coolant are called as cooling water

systems. During process, the cooling water gets heated up and
must be either cooled before it can be used again or replaced with
fresh water. In most industrial localities fresh water is too scarce to
permit its unlimited use as a cooling medium.
The tendency of water tables for the borewells is forcing the

industries to conserve the water wherever possible and reusing the
water to a maximum extent. For reusing the cooling water, it must
be cooled back to nearly ambient temperature. The most
outstanding example of an apparatus for cooling water, a direct
contact cooling tower where it is cooled with air. In the cooling
tower, ordinarily the fresh cooling water requirement is by about
1.5 to 2.5% of the circulation rate.
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IFFCO
There are three basic cooling water systems.
A. Closed recirculating system
This system uses the same cooling water repeatedly in continuous

cycle. First the water absorbs heat from process fluid, then releases
it in another heat exchanger. In these systems, an evaporative
cooling tower is not included. In our urea plant CCS-1 and CCS-2 are
similar cooling water system from LPCC and HP scrubber
respectively.
B. Once through systems
In these systems, the cooling water passes through heat exchanger

equipment only once. The mineral content of the cooling water
remains practically unchanged, as it passes through the systems. .
C. Open recirculating system
It consists of cooling tower, pumps and heat exchangers. The

pumps keep the water circulating through heat exchangers where it
picks up heat and in the cooling tower heat is released from the
water through evaporation. Thus the heated water gets cooled in
the cooling tower with natural or mechanical draft provided in the
tower. Because of evaporation, the water in open recirculatory
systems undergoes changes in its basic chemistry or in simple term,
it gets concentrated. Open recirculatory system may be of:
spray ponds
cooling tower
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IFFCO
Evaporative condensers
This system permits great economy in make up water requirement

and average operating temperature range is 5 0 C to 170 C ( 100 F
to 300 F). Common problems associated with this system are
Corrosion
Fouling
Scaling
Wood decay
Microbiological contamination.
Principle of cooling tower
The cooling tower is one type of heat exchanger which cools hot
water with air. It is basically a tower containing treated wood as
filling material. Filling material is piled up in the tower from the
distribution basin. Water falls on the filling and breaks into fine
droplets. The function of the filling( internals ) is to increase the
contact surface between the water and air. The filling at IFFCO -Kalol
is replaced by V-shaped PVC bars having small slots from wooden
splash bars and are arranged in such a way that the water entering
the distribution trays near the top of the tower is repeatedly broken
into fine particles as it descends through the tower. Fan mounted on
top of the tower induces air into the tower through air inlet louvers,
placed on either side of the tower. Across this air flow, water drops
fall through fillings.
When the water droplets existing in air evaporates, the quantity of

heat of about 540 kcal/kg is taken from the surrounding as latent
heat of evaporation. In case that the temperature of hot water is
higher than that of the surrounding air, water continues to
evaporate until the temperature of the water being cooled
becomes almost equal to the warm air.
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IFFCO
As a thumb rule, when 1% of water quantity evaporates, the

remaining water is cooled by about 5.7 0 C. In a cooling tower, where
water is warmer than air, the heat removed from the water and
transferred to air is the sum of the sensible heat and latent heat of
evaporation. The sensible heat is small in comparison with the
latent heat transferred.
Types of cooling tower

Modern cooling towers are classified according to the means by
which air is supplied to the tower and the method of contact
between water and air. There are two types of cooling towers
Atmospheric and natural draft cooling tower.

Mechanical draft tower.
Atmospheric cooling tower
The atmospheric tower works on the atmospheric wind current. The

air blows through the louvered sides in one direction at a time,
which shifts as per the season of the year and other atmospheric
conditions. Since the atmospheric currents must penetrate the
entire width of the tower, the towers are made very narrow in
comparison with other type and must be very long to afford equal
capacity. Towers of this type are over 2000 ft long. Drift loss occur
over entire side and are greater than other types. These towers are
less efficient .
Natural draft cooling towers
This type of cooling towers operate in the same way as a furnace

chimney. Air is heated in the tower by hot water, so that its density
is lowered. The difference between the density of the air in the
tower and outside the tower causes a natural flow of cold air into
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IFFCO
the tower at the bottom and the rejection of less dense warm air at
the top of the tower. Natural draft towers must be tall for sufficient
buoyancy and must have large section because of low rate at which
the air circulates. Natural draft towers consume more pumping
power. However it eliminates fan power and may be more reliable
than atmospheric tower. Natural draft tower will cease to operate
during hot portion of the day because the primary consideration is
the temperature of air. It is customary for air to rise to high
temperature during the day.
The mechanical draft towers is subdivided into two types
Forced draft towers

Induced draft towers.
Forced draft towers
Forced draft cooling towers are the oldest types of mechanical draft
towers. The fan being located at the base of the tower so that they
force air into the sides of the tower and flows upwards through the
falling water and out at the top of the tower. The air distribution is
poor since the air must make a 90 0 turn while at high velocity. In
forced draft tower the air is discharged at low velocity from a large
opening at the top of the tower. Under this condition the air posses
a small velocity head and tends to settle into the path of fan intake.
This means that fresh air is contaminated by partially saturated air
which has already passed through the tower. This condition is
known as recirculation and reduces the performances of cooling
tower.
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IFFCO
Induced draft cooling tower
This tower efficiently and thoroughly eliminates the difficulties

experienced from the forced draft type. The fan being located at the
top of the tower, draws air through the louvers on all sides near the
base of the tower, flows upwards through the falling water and
discharges to atmosphere. In Induced draft tower, air is discharged
through the fan at a high velocity and thus prevents air from
settling at the air intake and thus eliminate recirculation. The higher
velocity of discharge of the induced draft tower causes entrainment
loss or drift loss of water.
In these induced draft towers, air flow may be either cross flow or
counter current. At IFFCO-Kalol unit cooling towers are induced
draft, cross flow type.
OFFSITE FACILITIES
The offsite section is consist of the following facilities.
1. Ammonia storage and handling

2. Effluent treatment plant
1. Diesel power generating set ( DG sets)
1. AMMONIA STORAGE AND HANDLING
(a) 10000 Tonnes ammonia storage tank
10000 Tonnes atmospheric liquid ammonia storage tank was built

by M/s Vijay tanks and vessels pvt. limited. It is a single wall
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IFFCO
cylindrical vessel with a fixed self supporting cone roof and
insulated with polyurethane foam (PUF). Its diameter is 30 m and
height is 21.5 m. The tank is provided with refrigeration system
and sufficient safety gadgets.
(b) 5000 Tonnes ammonia storage tank
5000 tonnes atmospheric liquid ammonia storage tank

constructed by India Tube Mills ltd, was installed in the year
1992. It is cup in cup double wall type, cylindrical vessel with
suspended deck on inner wall and fixed self supporting cone
roof on outer wall. The outer wall is insulated with polyurethane
foam (PUF). The space between two walls remains filled with
ammonia vapour which works as an insulator. The outer shell
diameter is 23.29 m and height is 21.74 m while inner shell
diameter is 21.79 m and height is 20.25 m.
(c) Rail tanker loading system
The surplus liquid ammonia from storage tanks is despatched to

IFFCO Kandla unit through rail tankers. For loading ammonia into
rail tankers, five loading points are provided. At a time batch of
five tanker wagons, each having capacity of 32 t can be
loaded. Two no. of ammonia loading pumps each having
discharge capacity of 105 t/ h at a pressure of 19.58 kg/cm 2g are
installed. These pumps are also utilized for supplying liquid
ammonia to urea plant as and when required.
(d) Road tanker loading system
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IFFCO
Surplus ammonia is sold to buyers through road tankers. To load
ammonia in road tankers two loading stations are provided. Two
ammonia circulating pumps each having discharge capacity of
10 t /h at 7.3 kg/cm 2a are used for road tanker loading. A flow
totaliser with auto shut off valve as per preset value is provided
to facilitate loading of required quantity of liquid ammonia in road
tanker.
(e) Refrigeration system
The ammonia storage tanks are fully insulated and designed for
maximum boil off of 0.04 % per day. Vapour pressure of ammonia
is high even at atmospheric condition. To maintain nearly
atmospheric pressure in the tank, the vapour generated has to
be condensed. This is done by taking the generated vapours from
storage tank to the refrigeration system where the vapours are
compressed, liquified and returned to the tank in liquid form.
One refrigeration compressor having capacity of 540 kg/h was

installed with 10000 t ammonia storage tank. Two more ammonia
refrigeration compressors having identical capacity were added
with installation of 5000 t ammonia storage tank. These three
refrigeration compressors are integrated to draw vapours from
both the storage tanks. Also 150 mm NB pipe line is provided to
take about 200 kg/h vapour from both the storage tanks to
ammonia plant refrigeration system through pressure control
valve.
The vapour line from the top roof of both the tanks are
connected to the flare stack through a pressure control valve.
The excess vapour generated beyond refrigeration capacity
can be vented through pressure control valve to flare stack.
Both the ammonia storage tanks are inter connected with
respect to receipt of ammonia from ammonia plant as well as
pumping of ammonia from storage tanks.
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IFFCO
The 10,000 t capacity ammonia storage tank is provided with

foundation heaters to control base temperature around 4 o C by
electrical heaters to avoid any freezing of moisture at the
base. This type of system is not required for 5000 t ammonia
storage tank as it is installed on pillars.
(e) Flare stacks
Normally ammonia vapour generated from ammonia storage

tank, vapour released from ammonia rail and road tankers during
filling is taken to refrigeration system. When refrigeration system
is under maintenance or sufficient refrigeration compressors are
not available to take care of vapours generated or for time being
vapours generation is high, ammonia vapour is released to flare
stack and burnt.
2. EFFLUENT TREATMENT
Effluent treatment system is installed to control the undesirable

elements in the liquid effluent before discharging outside IFFCO
premises. Effluent discharged out side IFFCO premises should
meet statutory requirement norms imposed by state and central
pollution control boards.
(a) Effluent treatment & disposal
The effluent waste generated from the plants before discharging

outside the IFFCO Kalol premises shall confirm statutory
regulations imposed by the State and Central Government
Pollution Control Boards. Under effluents control & disposal
system, the total liquid effluent generated from the different
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IFFCO
plants is segregated in two categories viz. strong effluent and
bulk effluent.
This effluent is collected either into strong effluent storage tanks

or bulk effluent tanks. Open channels water is collected in
bulk effluent tanks. Weak effluent segregated from the water
treatment plant is collected in weak effluent tank-B and same
is allowed to mix in bulk tank-A for better mixing and
neutralization.
Water from urea plant drains and washings is collected in

separate tanks known as balancing ponds and diverted either to
bulk or strong effluent as per its analysis.
(b) Bulk effluent treatment and desposal
Effluent water containing comparatively very low concentration

of pollutants is called bulk effluent. The effluent from following
sources is collected in bulk effluent storage tank.
Water treatment plant with low concentration of salts

Inert gas generation plant
SPC / polisher unit regeneration
Cooling water blowdown
From hydrolyser system during upset condition.
Sand filters backwash
Oil separator
Domestic effluent.
HCl fumes scrubbers water
The pH of the bulk effluent is continuously recorded by pH

analyser . pH is controlled by dosing H 2SO4 or 2 % spent NaOH
collected from regeneration of SBA units in water treatment
plant. Samples are also analyzed in laboratory at different
intervals. Bulk effluent is discharged outside IFFCO premises
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IFFCO
once the analysis report confirm to the permissible limit set by
Gujarat Pollution Control Board ( GPCB).
A penstock / bund is provided at the open storm water channel

near Malathion plant to prevent any unnoticed domestic effluent
discharge outside the IFFCO premises. Due to bund, effluent
flows to bulk effluent tank only. During rainy season, when the
storm water quantity is very high, the gate of the bund is opened
to release the storm water.
(c) Strong effluent treatment and disposal
The concentrated effluent from water treatment plant is

collected in strong effluent tank and discharged to solar
evaporation lagoons inside the IFFCO premises with the help of
strong effluent pumps.
(d) Lagoons
Nearly 600 m3 of strong effluent every day is sent to polythene

lined solar evaporation lagoons having an area about 15 hectares.
There are total four phases of lagoons viz. lagoon phase-A,
lagoon phase-B, lagoon phase-C, and lagoon phase-D. Each
lagoon is sub divided in segments. Strong effluent collected in the
strong effluent tank is pumped to lagoon phase-C. From lagoon
phase-C, effluent is pumped to lagoon phase-D or it can flow
to lagoon phase-B by level difference. From phase-C, it can also
be transferred to phase-B by running a pump. Depending upon
the effluent level & its specific gravity in lagoon phase-B, effluent
from phase-B is transferred to phase-A by pump. Adjustable
wooden sluice gates are provided to control the flow through the
stone ware pipes into each lagoons.
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IFFCO
Effluent get concentrated to 20 degree Bueme in lagoon phase A-
1 to A-7 due to solar heat. It is then taken to segment A-8 & A-9
known as crystallizers. When the accumulation of salt layer in the
crystallizer reaches about 150 mm thickness than crystallizer is
bypassed and allowed to dry. The dried crystals are manually
collected and bagged. This effluent byproduct is sold out. The
effluent by product contain about 55 % ammonium chloride. The
clean crystallizer is again recharged.
3. DIESEL POWER GENERATING SETS ( DG

sets)
During normal condition, power required for entire factory is

drawn from GEB grid. Power from GEB grid is received at 66
KVA and step-down to 11 KVA, 3.3 KVA and 415 VA for various
electrical equipments requirement in the factory. In case of power
failure from GEB, to keep the most essential equipments in line
in the event of temporary power failure and to provide a safe shut
down in case of prolonged power failure, emergency power
generator sets of 2.2 MW and 0.86 MW capacity are installed.
Both the sets are known as Automatic Mains Failure set (AMF).
This is an A. C. power generator set, driven by a diesel engine.

The set start on auto in case of main power failure. However it can
be started manually as and when required. The set is complete
with a diesel storage tank, fuel service tank, cooling tower, an
air receiver and two no. of air compressors. The cooling water
pump, fuel oil pump, lube oil pump and turbo blower are inbuilt
parts of the diesel engine.
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IFFCO
AMMONIA PLANT
IFFCO Kalol plant consists of 1100 tpd ammonia plant designed and
engineered by M/s. M.W. Kellogg, USA. Add on pre-reformer unit is
designed by M/s. HTAS, Denmark.
The manufacture of ammonia involves following operations/

processes :
1. Desulphurisation of natural gas.
2. Pre-reforming & reforming.
3. Water gas shift reaction.
4. CO2 absorption and stripping.
5. Methanation.
6. Ammonia synthesis.
7. Refrigeration.
8. Compressor system
9. Purge gas recovery.
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1. Natural gas supply and desulphurisation
The natural gas, which is used as feed stock for ammonia plant is
supplied at the battery limits by GAIL / ONGC from their gas fields.
Typical (design) composition of natural gas is as under :
Component : Vol. %
CH4 (Methane) : 89.96
C2H6 (Ethane) : 4.09
C3H8 (Propane) : 2.30
C4H10 (Butane) : 1.06
C5H10 (Pentane) : 0.40
CO2 (Carbon dioxide) : 0.35
N2 (Nitrogen) : 1.84
Total : 100.00
Two turbine driven centrifugal compressors of adequate capacity in

series are installed to boost up the pressure of natural gas upto 39
kg/cm2g. Natural gas is then sent to desulphuriser. Natural gas
contains sulphur compounds in the form of sulphides, disulphides,
mercaptan sulphur, thiophenes etc. which are poisonous to the
catalysts used in ammonia plant. The process of removing these
sulphur compounds is called desulphurisation. The process
employed is adsorption and adsorbent used is activated carbon
catalyst.
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(a) DESULPHURIZATION
Natural Gas contains sulphur compounds in the form of sulphides,
disulphides, mercaptions, thiophenes etc. which are poisonous to
the catalysts used in Ammonia plant. Two steps in Desulphurization:
1.) Hydrogenation of sulphur compounds in the presence of

catalyst. Hydrogen reacts with organic sulphur compounds to form
hydrogen sulphide in HYDROGENATOR.
2.) This hydrogen sulphide is absorbed by zinc oxide in sulphur
absorber.
HYDROGENATION
Common type of sulphur compounds present in Natural Gas:
Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S)

Mercaption sulphur (R-SH)
Sulphides (CH3-S-CH3)
Disulphides (CH3-S-S-CH3)
Cyclic Sulphides (-S-CH2-)
Reactions in the hydrogenation process:
RSH + H2 RH + H2S
COS + H2 CO + H2S
Favorable temperature for this reaction is between 380 to 390 C.
SULPHUR ABSORPTION
Each reactor contains 13.8 m3 of Zinc Oxide.
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Reactions:
ZnO + H2S ZnS + H2O
ZnO + COS ZnS + CO2
Now the gas is sent to primary reformer.
(b) Primary reforming
The natural gas after removal of sulphur compounds in

desulphuriser enters feed preheat coil in the convection section of
primary reformer furnace. The natural gas temperature is raised by
the flue gas coming out of the convection zone of the furnace. Than
natural gas is mixed with superheated steam. The mixture of natural
gas and steam mixed feed preheat coil in the convection zone. From
outlet of mixed feed pre heat coil, reformer feed is mixed with pre-
reformed naphtha and goes to primary reformer. The reformer feed
then passes through the catalyst packed reformer tubes.
As the reaction is endothermic i.e. it absorbs heat, the heat is

supplied by burning mixed fuel gas and naphtha as fuel in top fired
arch burners. The catalyst used in the primary reformer is nickel
based. Top portion of the tubes is filled with potash based nickel
catalyst as safeguard for heavy hydrocarbon from pre-reformer.
Primary reformer exit stream is taken to secondary reformer
Reforming reactions
The reactions taking place can be written as follows :
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CnH2n+2+ nH2O nCO + (2n + 1) H2, H > 0
CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2 H = 49.28 kcal/kgmole
CH4 + 2 H2O CO2 + 4H2 H = 39.44 kcal/kgmole
CO + H2O CO2 + H2 H = - 9.82 kcal/kgmole
In the above reactions it may be noted that two sided arrows are
used. These arrows indicate that the reaction proceeds in both the
directions. It reaches equilibrium and the gas leaving the reaction
zone contains all the components shown on both sides of the
arrows.
In primary reformer, a furnace radiant section temperature of

about 10090 C is required. The hot flue gases pass downward
through the radiant section of the box and enter ducts at the floor
level. These ducts form the transition between the radiant and
convection sections of the furnace and serve to keep the hot flue
gases in efficient contact with the catalyst tubes, eliminating
stagnant areas in the radiant section. The desired draft is induced
by the induced draft fan. The flue gases enter the convection
section of the furnace and give up heat successively, to the mixed
feed, steam - air, high temperature steam superheat, low
temperature steam superheat, boiler feed water preheat, feed
(natural gas) preheat and utility boiler feed water preheat coils
Flue gases from auxiliary boiler enter the convection section of the
furnace between the two steam superheat coils. They are
discharged through the stack to atmosphere by the induced draft
fan. Stack should be smokeless.
(c) Secondary reforming
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The partially reformed gas from primary reformer enters the
secondary reformer Process air supplied by process air compressor.
The part of H2 and other combustible gases in the process gas burn
with oxygen, leaving the nitrogen required to make ammonia. The
amount of air is fixed by the nitrogen requirement for the ammonia
synthesis. The reaction with air in secondary reformer (combustion
zone) is as follows :
2H2 + O2 + 3.715 N2 2H2O + 3.715 N2 + Heat
2CH4 + 3.5 O2 + 13.003 N2 CO2 + CO + 4 H2O + 13.003 N2 +

Heat
Catalyst used are high temperature resistant chromia and high

activity nickel at the top and bottom respectively. The methane
steam reforming reaction in secondary reformer is same as that
given for primary reformer.
Reformed gas with process steam from the bottom of secondary

reformer passes through the shell side of two parallel flow refractory
lined water jacketed primary waste heat boiler. Then the gas passes
through the tube side of secondary waste heat boilers in which it is
cooled to the desired high temperature shift converter inlet
temperature. These waste heat boiler generate the major portion of
the steam required to operate the unit.
2. Water gas shift reaction.
Shift converter is actually a two converter system, high and low

temperature. It is constructed with internal dished heads to
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separate one from the other. The upper converter is the high
temperature shift converter and lower one is low temperature shift
converter. The process gas flows from secondary reformer via
waste heat boilers to high temperature shift converter.
(a) High temperature shift conversion

The reformed gas enters the high temperature section of shift
converter and flows through the catalyst bed. The catalyst used in
high temperature shift converter is copper promoted iron oxide
catalyst in reduced state. The following reaction takes place in shift
converter :
CO + H2O CO2 + H2 H = - 9.82

kcal/kgmole
As indicated by this equation,most of the carbon monoxide is

converted to carbon dioxide gaining an additional mole of hydrogen
per mole of carbon monoxide.
Above reaction is a reversible one, with shifting carbon monoxide

favoured at lower temperature. However, the rate of reaction is
favoured by high temperature. The gas leaves HT shift converter at
422C temperature and 31.5 kg/cm2g pressure.
The high temperature shifted gas coming out of high temperature

shift converter is passed through tube side of primary shift effluent
waste heat boiler.
The gas then passes through the tube side of methanator feed
heater to preheat the methanator feed. Then gas enters the tube
side of low temperature shift inlet boiler where it exchanges heat
to produce LP steam.
(b) Low temperature shift conversion

The gas coming out of high temperature shift converter still
contains about 2.5 % carbon monoxide, which should be reduced to
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IFFCO
within tolerable limit before sending the gas for CO 2 removal and
methanation.
This is accomplished in low temperature shift converter. Low

temperature shift converter contains high copper catalyst. The shift
reaction is same as in high temperature shift converter. LTS inlet
gas temperature must have 200 C superheat to avoid any chances of
condensation. Condensation of LTS inlet gas damages the catalyst
physically, reduces the strength and activity of the catalyst.
The heat in the shifted gas is recovered before it is sent to CO 2

absorber, as absorption is favoured at lower temperature. The gas
now splits into two equal streams and enters the shell sides of CO 2
stripper gas reboilers. In these reboilers, the LT shifted gas gives a
portion of the heat required for a-MDEA reboiling to remove carbon
dioxide in the CO2 strippers.
After combining into one stream again, the LT shifted gas flows to
boiler feed water heater and gives heat to the deaerator feed
water.
The raw synthesis gas now leaves the separator through a demister
pad for removal of entrained moisture and enters the CO2 absorber.
3.) CO2 absorption and stripping
In this section the bulk of CO2 in the raw synthesis gas is removed
by absorption, using 40% aqueous activated methyl diethanol amine
(a-MDEA) solution {CH3-N(CH2-CH2-OH)2}, at relatively high pressure
and low temperature. The absorption of CO 2 involves the reaction of
dissolved CO2 in water with a-MDEA to form a loose chemical
compound which can be easily dissociated at higher temperature
and lower pressure. Following reaction takes place.
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IFFCO
CO2 + H2O H2CO3
The raw synthesis gas at a pressure of 27.3 kg/cm 2g and

temperature of 630 C containing about 18 % dry volume of CO 2 is
introduced at the bottom of CO 2 absorber. Absorber is a cylindrical
tower fitted with twenty perforated sieve trays one above the other
spaced at equal distance. Lean a-MDEA solution from CO 2 stripper
bottom, is cooled in a-MDEA solution exchanger and then in a-MDEA
solution cooler by rich a-MDEA and cooling water respectively. a-
MDEA circulation pumps introduces the lean a-MDEA solution over
the top tray of the tower. Solution flows downwards, counter current
to the gas flow.
Almost all the CO2 is absorbed by the solution, leaving only small
traces of CO2 in absorber outlet gas. The gas before leaving the
tower passes through a demister pad to remove the entrained
solution, if any.
Rich a-MDEA solution from the bottom of absorber is sent to CO 2

strippers for regeneration. Strippers operate at a pressure of 0.74
kg/cm2g and temperature of 1180 C at the bottom. Rich a-MDEA
solution is heated by heat exchange with the lean solution coming
from the bottom of strippers, in a-MDEA solution exchangers and
then splits into equal stream as feed to CO 2 strippers through
control valves.
CO2 stripper towers are fitted with seventeen perforated sieve trays
each spaced equally one below the other. The solution enters above
the top tray. The function of CO2 strippers is regeneration of rich a-
MDEA solution by liberating CO2 absorbed in it, so that the solution
can be reused in absorber. The solution in the stripper bottom is
heated in reboilers.
The solution from strippers while passing through the tube side of
these reboilers, is heated to 1180 C and by thermosyphoning the
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IFFCO
vapour solution mixture returns to strippers from the top of
reboilers. As the vapours rise through the trays, the rich a-MDEA
solution together with the reflux pumped from CO2 stripper reflux
drum comes in contact with it and condenses the vapours. The
CO2 thus stripped off in strippers along with water vapour and a-
MDEA vapour leave strippers. These are cooled by cooling water
in CO2 stripper condensers.
The CO2 (by product of ammonia plant) is sent to urea plant, dry ice
plant, and balance if any, is vented by to atmosphere. The lean a-
MDEA solution form the bottom of strippers is reused after cooling,
for absorption of CO2 in absorber.
4.) Methanation
For ammonia synthesis a very pure gas mixture of H 2 and N2 in the
ratio of 3:1 (by volume) is required and the small amounts of CO 2
and CO are poisonous to the ammonia synthesis catalyst. These
oxides are removed by converting them into methane in methanator
by a highly active nickel based catalyst in presence of H 2. This step
is known as methanation. Methane has no action on the ammonia
synthesis catalyst, but it accumulates in the synthesis loop as inert.
Methanation reactions are given below :
CO + 3H2 CH4 + H2O H = - 49.28 kcal/kgmole
CO2 + 4H2 CH4 + 2H2O H = - 39.44 kcal/kgmole
Both these reactions are highly exothermic, and hence extreme care
is to be observed while operating methanator. The unit is properly
protected with high temperature alarms and shut off systems.
Methanator vessel is filled with nickel catalyst.
The hot methanator outlet gas, which is called as synthesis gas is

cooled by exchanging heat with boiler feed water, methanator
effluent cooler and finally in suction chiller to 8 0 C where ammonia
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IFFCO
from second stage refrigerant drum is used as cooling media. The
gas then flows to synthesis gas compressor suction.
5.) Ammonia synthesis
(a) Synthesis gas compression
The pure synthesis gas mixes with the recovered hydrogen from the
purge gas recovery plant. The mixture is then compressed in a
turbine driven two case centrifugal compressor. Recycle gas
mixture consisting of ammonia (14.75 % by volume) and unreacted
reactants from synthesis converter is admitted in the last wheel of
the second case and mixes with synthesis gas mixture (make up gas
as it is called) and undergoes final stages of compression to
approximately 137 kg/cm2g and temperature of 65.30 C. The
compressor discharge gases are then cooled. Dry basis (vol. %)
are, H2: 60.48, N2: 20.17, NH3: 11.68, CH4: 5.00 Ar : 67
The ammonia synthesis reaction taking place at elevated

temperature and pressure in presence of a promoted iron catalyst, is
as under :
N2 + 3H2 2NH3 H700 K = - 12.55 kcal/kgmole
As the reaction is exothermic, a rise in temperature lowers the

equilibrium conversion of ammonia and at the same time
accelerates the reaction rate. If reaction is near equilibrium, rise in
temperature will lead to decrease in conversion and vice versa.
Since synthesis of ammonia involves a decrease in volume, rise in

pressure will favour reaction equilibrium. At the same time reaction
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rate is also accelerated by increase in pressure. Hence higher
pressure favours conversion.
Other factors which influence operation of the converter include

circulation rate, ratio of H2 : N2 in the feed gas, inert content in the
loop, percentage of ammonia into converter feed and poisoning and
ageing of catalyst. All these factors are inter-dependent and a
change in one will have effect on others. Only experience will
dictate what steps should be taken to compensate the change so
that the system remains in good control.
The make up gas and recycle gas mixture flows into ammonia
synthesis loop. The gas is cooled successively in three chillers using
liquid ammonia as refrigerant operating at successively lower
temperatures to condense the ammonia contained in the gas before
it is sent to ammonia converter for synthesis. The gas splits into
two parallel streams. The major flow passes through the tube side of
chillers and is cooled to to 20 C. The minor stream flows to shell side
of converter feed & recycle gas exchanger and cool down to 0.01 0C.
The gas stream then combine together and enters the tube side of
feed and recycle gas third stage chiller. Here the gas is cooled to
-230 C.
Gas flow now enters ammonia separator. All the condensed

ammonia in the gas is separated here. The ammonia separated
forms main part of product ammonia. Alongwith liquid ammonia, the
water vapours contained in synthesis gas together with small traces
of carbon dioxide and left out carbon monoxide after methanation
are also removed in this separator. This serves as another
purification step for the gas before entering the converter catalyst
bed.
Converter feed leaving ammonia separator enters the tube side of

converter feed/ feed recycle gas exchanger and gains heat from a
part of the incoming feed. Now the gas flows to converter feed /
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IFFCO
effluent exchanger where temperature is raised. The gas now
enters synthesis converter. Synthesis converter consists of a high
pressure shell containing a catalyst section and a heat exchanger.
The catalyst section is a cylindrical shell which fits inside a pressure
shell and is called the basket. The basket contains four catalyst
beds. The top bed is the smallest bed with each succeeding bed
containing greater volume to limit the exothermic heat of reaction
which is highest in the upper beds. The catalyst basket leaves an
annular space between basket and the pressure shell.
The main inlet to converter is at the bottom of the pressure shell

and converter feed flows upward through the annular space to the
shell side of converter inter changer at the top.
In the converter interchanger, gas picks up heat from the hot

converter effluent stream while flowing downward to the catalyst
bed.
Hot gases after the reaction at about 470 0 C leave the bottom
catalyst bed and pass up through a center return pipe into the
tubes of converter interchanger to give up heat to the incoming
feed. The gas leaves the converter at 322 0C. Ammonia synthesis
reaction is not a once-through process. So the H 2 : N2 mixture
contained in the gas is again recycled back to converter after
removing product ammonia and making up the pressure. Converter
effluent gases from converter interchanger exchanges heat with
boiler feed water from deaerator and gets cooled in ammonia
converter boiler feed water heater.
It then flows to ammonia converter feed/effluent exchanger and

exchanges heat with the incoming feed and gets cooled to 43 0 C.
The gas called recycle gas' goes to the last wheel of second case of
synthesis gas compressor. The whole process as mentioned above,
from synthesis gas compressor discharge to the suction of the
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IFFCO
recycle gas stage is a closed circuit system and is termed as the
Ammonia Synthesis Loop.
As ammonia synthesis reaction starts and proceed at elevated

temperature, converter is equipped with a start-up heater for initial
heating up of converter feed and catalyst. Heater is fired by
associated gas.
6.) Refrigeration system
The primary purpose of the refrigeration system is to make available

liquid refrigerant ammonia at different temperature which is
required to circulate through chillers for condensing product
ammonia from converter feed. Further it is also required :
w to cool makeup gas for separation of water at the suction and

interstage of compressor.
w to condense and recover liquid ammonia from purge and flash
gases.
w to cool the product run down to -33 C.
w to provide refrigeration duty in refrigerant cooler of PGR plant.
w to degas the inerts from product ammonia.
w to condense carbon dioxide at dry ice plant.
Liquid ammonia separated in ammonia separator operating at 130

kg/cm2g and purge gas separator operating at 125 kg/cm 2g are
letdown through control valves to letdown drum operating at 17
kg/cm2g. This letdown in pressure helps to flash most of the gases
dissolved in the ammonia product. Flashed gases flow to fuel gas
system.
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IFFCO
Liquid ammonia from letdown drum is letdown further through level
control valve to third stage refrigerant flash drum. Here
0
temperature of ammonia is around -33 C.
Ammonia product from flash drum is pumped to storage by product

ammonia pump. DM water is injected in cold ammonia downstream
such that its concentration is around 0.2% (w/w). This is to prevent
stress corrosion cracking in cold ammonia handling equipment.
The deep flash of ammonia in third stage refrigerant flash drum

evolves inerts and ammonia which are compressed in the first case
of refrigerant compressor. It is combined with flashed gases from
second stage refrigerant flash drum before being sent to the second
case of the machine. After three stages of compression in the
second case, the gases are sent to refrigerant compressor
intercooler where it is cooled to 430 C with cooling water to remove
the heat of compression. The flashed gases from first stage
refrigerant flash drum join this gas from intercooler and again
compressed to a final pressure of 17.8 kg/cm 2g in the last four
wheels of compressor. The compressed flash gases are condensed
by cooling water in refrigerant condenser and collected in
refrigerant receiver. The over heads from receiver are chilled with
ammonia in flash gas chiller to temperature of 1 0 C. At this point all
the ammonia in the flash gases condenses leaving the accumulated
inerts. These inert gases are sent to fuel system.
Pressure in refrigerant receiver is a function of cooling water

temperature flowing through condensers, and it is to be set above
the condensing pressure of ammonia at the observed temperature
to avoid loss of ammonia with the flashed inerts.
Liquid ammonia from receiver is pumped to urea plant by hot

ammonia product pump. Level in refrigerant receiver is maintained
by control valve by letting down liquid ammonia to first stage
refrigerant flash drum.
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IFFCO
First, second and third stage refrigerant flash drums are combined in
one single vessel with partitions with operating pressure of 6.0
kg/cm2g, 2.3 kg/cm2g and 0.014 kg/cm2g respectively. These
pressures are controlled by refrigerant compressor at different
stages. These drums receive ammonia from refrigerant receiver by
successive letdown i.e. receiver to first stage, from first stage to
second stage and lastly from second stage to third stage. These
drums serve as head drums for the various refrigerant ammonia
chillers used in ammonia synthesis loop. The refrigerant ammonia
while taking up the heat from gases in various chillers gets
vapourised and is compressed by refrigerant compressor,
condensed and received in refrigerant receiver and then again sent
back to these drums for refrigeration. The whole refrigeration cycle
is a closed circuit.
7.) Compression system
There are following five main compressors :
(1) Natural gas booster compressor.
(2) Natural gas compressor.
(3) Process air compressor.
(4) Synthesis gas compressor.
(5) Refrigeration compressor.
Natural gas booster compressor and natural gas compressor are

installed to boost the supply pressure of natural gas. Process air
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IFFCO
compressor is used to supply air to secondary reformer. Synthesis
gas is boosted up to synthesis loop pressure by synthesis gas
compressor which also serves to recycle gases in the loop.
Refrigerant compressor is used to compress ammonia vapours
generated in various chillers while providing necessary refrigeration
in ammonia plant and dry Ice plant.
8.) Purge gas recovery
The process is based on the principle that the component gases in

the purge gas have boiling points widely apart from each other at
atmospheric pressure. Hydrogen gets separated at very low
temperature of nearly -1930C while most of the others get liquefied.
This can be inferred from the following table of normal boiling

points.
Component Boiling point , 0C at 1 atm abs.
H2 - 252.7
N2 - 195.8
NH3 - 33.4
CH4 - 161.6
Ar - 185.8
When a gas is allowed to expand, the temperature of the gas gets

changed. Depending on physical and chemical properties, and
conditions of the gas, the temperature will decrease or increase.
This is known as Joule Thomson effect. Joule Thomson effect
provides cooling in case of purge gas and is utilised for recovering
hydrogen from purge gas.
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IFFCO
The pressure of incoming purge gas is reduced by throttling to a
pressure of about 46 kg/cm 2g. Temperature of the gas gets lowered
down to -280C. The purge gas after letdown, is preheated to -4 0C by
exchanging heat with demineralised water in a vertical finned type
gas exchanger. The gas enters the finned pipes at bottom and
leaves at the top. Preheating of gas with DM water is done to avoid
possible freezing of water at bottom of the washing tower. This also
reduces saturation moisture and ammonia in the gas, as the
temperature of gas leaving the tower is reduced. Lower
temperature of gas favours absorption in washing tower and
adsorption in drying unit.
Gas at -40 C containing about 2.14 % NH 3 enters washing tower

from bottom. water into the washing tower is sprayed at the top of
washing tower by water circulation pump . Gas and water thus are
brought in contact in counter current manner inside the tower
packed with sieve trays. Ammonia having high solubility in water,
gets absorbed and reaction is exothermic.
Gas leaving washing tower enters the bottom of dryer, passes

through a bed of alumina balls and molecular sieve. Alumina
absorbs major portion of moisture and molecular sieve absorbs
remaining moisture, ammonia and traces of carbon dioxide. After a
lapse of service cycle period, the dryer change over is automatic.
Gas leaving the dryer from top with traces of ammonia and about
-600C dew point pass through a filter to separate out dust carried
from the dryer and then enters the cryogenic exchanger. The gas
passing through the cryogenic exchange is required to be free of
moisture and ammonia to avoid freezing up on gas path resulting in
restriction of gas flow and reduction in exchanger efficiency.
The gas mixture enters the warm end of cryogenic exchanger

enclosed within the cold box. The composition of gas is : H2:63.40
N2 : 21.11, Ar: 4.19, CH4 : 11.30. The gas gets cooled to -280 C in
top section by exchanging heat with outgoing tail gas and product
hydrogen streams, passes through the refrigerant cooler in which
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IFFCO
ammonia from flash drum is used as a refrigerant and further gets
cooled down to -300 C. The cooled gas enters bottom section of
cryogenic exchanger where counter current streams of tail gas and
hydrogen gas cool it down to -1900 C. At this temperature a part of
gas mixture liquefies. The mixture of liquid and gas passes into a
separator where both are separated. The gas rich in hydrogen
leaves from the top and enters the cryogenic exchanger to transfer
its cold to incoming feed gas. A slip stream is taken from this line to
expand gas to tail gas pressure for controlling the temperature in
separator. The liquid collected at the bottom of separator, rich in
inerts is flashed to 3.52 kg/cm2g through a level control valve by
which the temperature falls to -192.70 C. After letdown, the liquid
and flashed vapours are separated in the injection separator.
This jacket permits to pass a small stream of product hydrogen to

avoid freezing of methane in case methane concentration in liquid
stream is more than normal. Product hydrogen gas at 23 0 C would
enters jacket and mix with tail gas.
Both liquid and vapour enter the cryogenic exchanger separately

and passes through it to cool the inlet feed. Liquid and gas from are
separately fed in order to ensure complete vaporisation of liquid and
to avoid uneven temperature distribution at the bottom of
cryogenic exchanger.
Tail gas and hydrogen product gas at about 230 C leave the
cryogenic exchanger with following design compositions : H2: 93.24
N2 : 5.95, Ar: 0.41 , CH4 : 0.40. The tail gas compositions are
H2: 16.00 N2 : 45.19, Ar: 10.20, CH4 : 28.61
Tail gas flows to primary reformer fuel system alongwith flash gases
and associated gas. A small tapping of tail gas is taken to ammonia
liquid tank for blanketing purpose. A provision of using tail gas for
naphtha deaeration is made in case natural gas for the same is not
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available. Provision is also made to vent tail gas to atmosphere
through the cold flare, if necessary.
Hydrogen product stream passes through a pressure control valve

and goes to suction of synthesis gas compressor. This can also be
letdown to tail gas header during startup till the gas is lined up to
synthesis gas compressor suction.
The gas coming from the cryogenic-exchanger at -28 0 C enters into

the refrigerant cooler on the tube side. Liquid ammonia from 2 nd
stage refrigerant flash drum enters the shell side of finned type
cooler. The process gas is cooled to -30 0 C by refrigerant ammonia.
Temperature of process gas leaving cooler is maintained by
controlling level of refrigerant. The vapour ammonia return to 3 rd
stage refrigerant flash drum.
UREA PLANT
The Urea process consist of the following steps.
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IFFCO
1. CO2 supply and compression
2. NH3 supply and pumping
3. Reaction/High pressure synthesis
4. Recirculation system
5. Urea hydrolyser and desorber
6. Steam and condensate
1. CO2 supply and compression
The CO2 gas is available from ammonia plant at normal pressure of

0.14 to 0.22 kg/cm2g and at a temperature of 50 C to 60 C. This
gas is cooled and saturated in CO2 spray cooler with spray water.
CO2 and water flows counter currently through packed bed of
polypropylene pall rings for cooling. A demister pad above the
distribution tray is provided to prevent the water carryover along
with exit CO2 from spray cooler.
Water from the bottom of the spray cooler is sent to the cooling
tower by CO2 spray cooler sump pump. The exit saturated CO 2 with
water vapour enters the CO2 knock out drum where the moisture is
knocked out and drained.
Anticorrosion air is injected into the cooled CO2 stream with the help
of anticorrosion air blowers. The air is required to maintain the
oxygen level of 0.60 % in the CO2 stream for HP equipments
passivation to prevent corrosion. The CO2 leaving knock out drum is
compressed in Hitachi make CO2 centrifugal compressor.
Hitachi CO2 compressor consists of two casings called LP and HP

casings each having two stages of compression. LP case is directly
coupled with turbine running at 7160 rpm and HP casing runs at
14153 rpm through a step up gearbox. The CO 2 is compressed from
0.16 kg/cm2g to 157 Kg/cm2g.
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IFFCO
Drive turbine extraction cum admission condensing type is installed
to run compressor with minimum governor speed of 6375 rpm and
maximum speed of 7875 rpm driven by 60 atm steam as main
steam and 4 atm steam as induction steam. 60 atm steam is
supplied by steam generation plant at about 61.5 atm and 410 C.
The steam after passing through exhaust end section of the turbine
is condensed at a pressure of 0.94 kg/cm 2a at the turbine outlet in
the surface condenser Non-condensable from the condenser are
removed by steam ejector system operating by 4 ata steam. The
steam exit of the ejectors is condensed in the heat exchangers and
returned to the surface condenser. The steam is condensed in the
surface condenser with cooling water flowing in the tubes and is
pumped to the deaerator of the steam generation plant by the
surface condensate pumps. The vacuum in the surface condenser is
maintained by a set of two ejectors in two stages.
2. NH3 supply and pumping
Liquid ammonia directly from ammonia plant enters the urea plant
battery limit at 20 kg/cm2a and 40C. The alternate source for
ammonia supply is from the atmospheric ammonia storage tank.
The cold liquid ammonia is preheated to 40 C in the ammonia pre
heater.
Liquid ammonia from filter outlet enters the ammonia suction

vessel which serves the purposes of providing a suction volume for
HP ammonia pumps and acting as a pulsation dampener. The liquid
ammonia from the ammonia suction vessel is pumped at reaction
pressure of 153 kg/cm2a.
Out of total ammonia discharged by pumps, 90-95 % ammonia goes

to HP carbamate condenser and 5-10% goes to autoclave.
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3. Reaction/High pressure synthesis
(a) HP stripper
CO2 gas with 0.60 % oxygen and inert discharged from CO 2

compressor at 157 kg/cm2a and 115 to 120C enters the stripper.
Autoclave overflow line leads to HP stripper at the top channel. The
liquid dividers are fitted over each tube having ferrule. Each ferrule
in the liquid divider has three holes each of 2.6 mm diameter
through which the liquid flows into the tubes. This exchanger acts
like a falling film counter-current heat exchanger. The efficiency of
the exchanger depends on the formation of liquid film. Liquid
distribution in the tube is very important. Liquid starvation in tube
may happen when there is loss of liquid level in autoclave or
blockage of ferrules holes. Stripper tubes under this condition will
be over heated resulting in heavy corrosion and tube failures. CO 2
while rising through the tubes picks up heat from falling solution
and strips off NH3 and CO2 from the carbamate. From HP stripper
top channel CO2 alongwith liberated NH3 is taken to HP carbamate
condenser. Saturated steam at 21.8 kg/cm2g and 216C is
introduced at the shell side of the HP stripper to provide the heat
required for stripping.
urea carbamate solution is collected at the bottom channel of the

HP stripper. This solution is let down from 153 kg/cm2g to 2.3
kg/cm2g across the level control valve. It is imperative that to
maintain the stripper working efficiency, both gas and liquid flow
through each tube must be continuous and even.
(b) HP condenser
The vapour (NH3 & CO2) liberated from the HP stripper flows
upwards to the top channel of HP carbamate condenser below the
packed bed. Liquid ammonia from HP ammonia pump at a pressure
of 153 kg/cm2a and 45C enters the top channel. HP stripper exit
gas is rich in CO2 and the NH3/CO2 mole ratio is around 1.7. The
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IFFCO
presence of 2.5 % water and slightly higher system pressure makes
the optimum mole ratio to around 3.0.
Dilute carbamate solution generated in LP system is pumped with

HP carbamate pumps to HP condenser and HP scrubber. Dilute
carbamate line joins the inlet liquid ammonia line to HP condenser.
About 65 % of the carbamate solution is fed to HP condenser. The
remaining carbamate is fed to HP scrubber. Carbamate solution
joins the liquid ammonia stream and then enters HP condenser. The
mixed stream flows through the packed bed, located above the
liquid distribution tray. Some of the vapours (NH 3 and CO2) enter the
packing and a part of it is condensed within the packing.
Uncondensed vapours flow through the tubes and are condensed to
carbamate.
Boiler feed water/ condensate enters the shell side from 4 atm
steam drum through the four down comers and generated steam
rises up through the steam risers and enters the steam drum. Liquid
carbamate solution and uncondensed gases leaves HP condenser
from separate nozzles at the bottom and enters the bottom channel
of autoclave.
At the operating condition prevailing in the HP condenser, the rate

of carbamate formation is proportional to the rate of removal of
heat of exothermic reaction. The pressure prevailing in the steam
drum should not be brought down below a certain value otherwise
the crystallisation temperature of carbamate (153C) would be
reached. 90 % (v/v) of the vapours condense in high-pressure
condenser and the remaining 10 % are condensed in autoclave
thereby supplying necessary heat for urea formation from
carbamate.
(C) Autoclave ( Reactor)
The carbamate solution and uncondensed NH3 and CO2 from the HP
carbamate condenser are introduced at the bottom of the
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IFFCO
autoclave. A part of liquid ammonia from HP ammonia pump is also
introduced at the bottom of the autoclave. Quantity of ammonia
required to be introduced into the autoclave is determined from the
process condition and plant load. Autoclave receives liquid
ammonia, carbamate solution and uncondensed NH 3, CO2, O2 and
inert from HP condenser and carbamate solution from HP scrubber.
All the four streams join at four different nozzles at the bottom of
the autoclave and rises to the top through eleven sieve trays. Liquid
mixture of urea, carbamate and water overflows to the down comer
to the HP stripper.
A radioactive source (Cobalt -60) is provided for level measurement

of autoclave. Loss of liquid level in autoclave will evidently create a
number of problems in the system. Due to loss of liquid level, CO 2
will flow in reverse direction to autoclave via down comer and
pressure rise will be very quick and HP condenser temperature will
fall sharply.
The inert and unconverted NH3 and CO2 exit the autoclave through
an overhead line to HP scrubber. HICV, located on the autoclave
gas exit line, controls the autoclave pressure and consequently
high-pressure system in emergency. To protect high-pressure
system from over pressurisation, relief valves set at 161 ata are
installed on autoclave top exit gas line.
(d) HP scrubber
Uncondensed NH3 and CO2 and non-condensibles from the reactor
top enter the bottom of high pressure scrubber. Dilute carbamate
through HP carbamate pumps fed to HP scrubber condensing media
in the shell side. NH 3 and CO2 get condensed while bubbling up
through the liquid head. A small amount of uncondensed NH 3 and
CO2 and the inert leave the HP scrubber through inert vent valve to
LP absorber. CO2 is injected above packed bed for purging so as to
prohibit any explosion that may occur due to presence of H2.
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IFFCO
Heat of carbamate formation is removed by a closed condensate
circulation system. Carbamate solution formed overflows through a
nozzle located above the U tube bundle to autoclave.
(e) LP absorber and scrubbing system

Uncondensed NH3, CO2 and non-condensibles from the HP scrubber
enter the bottom of LP absorber. NH 3 and CO2 get scrubbed with
lean ammonia water while rising up through the two packed beds.
The lean ammonia water is supplied by process water pumps from
lean ammonia water tank. A smalll amount of uncondensed NH 3,
CO2 and the inert leave the LP absorber to ammonia scrubber. Final
scrubbing of the vapours is achieved in ammonia scrubber with lean
ammonia water or DM water before being vent to atmosphere.
4. Recirculation
(a) Rectifying column / separator
The urea carbamate solution from the HP stripper is let down to 3.3
kg/cm2a across stripper level control valve. As a result of pressure
letdown, part of the carbamate in the solution is vaporised to NH 3
and CO2 and solution gets cooled from 170 C to 120 C.. The liquid
vapour mixture flows into the top of rectifying column / separator.
The liquid vapour mixture is sprayed over the packed bed of
rasching rings through a nozzle and spray breaker in rectifying
column.
The upper portion of rectifying column consists of rasching rings

bed and the lower half of the column consists of a vapour liquid
separator. The urea carbamate solution is collected over the cone
and flows to the bottom channel of the recirculation heater. The
recirculation heater is essentially a thermo syphoning heater. It is
designed to provide a minimum residence time of the urea solution
at the elevated temperature level, so that biuret formation is
limited. All the carbamate is decomposed and the urea solution
vapour mixture flows to the bottom of rectifying column/ separator.
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Vapour is stripped off from liquid and rises upwards via packed bed
where it meets descending urea carbamate solution. Thus
rectification of carbamate solution takes place. Rising vapours are
enriched. Heat of vaporisation of carbamate solution is supplied by
the hot rising vapour. Vapour leaves the rectifying column and
enters falling film type LP carbamate condensers.
(b) LP carbamate condensers and separator
The overhead vapours leaving from rectifying column are

introduced at the bottom of falling film type LP carbamate
condenser. Part of the NH3 and CO2 are condensed to form
ammonium carbamate. Lean ammonium carbamate formed in the
flash tank condenser is introduced in to the gas inlet line of the LP
carbamate condenser through a sparger by lean carbamate pumps.
The carbamate formed in reflux condenser of hydrolyser system is
also taken top of LP condenser. Provision is also made to introduce
measured quantity of liquid NH3 to maintain NH3/CO2 mole ratio.
Heat of condensation is removed by condensate circulation system.
Pressure control in the recirculation system requires a special

attention. Normal operating pressure of the system is around 2.5
to 2.8 kg/cm2g and controlled by control valve. It so happens that
system pressure is raised when the condensation is incomplete.
Uncondensed gases are taken to reflux condenser of hydrolyser
system. Higher pressure in the recycle system is caused by
incomplete condensation CO2 and NH3.
(c) Carbamate solution recycle
Carbamate solution from LP carbamate separator is recycled to HP

synthesis section via HP carbamate pumps. Carbamate solution at
2.3 kg/cm2g pressure and 74.2 C is pumped by two of the HP
carbamate pumps. Around 35 % of solution is pumped to HP
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IFFCO
scrubber and the rest to HP carbamate condenser. Carbamate
pumps are reciprocating pumps driven by variable speed motors via
a gearbox. .
(d) Flash tank condenser

Urea solution from rectifying column separator at 135 C and 2.3
kg/cm2g pressure is flashed to flash tank separator, which is
maintained at a pressure of 1.06 kg/cm 2a. Urea solution from
rectifying column is let down across the level control valve to flash
tank separator. Liquid and gas phase are separated in flash tank
separator. A considerable amount of water vapour and some NH3 are
liberated from the urea solution and this liquid vapour mixture
enters the flash tank separator. Urea solution from the bottom of
the separator flows to pre evaporator. TR-1421 indicates the
temperature of urea solution outlet from flash tank. Urea solution
from flash tank separator can also be taken direct to urea storage
tank bypassing the pre evaporator.
Vapours from the flash tank separator flows to flash tank scrubber
where any residual urea, NH3 is scrubbed with ammonia water
supplied by urea recovery circulation pumps. The vapours leaving
the scrubber are sent to flash tank condenser where remaining NH 3
and CO2 are condensed by cooling water to form lean carbamate
solution. Heat of reaction and latent heat of water formation is
removed by circulating cooling water in the tube side of the
condenser. Vapours leaving the flash tank condenser are sent to
atmospheric vent scrubber for further recovery of NH 3 or can be
removed by the flash tank ejector when flash tank is operated
under vacuum when pre evaporator section is bypassed. 4 ata
steam is used in the ejector. The air inbleed isolation valve is
provided to the flash tank condenser for releasing the vacuum when
prilling section is shut down.
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(e) Pre evaporator
The urea solution from the flash tank separator at about 104 C and
1.06 kg/cm2a pressure is flashed to pre evaporator, which is
maintained at 0.40 kg/cm2a vacuum pressure. Urea solution is
heated up to 98.6 C in two separate heat exchangers, which are
parts of pre evaporator. Temperature of the exit urea solution is
controlled by 4 ata steam control valve provided on 4 ata steam
inlet line. Exit urea solution at concentration of 82.6 % (w/w) and
temperature of 98.6 C is drawn to urea solution storage tank .
The vapour leaving the pre evaporator separator mainly consists of

water and NH3 are condensed in pre evaporator condenser with the
help of cooling water passing through tube side. The condensed
water is drawn to the rich ammonia water tank. Uncondensed
vapours from the condenser are connected to first evaporator off
gases there by vacuum in pre evaporator is maintained with the
help of first evaporator ejector system.
(f) Urea solution storage tanks
Two urea solution storage tanks are installed to receive urea

solution tank. Urea solution (82.6% w/w) from the pre evaporator is
received in urea solution tank for onward pumping to the
evaporator. Urea storage tank is maintained under atmospheric
pressure. Urea solution tank also receives recycle solution of
evaporation section during startup and urea dust dissolved solution
from prill cooling system and bagging and from material handling
plant via prill cooling system.
(g) Evaporation and prilling
Urea solution having a concentration of 82.6 % is pumped from the

urea solution tank (T-1401A) to the first evaporator separator by
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IFFCO
urea solution pump. The evaporator separator operates under
vacuum at 0.31 kg/cm2 a. Urea solution is heated in the shell and
tube type heat exchanger with urea solution flowing in the tubes
and 4 ata steam on the shell side. The urea solution is heated from
98.6 C to 130 C to achieve urea solution concentration of 95%.
The urea solution from the climbing film single pass evaporator
flashes into the separator mounted directly on the evaporator. The
water vapour together with some ammonia is separated in the
separator by an impingement cone and baffle arrangement.
Urea solution at a temperature of about 130 C, having

concentration of 95% (w/w) then flows from first evaporator to the
second stage evaporator separator. Second stage evaporator is
operated at a pressure of 0.03 kg/cm 2a. In the low residence time
single pass evaporator, the urea solution is further concentrated to
over 98.5% urea melt for prilling. The urea solution flowing on the
tube side is heated upto a temperature of about 140 C with 9 ata
steam flowing on the shell side. The urea solution from the second
evaporator flashes into the separator mounted directly on the
evaporator. The overhead vapours from the evaporator separator
are condensed and collected in ammonia water tanks.
(h) Prilling
Urea melt from the second stage evaporator, having a

concentration of over 98.5% (w/w) enters the suction of the urea
melt pump. Urea melt is pumped to the prilling equipment on top
of the prilling tower.
A three way manual diverting valve is provided upstream of the prill

bucket. This valve will either direct urea melt to the prill bucket or
divert urea melt back to urea solution tank via the solution return
line. Urea solution is returned to the urea solution tank when the
concentration of urea melts is low or the prilling equipment is faulty.
Urea melt enters the prill bucket at a temperature of about 140C.

The prill bucket rotating approximately at 240 rpm distributes urea
melt in fine droplets over the cross section of the tower. Prill tower
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IFFCO
is having 17 metres inside diameter and an internal free falling
height of 50 metres.
Air is drawn in from the bottom of prilling tower, via fixed louvers
openings by four prill tower I.D. fans situated at the prilling tower
top and flows counter current to the flow of urea prills.
During the free fall in the prilling tower, the heat of crystallization
being carried away by air entering at the bottom of the prilling
tower. The droplets of urea first gets solidify and then cooled to a
temperature of about 80C to 95C.
The hot urea prills of 80 C-95 C fall on the scraper floor at the
bottom of the prill tower. Prills are scraped by a rotating straight
double arm scraper and fed to the prill tower conveyor. The
conveyor is running across the diameter of the prilling tower,
through opening in the rake floor. The scraper is driven by two
motors placed below the rake floor. These motors are connected to
the gear of the scraper control shaft through gearboxes of drivers.
The scraper central shaft extends up through the rake floor and the
scraper arms are attached to it. The scraper arms are fitted with
adjustable blades.
(I) Prill cooling system and material handling
Urea prills after discharging from product conveyor flows into the
fluidised bed cooler through inlet nozzle. Atmospheric air is supplied
by inlet air fan for cooling.
During fluidisation on perforated plate of fluidised bed cooler, heat

of hot prills is taken away by air and cooled urea prills at 55 C
flows over the weir to discharge nozzle. Exhaust air along with
some fines of prills and at temperature of about 70 C passes
through the exhaust air nozzle to the dust removal system unit.
Exhaust air is passed through cyclone separators to remove urea
dust. After removing dust, almost clean air is exhausted to
Page 59
IFFCO
atmosphere by exhaust air fan through exhaust air chimney. The
dust separated in the cyclone separators is collected in the three
silos. From silo dust is transferred to belt conveyor with the help of
rotary valves provided at the outlet of silos. All the silos are
provided with vibrators to make the dust fall easier. Dust from the
conveyor belt is transferred to dust dissolving tanks.
From the discharge nozzle of fluidised bed cooler, cooled prills at

55 C are discharged to product transfer conveyor through two link
conveyors.
5. Urea hydrolyser and desorber
Process water containing 6.2% NH3, 4.3 % CO2 and 1.3 % urea by
weight from strong ammonia water tank is pumped with desorber
feed pump via desorber heat exchangers to the first desorber. The
first desorber is having 20 nos. of sieve trays in order to provide
uniform contact between liquid and vapour. In the first desorber
bulk of NH3 and CO2 is stripped off by means of overhead vapours
from second desorber and hydrolyser
Pre desorbed feed water containing about 1 % NH 3 from the bottom

of first desorber is pumped by hydrolyser feed pump through the
tube side of hydrolyser pre heater, where its temperature is raised
from 137 C to 190C and fed to the top of the hydrolyser.
In the hydrolyser urea in feed water is converted to NH 3 and CO2

according to hydrolysis reaction:
NH2CONH2 + H2O ---------> 2 NH3 + CO2
The hydrolyser is operated at temperature of 190C at top and

200C at bottom. Heat required for hydrolysis of urea and raising
temperature to 200 C is supplied by 23 atm superheated steam
fed into hydrolyser bottom through a sparger. The flow of vapour
and solution in the hydrolyser is counter current. In the hydrolyser
20 nos. of sieve trays with a short pipe down comer are fixed at a
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IFFCO
spacing of 1100 mm to provide uniform contact between liquid and
vapours. The pressure of ammonia retards hydrolysis reaction. The
ammonia produced as a result of hydrolysis reaction is
simultaneously stripped by the uprising vapours. The urea
concentration of less than 10 ppm in effluent can be achieved in a
counter current type of hydrolyser.
Effluent leaving hydrolyser bottom is cooled from 200 C to 146 C

in the hydrolyser preheater with the hydrolyser feed water and is
fed to second desorber for final stripping. Vapours leaving at the
top of the hydrolyser are fed to first desorber below 5 th tray as
supplementary stripping medium and for recovery of ammonia and
CO2.
The overhead vapours from the first desorber are taken to vertical
reflux condenser where it is almost completely condensed in shell
side. The C.W is supplied at tube side of reflux condenser.
Ammonia water from the outlet of flash tank scrubber is pumped by
pump and introduced in the off gas line. This will help condensation
in the reflux condenser. Uncondensed gases are separated and fed
to the atmospheric vent scrubber to recover NH 3. Liquid from the
reflux level tank is transferred by means of reflux pump to LP
carbamate condenser. A small part of liquid is fed at the top of first
desorber as reflux to control the water content in the top product by
controlling the top temperature of first desorber around 115 C.
In second desorber, the remaining ammonia and CO2 in the effluent

is stripped off by means of saturated LP steam available and the
overhead vapours bearing NH3 & CO2 are fed to the first desorber
bottom as stripping medium.
The effluent from second desorber bottom, containing less than 10

ppm ammonia and less than 10 ppm urea, is cooled from 137C to
47C in desorber heat exchangers by exchanging heat with first
desorber feed and then exchanging heat with surface condensate
in desorber bottom cooler. The final effluent can be diverted to
effluent tanks or to cooling tower as make up water. The hydrolyser
effluent is sent to cooling tower directly or it is taken to CO 2 spray
cooler sump and then pumped to CT alongwith spray cooler water
with the help of spray cooler pumps.
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IFFCO
6. Steam system
Urea plant uses steam at five pressure levels i.e. 60 atm, 40 atm, 23
atm, 9 atm and 4 atm. 60 atm steam is received in urea plant
battery limit from steam generation plant. 23 atm steam
requirement is met by letting down 60 atm steam from the turbines
of CO2 compressors. 9 atm steam is produced by letting down 23
atm steam.
4 atm steam is generated from the HP condenser and from back

pressure steam turbines of steam generation plant. Additional
requirement of 4 atm steam if any is met by letting down 9 atm
steam.
60 atm Steam
60 ata steam is generated in BHEL boiler and supplied to urea plant

at 60 ata and 410 C. The steam is utilised in urea plant turbines
At normal load, urea plant needs about 78 tonnes of 60 ata steam to
run Hitachi CO2 compressor turbine. 23 ata steam required for
stripping is extracted from the CO2 compressor turbine.
40 atm steam
40 ata steam is available from utilities at urea plant battery limits

for driving the turbine of main lube oil pump for NP/PB CO 2
compressor turbine. 40 ata steam is generated by letdown of 60 ata
steam through control valve.
23 atm Steam
Steam at 23 ata and 293 C extracted from CO 2 compressor turbine

is used in HP stripper.
Page 62
IFFCO
9 atm steam
9 ata steam is generated by falshing 23 ata condensate from 23 ata

steam saturator. A part of this is flashed to form 9 ata steam which
flows to the consuming station. A small quantity of 23 ata steam is
also sparged into the 9 ata saturator to meet the additional demand
for 9 ata steam. 9 ata steam is used mainly in second evaporator
(H-1424). 9 ata steam is also used for tracing purpose, to LP
carbamate separator vapour line purging and for heating HP vessels
for cold start up.
4 atm steam
4 atm steam drum is located at an elevated position to provide the

necessary thermosyphon cycle to and from HP condenser. 4 ata
steam is produced by natural circulation of condensate to shell side
of HP condenser. At normal plant load around 63 t/h of 4 ata steam
is produced from HP condenser. 4 ata steam is mainly used in first
stage evaporator, recirculation heater, CO2 centrifugal compressor
turbines, second desorber and pre evaporator. Vacuum ejectors,
dust dissolving tank, tracings and jackets also consume 4 ata steam.
Page 63
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IFFCO
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INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

It gives me immense pleasure in submitting this in plant training report at the

IFFCO is the federation of about 36144 co-operative societies.

IFFCOS four modern fertiliser plants at Kalol and Kandla in

Product Annual capacity in lakh tonnes

Kalol Kandla Phulpur Aonla

Table of Contents Page no.

Raw Water System.7

Ammonia Storage and Handling.21

Natural Gas Supply and Desulphurisation...28

CO2 supply and compression..45

NH3 supply and pumping46

IFFCO KALOL UNIT

Consumption of inputs for the production of 1100 tonnes of ammonia

Natural gas : 450,000 Sm3/day

Associated gas : 200,000 Sm3/day

Water : 18,000 m3/day

Power : 8,500 KVA

Utility plant consists of

1. RAW WATER SYSTEM

Raw water is required in the plant mainly for :-

Cooling tower (CT) makeup water after partial treatment in

Source of water supply for IFFCO Kalol plant is Narmada River

2. WATER TREATMENT PLANT

1) Exchange of cations in strong acid cation exchangers,

Cooling tower make up water is drawn after weak base anion

This deposited layer is highly non-conductive and acts as insulator

Demineralization is the process of removing the mineral salts from

Quality of water comparable to that of distilled water is required for

a.) Cation exchange reactions

Re2Ca + 2HCl 2ReH + CaCl2

Usually the SAC (strong acid cation ) resins are co-polymers of

b.) Anion exchange reactions

The following equation can be used to illustrate the manner in which

ReOH + HCl ReCl + H2 O

ReCl + NaOH ReOH + NaCl

For removing the carbonic acid formed by the removal of cations of

H2 CO3 H2O + CO2

d.) Silica removal by strong base anion exchanger

The removal of silica by strongly basic anion exchanger resin can

ReOH + H2SiO3 ReHSiO3 + H2O.

(Basic Exc. Resin) (Silicic acid) (Resin silicate)

In the operation of a strongly basic anion exchanger with downward

At IFFCO Kalol, water Treatment Plant (WTP) is broadly divided into

Boiler feed water (BFW) treatment plant consisting of one

e.) Secondary Mixed Bed

3. INERT GAS GENERATION PLANT

In the ammonia cracker, ammonia dissociates at 850C into

2NH3 (g) 3H2 (g) + N2 (g) H = +10.96 kcal/g mol

In combustion chamber, air is supplied so as to maintain O2 slightly

In deoxo unit, the traces of oxygen react with hydrogen in presence

2 H2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H2 O (g) H =-57.798 kcal/g mol

4. PLANT AND INSTRUMENT AIR

High pressure air available from the air compressor of ammonia

The compressed air at around 7.0 kg/cm2g pressure is used as plant

The plant air is supplied to :

The instrument air is supplied to :

ammonia storage tank,

5.) STEAM GENERATION PLANT

The modern steam generator is an integrated assembly of several

At IFFCO-Kalol Plant, a BHEL make boiler of 80 t/h (net) capacity

Steam is the vaporized form of water. The vapour is commonly

These properties of steam, its ability to carry a large amount of heat

We take advantage of these properties by generating steam at high