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Indian Farmers Fertilizers Co-operative

Limited
VOCATIONAL TRAINING REPORT ON
SYNTESIS OF AMMONIA
May 17th 2016- June 26th 2016
(VT-247/16-17)

SUBMITTED TO-
SUBMITTED BY-
D. G. M. RAHUL
KUMAR VERMA
TRAINING DEPARTMENT
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
IFFCO AONLA IIT
(BHU)
BAREILLY, UP
VARANASI, UP
Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Man owes his pride on earth because of his accuracy of experience


On successful completion of my project I would like to first express my sincere
thanks to entire Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited, Aonla unit which
considered me competent enough and gave me this valuable opportunity which
let me to discover myself and left an incredible impression on my mind.

I extend my heart full gratitude to Mr. Harshil sharma for all the co-operation
rendered to me during the project.
I feel privileged to have completed my training in chemical department under the
experienced and able guidance of Mr. Rai. Sir who possess and exceptional
quality of simplifying my problem in a suitable and rational manner.
In last, I would like to thank the main person behind this training Dr. P K Mishra
(Officer Incharge, Head of department, Chemical Department, IIT BHU) who
permitted me to pursue training in winter vacations of Third Year.

Though it is tough to collect the necessary information within a short period of


time, with the support that I got from the Operators of different plants and most
helpful library of IFFCO, I was able to complete the report with complete
analysis in due time.

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

Table of content-
1. About IFFCO
2. IFFCO associates subsidiaries

3. Brief Description of Ammonia Plant


a. Desulphurization
b. Reforming section
c. Gas purification section
d. CO conversion section
e. High temperature co conversion
f. Low temperature co conversion
g. Carbon dioxide removal section
h. Methanation section
i. Ammonia synthesis section
j. Ammonia conversion
k. Fuel system
l. Instrumentation
4. Difference in two different plant
5. Ammonia plant I
a. About
b. Offsite facilities
6. Ammonia plant II
a. Adiabatic primary reformer
b. Secondary reforming
c. Ammonia converter
d. Ammonia recovery unit
e. Refrigeration circuit
f. Methanation
g. Carbon dioxide recovery plant
h. Steam generation
i. Power plant
j. Offsite plant
7. Revamp plans
8. Township

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

About IIFCO:

Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) was established on


3rd November, 1967 as a multiunit cooperative organization of board
objectives of augmenting fertilizer production, ensuring fertilizer
availability at farmers door step, strengthening cooperative fertilizer
distribution system and educating training and guiding the farmers for
improving agriculture productivity. Indian farmer fertilizer Co-operative
ltd. IFFCO has been ranked#37 in top companies in India in 2011 by
Fortune India 500 list. IIFCO has emerged as the pioneer venture in the
co-operative sector. Over forty year of its inception, IIFCO has turned into
a true cooperative of the farmers. IIFCO has steadily grown in strength
and stature from a modest membership of 57 societies in 1967-68 to
nearly 40 societies. The initial equity capital of Rs. 6 lakh contributed by
the co-operative in 1967-68 has gone up to Rs. 425.80 crore in 2011-12.

Initially IFFCO set up its plants at kalol and kandla in Gujarat which were
commissioned in 1975. Subsequently, it commissioned plants at Phulpur
and Anola in UP in the year 1981 and 1988 respectively. Capacity of all
these units have been enhanced to putting another plants in the same
complex in a phase wise manner. In order to argument its complex
fertilizers manufacturing capacity, IFFCO acquired DAP/NPK/NP plant in
Paradeep in September 2005. The Phulpur project consists mainly of
Ammonia plant, Urea plant and Offsite facilities like Water Treatment
System, Inert Gas Plant, Instrument Air Plant, Bagging Plant, Laboratory
and Storage for spares consumable and products.

IFFCO-AONLA UNIT The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited


(IFFCO) is a national level multi-unit cooperative society engaged in
manufacturing and marketing of chemical fertilizers. The Society was
registered in 1987 and presently having a membership of over 37,000
cooperatives as shareholders. IFFCO produced over 6 million tones of
fertilizers in 2004-05 and contributed about 18% to the total Nitrogen and
24% to the total P205 produced in India. IFFCO markets its fertilizers
through Cooperative Agencies and Member Cooperative Societies. Aonla
project of IFFCO is one of the six natural gas based fertilizer plants set up
in the country on the H.J.B. pipe line which runs through four statuses.
This project has been designed to produce 7.26 lake tons of Urea per year
with plant capacity of 1350 TPD Ammonia and 2200 TPD of urea .The site
is 28 km south west of Bareilly on Bareilly Aonla Road . The total land
acquired by IFFCO Aonla unit is 1273 acres for factory and township.

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IFFCO ASSOCIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES

IFFCO has diversified its wings in other areas and across the globe by
putting plants in joint venture in India and abroad. The number of IFFCO's
Associates and Subsidiaries are 19. IFFCO has become a diversified entity
spreading its wings across the different continents. List of joint ventures &
subsidiaries is as below:

a) IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance Company

b) Jordan India Fertilizer Company.

c) Industries Chimiques Du Senegal (ICS)

d) Kisan International Trading FZE (KIT)

e) Legend International Holding, Australia.

f) Oman India Fertiliser Company

g) IFFCO Chhattisgarh Power Limited (ICPL)

h) IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL)

i) IFFCO Kisan SEZ

j) Commodity Exchange/Collateral Management p

k) Indian Potash Limited (IPL)

l) IFFCO Kisan Sewa Trust

m) Indian Farm Forestry Development Cooperative Ltd (IFFDC)

n) Cooperative Rural Development Trust (CORDET)

o) IFFCO Foundation

p) IFFCO Kisan Bazar


q) Free Play Energy India Pvt. Ltd.
r) Aria Chemicals (Orissa) Ltd.

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Brief Description of Ammonia Plant:

The Ammonia plant in Phulpur-I is based on MW Kellogg USA


technology having capacity of 1215 MTPD and in Phulpur-II plant is
based on Haldor Topsoes Denmarks technology with a capacity of
1740 MTPD.
The Ammonia Plant in Phulpur-I and Phulpur-II uses RLNG as raw
material for feed and fuel. But there is a provision of using Naphtha
also as raw material in Phulpur-II.
Ammonia is produced from a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen with
mole ratio of H:N = 3:1 we get Hydrogen from Naphtha / R.L.N.G.
And Nitrogen from atmosphere.
The main process steps for production of Ammonia in both the plants
are similar and are briefly described below:

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Desulphurisation
The Traces of sulphur present in RLNG are removed in the
desulphurisation section before sending to the reforming section
following hydrogenation reactions are as under:

1) RSH + H2 = RH + H2S
2) COS + H2 = CO + H2S
3) C4H4S + 4H2 = C4H10 + H2S

The desulphurisers reactor consists of Co Mo based catalyst and ZnO


based catalyst. The desulphurisation takes place in two steps. The
first step is hydrogenation where organic sulphur is converted into
Hydrogen sulphide over the hydrogenation catalyst in the HDS
reactor. The second step is the absorption of the H2S formed which
takes place in 2 nos. ZnO absorbers connected in series.

Reforming Section
In the reforming section consisting of Pre-reformer, Primary reformer
& Secondary reformer, the sulphur free RLNG is reformed with steam
and air into raw synthesis gas (process gas) at a pressure of 30 - 37
kg / cm2. The gas contains mainly hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon
monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The steam reforming process can be described by the following
reaction:

(i) Cn H2n + 2H2O = Cn+1 H2n + CO2 + 3H2 - heat


(ii) CH4 + 2H2O = CO2 + 4H2 - heat
(iii) CO2 + H2 =CO + H2O - heat

Since the reaction is highly endothermic, RLNG is fired in furnace as


fuel to maintain the temperature at about 800 deg C. The reformed
process gas has a temperature of about 800 deg. C and contains
about 9-11 mole% (dry basis) of methane and around 70 % hydrogen.

Secondary reforming, which including mixing and combustion of the


reformed process gas with process air, takes place in the secondary
reformer. Secondary reformer consists of based catalyst. The process
gas (31.5 kg/cm2g, 800 deg C) enters the Secondary reformer at the
top. The reaction between oxygen and process gas is a combustion
where all the oxygen is utilized, raising the temperature to about
1200 deg C. When passing the catalyst bed, the temperature

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decreases to about 975 deg C and the pressure to 31 kg/cm2 g. The


Outlet gas from Secondary Reformer contains about 56 % hydrogen.

Gas Purification System


The gas purification section comprises three main process steps:
1) CO conversion
2) CO2 Removal
3) Process Condensate Stripping
4) Methanation

CO-Conversion Section
The reformed process gas enters into CO-conversion section
comprising the two CO-converters and equipment for process gas
cooling and condensate separation. The main part of the carbon
monoxide is converted into carbon dioxide by the shift reaction:

CO+H2O = CO2+H2+Heat

The heat evolved is primarily used for steam production and boiler
feed water preheating.

High Temperature CO-Conversion


The high temperature CO-converter comprises two catalyst beds. The
process gas enters the top of the converter and passes the two beds
the normal outlet temperature of the gas is about 424 deg. The outlet
gas from HT Shift Converter contains around 3% CO.

Low Temperature CO conversion


The gas leaving the high temperature CO-converter is cooled in HP
waste heat boiler, in the trim heater and in the boiler feed water
preheater. Process gas entering the low temperature CO converter
has a content of 2.98 mole% carbon monoxide. The gas leaves the
converter at about 219 deg C and 29.1 kg/cm2g. The process gas is
cooled in the boiler feed water preheater. Before entering the CO2
removal section. The process condensate is separated in the
separator inlet reboiler. The outlet gas from LT shift converter contains
around 0.12 % CO

Carbon dioxide Removal Section

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Basically, the CO2 removal section comprises of Absorber, where the


CO2 content in the process gas will be absorbed in liquid phase at
high pressure. The liquid containing the CO2 is transferred to tower
regeneration unit. Consisting of two Strippers operating at different
pressure. In these two towers the pressure is low and thereby, due to
equilibrium, the CO2 again will be transferred into the gas phase.
Carbon dioxide is removed by absorption in hot potassium carbonate
solution containing approx. 27 wt. % potassium carbonate. The
solution also contains glycine and diethanol amine as activators and
vanadium pentaoxide as corrosion inhibitor. The gas passes the
separator OH absorber and enters the Methanation section. The
solution enters the top of 1st regenerator column. The solution passes
down through the packed beds in the column in counter current with
steam. The steam strips off the carbon dioxide, and a mixture of
steam and carbon dioxide leaves the top of the column the CO2 thus
evolved is sent to urea plant and regenerated solution is recirculated
back to CO2 absorber.

Methanation Section
Following reactions take place in methanator.

(i) CO + 3H2 = CH4 + H2O + Heat


(ii) CO2 + 4H2 = CH4 + 2H2O + Heat

The process gas from carbon dioxide removal section still contains
about 0.05 vol% CO2 and 0.30 vol % CO As the carbon dioxides are
poisonous to the ammonia synthesis catalyst, it is converted in the
methanator by use of hydrogen.
The outlet gas from Methanator contains around 73 % H2, 25 % N2,
0.7 % CH4.

Ammonia Synthesis Section


The gases after the methanator outlet are sent to synthesis loop for
conversion of N2 & H2 into NH3. The gases are introduced in
synthesis gas compressor where the pressure is increased to around
180 Kg/cm2. Since ammonia reaction take place at elevated pressure.

Ammonia Conversion
The ammonia conversion is carried out in two converters installed in
series. One original converter and another (S-50) installed during
Energy Saving Project (ESP). Ammonia converter catalyst is promoted
Iron.

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Reaction: 3H2 + N2 = N2 = 2NH3 + Heat

Since the reaction is highly exothermic the waste heat is utilised for
generating steam and Boiler feed water heating. The gases are cooled
in a series of Chillers and the ammonia get condensed a series of
chillers and the ammonia get condensed and is separated. The
uncondensed gases are recycled back to Synthesis Gas Compressor.
The liquid NH3 separated out in a high pressure separator is taken to a
lower Pressure separator where the inerts are separated out. This
liquid NH3 is taken to another flash drum for removal of inerts and
liquid NH3 is sent to Urea plant or Ammonia Storage Tanks.

Fuel System:
Liquid Naphtha was used as fuel in burners of different location like
Primary Reformer Arch, Tunnel etc. Naphtha was pumped by Fuel Naphtha
Pump. Atomizing Steam at a pressure of 18 Kg/cm2g was used to atomize
naphtha in burners. For RLNG Fuel Conversion, total fuel Naphtha plus
atomizing steam facilities were dismantled and new RLNG fuel system
has been installed. RLNG Fuel system includes pressure let-down station,
flow control system for each furnace, their double block & bleed systems
to isolate the burners for any process requirement and necessary
modification in the Emergency Shut down System.
LNG specification at B/L:

Instrumentation:
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Various measuring instruments used


a) Pressure measuring instruments
b) Temp. Measuring instruments
c) Level measuring instruments
d) Flow measuring instruments
e) PH measuring instruments
f) Conductivity measuring instruments
g) Gas Composition measuring instruments
h) RPM measuring instruments
Supervisory Instruments:
Supervisory instrument are those instruments which are used for safety of
equipment. Under this category comes instruments like vibration monitor,
interlocks and trip system
Transmitting Instruments:
In a modern fertilizer industries it is desired that most of the plant
parameter be controlled from Central place name as Control room. So it is
essential that all the relevant parameter be transmitted from field to
Control room. This is done with the help of transmitters transducer.
Controlling Instruments:
Automatic Controller are used where continuous controlling is required to
take care the frequent. Upset in the parameters in such case the
automatic controller will take care of these Function.
Process control mechanism:

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AMMONIA PLANT-I
The Plant is designed to produce 1215 tons per day liquid ammonia based
on Pullman Kellogg process with Natural Gas (RLNG) as raw material.
RLNG undergoes steam reforming in the catalyst tubes of the Primary
Reformer. Endothermic heat for reforming reaction is provided by firing
RLNG in Gas Burners. Further reforming takes place in the Secondary
Reformer where air is added to supply the nitrogen required for ammonia
synthesis. Hot reformed gases from Secondary reformer are cooled by
heat recovery in the waste heat boilers. Gases are then introduced in the
Shift Converters where most of the carbon monoxide gets converted to
carbon dioxide which is removed by the GV process.
In the GV Absorber, CO2 is absorbed in promoted Potassium Carbonate
solution (GV Solution). Solution is regenerated in the strippers and
recycled back to the Absorber. CO2 from the stripper is sent to the urea
plant. Residual oxides of carbon in the synthesis gas leaving the Absorber
are converted to methane in the Methanator. Pure synthesis gas from
methanator is compressed to about 150 Kg/Cm2 by Turbine driven
Synthesis Gas Compressor. Syn Gas is partially converted to Ammonia in
Syn Gas Converter. Recycled gas (containing H2 and N2) leaving the
synthesis converter re-joins the last stage of compressor. Product
ammonia is recovered by cooling the compressor discharge stream in the
series of Refrigeration Chillers where ammonia condenses. Liquid
ammonia is purified by flashing at lower pressures and then sent to the

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urea plant or storage tanks. All major pumps and compressors are steam
driven. Most of the high pressure steam is being generated in the waste
heat boilers by heat recovery from hot gases.

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Steam Generation And Power Plant:


To cope up the steam and power requirement of Ammonia and Urea plant,
3 coal fired boilers of capacity 125 tones per hour have been installed.
Each boiler, supplied by BHEL, generates high pressure steam at
110kg/cm2g, 465C. For good thermal efficiency, maximum heat recovery
from flue gas is carried out. The flue gas is made free from ash particles
by means of electrostatic precipitator. While coal is the main fuel for
boilers, a small quantity of RLNG is used as support fuel for proper
combustion of coal.
In plant power generation has been provided to ensure continuous
electric supply to process plants. One automatic extraction cum
condensing steam driven turbo generator of 12.5 MW/11KV are installed
along with distribution system with transformers for supplying power at
3.3 KV, 440V, and 220 V. The turbo generator unit consumes high
pressure steam to generate power, Extraction steam after power
generation is withdrawn to meet the internal requirement of boilers.
An independent diesel driven Auto Mains failure set (AMF set) for power
generation up to 1MW is also provided to face emergencies due to power
failure and keep the essential services in operation to avoid keep the
essential services in operation to avoid catastrophic shut down of plants.

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OFFSITES FACILITIES:
Raw Water And Water Treatment Plant:
Entire Water requirement of our plant is being fulfilled by underground
water. IFFCO Phulpur Unit utilizes deep sub-soil water .Raw water is
collected in storage tank of 16000 M 3 capacity. This water under goes
extensive treatment to make it suitable for use as cooling tower make-up
and boiler feed. The temporary hardness of raw water is brought down in
line softener and softened water is used as cooling tower make-up. Water
for steam generation is treated in demineralization plant having
conventional ion exchange process. It consists of four stream of pressure
sand filter, primary and secondary cations, degasser, primary and
secondary anions and mixed bed units, each having a capacity of 70 M 3
/hr.
Cooling Towers:
Cooling water required to remove excessive process heat of ammonia,
urea and power plant is provided by three induced draft type cooling
towers .Hot water from various heat exchangers flow down the air in
circulation type cooling water system. An exhaustive cooling water
treatment system is followed to keep the circulating cooling water free of
scales, corrosion and natural growth. Blow down water from all cooling
towers is recycled back in lime softener. This reduces makeup water and
also results in considerable saving of chemicals required for treatment.
Ammonia Storage:
Product Ammonia is stored at-33C and at atmospheric pressure in
10,000 MT double walled insulated storage tank and a 5000 MT capacity
double integrity tank. Ammonia transfer pumps for transfer of liquid
ammonia to the urea plant, refrigeration package unit for maintaining
tank pressure, flare stack and loading/unloading facilities are provided to
meet the plant requirements safely.
Effluent Treatment:
All the liquid effluents generated from the various plants are subjected to
extensive treatment to ensure that the treated water quality conforms to
the specification laid down by the UPPCB and MINAS. For liquid effluent
control, deep hydrolyser, distillation column, stripper and ETP based on
steam stripping, disc. Oil separator, treatment cum recycle plant on
Reverse Osmosis technology. The treated water is completely recycled
and reused in plant itself and there is no liquid effluent discharge from
plant.

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Instrumentation And Plant Air Compressor:


Four non-lubricated, reciprocating compressors having capacity of 1500
NM3/hr. each ensures stable supply of instrument and plant air at
8.0Kg/Cm2g. Air drying unit having capacity of 1500 NM 3 /hr. is provided
to get dry air for instrumentation.

AMMONIA PLANT-II:
Ammonia is produced using the Haldor Topsoe process with RLNG as raw
material. In the reforming section the RLNG is reformed with steam and
air into process gas. The gas contains mainly of hydrogen, nitrogen,
carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
In the shift section, CO2 is first converted into CO2 and H2 with steam
(shift reaction), in order to facilities removal of the carbon oxides and to
increase the H2 yield. Then CO2 is removed in the CO2 removal unit. The
residual CO and CO2 is converted into CH4 using H2, before the gas is
sent to the ammonia synthesis loop.
Pure synthesis gas from methanator is compressed to about 190 Kg/Cm2
by Turbine driven Synthesis Gas Compressor. Syn Gas is partially
converted to Ammonia in Syn Gas Converter. Recycled gas (containing H2
and N2) leaving the synthesis converter re-joins the last stage of
compressor. Product ammonia is recovered by cooling the compressor
discharge stream in the series of Refrigeration Chillers where ammonia
condenses. Liquid ammonia is purified by flashing at lower pressures and
then sent to the urea plant or storage tanks. All major pumps and
compressors are steam driven. Most of the high pressure steam is being
generated in the waste heat boilers by heat recovery from hot gases.

Adiabatic Primary reformer:


Two Bed Catalyst:
Main purpose of primary reformer to convert higher hydrocarbons in to
methane. To achieve the reaction temperature, feed is heated in mixed
feed coil of convection section of primary reformer.

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Operating Conditions

Inlet Outlet

Temperature 490oC 505 oC

Pressure 36.8 kg/cm2 35.7 kg/cm2

Composition(in % Dry basis)

CH4 0.35 50.80

H2 36.59 24.45

N2 12.20 3.02

Ar 0.15 0.04

CO - 0.54

CO2 0.46 20.15

C3 + 50.25 -

Process Gas Flow Rate(Dry) 18305 Nm3 /hr

Total Gas Flow Rate 192805 Nm3 /hr

Catalyst

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Operating Conditions

Minimum Maximum Normal

Temperature 0C 380 600 490

Pressure kg/cm2 34 46 39

Reactor Data

ID(mm) Height(m Volume(m


m) 3
)

Bed # 2750 2350 13.90


1

Bed # 2750 1450 9.50


2

Size and Shape: 11x5 mm ( cylindrical with


7 holes)

Ni 25%

Al2O3 11%

MgO Balanced

Catalyst Shape Ribbed Top Half Bottom Half


Ring

Ni 25 15-20

MgO Balance 20-25

Al2O3 11 55-60

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SiO2 - <100 ppm

S - <2000 ppm

Cl- <50 ppm -

Bulk Density 0.9-1.0 kg/lt 0.9-1.0 kg/lt

Make HTAS Denmark HTAS Denmark

Type R-67R-7H R-67-7H

Volume 8.6 m3 21.4 m3

Radial Crushing 15-20 kg/cm 30 kg/cm


Strength

Size and Shape: 11x5 mm (Ribbed


Rings)

Ni 8-10%

Al2O3 87-90%

SiO2 <0.05 %

S < 0.05%

Make UCI, USA

Type C-14-02-RR

Volume 39 m3

Size 16mm x 16mm x


6mm

Shape Ribbed Rings

Bulk Density 1.1 + .1 kg/lt

Secondary Reforming:

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Mixing and combustion of reformed process gas with process air. Mixing
of N2 utilization of O2 by combustion temperature raised to 1200 oC.
Amount of air (nitrogen) addition depend on desired N 2 to H2 ratio. Normal
skin temperature 160 o C (designed 300o C).

Operating conditions

Inlet Outlet

Temperature 773 959

Pressure 33.4 32.8

Air entering in secondary reformer at temperature 555 0 C and


pressure 34 kg/cm2

Composition(in % Dry basis)

CH4 13 0.45

H2 67.64 55.92

N2 0.55 23.29

Ar 0.01 0.28

CO 8.29 12.41

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CO2 10.51 7.65

Catalyst

Size and Shape: 11x5 mm (Ribbed Rings)

Ni 8-10%

Al2O3 87-90%

SiO2 <0.05 %

S < 0.05%

Make UCI, USA

Type C-14-02-RR

Volume 39 m3

Size 16mm x 16mm x 6mm

Shape Ribbed Rings

Bulk Density 1.1 + .1 kg/lt

Ammonia converter:
The main inlet low to the convertor R3501, introduce trough two nozzles
at the bottom. Higher Pressure and low temperature are favorable
conditions for reaction. From the annular space the non-converted gas
enters the tube side of interbed heat exchanger, where it is heated up to
the inlet temperature of the first catalyst bed. Temperature is adjusted by
the cold shot flow.
Operating Conditions:
Make-up Gas
Flow Rate: 199505
Temperature: 6 oC
Pressure: 25.9 kg/cm2g
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After Compression:
Temperature: 22.6 oC
Pressure: 181 kg/cm2g

R3501 Inlet Outlet

Temperatur 233 432


e

Pressure 190 188

R3502

Temperatur 377 418


e

Pressure

Catalyst

Top Bed KMIR 29 M3

Bottom Bed KMI 80.3 M3

KM1 KM1
R

Fe-Oxides - 90-96% (FeO+Fe2O3)

K2O+Al2O3+CaO+S 9% 0-1% K2O,1-4% CaO


iO2

Fe+FeO 91% 1-4%

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R 3501

Inlet (%) Outlet (%)

N2 20.76 16.79

H2 62.27 50.36

NH3 5.72 20.07

R 3502

N2 16.79 15.84

H2 50.36 47.51

NH3 20.07 23.51

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Ammonia Recovery unit:


Purge Gas from the loop send to the purge gas absorber, where ammonia
is absorbed in a descending flow of water at a pressure of about 140
kg/cm2g. Inert gas from refrigeration unit, and the let down gas from the
flash vessel is treated in the off-gas absorber operating at 15kg/cm 2g.
Ammonia rich water from the bottom of the two absorbers send to the
distillation column. Ammonia recovered from distillation and sent to
storage together with the ammonia product from the top. The lean water

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from the bottom of the distillation column is re-used as absorbent in the


two absorbers.

Refrigeration Circuit:
The purpose of the refrigeration circuit to carry out the various cooling
tasks in the ammonia synthesis loop. The primary task is to condense the
ammonia, which is produced in the convertor. Other cooling tasks are
cooling of make-up gas, purge gas, let down gas, and inert gas. The
chillers operated at different chillers temperature and pressure level
corresponding to the interstate pressure of the refrigeration compressor.
The letdown chiller E 3508, inert gas chiller E3509, and the purge gas
chiller E3511 operate at about 0.19 kg/cm2g and -30 oC. Evaporated
ammonia from these chillers combined with vapor from flash vessel
B3505, and enter the first stage of K3451. E 3507 operates at 4.6 kg/cm 2g
& 6.9 oC and the vapor enters at third stage of Compressor K3451. E 3506
and E 3514 operates at about 7.1 kg/cm2g & 17.8 oC and the vapor send
to the suction of 4th stage suction compressor K3451. The dissolved inert
gases released in B 3510 are sent through E 3509 and then to K.O. Drum
B3509. Inert gas from B3509 is mixed with let-down gas from KO drum, B
3508 and heated to approx. 25 oC in the inert gas heater, E 3513 which is
a coil integrated in B 3510. Letdown gas and inert gas send to off gas
absorber.

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M
ethanation:
To convert CO and CO2 in methane. Temperature increase across the
methanator shows conversion of CO and CO2 in CH4
Temperature: Inlet: 280
Outlet: 289
Catalyst

Make UCIL India

Volume 30.05%

Ni 20+1%

CaO 4.5-5.5%

Al2O3 69-72%

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Bulk Density 0.944 Kg/lt

Surface Area 0.25-0.35 cc/gm

Side Crushing 9.9 kg DWL


Strength

Catalyst loading

CARBON DIOXIDE RECOVERY PLANT

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

To fulfill the shortfall of Carbon dioxide after feed stock conversion, a 450
MTPD CO2 Recovery (CDR) Plant has been installed in Ammonia-II plant.
The CDR plant recovers CO2 from flue gases of Primary Reformer stack
which contain about 9 to 10% CO2 on dry basis.
The technology of CO2 Recover Plant is developed and supported by M/s
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Japan. The project was success fully
commissioned with an investment of Rs. 59.13 Crores

View of CDR Plant


Brief Description of Process:
Flue gas at a temperature of 180 deg C is cooled down in Water Cooler, a
packed column using structured packing, by direct contact with water
supplied from the top & then compressed in Flue Gas Blower. Compressed
flue gas is fed to CO2 Absorber. CO2 Absorber is a packed bed column
using structured packing & having two sections, bottom for CO2
absorption & top for washing section. In this column CO2 is absorbed in
special solution (KS-1) supplied from the top of the absorption section.
Flue gas after washing is then exhausted at sufficient height.

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

Rich KS-1 solution is regenerated in Regenerator by supplying heat


through LP Steam Re-boiler. Lean solution from the bottom of the tower is
cooled in Lean solution cooler and re-circulated back to CO2 Absorber.
Overhead vapor is condensed & separated condensate is returned back to
the top of Regenerator. CO2 product is then compressed and sent to Urea
Plant.

Brief Description of CDR:

Flue gas at a temperature of 180 deg.C is cooled down in Water Cooler, a


packed column using structured packing, by direct contact with water
supplied from the top & then compressed in Flue Gas Blower. Compressed
flue gas is fed to CO2 Absorber. CO2 Absorber is a packed bed column
using structured packing & having two sections, bottom for CO2
absorption & top for washing section. In this column CO2 is absorbed in
special solution (KS-1) supplied from the top of the absorption section.
Flue gas after washing is then exhausted at sufficient height.
Rich KS-1 solution is regenerated in Regenerator by supplying heat
through LP Steam Re-boiler. Lean solution from the bottom of the tower is
cooled in Lean solution cooler and re-circulated back to CO2 Absorber.
Overhead vapor is condensed & separated condensate is returned back to
the top of Regenerator. CO2 product is then compressed and sent to Urea
Plant.

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

STEAM GENERATION:
A Gas based boiler of capacity 200 MT/Hr. is installed. It has been
supplied by BHEL. And designed at 115 kg/cm2 at 510 C. This boiler is
equipped with force draft fans, feed water pumps, makeup water pump,
economizer, super heater, chimney (120 m high) to achieve maximum
efficiency in steam generation. This boiler is operated from a D.C.S.
control room.
POWER PLANT:
The power plant is designed to produce 18 MW of power at 11 KV, 50 HZ.
The power is produced by a turbo generator, driven by steam turbine. The
whole package has been supplied by BHEL, Hyderabad. The steam
turbine uses steam at 115 kg/cm2 and 515 deg. C as the motive fluid and
is an extraction cum condensating turbine. The TG set is DCS controlled.

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OFFSITES FACILITIES:
DM water plant:
Raw water from deep bore wells is collected into a raw water storage tank
of 16000 M3 capacity. Water for steam generation is treated in D.M. plant.
The plant has two streams each having a capacity of 140 M3/hr. The plant
has been designed and supplied by Indocan Engg. Systems Ltd., Pune.
This plant consists of sand filters, cation exchangers, anion exchangers,
mixed bed which are used to remove turbidity, cations and anions present
in water. This treated water is sent to power plant and other locations of
the plant for steam production.

Condensate Polishing Unit:


The steam and process condensates generated at different sections of
ammonia/urea plants are sent here for treatment for reuse. This consists
of four streams each having 120 M3/hr. capacity. This plant consists of
sand. Filter, cation exchanger and mixed bed units. Final treated water is
used as feed water to boilers.

Softening Plant:
This plant is designed to produce 800 M3/hr. of soft water for make up in
cooling Tower. The raw water is treated in a reactor clarifier to remove
hardness by using lime and alum.

Inert Gas:
To meet out the nitrogen requirement for ammonia plant, a nitrogen plant
producing 600 NM3/hr. of nitrogen at 7.5 kg/cm2 pressure, is installed.
The feed stock for generation of nitrogen is atmospheric air. Nitrogen
production is based on Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) system using
carbon molecular sieves. This unique adsorbent separates nitrogen from
compressed air and gets regenerated by depressurization to atmosphere.
This plant is designed and supplied by M/s Kinetic Technologies India Ltd.,
New Delhi.

Cooling Towers:
Cooling towers are of induced draft cross flow type and supplied by M/s
Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd. Calcutta. These towers are designed to

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

handle 24,500 M3/hr. C.W. flow to Ammonia plant, 18,400 M3/hr.C.W. Flow
to Urea plant and 5200 M3/hr. C.W. flow to Power Plant.

Mist Cooling Tower:


Due to increased capacity of the plant, increased load on cooling water
was anticipated and in order to cope up with the increased heat load a
Mist cooling tower with a capacity of 3500 m3/h has been installed. With
the mist cooling tower in operation the return cooling water temperature
decreases by 1-1.5 deg C in comparison with existing conventional
cooling tower

Air Compressor:
Tow nos of three stage centrifugal compressors supplied by M/s ELLIOT
Turbo machinery Ltd. USA have been installed to cater to the need of air
requirement of plant instruments and nitrogen generation. One
compressor is in running mode, while second one is standby. The capacity
of plant is 5000 NM3/hr. at 8.7 Kg/Cm2 out of which instrument air 3000
NM3/hr. is passed through air drying unit before use in plants. The speed
of the final stage impeller is increased up to 42642 R.P.M. in order to get
optimum efficiency.

Instrument Air Dryer:


The plant is designed to produce 3000 NM3/hr. of dry air. This is split flow
no loss type air drier. Supplier for this drier is M/s Gaso Energy Systems
(India) Pvt. Ltd., Pune.

AMF Set:
The set is designed to supply electricity during failure of main power and
its capacity I s 2.2 MW. It takes auto start in case of power failure and
keeps critical equipment/motors alive. DG set has been supplied by M/s
BHEL, Bhopal.

Product Handling:
Product handling plant of a capacity of 9600 bags/hr. has been installed
by TICB Bombay. Urea received from urea plant through conveyer belt is
either fed to bunker for direct bagging or into silo (Capacity 30,000 MT)
for storage. Stored urea from silo is sent to bagging through scrapper

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loader as per requirement. There are eight bunkers (25 MT Capacity)


equipped with load cell which indicates the weight of bunker material.
Feeding of bunkers are carried out by automatic controlled distributing
conveyors and motorized flap gages. Each bunker is connected with tow
pneumatic bagging machines of capacity 600 bags/hr. and stitching
machines. These are installed over eight slat conveyor in this plant. The
whole system is controlled through Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
system installed in the control room. Filled and stitched bags are finally
loaded either into rail wagon or truck for dispatch to the consumers.

Quality Control Laboratory:


IFFCO Aonla Unit has set up a well-equipped quality control laboratory
which controls and monitors the operational parameters for smooth
functioning of the plant. It is accredited with ISO-9001, ISO-14001. The
lab has a well-qualified, trained and experienced staff to cater every need
of analytical cum control parameters. The lab is equipped with the
instrument for liquid, gaseous, solid samples, it has also the facility for
ambient air monitoring.

Fire & Safety Section:


IFFCO Aonla unit has a well-established Fire & Safety section. Safety
Management is done by a team of qualified & experienced safety
managers. All safety measures have been adopted to ensure safe
handling and operation of plants. Safety devices are of adequate sizes.
Apart from employees, contractor workmen are also given training in
safety and fire fighting in order to inculcate a feeling for safe working
atmosphere and prepare an additional safety force for emergency
purpose. Practical training in the use of sophisticated safety appliances is
imparted to the employees from time to time. In addition, safety
seminars, Safety essay/Posters/Slogans competitions and good
housekeeping competitions etc. are organized on regular basis.

Reverse Osmosis Plant:


Keeping in view the Zero Effluent Policy, IFFCO has installed &
commissioned a Reverse Osmosis based effluent treatment plant. The
effluent generated inside the plant is treated here. This plant consists of
solid contact clarifier, continuous sand filter, micron cartridge filter,
multimedia filter and R.O. skid to remove fine, suspended and dissolved
solids this treated water is sent to softening plant and finally used as
cooling water makeup. This is the first plant in Indian Fertiliser Industry to
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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

treat industrial effluent of 150 M3/hr. where Reverse Osmosis concept is


used.

Sewage Treatment Plant:


IFFCO Aonla has installed a sewage treatment plant of 3000 M3/day
capacity for treatment of township sewage water which is generated from
our residential township. The treated sewage water is pumped to water
softening plant and utilized as make-up water in our cooling towers
.Treated sewage water is also utilized for irrigation of 150 acres of Motilal
Nehru Farmers Training Institute, Phulpur.

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Information And Communication Technology:


IFFCO Aonla has a Campus-wide Network which has been Upgraded &
extended at all Key Official. Residences, GET Hostel, Club & Library to
access Email, Internet and MIS System Implemented the Global Account
Code Scheme and supported all other Units for timely Consolidation of
Accounts. WAN connectivity has been established through 3 links from
BSNL, AIRTEL &TULIP for Zero down time. It has strengthened the
connectivity of Phulpur unit with all other Units, HO and Marketing offices.
The Data Base Servers were upgraded with Oracle 10G Version for Latest
Features along with New Application Server with 10G IAS for better
performance to support and Implement WEB based Applications. Major
applications like HRMS, MMS, PMMS, and Quality Control Mgmt. System
etc. were successfully implemented using WEB Based Technology. Latest
Anti-virus Solution, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 has been installed
to tackle the challenges of ever increasing Virus/spy ware/Malware
threats.

Environment Management And Pollution Control:


Environment Protection and its enrichment has always been of paramount
importance to IFFCO Aonla Unit. We have adopted eco-friendly technology
wherever possible. Due care was taken at the design stage itself, to select
the best available technologies that produce low or negligible waste,
conserve resources, and reuse treated effluents to the maximum possible
extent. Environment monitoring and control at IFFCO Aonla is efficiently
met by providing all necessary pollution control measures for Liquid
effluents, air emissions, domestic sewage, and solid wastes.
For air emission control, electrostatic, precipitators, scrubbers for gaseous
emissions, cyclone dust collectors, natural draft prill tower of substantial
height, flare stacks, chimneys of adequate height for steam generation
units have been installed and are functioning efficiently. The stack
emissions are always well within the prescribed limits stipulated by state
pollution control Board & MOEF standards. The ambient air quality in
surrounding area of the factory is well within the limits prescribed for rural
and residential areas.
All the liquid effluents generated from various plants are subjected to
extensive treatment to ensure that the treated water quality meets the
specification laid down by various statutory agencies. For Liquid effluent
control, Deep Hydrolyser, Distillation column, Stripper and ETP based on
steam stripping, Disc oil separator, Effluent Treatment-cum-Recycle plant
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based on Reverse Osmosis technology, pH neutralization system, Guard


ponds etc. have been installed and are operating efficiently for complete
recycle of effluents.

Green Belt Development:


The land provided for the factory and township was originally 'USAR' land
and was lying unutilized from long time. IFFCO had taken a challenge to
reclaim this usar land and it has been converted into a green land. 50 to
200m wide green belt has been developed around the complex. At
present, the entire area is full of trees and vegetation.
About 3.0 Lakh trees of wide variety of about 30 species including some
of medicinal species imparts scenic beauty besides providing suitable
habitat for birds and other flora and fauna.

Rain Water Harvesting System:


IFFCO Aonla Unit has installed Rain Water Harvesting Systems at different
places of our residential Township e.g. Guest House, Central School,
Narmada Sector and Tapti Sector.

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

After commissioning of the plant in 1980, several problems were faced


during initial year of operation and plant could not be operated at design
plant load. The main limiting factor was Primary reformer in Ammonia
plant and revamp of the same carried out twice. The major problems
faced and the modification carried out during the period 1980-2000 has
been summarized below:

Primary Reformer (Year 1980-2000):


Ammonia Plant of Aonla-I was initially plagued by design deficiencies.
Though it was designed to process naphtha containing 20% aromatics,
but in actual experience, it was observed that in case, plant was operated
above 90% plant load even with 12-15% aromatics in feed naphtha, the
pressure drop across tubes and aromatics slip started increasing after 4-6
months of operation. The problem of primary reformer appreciated by the
fact that a capacity utilization was within 64% -93% during first 7 years of
operation.

The design pressure drop across the primary reformer at 100% plant load
was 4.7 kg/cm2 but in actual practice this used to rise up to 4.5-8.0
kg/cm2 depending on the age of catalyst & load of plant. In the 4 to 6
months of a fresh catalyst charge, there used to be a gradual increase in
pressure drop, even at 90% load. After 5 to 6 months of operation 90%
load, the pressure drop used to reach to7.5 to 8.0 kg/cm2 and the plant
had to be shut down for steaming of catalyst. Steaming of catalyst had to
be repeated after every 6 weeks and a maximum of 4 to 5 steaming
operations had to be carried out before catalyst itself was replaced. The
aromatic slip from the reformer also exhibited the same characteristics of
gradual increase during the initial 4-6 months and accelerated in the
latter half of the year. Also the tube skin temperatures exhibited a general
upward trend after a few months of operation between 920-950 deg C
against the design metal temperature of 916 deg. C.
Primary Reformer was a bottleneck in achieving its rated capacity and
catalyst change was required after every 12 months. In April, 1984, a
ruptured tube was found. Reformer tubes at that point of time had been
operated for hardly for 30000 hours against a design life of 100000 hours.
After a survey of all naphtha based Indian Plants, a fact clearly emerged
that the catalyst loading, i.e., the amount of naphtha to be reformed per
hour per unit of volume of catalyst was the highest for Phulpur ammonia
plant.

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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

Thereafter the revamp task for primary tubes was undertaken with view
to provide more catalyst volume, improved metallurgy, improving feed
distribution by resizing pigtails, etc.

(a) First Reformer Revamping (March 88):

Reformer revamping was carried out to overcome the problems as


discussed above in the year1988. The following modifications were
carried out during

Revamping
Total catalyst volume was increased by about 35% (26 m3 from 20 m3) by
increasing I.D. of reformer tubes (95.2 mm from 81.3 mm) keeping same
O.D. by providing superior metallurgy Manurite 36X catalyst tubes in
place of original HK-40 tubes. As a result naphtha loading on catalyst
decreased from 1.04 to 0.76 kg / litre. The ratio of ICI catalyst 46-1S and
46-4S was changed to 65:35 from 75:25. The size of the inlet pigtails was
reduced to ensure uniform feed naphtha distribution in the catalyst. Also
material of inlet pigtail was changed to A 213 T11 from A 335 P11.
After revamping Pressure drop & Tube skin temperature got reduced and
the Plant could be operated in a consistent manner even at higher plant
load with reduced energy consumption.

(b) Second Reformer Revamping (March 2000):

1st Reformer revamping had been highly successful and the Primary
Reformer tubes could last more than their design life of 100000 hours.
Second reformer revamping was carried out in March 2000. This time
Catalyst volume was increased to 30 m 3 & naphtha loading on catalyst is
now 0.68 kg/litre which was quite comparable with other naphtha based
ammonia plants. The following modifications were carried out during
second reformer revamping:

I.D. of reformer tubes was increased to 100.2 mm from 95.2 mm. Material
of tubes and riser was changed to G 4852 Micro alloy. In place of
Manaurite 36X. Catalyst volume increase to 30 m3 from 26.3 m3.

High Pressure Drop across High Temperature Shift


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Converter Catalyst:
High Temperature Shift Converter converts carbon monoxide to carbon
dioxide thereby generating the hydrogen in the process. Originally, there
was 64.28 M3 of conventional Iron Chromium catalyst. From the very
inception, it was experienced that the pressure drop in the reactor rose to
2.0 -2.5 kg /cm2 after six months of operation, though the initial pressure
drop used to be 0.5 2.5 kg / cm2. The design pressure drop of the
reactor is 0.5 kg /cm2 only. However the activity of the catalyst remains
normal and CO slip remains less than the design figure of 3.34 % High
pressure drop across the reactor results in to more power requirement in
the synthesis compressor.

To overcome the problem, the top grating and screen were removed from
the reactor in 1985 in consultation with the plant designer, MW Kellogg.
Analysis of the dust collected from the top of the reactor showed nearly
55% Fe3O4 and 10% Potash as K2O. The initial two catalyst charges were
conventional Iron Chromium catalyst supplied by M/s UCIL. In 1991,
copper promoted catalyst of M/s UCIL was charged but the problem of
high pressure drop still persisted. In year 1995, the copper promoted
catalyst of Topose make was loaded however the problem still remained
and after 2 years of operation, again UCIL catalyst was charged. The
same charge is in operation and at present the pressure drop is 2.5
kg/cm2.

In almost every annual shutdown, the dust from the top of catalyst was
removed in inert atmosphere which provided some temporary relief but
subsequently it regained the higher pressure drop value.

Subsequently in 2001 problem was successfully addressed by Grab


loading of Catalyst loading in the reactor. Designed catalyst volume is
64.3 m3 . In the bottom 45 m3 of Sud Chemie C-12-4 Catalyst was loaded
and 9 m3 of top layer of inert catalyst CSK also from Sud Chemie was
loaded, after that the problem of high pressure drop has not been
encountered. The probable cause of high DeltaP may be the Potash
carryover from Primary Reformer which forms a layer on HTS catalyst
bed. Inert Catalyst CSK act as a filter and prevents the formation of
Potash layer on Catalyst bed.

Failure of Radiant Coils of Final Desulphurisers (July, 80


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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

and April, 84): Desulphurisers feed preheater furnace is a natural


draft vertical upshot naphtha fired cylindrical furnace. Heating surface
consists of 52 vertical tubes arranged in two coils in radiant zone. The
material of the tubes is ASTM A-335 Gr. P-11. On both the occasion of
failures, load to furnace was 50% and radiant coils had ruptured
longitudinally. The failure of the coil twice was due to flow in one coil with
respect to other when preheater was operated at lower loads. Coils were
repaired and the following modification was carried out to avoid
reoccurrence of the incidents. Cracked gas / hydrogen to the preheater
Flow Indicator Recorder were made functional at low flows. Low flow
alarm was provided. Temperature indicators at the outlet of both coils
were maintained functional. To allow more than 50% flow through
dumping system, a bypass (with orifice and valve) was provided. Now the
operating practice is to keep the load around 80% of rated load in the
preheater during start up. In case of low flow of cracked gas / hydrogen,
the firing is reduced to bring down the outlet temperature to 320 deg C
and coil outlet temperature difference is to be watched. Skin
thermocouples on the tubes in both coils were provided and maintained
functional. During start-ups, temperature control of vaporised naphtha is
done manually rather than operating the controller on auto.

Installation of PGR Unit (July 85):


Inert gases like Argon and Methane, present in the synthesis loop of
Ammonia plant tend to reduce the partial pressure of the reactants,
Nitrogen and Hydrogen, thereby reducing the equilibrium conversion in
the synthesis gas converter. Therefore in order to achieve optimum
conversion in synthesis converter, it is necessary to purge a substantial
quantity of gas from synthesis loop so as to reduce inert concentration in
the loop. This purge gas containing about 60% Hydrogen was used as fuel
in Primary Reformer earlier thereby loosing potential hydrogen meant for
ammonia production. A cryogenic Purge Gas Recovery Unit, designed by
M/S L'Aire Liquide, France, has been installed in order to recover
Hydrogen from it, which is recycled back to convert it to ammonia, while
the by-product methane-rich tail gas from PGR unit is burnt as fuel in
Reformer.

The unit was commissioned in July, 1985. With the addition of this unit,
the average increase in Ammonia production is 35 MTPD for the same
input of feed Naphtha and the energy saving is 0.11 GCal/MT of Ammonia.
Salient Features of PGR unit are given below:
Capacity
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Ammonia manufacturing plant (IIFCO)

Normal: 6630 Nm3 / hr. Maximum: 7800 Nm3 / hr.

Design Composition of Input gas to PGR unit (Vol %) :


H2: 55-66%N2 : 18-25%CH4 : 7-14%Ar : 2.5- 6%NH3 : 1.5-4%Pressure : 115
to 153 kg/cm2gTemperature : -10 OC TO -33 OC

RLNG CONVERSION IN AMMONIA-I PLANT


Replacement of Naphtha Burners with new RLNG
Burners: Naphtha was used as fuel in the following facilities:

a) Top Arch Burners (162 Nos.) of Primary Reformer having heat release
capacity of 578,900 kcal/h per burner.
b) Tunnel Burners (9 Nos.) of Primary Reformer having heat release
capacity of 922,600 kcal/hr. per burner.
c) Auxiliary Boiler Burner (5 Nos.) of Primary Reformer having heat
release capacity of 15,120,100 kcal/hr. per burner.
d) Hydrocarbon Feed Preheater (4 Nos.) having heat release capacity of
741,100 kcal/hr. per burner.
e) Start-up Heater Burner (4 Nos.) having heat release capacity of
741,100 kcal/hr. per burner.
All these burners were, earlier, steam atomized liquid naphtha burners.
New RLNG burners supplied by M/s John Zink were installed after
dismantling of earlier burners along with atomizing facilities.

Installation of New RLNG Coil:


Feed Naphtha, supplied from the Primary desulphurisers at a temperature
of 148 deg.C, was further heated in desulphurisers Feed Preheater. Being
a liquid feed, pressure drop across the Preheater was within the
acceptable limit. But for RLNG Feed, though the preheater had the
capacity to heat total RLNG feed, pressure drop across the preheater
would be as high as 3.5 kg/cm2g.
Again the Primary Reformer Furnace Stack Temperature was in the range
of 170
175 deg.C. In order to improve the furnace efficiency, it was proposed to
install a convection coil in between LT Steam Super heater and
Combustion Air Preheater. To balance both the above requirement, a

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RLNG Preheater Coil to heat half of total RLNG Feed was installed in the
space available between LT Steam Super heater & Combustion Air
Preheater. Remaining RLNG is being heated through the existing
desulphurisers Feed Preheater. The total pressure drop in the preheating
section has reduced by 2.5 Kg/cm2g after this new arrangement .

Primary Reformer Catalyst:


In Primary Reformer, naphtha reforming catalyst (ICI-46-1 & ICI-46-4)
supplied by M/s Johnson Matthey was used. Suitability of reforming
catalyst for gas reforming was checked thoroughly. It was established
after several discussions with catalyst supplier that activity of naphtha
reforming catalyst would reduce if the same would be used for gas
reforming and would cause increase in tube skin temperature of primary
reformer. Therefore it was decided to replace the catalyst and new gas
reforming catalyst supplied by M/s Sud-chemie was loaded in Primary
Reformer Tubes.

Retrofit of CO2 Removal System (April 95):


CO2 removal system was originally based on the conventional Benfield
System and was consuming a regeneration energy of about 1170
Kcal/NM3 of CO2 against the design figure of 1060 Kcal/NM3. The System
comprises of one absorber and two strippers working in parallel. CO2
absorption is carried out by semi lean and lean K2CO3 solution. Lo-heat
Benfield technology of UOP was adopted for up gradation of the system.
Heat in the form of steam is generated by flashing the solution in a
multistage flashing drum operating at lower pressure. The flashed steam
is returned to the strippers thereby reducing the requirement of CO2
regeneration energy After the retrofit, CO2 regeneration energy has come
down to 950 Kcal/NM3 of CO2 with high flexibility in operation of
ammonia plant. The incorporation of a four stage semi-lean solution Flash
Tank for heat recovery enabled the unit to lower external regeneration
energy besides increasing ten percent rise in the capacity of the system.
The Lo-Heat revamp required new equipment consisting of a four stage
semi-lean solution flash tank with ejectors and a condensate re-boiler.

The condensate re-boiler is used to generate motive steam to drive the


ejectors on the semi lean solution flash tank. By using the condensate
re-boiler, instead of import motive steam for the ejectors, only a relatively
small amount of makeup water is needed instead of a large surplus water.
In the Lo-Heat process, heat put into the solution in the regenerator as

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sensible heat is converted to steam by lowering the pressure over the


regeneration solution. Thus, heat internal to the Benefield is partially
recovered by flashing regenerated solution. Since the steam produced is
a lower pressure than the regenerator, it is compressed before reinjection
the regenerator by means of ejectors.

INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME:


IFFCO Aonla is also engaged in socio-economic uplift of the surrounding
villages under Integrated Rural Development Programme. IFFCO Phulpur
provided clean drinking water in surrounding area, raising of Boundary
wall and construction of class room in nearby schools. Organize training
classes for handicraft, literacy programmers, computer awareness,
artisan skills training programmers in surrounding villages. Computers
have been donated in some of the nearby schools to educate the
students on computer applications.

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