A formaldehyde magazine from Johnson Matthey Formox

Informally Speaking
Winter / spring 2016

MEG
5 Safety principles

New plant FC1

Conferences
The FORMOX process
- part 2
 nt kind of
d a better
ome
rent year. Global growth was revised
of OECD estimates, mainly due to
Crude oil fell constantly, reaching its
n years. Overcapacity and shrinking
ical industries, etc.
mand, however, indicates the trend
is particularly true in North America,
et, but also in China and Europe. In
stments in panel manufacturing ca-
and for formaldehyde.
asure of meeting with many custom-
and even recession, most expressed
aldehyde market and foresee grow-
nly agree with. Globally, demand for
row as much as 5 % in 2016, reach-
nnually. This should indeed improve
apacity.
for us as well. Besides a major re-
on Matthey’s Process Technology
ox belongs, we are now more fully
er synergies within R&D, production,
urces, we finally launched our new
all to middle size demand (p 4). And
AP 3.0 concept with KH-CAP 3.0
ductivity or longer lifetime (p.12-13)
ustomers during 2015.
y, I want to wish you all a prosperous
ember to book your spot at the JM
conference in April.
Lars-Olle Andersson
Commercial Manager
Johnson Matthey Formox AB
Content
2 Leader
3 Achieving safety aspirations
4 FC1 - new plant design
5 MEG from formaldehyde
5 Frontpage - Team Rynkeby
6 Formaldehyde South America 2015
8 Formaldehyde China 2015
10 Formaldehyde Iran 2015
11 Projects and start-ups
12 FORMOX CAP 3.0(T) - an update
14 How a fourfold productivity increase
has been obtained - part 2
17 Participating at conferences
17 Mo update
18 Trainings and meetings
20 The turbocharger is a success!
22 Tips from Technical support
23 Yuntianhua - 20 years of partnership
24 New and left
Achieving
safety aspirations
Everyone agrees that ensuring excellent
environmental performance of our busi-
ness, as well as the health and safety of
our people, is important. This is why John-
son Matthey is committed to achieving
our safety aspirations. Improvements have
been made, yet there is still more we can
do. To make our aspirations a reality, we
work continuously to provide safer plants
and processes. Excellent performance
also depends on our people demonstrat-
ing behaviors that make our systems work
in practice and promote a strong safety
culture.
What is “Safety culture”?
Simply put, Safety culture is “the way we
do things around here”. It is often de-
scribed as assumptions, values, attitudes
and behaviors relating to safety, which are
shared by a group of people in an organi-
zation. Industrial incidents are often asso-
ciated with failures in the Safety culture. It is
now accepted that a positive Safety culture
is vital in order to achieve excellent safety
performance. Our efforts to improve Safe-
ty culture focus on behaviors, because we
can define, observe and measure them.
We also have the right tools and methods
to understand behavior and reinforce the
behaviors we know foster a strong Safety
culture.
five safety principles to help our employees Source: Johns
make health and safety their priority. Standards an
Our plants are designed to be safe and our principles
Operating Manuals are made to ensure a
safe operation. Johnson Matthey employ-
BY
ees are urged to apply our Safety principles
also when working on other companies’ A
sites. If you have questions or would like C
more information about safety and Safety J
culture, we are very keen to help you.
Our 5 Safety princip
1. All injuries and occupational illnesses are preven
We believe all injuries and occupational illnesses are pr
get hurt or become ill from doing their job.
2. We are all responsible for preventing injuries and
All of us have a role to speak out about any unsafe pr
anyone sees a colleague doing something which doe
ciples, we tell them and get help.
3. Working safely is a condition of employment
Johnson Matthey takes a zero tolerance approach to
anyone acts in a way that ignores safety the company
serious cases this could lead to dismissal.
4. Lifesaving Policies and Site Safety Rules must b
Our Lifesaving Polices cover operations such as worki
dangerous equipment. All employees must follow thes
site-specific safety rules.
5. Johnson Matthey will promote off-the-job health
for its employee
 MEG
Johnson Mat-
ed on a new
meet require-
ets. The focus
edium size ca-
we have found
nts and where
product would
w and innova-
from formaldehyde
Now it is possible for formaldehyde producers to diversify their product portfolio and participate

C1
market of Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG).

CO H2

air formaldehyde
plant MEG plant
methanol formaldehyde

lant design MEG is the most common industrial diol exciting opportunity for formaldehyde pro- long term opera

l to medium capacity needs which is used in manufacture of polyes-

ter fibre, fabrics and polyethylene tereph-
ducers who are interested in diversifying
their product slate.
enabled us to d
mercial scale p
thalate (PET) resin used for production of capacity rangin
plastic bottles. Other industrial uses are as A simplified block diagram of the novel pro- tonnes/year.
dard range de- a new benchmark in the industry. There is year,” says Huamin Zhang, Sales Man-
a coolant, heat transfer agent, antifreeze cess is shown above. The key feedstocks
e improved with clearly an interest for the FC1 plant. ager at JM Formox Beijing. “The market
and a hydrate inhibitor in gas pipelines. are formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and This new techn
. Some specific is changing and we see larger producers
Current worldwide consumption of MEG is hydrogen and besides MEG, the process licence. For fur
d and in the fu- The oxide technology not only gives a low- taking a bigger market share. Also, the in-
approximately 26 million tonnes/year and produces a small amount of valuable Di- atul.shah-davy@
ied within all our er operating cost, but also provides a very creasing demand on environmental issues
has grown by over 5% per year over the ethylene Glycol (DEG).
m all disciplines consistent product throughout the catalyst is slowly changing the industry,” Huamin
last decade.
external experts lifetime. continues. “The new design is exciting and
This new technology has been devel- BY
the I think it will be really popular in the busi-
New process technology using proprietary oped in JM Davy’s Technology Centre and
tions ness. It would be quite an achievement if A
mpo- Consistency is a key parameter in resin we also could introduce UFC technology
catalyst developed by Johnson Matthey demonstrated in mini-plants which are
L
Davy Technologies (JM Davy) and East- designed, constructed and operated by
tion, and board making, and when managed in China.” D
man enables the production of MEG from highly skilled and experienced profession-
ment throughout the production chain, it re- formaldehyde. This offers a unique and als. Comprehensive data collection from
Jo
the sults in stable product quality and im- Note: All FC1 plants can be fitted to pro- Te
-de- duce UFC (Urea Formaldehyde Concen-
proved efficiency also at the board plant.
cost trate) directly in the absorber tower. UFC
This, together with superior operating
esign
ount cost and affordable installation, makes
goes mainly into two applications – coating
of urea prills, and UF resins. On frontpage:
how-
apa-
FC1 a design that will add value to the
industry.
Sponsoring the fight against childhood
BY Team Rynkeby's cycling trip to Paris is cer in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway
all about raising money for children with and the Faroe Islands. We are proud to
OXTM Fredrik Rietz, cancer and their families. The money they say that Johnson Matthey Formox is now
ecognized from One market that we have targeted with the Global Market raise comes from a variety of sources, in- one of Team Rynkeby’s Gold sponsors,
on the standard FC1 is the Chinese resin and board indus- Manager Plants, cluding generous sponsors. and also have employees participating in
innovative FC1 try, and during the last year we have been Johnson Matthey Formox AB this great cycling team. The team from last
he same char- working with increased communication.
 elated topic d
s. When att
these confe ending
rences you
also receiv
printed boo
klet contain ea
ing all pres
tions along
with inform e n ta-
ation abou
speaker. O
ur next con t e a ch
ference will
Formaldeh
yde Asia 20 be
16 in Bali,
Indonesia,
April 4–7.

ldehyde
Words f
- I think it i
presentati
h America 2015 explanatio
South America 2015 conference took place at the beautiful coastal town of Georgia-Pa
o Paulo, Brazil during two nice days at the end of September. Customers
America were invited and we had the pleasure of meeting about 30 of you, - We appr
nd Argentina, but also from Venezuela and Ecuador. It was a perfect oppor- perience a
concept a
tomers in the region to network and to meet informally with colleagues from
says Everto
l as with representatives of JM Formox, and also, of course, to be updated
ation concerning the market, potential growth in the industry, HSE-related - Excellent
st R&D news. de the offi
Quimica LT

- Good to
Manager, wel- and a representative of JM Formox’s R&D much appreciated (see article p. 14, In- ways clean the evaporator at every longer the advantages of JM Formox’s high-per-
other plant
lle Andersson, department, Ola Erlandsson illustrated formally Speaking Spring/summer 2014). shutdown.” formance catalysts, loading service and
GPC Quimi
e a market up- the latest improvements in the areas of He also spoke about the advantages our CAP-technology, and he also gave an up-
started. Nadir plant development, formaldehyde yield, Technical Support brings. Guillermo Riz- Also on the topic of safety, Anna Wem- date on the CAP 3.0 system (read more
- Very go
tary at ABRAF our new plant range and the interesting zatti, Plant Manager at Arauco Argentina by-Björk, Manager Process Engineers, about this on p. 12-13).
levels of s
Formaldehyde CAN-concept. Chemical Plant, shared a real life case talked about another incident involving
BY teresting,
), which works with us: “Vaporizer incident - accumula- burning vaporizer pall rings. She outlined
Crios Resin
the product Safety is one of the most important topics tion and fire of paraformaldehyde”. The the chain of events that led to the incident
Anna Rundblad,
 ldehyde
a 2015
a Conference maldehyde market, Plant range update, conference and if they had any sugges- learn some experience from them. The
BY
nson Matthey Plant development and optimization, Cat- tions for us. conference is very professional, and
ixi Hotel, Hang- alyst development and CAP 3.0, Techni- Mr. Deng from Yunnan Yunwei said, “My the technical training is useful too.” Carlos Du,
he conference cal support as well as Correct and safe purpose of attending the conference is Process Engineer,
e analysis and operation. In addition, representatives of to know the new market and the devel- Mr. Liu from Shaanxi BDO said, “My Johnson Matthey Formox
developments Johnson Matthey Davy delivered a pres- opment of the FORMOX technology purpose of attending the conference is Beijing, China
garding formal- entation on Formaldehyde to MEG, and and catalyst, and how to improve the to know how to optimize the FA plant
well as the in- representatives of Johnson Matthey Syn- plant performance. The conference is to reduce the operating cost. The con-
t trend. It also gas held a presentation on the Methanol well organized and prepared very well; ference is well organized and prepared
exhibition and process and quality. We also had some we thank Johnson Matthey Formox for very well and lots of people from other Huamin Zhang,
hting the latest external speakers who spoke about the hospitality. The presentations are projects; it gives us a very good chance Sales Manager Plants,
formaldehyde methanol, DMMn, Therminol and more. very useful, including much information to communicate with each other and Johnson Matthey Formox
Finally, a special ceremony was held to from every aspect.” learn.” A number of other customers of- Beijing, China
celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fered additional feedback and sugges-
nce were able cooperation between Johnson Matthey Mr. Zhang from CQCF said, “The rea- tions for future conferences.
& D achieve- Formox and the Yuntianhua group. (see son I participate at the conference is Grace Gu,
 Not only Formaldehyde was discussed many delightful feedbacks from dele- Ms. Reyhani
during the day, but also Peter Roberts, gates. Comments like “very useful and rest of their t
Market manager at Johnson Matthey constructive” or “very well organized Company1, w
Process Technologies, gave a speech and informative” ensured success of the it best possibl
about methanol and JM’s unique offers event and we hope to develop long-term
in this field. business collaboration in this wonderful BY
country.
A
At the end of the seminar, besides all re-
ldehyde R
markable discussions which took place We would like to use this chance to
J
throughout the whole day, we received express our greatest appreciation to

1
Official agent of Johnson Matthey Formox AB in Iran
2015
ction” agree-
Iran and 5+1
Commercial manager, updated them
about the acquisition of Formox by
Considering the rather old age of the
plants in Iran, subjects such as upgrades Projects & start-ups
, 2015, sanc- Johnson Matthey, and also, of course, and technical support attracted a lot
were lifted on about the global FA market outlook. of attention as well. Delegates showed New Projects proceeding well with construction.
will lead to a much interest to these services which • A client in Asia has signed an agreement for supply of an FS3 plant. • The project with two FS3 UFC pla
an’s industrial Information regarding our plants and were presented by Tomas Nelander, • An agreement for an FS3 plant to Eastern Europe has been signed. installation phase.
• An agreement for an FS2 UFC plant to SEA has been signed.
the Formalde- projects were shared by Fredrik Rietz, Global Technical Support manager.
Start-ups
s an old, well- Global Market manager - Plants, and he
Ongoing projects • The project for an FT3 plant for Xinji
Formaldehyde also presented our latest plant range, • Works on an FT3 plant to be located in China are proceeding well. Co., Ltd. in Korla, China, went on st
Formox was which covers a wide range of production • The JM Formox FT3 plant to be supplied in Eastern Europe is in the third JM Formox plant in Korla.
conference in capacity with our state-of-the-art plant engineering phase. • The project for an FS2 plant in the U
. designs. An interesting topic in view of • The project with an FS3 plant for a client in South America is in the • One FT3 plant in the US went on str
the delegates, was how we execute shipping phase. • The project with capacity increase f
• The construction of a new FS3 plant to Eastern Europe is procee- back on stream. The start-up took p
er day in the the projects and what is included in our
ding well. • The project with an FT3 plant in the
0 delegates – scope of work.
• The FS3 plant for Xinjiang Xinye Energy Chemical Co., Ltd, located after publication of this issue of Infor
ustomers and A deep introduction to our catalysts in China, is in the installation phase.
ed the semi- and their performance was present- • Works on two FT3 plants to be located in China are proceeding
BY
bout Johnson ed by me, Amin Mehdipoor, Regional with installation.
Jonas Lindborg,
atest develop- Sales manager, where I also shared • The JM Formox FT2 plant to be supplied in the Middle East is in the
Chief of Projects,
vices. our future challenges and ongoing de- construction phase.
Johnson Matthey For

ORMOX
ears since we introduced our present-
products, CAP 3.0 loading plan and
INI CAT, and in this article I would like
xperience we have gained since then.
in the 2014 summer edition, where I
ed performance, some limitations, as
up until that point. This time, I will go a
of our results so far.
ield
yde/UFC plants with CAP 3.0 could
aximum methanol inlet as before, i.e.
mox plants or, for plants modified to
inlet, 11 vol%. If operated at 10 vol%,
e same as for CAP 2.0 loading plans,
roduction and a slower pressure drop
ve seen and what has been reported,
e as well as slower pressure drop de-
nsumption). Moreover, we have seen
well. At higher specific production the
AP 3.0 than with the corresponding
94
93,5
CAP
CAP
93
92,5
CAP
CAP
Yield (%)
92
CAP
91,5 CAP
91
90,5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
3.0 (T) Specific production (tons 37% formaldehyde per kg of catalyst)
Fig 1. The basis for the upper and lower yield area is 0.3-0.5 bar g operation and 10 vol
– An update operation. Variations in gas velocity, reactor design (tube ID, length), methanol in product re
account for the range. The result is closer to the lower curve for operation at 0.5 bar g, and cl
curve at 0.3 bar g.
be it 9, 9.5 or 10 vol% in methanol inlet, and you will still see the indicating how much dilution air will be to have the correct plant data, particular- Conclusion
differences in terms of improved lifetime and performance, i.e. required to the ECS. These recommen- ly regarding the reactor, when designing So if you’re l
slower pressure drop development and higher and more stable dations are made due to the higher con- a CAP 3.0 load. Please contact your JM tivity, or wan
yield. centration of carbon compounds reach- Formox representative to discuss wheth- lifetime (longe
ing the ECS as well as to the higher DME er or not your plant is suitable. higher yield an
Higher productivity formation in the end. velopment, pl
In 2014 our experience of operating at higher methanol concen- Sales rundown the possibilitie
trations than 10 vol% was from only one plant. Today we have In 2014 we stated that JM Formox plants Of the CAP 3.0(T) loads we have sold CAP 3.0(T)!
a handful of plants operating at 10-11 vol% and the number will with 1400 mm tubes or longer are suitable since the launch in 2012, about 15%
increase to double digits in 2016. Since we have little data so far, for CAP 3.0, and this recommendation is have been for other plant designs, 25% BY
and no completed loads running at up to 11 vol%, we will have still in place. It is of course easier to get have been for shorter tubes, 25% have
to revisit this in a later edition to share the experience we will then the best out of the CAP 3.0 with longer been CAP 3.0T, and the majority, 70%,
have gained. tubes, but unless there are very specific have been for operation at 0.5 bar g.
requirements, the plant performance im- Furthermore, we have a very high rate,
F
Possible limitations proves with CAP 3.0 also in plants with 80-90%, of repeat sales.
We expressed some concerns in 2014 concerning ECS temper- 1400 mm tubes. Other plant designs are
atures. That’s because CAP 3.0 will give somewhat higher DME suitable as well. As always, it is important
formation in the latter part of the run, which could lead to ex-
cessive delta temperatures in the ECS. Our experience from the
loads so far is that only in very few cases has the ECS delta tem- FORMOXTM 3.0 ( T )
perature been a concern, and in most plants a slightly increased • Catalyst concept introduced in 2012
DME loss has been counterbalanced by a lower CO loss. In • Uses our latest catalyst, FORMOX™ KH-CAP 3.0 INI CAT, which allows higher productivity
these few cases, the plants have been operated at high pro- or longer catalyst lifetime with better performance
ductivity and high specific production, so for such plants and for • Currently includes two main loading plan types:
 Process Catalyst Temperature (°C) Conversion(%)
Methanol to formaldehyde Fe-Mo-O 250 – 380 > 99
o-Xylene to phthalic anhydride V-O/TiO2 350 - 450 99.9
Propene to acrolein Bi-Mo-O 300 - 400 < 98
Propene to acrylonitrile Bi-Mo-O 420 - 450 98
Ethene to ethylene oxide Ag/Al2O3 200 - 300 7 - 15
Butane to maleic anhydride V-P-O 350 - 420 75 - 85
Propane to propene V-O/MCF 550 41
Propane to acrylic acid Mo-V-Nb-Te-O 350 - 400 80
Propane to acrylonitrile Mo-V-Nb-Te-O 420 86

curs under process conditions – a major

cause of catalyst deactivation. 90

80
Catalyst development
Besides the developments related to the
70
loading plan, catalyst particle shape and
Arne Andersson, Catalyst Specialist process conditions as described in the t
60
previous issue of Informally Speaking, a lys
c at
parallel work has been carried out on 50
4 4L
alternative catalyst compositions. Here H-
the focus has been on molybdates and 40
K
X
a fourfold productivity vanadates as these materials are well R MO
Co3(VO4)2
known to be active and selective for par- 30 FO
tial oxidation, including methanol oxida-
20
tion to formaldehyde. The data plotted
Formaldehyde yield (%)

ase has been obtained in Fig. 1 confirms the good performance

10 Mn3(VO4)2
of the JM Formox catalyst, showing no Mg3(VO4)2
vanadate or molybdate with better per- Ni3(VO4)2
of the developments of the FORMOXTM process 0
formance. 0 Zn3(VO4)2 20 40 60

from the 1950s to present time Although the MoO3/Fe2(MoO4)3 catalyst

system is very selective to formaldehyde 90

for the production of formalin was
ethanol and air were reacted over a
duce formaldehyde, which was then
uce formalin. In the 1930s, the plant
rs, and silver was introduced as the
r nets or granules. Although Adkins
ported that methanol was selectively
over an oxide catalyst with molyb-
t until the 1950s that the molybdate
l importance. Production in Perstorp
h an iron molybdate catalyst began
production of formaldehyde is divi-
en the oxide and the silver-catalyzed
Typical performance data for a number of selective hydrocar- at high methanol conversion, resulting in
a high yield, the longevity of the catalyst 80
bon oxidations and oxidative dehydrogenations are presented
in Table 1. Compared with other selective oxidations, the data is limited in part by volatile methoxy-hy-
70
shows that the MoO3/Fe2(MoO4)3 system in methanol oxidation droxy-molybdenum species being for-
presents outstanding selectivity (92–95%), which is achieved at med in the reactor [2]. The depletion of
60
high conversion (>99%). Selectivity is an important parameter molybdenum from the catalyst may cau-
Zr
because the cost of methanol is about 94% of the production se the formation of free Fe2O3 at the ca- 50
cost, whereas power and catalyst costs are about 4% and 2% talyst surface, decreasing the selectivity Ce2(MoO
respectively. and the yield to formaldehyde. Conse- 40
quently, compared with the present type
Considering the good performance of the ferric molybdate ca- of catalyst material, any new material 30 Fe2(MoO4)3
Cr2(MoO4)3
talyst, finding a more selective composition is no simple task; a should not only give unchanged or better
20
position demonstrated also by the fact that the chemical com- yield, but should also be less volatile. We Al2(MoO4)3
Formaldehyde yield (%)

nologies differ in that the silver pro- position of the catalyst is essentially the same today as when recently patented a new type of catalyst Zr(MoO4)3
10 Al2(MoO4)3
l-rich conditions, whereas the oxide first reported in 1931. Yet in spite of this, a considerable (near of spinel-type that has thus far shown
ess) is run under methanol-lean con- fourfold) increase in productivity has been achieved. In the pre- interesting properties on lab scale [3]. Ce2(MoO4)3
0
tter process is that it gives a higher vious issue of Informally Speaking we looked at the developme- The origin of our interest for this type of 0
MnMoO4 20 40 60
 Participating at conferences
Johnson Matthey Formox has participated at three external conferences during the autumn of 2015:

FA Association conference, Wuhan, China in November

Fe2V1 Fe2.8V0.2 Fe2.94V0.06 Fe3V0 Fe2.5V0.2Mo0.3 Fe2.8Mo0.2

erformance of spinel-type catalysts with Fe, V and Mo. Activity and the selectivities to formaldehyde (FA),
ME), methyl formate (MF) and carbon oxides (COx) are shown. The data are for steady-state conditions
10% methanol and 10% O2 in N2. The selectivities were measured at about 90% methanol conversion.

thanol concentration, is either part-
ed into a spinel-type Fe3-x-yVx yO4
nt ( ) cation positions, ii) Fe exerts
s volatilization, and iii) the catalyst
lk form as its catalytic performance in
rably more sensitive to volatilization
ve material being relatively small. On
, we prepared spinel-type iron oxides
of the iron with vanadium [6]. Figure
lectivity data for a series of spinels
1.5V1.5) to 0 (Fe3V0). The samples have
however, the selectivity to formalde-
aximum with the vanadium content.
st, with a selectivity of about 90% to
e selectivity sharply drops with fur-
ratio. The pure Fe3O4 (Fe3V0) gives
e variations suggest that an isolated
ed by iron is a more favorable con-
lymeric vanadium and iron centers.
s harmful and easier to handle than
uce low content molybdenum into
on, Journal of the American Chemical Society 53 (1931) 1512-1520.
lind, O. Augustsson Catalysis Today 112 (2006) 40-44.
lad, International Patent Application WO 2011/093763 A1, applicant FORMOX AB, Perstorp, Sweden.
ner, S. Hansen, A. Andersson A, Journal of Catalysis 258 (2008) 345-355.
the spinel structure. Catalytic data for the Fe2.5V0.2Mo0.3 and
Fe2.8Mo0.2 oxides are included in Fig. 2. For the former sample,
the selectivity to formaldehyde is about 86%, whereas the lat-
ter sample without vanadium shows selectivity above 90%.
Compared to the preparations with Fe and V only, the samples
with molybdenum present somewhat lower activity.
Moreover, the stability of the spinel-type catalysts was tested
for methanol oxidation in lab scale measurements, showing al-
most no detectable volatilization of either vanadium or molyb-
denum. However, before any full scale testing and commercia-
lization can be considered, more development work is needed
regarding both catalyst preparation and long-term testing in
pilot scale.
BY
Arne Andersson
Catalyst Specialist
Johnson Matthey Formox AB
MMSA conference, Singapore, in November MMSA Methanol conference, Frankf
Mo on the market due 5-8 USD/lb du
to more capacity in likely will see hi
both primary and se- will in 2016.
condary mines.
Mo update During 2015, more No matter wh
It has been more than a year since I wrote
Mo capacity reached the market, especi- mox strives to
the previous article at the end of 2014, and
ally from upgraded secondary mines, whi- net prices reg
during 2015 the Mo price has continued to
le some primary mines had to reduce their changes. Your
drop. In that article I indicated that a level of
output or even close due to the negative talyst in good
8-11 USD/lb was anticipated for 2015, but
price development. Reading the views of specifications,
the price has actually fallen even lower. In
various analysts, it seems 2016 is going ficient catalyst
October 2015 it was as low as 4.5 USD/lb,
to be difficult to predict when it comes to make this pos
and since then it has increased marginally.
the price level. The sentiment seems to be
that the present low price level is not sus-
Why has the price dropped so low? Well,
tainable for the long term and will increase;
there are several reasons. One is a lower
the only question being when. There are
global demand, much due to a slowdown BY
many influencing factors – the developme-
in China. Lower oil prices is another, which
nt of the global and large local economies, R
has delayed exploration projects. Both of
and meetings
umn 2015

Metafrax, Gubakha, Russia in September (2 groups)

South Korea in August Hexion Geismar, Louisiana, USA in September (2 groups)

SADARA, from Saudi Arabia, training in Perstorp, Egger, Wismar, Germany in November
Sweden in October
 guration between a standard JM Formox
plant and one equipped with a turbochar-
TO STACK AIR
ger. Firstly, instead of a fresh air blower, a COMPRES
turbocharger is connected to the exhaust THE PRESS
TURBO
gases from the ECS on the turbine side, CHARGER
The turbocharger is a and to the fresh air intake on compressor
side. Secondly, the ECS vessels are larger
with increased diameter in order to mini- COMPRESSOR PART
mize pressure drops after the absorber
and provide optimal power output to the
turbocharger (Figure 1).

Easy operation
EGGER says it finds the turbocharger
easy to operate. It can start directly in
ccess!
ormox has successfully launched the turbocharger as a standard option
pressurized mode and is easy to ma-
neuver from the DCS (Distributed Con-
ECS
UNIT
trol System). Production Manager Sorin
ts. This green technology reduces carbon footprint by recovering available Musca says, “It is mainly four parameters
ressurized gas from the ECS (Emission Control System), thereby reducing that need to be carefully monitored when
r demand. operating the turbocharger: blow off val-
ve, VTA, pressure and oxygen valve.”
The blow off valve balances the pressure
FO
egional Tech- agreeing to a pilot installation at its (then to optimize process performance. We on the compressor side while the VTA P
imon Smrtnik, new) site in Romania. This decision was at JM Formox are very grateful to both works as a brake controlling the capa-
ger, Paul Wal- followed by extensive development work EGGER and MAN for good cooperation city on the turbine side. The pressure
dauti in Roma- carried out by JM Formox in collabora- and support. As a result of this collabora- and oxygen valves control the pressure
charger supply tion with the turbocharger supplier MAN tion, JM Formox now proudly offers this and the oxygen concentration respecti- Figure 1. Schematic illustration of a plant with a tur
GER’s Techni- in Augsburg, Germany, resulting in a pa- safe, cost efficient and environmentally vely. With these parameters under con-
, Martin Stein- tent granted in 2007. friendly technology as a standard option trol, the turbocharger operation is easy.
R Technologia Since the first commissioning at site EG- for all new plant and revamp projects. EGGER, who shifts regularly between
lant Manager), GER Radauti in 2011, the turbocharger How does it differ from a “normal” plant? FA and UFC production, has also found bine with a reduction of only 4%. In 2012 As Martin Ste
Manager) and concept has been continuously improved There are two main differences in confi- performing load changes and finding a JM Formox was awarded the “Innovative cal Director
er). This article new stable point of operation to be easy Energy Use Award” by the ChemInnova- would recom
as well. Plant Manager Ovidiu Petrosel tions Advisory Committee and Chemi- the energy r
says, “The change of production is easy cal Engineering Editors in New Orleans, that this solut
and the way of operating the turbochar- USA, for the turbocharger standard. site perspecti
urbocharger in ger is basically the same.” The potential for reducing operational if there is no
s high energy costs by installing a power-saving turbo- ergy efficientl
perature and A green solution charger is thus substantial. How much
gas from the The turbocharger is an efficient and en- electricity a customer will indeed save
was first dis- ergy saving solution as it utilizes energy depends on various factors, but consi-
when we be- available in the hot process gas to power dering the current guarantee point for BY
ts to 0.3 barg. the compressor unit that feeds fresh air JM Formox standard – full load at 0.5
to 0.5 barg, it into the plant. The demand for electrical barg and 10.0 vol% inlet – the savings
sting as power power is thus reduced, as no electrical are 20 kWh/MT. The number of kWh will
J
ith increased motor is required to run the fresh air of course vary depending on plant size
compressor. This, in turn, reduces car- and number of operating days per year.
uating various bon emissions, making the turbocharger For an FS3 size plant operating at full
that the best concept an environmentally friendly so- capacity 350 days per year, the savings
 much
looking forward to a brillia
type blowers A ceremony was held at the 2015 China Mr. Li Xin Hua, then Site manager of Yun- signed in term
er installed di- Methanol valves Formaldehyde Conference, hosted by tianhua, Mdm. Sun Zhen Feng, the party ried at all in op
hile the blower Johnson Matthey Formox, to commemo- secretary and Mr. Zhu Ming Song, the to install and
hedule, the si-
– Make sure you can stop the flow rate the 20th anniversary of the start of general manager. I would like to take this minute the pla
d left unattend- when you need to! cooperation between Formox and Yunti- opportunity to express my gratitude to up and runnin
and its strainer anhua. Eddy Lee, Johnson Matthey For- these three great persons, under whose
A leaking methanol control valve can be
corroded. In mox’s Regional Sales Manager for the Asia leadership our two companies have built a Are you hap
a serious risk in your plant. Remember
ternals can be- Pacific region now working in Singapore, solid friendship; and based on this strong cooperation
that the purpose of the methanol control
he risk is that gave a speech. foundation we have together, hand-in- -You provide
valve is to regulate the methanol flow,
pressure drop hand, achieved 20 years of brilliancy! Last, Formox techn
but it should not be trusted as a shut-off
valve. “It was winter when I first came to China in but not least, I would like to wish an even away and ver
Recommendations: 1995. When I got off at Yuntianhua, I indeed more prosperous business at Yuntianhua. our problems.
over the unit at felt like coming back to my own home, as Let’s join hands for a brighter future!”
• Test the control and shut-off valve
function and tightness regularly. everyone was so nice and thoughtful to We’d like to
orrosion dam- me. We had a great time working together At the Formaldehyde Conference in day’s confer
• Always close a manual isolation valve
he inside. in loading catalyst, operator training and Hangzhou, Eddy Lee, together with John- your opinion
in the methanol line during shutdowns.
the integrated the commissioning. As a result, Formox’s son Matthey Formox’s Plant Sales Mana- -I see you are
• To avoid methanol accumulation cau-
d remove any first plant in China was started up very suc- ger for China, Huamin Zhang, and Marke- the spirit of in
sed by a leaking valve, always open
ual to find resi- cessfully!” ting Manager for China, Grace Gu, were set up a rewar
the low point drain in the process gas
ldehyde. able to interview Mr. Liu Chunwen, Director ovation. For e
pipe before starting the plant after a
roducing 300 “In 2003 I was repatriated to my Asia Paci- of Yuntianhua, and Mr. Lei Qiang, Manager. by the compa
longer shutdown.
unnecessary fic position in Singapore,” continued Eddy. ded. In this re
r will cost you “Although I left, I’d always remember the What do you think of our plant design? coincides with
three most respected persons. They are -First of all, JM Formox’s plant is well de-

5 quick tips about

low Q&A the absorption profile
ow?
The formalin concentration in the absorption tower(s) should gradually de-
he water used, crease upwards. If there is any disturbance in the concentration profile, this can
the boiler feed most likely be adjusted by considering these five points:
less contami-
ubstances left • The main cooling should be performed in the middle section. If, however, the con-
is evaporated. centration of formalin is climbing upwards in the tower, then the cooling should be
us and discon- reduced somewhat as too much water has been condensed.
aintaining boil- • Any excessive foam formation will deteriorate the absorption process as entrained
formalin from the section below will disturb the concentration profile. The foam can
hould be used be caused by several factors, but mostly it is due to additional organic compounds
ssolved solids. in the methanol feed or process water, high packed section circulation flow, or high
ntly extracting process gas flow.
eed water, and • Methanol is disturbing the absorption and also facilitating foam formation. If the
h sample cool- methanol concentration in the product is high, then the conversion of methanol
in the main reactor can be increased by increasing the HTF temperature, i.e. the
s) blow down reaction temperature.
t is necessary • The wetting of the absorber internals is important in order to avoid any dry sections
ted salts and that will generate paraformaldehyde formation. Ensure correct level in distributors,
m part of the and also that the level is the same all over the distributor. Any formed paraformalde-
erformed once
 New…

Fredrik Bengtsson, Elias Sjölander, Åsa Yhlen,

Mechanical engineer Mechanical engineer Process engineer

Peter Balog, Sven-Arne Svensson, Thomas Olsson, Maria Svedinger-Andersson,

Financial controller Operations Operations Process engineer

Beijing:

Carlos Du, Bolin Qu,

Process engineer Process engineer

…& left
Camilla Eklund, Process engineer

We are very glad to have had you as our colleague

and wish you the best of luck in your coming challenges.

A formaldehyde magazine from Johnson Matthey Formox AB

The newsletter Informally Speaking aims to provide information about
formaldehyde in an informal forum and is published twice annually
by Johnson Matthey Formox AB for its customers and contacts in the
formaldehyde business. The information included herein is part of our
Johnson Matthey Formox AB
customer service and in no way entails or implies any undertakings, legal
SE-284 80 Perstorp, Sweden. Phone: +46 435 380 40
responsibilities or liabilities.
e-mail: formox@matthey.com www.formox.com