The Norilsk Nickel Project an Innovative Solution for a Major Environmental Challenge

Techint E&C is applying a new technology to capture 95% of the highly polluting emissions of sulphur dioxide at the Norilsk Nickel plant in Northern Siberia. It is a project which will be undertaken in extreme climatic conditions, with temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero.
Andrea Ferrera, Michele Genova, Paolo Fedeli - Techint E&C

n Norilsk, Siberia we are dealing with a project of enormous environmental relevance, for which an innovative technological solution has been developed which has never been used before. It involves the construction of a plant which is able to reduce by 95% the emissions of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere and which will require millions of hours of work on site and in home office. There will be a scheduled overall investment of billions of dollars and hundreds of millions will be used for the first phase of the project. The client is the Russian company Norilsk Nickel, a major global producers of nickel, copper and palladium, with an annual turnover of more than 13 billion USD. The extraction and processing of these metals in the Norilsk area leads to about two million tonnes of sulphur dioxide being released into the atmosphere every year - 1% of global emissions of this substance which is extremely harmful for the environment and peoples health. This makes the city

in Northern Siberia one of The Norilsk Nickel plant - Norilsk (Russia) the most polluted in the world and the life expectancy of its 135 thousand inhabitants is ten years less than the Russian average. In addition, the negative effects of this phenomenon have also been for decades a cause for concern for neighbouring territories, like Canada, Alaska and Scandinavia. Since 2004 Russia has adhered to the Kyoto protocol, which envisages a 25% reduction of CO2 and other harmful substances, including sulphur dioxide, by 2020. In Russia in recent In addition, in Russia in recent years years the rising the rising living standards and general living standards advancements in society have resulted and general in a greater awareness for issues advancements linked to the quality of the environment. in society have The Russian government is therefore resulted in a greater making strides in this direction, through awareness for issues tax breaks, political pressure and fines linked to the quality for companies to ensure that they of the environment renew and adapt their plants to the more stringent regulations that are in force in the rest of Europe. This scenario has certainly opened interesting opportunities for the EPC companies, both in terms of the revamping of existing plants and in terms of new
INDUSTRiAL PLANTS - April 2013

41

constructions which aim to resolve environmental issues. It is also for this reason that Techint E&C opened an office in Moscow in 2011 and has begun to submit proposals on the Russian market. In particular, in April 2011, it took part in the international Norilsk Nickel tender for the SO2 reduction plant project, with a technologically innovative and advanced solution. In October 2011, following the completion of the feasibility study, Techint E&C presented its definitive offer, which led to the awarding of the contract in January 2012 and its subsequent signing in June 2012. The project involves a first engineering phase which will be completed in 2013 and an EPC phase which will be completed in 2017 with the handover of the plant.

this sense, it was very important to have the support and financial backing of the client in the necessary experimentation and development phases. But, above all, it was fundamental to have the support and full collaboration of the two licensors, the American company MECS and the French company Le Gaz Integral, who provided all their technology and experience in order to bring the processes to the desired performance levels and to carry out the pilot testing.

The three phases of the process

The first phase of the procedure involves the separation of the dust and other impurities from the SO2, through the use of wet electrostatic precipitators. This was already proven but in this case it requires the use of huge devices. At the end of this treatment what remain is wastewater, which is treated, and the clean gas containing SO2. The second phase of the process consists firstly in the absorption of the sulphur dioxide through physical solvents, while the residual gases, which have been cleaned, can be released into the atmosphere. Subsequently, with a vapour-based stripping process, the SO2 is desorbed from the solvent at a concentration that is close to 100%. In this The challenge way, a gas with highly faced by Techint concentrated sulphur E&C was especially dioxide is obtained, that of integrating which is the starting and tuning the point of the last phase of different phases the process. The of the process, American licensor, which had never MECS, which dealt with before been used the previous two together, or even phases, modified one of used individually on its pilot plants to verify such a scale. In this the effectiveness of this sense, it was very special procedure and important to have the conformity with the support and nancial parameters requested backing of the client by the client. in the necessary The third phase is split experimentation and into two specific steps. development phases In the first one the concentrated flow of SO2 is mixed with a reducing agent, that is hydrogen and carbon monoxide. In this way, a part of the sulphur dioxide is transformed into hydrosulphuric acid. These two substances, H2S e SO2, are then fed into a system based on the Claus process, the most commonly used method for the conversion of hydrosulphuric acid into pure sulphur and water. For the fine-tuning of this phase, the French licensor Le Gaz Integral, carried out two series of pilot tests.

The challenge faced by Techint E&C

At the start the client was confident of finding proven technologies on the market which could resolve its problems in a straightforward and tested manner. In fact, the most commonly used systems for the reduction of sulphur dioxide are based on treatments and chemical reactions, which produce calcium sulphate or sulphuric acid. Both these solutions turned out to be too difficult to implement in this situation. The type of product obtained at the end of the transformation is a key choice, since the plant is in a truly remote area, 300 km to the north of the Arctic Circle. In addition, the volume of gases that needs to be treated produces an enormous quantity In this situation, of derivatives. As such, the calcium sulphate would be difficult to dispose of, Techint E&C proposed a solution while the storage, transportation and which had never commercialisation of sulphuric acid before been put to would involve significant technical and the test, but which logistical difficulties. In this situation, turned out to be Techint E&C proposed a solution which most suited to the had never before been put to the test, clients requirements but which turned out to be most suited to the clients requirements. The winning choice turned out to involve dividing Norilsk Nickels main request into three separate problems which could be resolved individually, through well known and tested technologies. This solution enables us to obtain at the end up with sulphur in the solid state, which is completely inert, easy to store, transport and easily convertible to be sold in the market. The challenge faced by Techint E&C was especially that of integrating and tuning the different phases of the process, which had never before been used together, or even used individually on such a scale. In
INDUSTRiAL PLANTS - April 2013

42

Fig. 1 Norilsk Nichel: typical block flow diagram model

INDUSTRiAL PLANTS - April 2013

43

The Norilsk Nickel plant - Norilsk (Russia)

equipment. We could not overlook the fact that in the different phases of the process the fluids are highly acidic, the temperature of the gases is very high and other contaminants contained in the gas to be treated can be the source of specific criticalities. For this reason, with the collaboration of the licensors, a series of tests are ongoing, at the clients plant, in which we are verifying the response of a selection of specific materials at conditions which replicate as closely as possible the true operating conditions. As well as wear and corrosion, which are linked specifically to the process conditions, we certainly also have to consider the extreme climate of the area where the plant has to be erected. During winter the temperatures plummet to 50C below zero and the The first took place in a specialised institute for the winds reach speeds of up to 120 km per hour. This sulphur chemistry, which was involved in the situation requires the erection of some large buildings verification of the effectiveness and safety of the where the plant will be located, both during the sulphur dioxide conversion into construction phases and during its hydrosulphuric acid. The second test normal operating life. This is a solution was made in a refinery, where the The scale of the which will increase the complexity and plants were specifically adapted to Norilsk project and the time necessary for construction. The verify if all of the reactions took place the efciency of the buildings must guarantee an internal within the envisaged operating solution that has temperature of at least 10 degrees, parameters. This process was been identied have regardless of the external temperature, tantamount to actual industrial already attracted the with a huge air conditioning and production, albeit on a reduced scale. attention of other ventilation systems. They will also require During three weeks of tests various companies who need very high safety standards to prevent tonnes of sulphur were obtained, thus to resolve similar and manage accidental emissions or confirming the validity of the process. leakages in the closed environment. problems Thanks to this solution, the client will The scale of the Norilsk project and the have liquid sulphur which can easily efficiency of the solution that has been be solidified and stored, in a granular form or in identified have already attracted the attention of other large blocks, for subsequent sale on the market, companies who need to resolve similar problems. In with a production of more than 3,500 tonnes of this regard, discussions are ongoing for another very sulphur per day. similar project in Russia. This technological and construction challenge therefore represents a very important benchmark and it allows us to reach out to the international market of environmental plants with A crucial technological aspect for the construction an experience and capacity for identifying innovative and operation of the plant all along its life is the choice solutions which can certainly be of interest to various of the materials of construction for the various clients throughout the world.

A solution for similar projects

INDUSTRiAL PLANTS - April 2013

44

Andrea Ferrera
Andrea Ferrera graduated in Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano in 1985. Ferrera has 26 years experience in chemical plants production and engineering, the last 13 spent in coordination and planning of activities for numerous and large world scale projects in engineering companies. In his initial experience Ferrera was process engineer in a production company, becoming familiar with plant operations, start up and troubleshooting. Afterwards he worked as process manager in an engineering company, and became Head of the Process Department. His responsibility was later expanded from Process engineering to Commissioning and Design HSE. From 2010 Ferrera is Manager of the Process, Mechanical and Technology Department with Techint E&C, Milano, looking after the coordination of the Process & Technology, Commissioning, Design HSE, Static and Rotating Equipment design activities. Ferreras experience ranges from feasibility studies and processes techno / economical evaluation, to process engineering basic and detailed design, relationship with licensors, knowledge of commissioning, mechanical and design HSE activities, planning and coordination of team or department activities, including liaison with remote engineering centers and construction sites.

Michele Genova
Michele Genova is a Sulphur Technology Manager for Techint E&C in Milan, Italy. He has over 30 years of experience in process design, basic and detailed engineering in the field of petroleum refinery, petrochemical and oil & gas. He previously worked for Siirtec-Nigi SpA, leading company operating in the field of gas treatment plant. He has a MS degree in Chemical Engineer from the University of Naples and he is a registered professional engineer in Milan. He is a member of EFCE (European Federation of Chemical Engineer), GPA (Gas Processors Association), HTRI (Heat Transfer Research Institute) and ASRL (Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd).

Paolo Fedeli
Paolo Fedeli is Senior Vice President Business Development & Commercial at Techint Engineering & Construction. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Romes La Sapienza University and is registered as a professional engineer in the province of Rome. He began his career in 1997 as a Process Engineer with ELF Aquitaine (now Total). Later, until 2003, he held a number of technical posts in the Technip group: Process Engineer, Commissioning and Start-up Manager and Process Design Manager, in both the Turnkey and the Licensing areas. From 2003 to 2005, he was Sales Executive and Proposal Manager with the Technip group. In 2006 he joined the Tecnicas Reunidas Group (Spain), holding both executive and commercial posts: Project Manager, Proposal Manager, Business Development Manager & Proposal Director. His last position in the TR Group was Major Projects Director, Managing Director of UTE Khabarovsk (Unione Temporal de Empresa), a temporary grouping formed by Tecnicas Reunidas S.A. and Initec Plantas Industriales SAU, and head of the Russian Branches of Tecnicas Reunidas SA.

INDUSTRiAL PLANTS - April 2013

45