ROTATING MACHINERY FOR

LIQUEFIED AMMONIA

AIChE 2009 National Spring Meeting

9th Topical Conference on Natural Gas Utilization

EBARA INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

CRYODYNAMICS DIVISION
Steve Rush –
Vice President of Sales and
Marketing for Ebara International
Corporation, Cryodynamics
Division
Over 27 years experience in the
design, servicing and sales of
submerged motor liquefied gas
pumps and turbine expanders.
Author of several papers and
published articles on cryogenic
pump and expander related
subjects.

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Ammonia Production
• One of the most widely produced
chemicals in the world
• 122,000,000 metric tons produced
worldwide in 2006
• Main producers are China, with over
28% of worldwide production, India
with 8.9%, Russia with 8.2% and the
US with about 6.5%

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Ammonia Properties
• Normally stored in bulk at
atmospheric pressure at -33 C
• Very hazardous to personnel
• Difficult to seal
• Flammable
• Huge affinity for water lending to
high potential for conductivity

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

‘Standard’ Ammonia Pumps
Larger ammonia pumps for cargo and
ship loading service are typically line-
shaft or deep well type with very long
shafts
These pumps are heavy and difficult to
handle, and have problems with wear
due to misalignment, shaft seal
leakage, etc.

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

‘Standard’ Ammonia Pumps
For transfer type duty, the pumps are
typically horizontally mounted
“canned” type pumps which can also
suffer from misalignment and shaft
seal leakage

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Cryogenic Submerged Electric
Motor Pumps (SEMP)
• Widely used since the early 1960’s
for LNG, LPG and other liquefied gas
applications
• Primary reason is due to the safety
aspects of the SEMP design

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Safety
• Submerged design means the motor is
not in the hazardous area
• No rotating seals means no leakage of
flammable gas into the atmosphere
• Explosion Proof Motor is Not Required
• Low Noise (Pump and Motor
Surrounded in Fluid and Insulated
Suction Vessel)
AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting
Submerged
Magnetic Coupling
Design

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Submerged Magnetic Coupling
Design
Can be installed…
• In a suction vessel for liquid transfer
• In storage tanks for ship loading or
transfer
• In cargo ships for off-loading

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Submerged Magnetic Coupling Ammonia
Pump During Installation (In-Tank Type)

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Submerged
Magnetic
Coupling
Design

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Electrical Systems
• Same system as used for thousands of
LNG, LPG and other liquefied gas
applications
• UL listed power cables, developed specially
for cryogenic service
• Dual seal cable feedthrus to meet stringent
electrical code regulations
• Explosion-proof junction boxes to meet
hazardous area requirements
• Space between feedthru seals for purging
and monitoring
AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting
Electrical Systems

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Axial Thrust
• Handling axial thrust in any liquefied gas
pump is critical
• Ebara uses a built-in axial thrust system with
no balance drum or extra parts
• Ebara “Thrust Equalizing Mechanism” or
TEM™ has been used in thousands of
liquefied gas pumps and turbine expanders
• System provides axial balancing over the
entire flow range

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Proven Technology
• Eleven magnetic coupling type submerged
motor pumps now in operation since the mid
1990’s
• Design with electric motor, magnetic coupling
and TEM thrust system is patented (US
Patent 6,213,736 B1)

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

New Development
• In the ammonia liquefaction process,
pressure must be dropped to place the liquid
into storage
• Pressure drop is traditionally done with a
Joule Thomson (J-T) valve
• Enthalpy does not change
• Temperature may decrease slightly but
normally increases

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

New Development
• Submerged generator hydraulic turbines have
been used in LNG liquefaction since mid
1990’s
• Design replaces the J-T valve for more
efficient process operation
• Provides an isentropic expansion to decrease
temperature and increase production
• Increases overall process efficiency by 4 to
7%

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

New Development
By combining the magnetic coupling technology
from the submerged ammonia pumps with the
proven technology of the LNG turbine
expanders, the ammonia liquefaction process
can be improved

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Liquefaction Process
Improvement (Existing Plants)

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Liquefaction Process
Improvement (New Plants)

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Conclusion
Remember the 122,000,000 metric tons of
ammonia produced in 2006?
If those existing plants were retrofitted with
LNH3 expanders, at a 3% process efficiency
improvement, 3,660,000 additional tons could
have been produced.
At the current ammonia price of about $200 per
metric ton, that’s $732,000,000!!

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Conclusion
For pumping liquefied ammonia, the submerged
magnetic coupling design offers significant
advances in safety and is well proven.
By combining the ammonia pump technology
with proven submerged turbine expander
technology, a liquid or two-phase expander for
ammonia is now being developed.

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting

Thank You

Ebara International Corporation

Cryodynamics Division

AIChE 2009 Spring Meeting