PRODUCTION OF UREA

Agricultural growth is mainly dependent on advances in farming technologies and

increased use of chemical fertilizers. The fertilizers contain the three basic nutrients for
agriculture: nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). Nitrogen is primarily
provided by nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea (46%N) or ammonia fertilizers, e.g.
ammonium sulfate (20.6%N). Further shares of nitrogen are contained in complex
fertilizers that combine all three plant nutrients (NPK). Phosphate comes in the form of
straight phosphatic fertilizers such as single super phosphate (16%P2O5) or as part of a
complex fertilizer. Potassic fertilizer is available as straight potassic fertilizer, such as
muriate of potash (60%K2O) or sulfate of potash (50%K2O) or as a complex NPK
fertilizer component.

The effectiveness of fertilizers can only be assured if applied in optimal combination

specific to the local soil and climatic conditions. Nitrogen presents the most essential
nutrient for plant growth holding the biggest share in the optimal mix. The basic raw
material for the production of nitrogenous fertilizers is ammonia, for straight phosphatic
fertilizers it is phosphate and for potassic fertilizers potash. Out of the three fertilizer
types, production of ammonia is most energy and resources intensive. Its production
process is presented in more detail here. The description draws on Phylipsen, Blok and
Worrell (1998).

The most important step in producing ammonia (NH3) is the production of hydrogen,
which is followed by the reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen. A number of processes
are available to produce hydrogen, differing primarily in type of feedstock used.
The hydrogen production route predominantly used world wide is steam reforming of
natural gas. In this process natural gas (CH4) is mixed with water (steam) and air to
produce hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Waste heat is
used for preheating and steam production, and part of the methane is burnt to generate the
energy required to drive the reaction. CO is further converted to CO2 and H2 using the
water gas shift reaction. After CO and CO2 is removed from the gas mixture ammonia
(NH3) is obtained by synthesis reaction.

Another route to produce ammonia is through partial oxidation. This process requires
more energy (up to 40-50% more) and is more expensive than steam reforming. The
advantage of partial oxidation is a high feedstock flexibility: it can be used for any
gaseous, liquid or solid hydrocarbon. In practice partial oxidation can be economically
viable if used for conversion of relatively cheap raw materials like oil residues or coal. In
this process air is distilled to produce oxygen for the oxidation step. A mixture containing
among others H2, CO, CO2 and CH4 is formed. After desulfurization CO is converted to
CO2 and H2O. CO2 is removed, and the gas mixture is washed with liquid nitrogen
(obtained from the distillation of air). The nitrogen removes CO from the gas mixture and
simultaneously provides the nitrogen required for the ammonia synthesis reaction.
A variety of nitrogenous fertilizers can be produced on the base of ammonia. Ammonia
can be used in a reaction with carbon dioxide to produce urea. Ammonia nitrate can be
produced through the combination of ammonia and nitric acid adding further energy in
form of steam and electricity. Other fertilizer types produced on the base of ammonia
include calcium ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate mixed with ground dolomite) and
NP/NPK compound fertilizers. For the most part further energy is required to induce the
necessary chemical processes.

Phosphatic fertilizers are produced on the basis of phosphoric and sulfuric acids.
Phosphoric acid is produced by leaching of phosphate rock with sulfuric acid. Sulfuric
acid
very often remains as a waste product of the chemical industry. (Worrell et al., 1994)
Potash fertilizers are produced from sylvinite salt. Sylvinite is diluted in a circulation
fluid
in the flotation process. The potash fertilizer is separated by skimming the solution.

Detailled Process
Manufacturing Process – Fertilizer

The basic chemical that is used to produce nitrogenous fertiliser is ‘Ammonia’. More
than 80%
energy required for making fertiliser products goes into manufacture of ammonia. Almost
82% of
the nitrogen application in India is in the form of urea and therefore most of the input
energy goes
to the manufacture of ammonia and urea. In view of this, processes involved in the
manufacture
of ammonia and urea are reviewed here.

Ammonia Production Process

Ammonia is produced basically from water, air and energy. The energy source is usually
hydrocarbon that provides hydrogen for fixing the nitrogen. The other energy input
required is
steam and power. This can be through coal or petroleum products or purchased power
from a
utility company.

Steam reformation process of light hydrocarbon particularly Natural Gas (NG) is the
most
efficient route for the production of ammonia. The other routes are the partial oxidation
of heavy
oils if the available feedstock is residual heavy oil from a refinery. Coal has also been
used to produce ammonia. The following is an approximate comparison of the energy
consumption, cost of production and the capital cost of the plants for three the feedstocks.

Natural gas is therefore the most appropriate source of feedstock on all the three
accounts. Based on the known resources of fossil raw materials and economy of use on
all accounts, it is likely that natural gas will dominate as feedstock for ammonia
production in the foreseeable future. Coal may become a competing feedstock if the
prices of natural gas and petroleum products go very high due to depleting resources.
For the present time and near future, the steam/air reforming concept based on natural gas
is considered to be the most dominating and best available technique for production of
ammonia.

The reforming process can be divided in to the following types:

Conventional steam reforming with fired primary reformer and stoichiometric air
secondary reforming (stoichiometric H/N- ratio)

Steam reforming with mild conditions in fired primary reformer and excess air in
secondary reformer (Under-stoichiometric H/N ratio)

Heat exchange auto thermal reforming, with a process gas heated steam reformer (heat
exchange reformer) and a separate secondary reformer, or in a combined auto thermal
reformer using excess or enriched air (under- stoichiometric or stoichiometric H/N-ratio)
All the three reforming versions are in use but the conventional one is the oldest and most
in use.

Conventional Steam Reforming:

The theoretical process conversions, based on methane feedstock, are given in the
following approximate formulae:

0.88CH4 + 1.26 Air + 1.24 H2O  0.88CO2 + N2 + 3H2

N2 + 3H2  2NH3

The synthesis gas production and purification normally takes place at 25 to 35 kg/cm2
pressure. The ammonia synthesis pressure is in the range of 100-250 kg/cm2. The block
diagram of the
steam/ air reforming is as under (Figure 1)
Feedstock desulphurisation

This part of the process is to remove the sulphur from the feedstock over a Zinc oxide
catalyst bed, as sulphur is poison to the catalysts used in the subsequent processed. The
sulphur level is reduced to less than 0.1 ppm in this part of the process.

Primary reforming

The gas from the desulphuriser is mixed with process steam, usually coming from an
extraction turbine, and steam gas mixture is then heated further to 500-600° C in the
convection section before entering the primary reformer. In some new or revamped plants
the preheated steam/gas mixture is passed through an adiabatic pre-reformer and reheated
in the convection section before entering the primary reformer.

The amount of process steam is given to adjust steam to carbon-molar ratio (S/C- ratio),
which should be around 3.0 for the reforming processes. The optimum ratio depends on
several factors, such as feedstock quality, purge gas recovery, primary reformer capacity,
shift operation and the plant steam balance. In new plants, S/C ratio may be less than 3.0.

The primary reformer consists of a large number of high-nickel chromium alloy tubes
filled with nickel-containing reforming catalyst in a big chamber (Radiant box) with
burners to provide heat. The overall reaction is highly endothermic and additional heat is
provided by burning of gas in burners provided for the purpose, to raise the temperature
to 780-830°C at the reformer outlet. The composition of gas leaving the reformer is given
by close approach to the following chemical equilibrium:
CH4 + H2O ¬¾® CO + 3H2
CO + H2O ¬¾® CO2 + H2
The heat for the primary reforming is supplied by burning natural gas or other gaseous
fuels, in the burners of a radiant box containing catalyst filled tubes. The flue gas leaving
the radiant box has temperature in excess of 900°C, after supplying the high level heat to
the reforming process. About 50-60% of fuel’s heat value is directly used in the process
itself. The heat content (waste heat) of the flue-gas is recovered in the reformer
convection section, for various process and steam duties. The fuel energy required in the
conventional reforming process is 40-50% of the process feed energy. The flue-gas
leaving the convection section at 100-200° C is one of the main sources of emissions
from the plant. These emissions are mainly CO2, NOx, with small amounts of SO2 and
CO.

Secondary reforming:

Only 30-40% of the hydrocarbon feed is reformed in the primary reformer because of the
chemical equilibrium at the actual operating conditions. The temperature must be raised
to increase the conversion. This is done in the secondary reformer by internal combustion
of part of the gas with process air, which also provides the nitrogen for the final synthesis
gas. In the conventional reforming process the degree of primary reforming is adjusted so
that the air supplied to the secondary reformer meets both the heat and the stoichiometric
synthesis gas requirement.

The process air is compressed to the reforming pressure and heated further in the primary
reformer convection section to about 600°C. The process gas is mixed with the air in a
burner and then passed over a nickel-containing secondary reformer catalyst. The
reformer outlet temperature is around 1000°C, and up to 99% of the hydrocarbon feed (to
primary reformer) is converted, giving a residual methane content of 0.2-0.3 (dry gas
bases) in the process gas leaving the secondary reformer.

The process gas is cooled to 350-400°C in a waste heat boiler or waste heat boiler/super
heater down stream from the secondary reformer.

Shift conversion:
The process gas from the secondary reformer contains 12-15% CO (dry gas bases) and
most of the CO is converted in the shift section according to the reaction:

CO + H2O ¬¾® CO2+ H2

In the high temperature shift conversion (HTS), the gas is passed through a bed of iron
oxide/Chromium oxide catalyst at around 400°C, where the CO content is reduced to
about 3% (dry gas bases), limited by the shift equilibrium at the actual operating
temperature. There is tendency to use copper containing catalyst to increase conversion.
The gas from the HTS is cooled and passed through the low temperature shift (LTS)
converter. The LTS is filled with a copper oxide/Zinc oxide-based catalyst and operates at
about 200-220° C. The residual CO content is important for the efficiency of the process.
Therefore, efficiency of shift step in obtaining the highest shift conversion is very
important. CO2 Removal

The process gas from the low temperature shift converter contains mainly H2, N2, CO2,
and excess process steam. The gas is cooled and most of the excess steam is condensed
before it enters the CO2 removal section. This condensate usually contains 1500-2000
ppm of ammonia, 800-1200 ppm of methanol and minor concentration of other
chemicals. All these are stripped and in the best practices the condensate is recycled.

The heat released during cooling/condensation is used for:

Regeneration of CO2 scrubbing solution
Driving the absorption refrigeration units
Boiler water preheat.

The amount of heat released depends on the process steam to carbon ratio. If all this low
level heat is used for CO2 removal or absorption refrigeration, high-level heat has can be
used for feed water system. An energy-efficient process should therefore have a CO2
removal system with low heat demand.

The CO2 is removed in a chemical or physical absorption process. The solvents used in
chemical absorption process are mainly aqueous amine solutions Mono Ethanolamine
(MEA), activated Methyl DiEthanolamines (aMDEA) or hot potassium carbonate
solutions. Physical solvents are glycol dimethylethers (Selexol), propylene carbonates
and others. Benfield process, Selexol, aMDEA or similar processes are considered as best
practice. Residual CO2 content are usually in the range 100-1000 ppmv, depending on
the process used. Contents of CO2 down to 50 ppmv are achievable.

Methanation
The small residual amount of CO and CO2 in the synthesis gas, are poisonous for the
ammonia synthesis catalyst and must be removed by conversion to CH4 in the
methanator:
CO + 3H2 ¾¾® CH4 + H2O
CO2 + 4H2 ¾¾® CH4 + 2H2O
The reaction takes place at around 300°C in a reactor filled with nickel containing
catalyst.
Methane is an inert gas but water must be removed before entering converter.

Synthesis gas compression and ammonia Synthesis

Modern ammonia plants use centrifugal compressors for synthesis gas compression,
usually driven by steam turbines, with steam being produced within the ammonia plant
from exothermic heat of reactions. The refrigeration compressor, needed for condensation
of product ammonia, is also driven by a steam turbine.
The synthesis of ammonia takes place on an iron catalyst at pressure usually in the range
of 100- 250 kg/cm2 and temperatures in the range of 350-550°C:
N2 + 3H2  2NH3

Only 20-30% of synthesis gas is converted to ammonia per pass in multibed catalyst
filled the converter due to the unfavorable equilibrium conditions. The ammonia that is
formed is separated from the product gas mixture by cooling/ condensation, and the
unreacted gas is recycled with the addition of fresh make up synthesis gas, thus
maintaining the loop pressure. In addition, extensive heat exchange is required due to
exothermic reaction and large temperature range in the loop. A newly developed
ammonia synthesis catalyst containing ruthenium on a graphite support has a much
higher activity per unit of volume and has the potential to increase conversion and lower
operating pressure. This has the potential to reduce energy consumption. Synthesis loop
arrangement differ with respect to the points in the loop at which the make-up gas is
delivered and the ammonia and purge gas are taken out. Conventional reforming with
methanation as the final purification step, produces a synthesis gas contains inerts
(Methane and argon) in quantities that don’t dissolve in the condensed ammonia.
The major part of these is removed by taking out a purge stream from the loop. The size
of this purge stream controls the level of inerts in the loop to about 10-15%. The purge
gas is scrubbed with water to remove ammonia before being used as fuel or before being
sent to hydrogen recovery unit.

Ammonia condensation is far from complete if cooling is with water or air and is usually
not satisfactory. Vaporizing ammonia is used as a refrigerant in most ammonia plants, to
achieve sufficiently low ammonia concentration in the recycled gas. The ammonia
vapours are liquefied by compression in the refrigeration compressor

Steam reforming with excess air secondary reforming is process is divergent than the
conventional process broadly in the following ways:
1.Decreased firing in primary reformer
2.Increased process air flow to the secondary reforming
3.Cryogenic final purification after methanation
4.Lower inert level of the make-up syngas.

In this process part of load of primary reformer is shifted to a thermodynamically more

efficient secondary reformer. However, excess nitrogen has to be removed in the gas
purification step.

Heat exchange auto thermal reforming:

From thermodynamic point of view, it is wasteful to use the high-level heat of secondary
reformer outlet gas and the primary reformer flue-gas, both at temperatures around
1000°C, simply to raise steam. Recent developments are to recycle this heat to the
process itself, by using the heat content of the secondary reformed gas in a newly
developed primary reformer (gas heated reformer, heat exchange reformer), thus
eliminating the fired furnace. Surplus air or oxygen-enriched air is required in the
secondary reformer to meet the heat balance in this auto thermal concept.

The developers of this technology claim better performance on energy and are trying to
perfect the systems.
Best available techniques (BAT) reforming process for new plants:

The modern versions of the conventional steam reforming and excess air reforming
processes will still be used for new plants for many years to come. Developments are
expected to go in the following directions:

i. Lowering the steam carbon ratio

ii. Shifting duty from primary to secondary reformer
iii. Improved final purification
iv. Improved synthesis loop efficiency
v. Improved power energy system
vi. Low NOx burners
vii. Non iron based ammonia synthesis catalyst

In India almost all NG based plants and naphtha based plants are based on conventional
steam reforming process. Some newer plants have introduced adiabatic pre-reforming,
operating at low steam carbon ratio, introduced purge gas recovery to control inerts
efficiently, provided low NOx burners and improved steam & power system resulting in
better performance

Partial oxidation of heavy oils

The partial oxidation process is used for the gasification of heavy feedstock such as
residual oils and coal. Extremely viscous hydrocarbons may also be used as fraction of
the feed. An air separation unit is required for the production of oxygen for partial
oxidation step. The nitrogen is added in the liquid nitrogen wash to remove impurities
from the synthesis gas and to get the required hydrogen/nitrogen ratio in the synthesis
gas. The partial oxidation is a non-catalytic process, taking place at high pressure (>50
kg/cm2) and temperatures around 1400°C. Some steam is added for temperature
moderation. The simplified reaction pattern is:

-CHn - + 0.5 O2 ¾¾® CO + n/2H2

Carbon dioxide, methane and some soot are formed in addition. The sulphur compounds
in the feed are converted to hydrogen sulfide. Mineral compounds in the feed are
transformed in to specific ashes. The process gas is freed from solids by water scrubbing
after waste heat recovery and the soot is recycled to feed. The ash compounds are drained
with the process condensate and/or together with the soot. The hydrogen sulphide in the
process is separated in a selective absorption step and reprocessed to elemental sulphur in
a Claus unit. The shift conversion usually has two temperature shift catalyst beds with
intermediate cooling. Steam for shift conversion is supplied partially by a cooler-saturator
system and partially by steam injection. CO2 removed by using an absorption agent,
which might be the same as in the sulphur removal step.

Residual traces of absorption agent and CO2 are then removed from the process gas,
before final purification by a liquid nitrogen wash. In this unit practically all the
impurities are removed and nitrogen is added to give the stoichiometric hydrogen to
nitrogen ratio. Ammonia synthesis is quite similar to steam reformation plants, but more
efficient due to high purity of synthesis gas from liquid nitrogen wash unit and the loop

does not require a purge.

In India presently four plants set up in 70’s are working using the partial oxidation
process to use . Fuel Oil or LSHS feed stocks. Due to higher energy consumption in
these plants and due to higher basic cost of feedstock in comparison to NG, these would
changeover to NG as feedstock

Description Of Urea Production Processes

The commercial synthesis of urea involves the combination of ammonia and carbon
dioxide at high pressure to form ammonium carbamate, which is subsequently dehydrated
by the application of heat to form urea and water.

2NH3 + CO2 ¨ NH2COONH4 ¨ CO(NH2)2 + H2O

 First reaction is fast and exothermic and essentially goes to complete under the reaction
conditions used industrially. Subsequent reaction is slower and endothermic and does not
go to completion. The conversion (on a CO2 basis) is usually in the order of 50-80%. The
conversion increases with increasing temperature and NH3/CO2 ratio and decreases with
increasing H2O/CO2 ratio.

The design of commercial processes involves three major considerations:

to separate the urea from other constituents,
to recover excess NH3 and
decompose the carbamate for recycle.

The simplest way to decompose carbamate to CO2 and NH3 requires the reactor effluent
to be depressurized and heated. Since it is essential to recover all the gases for recycle to
the synthesis to optimize raw material utilization and since re-compression was too
expensive an alternative was developed. This involved cooling the gases and re-combine
them to form carbamate liquor, which was pumped back to the synthesis. A series of
loops involving carbamate decomposers at progressively lower pressure and carbamate
condensers were used. This was known as the “Total recycle process”. A basic
consequence of recycling the gases was that the NH3/CO2 molar ratio in the reactor
increased thereby increasing the urea yield.

Significant improvements were subsequently achieved by decomposing the carbamate in

the reactor effluent without reducing the system pressure. This “Stripping Process”
dominated synthesis technology and provided capital/energy savings. Two commercial
stripping systems were developed, one using CO2, and other using NH3 as the stripping
gases. Since the patents on stripping technology have expired, other processes have
emerged which combine the best features of Total Recycle and Stripping Technologies.

The urea solution arising from the synthesis /recycle stages of the process is
subsequentlyconcentrated to a urea melt for conversion to solid prilled or granular
product. Improvements in process technology have concentrated on reducing production
costs and minimizing the environmental impact. These include boosting CO2 conversion
efficiency, increasing heat recovery, reducing utilities consumption and recovering
residual NH3 and urea from plant effluents. Simultaneously the size limitation of prills
and concern about the prill tower off gases effluent were responsible for increased
interest in melt granulation processes and prill tower emission abatement. Some or all
these improvements have been used in updating existing plants and some plants have
added computerized systems for process control, New urea installations vary in size from
800 to 2000 tonnes per day. Modern processes have very similar energy requirements and
very high material efficiency.
Block diagram for CO2 and NH3 stripping total recycle processes are as shown