TATA Ammonia Plant: Design

Features and Operating Experience

The Low Energy Process for ammonia and urea plants that incorporates novel features likeprere-
former has proven to offer great flexibility in the feedstock and fuels. This technology's ability to
sustain normal production levels despite the periodic shortages in gas supplies avoids the need for
high inventory of product ammonia and synthesis gas.

Svend Erik Nielsen

Haldor Tops0e A/S, Lyngby, Denmark
A. J. Gupta
TATA Chemicals Ltd., Babrala, India

Introduction heat recovery units and one service boiler, cooling

towers, ammonia and naphtha storage facilities, an

T
ATA Chemicals Limited (TATACHEM) com- inert gas plant, an effluent treatment plant, and so
prises two divisions: the Chemical Division, forth.
located at Mithapur (West Coast of India, in The fertilizer complex at Babrala is one of the six
Gujarat State), and the Fertilizer Division, located at fertilizer complexes located inland along a cross-coun-
Babrala (Western Uttar Pradesh State, India). The try HBJ (Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur) natural gas
Chemical Division at Mithapur owns and operates a pipeline (Figure 1). The pipeline transports associated
uniquely integrated inorganic chemical complex that gas from Bombay High and natural gas from South
produces 35 basic chemicals, of which soda ash is the Basin to the fertilizer and power plants located inland.
major product. TATACHEM is a leader in the soda Babrala happens to be located at the tall end of the
ash industry, and its inorganic chemical complex is the pipeline and therefore experiences frequent fluctua-
largest in Southern Asia and ranks among the most tions in gas supply pressure and quantity. As a conse-
self-reliant, energy-efficient, and water-efficient oper- quence, 70% of the total feedstock and fuel require-
ations in the world. ment is normally being supplied with natural gas.with
The fertilizer complex at Babrala is composed of an the balance supplied with naphtha. Naphtha is drawn
ammonia plant that has an installed capacity of 1,350 in rail tankers from a refinery in Mathura located
metric ton/d (1,488 short ton/d) based on the state-of- about 150 km away by rail.
the-art Low Energy Process of Haldor Tops0e A/S,
and two lines of urea, each having a capacity of 1,125 Unique Features of the Complex
metric ton/d (1,250 short ton/d) based on the
Snamprogetti (Italy) SpA technology incorporating The fertilizer complex at Babrala has two unique
several low energy features. The related off-site and features. The first is an integrated energy network. As
utilities facilities consist of a captive power and steam shown in Figure 2, the demineralized water for the
generation plant (CPSGP) with two gas turbines, two entire complex is preheated in the CO2-removal and

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 31 1998

 The integration of energy networks as described
above is the key factor in achieving high overall ener-
gy efficiency at the TATACHEM fertilizer complex.
The overall specific energy consumption achieved
during steady runs of the complex is 5.4-5.5
Gcal/metric ton (19.4-19.8 MMBTU/short ton) of
urea compared with 5.7-6.2 Gcal/metric ton
(20.5-22.3 MMBTU/short ton) achieved in similar
fertilizer complexes hi India.
The second unique feature is a common central con-
trol room (CCR) for ammonia, urea, CPSGP, and
other off-site and utility plants. This provides well-
coordinated and integrated control of the entire com-
plex from one location and online interplant sharing of
information. This setup has been extremely beneficial,
especially during startups and plant upsets.

Design Philosophy
For a number of years the Indian fertilizer industry
Figure 1. Location of TATA chemicals complex suffered from gas shortage problems from the HBJ
and HBJ gas pipeline. pipeline. The use of naphtha for fertilizer production
process-condensate stripping sections of the ammonia has been more common because of these problems.
plant and supplied to the deaerators of the ammonia TATACHEM was very far-sighted when they decid-
plant and the CPSGP. The waste heat in the front-end ed to build an ammonia plant that would have full
and the synthesis section of the ammonia plant is used flexibility with respect to utilization of feed and fuel.
for preheating boiler feed water (BFW), generating The basic philosophy was to be able to sustain full
high-pressure steam and superheat. Except for the pri- load on the ammonia plant, even when gas supply was
mary reformer furnace, no other fired heater has been limited or nonexistent over a long period. This would
provided in the ammonia plant either for preheating allow TATACHEM to produce ammonia at full load
feedstock or for generating and superheating of high even during the fluctuations hi the natural gas supply
pressure steam. Superheating of steam in the ammonia that have often been experienced. Furthermore,
plant takes place in the process gas superheater. The TATACHEM was prepared to accept the most up-to-
superheater is located between two waste heat boilers, date state-of-the-art technology available on the mar-
downstream of the secondary reformer and hi the con- ket, with extensive integration of the ammonia plant
vection zone of the primary reformer. Superheated with the entire complex. A common central control
high pressure steam is also generated in the heat room for the entire complex was preferred. The goal
recovery units (HRUs) from the exhaust gas of the gas was that the complex be self-sufficient hi steam and
turbines hi CPSGP. HRUs are provided with supple- power supply and that use of electric motors be maxi-
mentary firing. High-pressure steam is used for dri- mized. The following key areas were given special
ving turbines of the process air and synthesis gas com- consideration hi the design:
pressors hi the ammonia plant and CO2 compressors in • Flexibility with respect to feedstock (natural
the urea plants. Except for BFW pumps in the ammo- gas/naphtha)
nia plant and CPSGP, all other equipment, including • Flexibility with respect to fuel (natural gas/naph-
ID and FD fans, cooling water pumps, and hot potassi- tha)
um carbonate pumps, are driven by electric motors. • Demineralized water preheating for entire complex

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 32 1998

 Figure 2. Power and steam balance.

Desulphuriutiga Reforming Shift

Prertfonning

Ammonia Synthesis Mdhanation

Figure 3. Ammonia plant design.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 33 1998

integrated in the ammonia plant Feed and fuel flexibility
• Steam generation in front-end and loop boilers
« Special equipment design to cope with the above Feed is preheated in the reformer waste heat section
requirements to the required temperature of the desulfurization sec-
The philosophy adopted by TATACHEM has set a tion (Figure 4). In the case of naphtha feedstock the
trend for the industry. A number of low energy fea- feed is evaporated in a steam-fired preheater before
tures implemented at the plant in Babrala are now being introduced to the reformer waste heat section.
standard features in many other plants. After desulfurization steam is added, the mixture is
preheated before being introduced to the prereformer.
Ammonia plant design The prereformer is always in operation independently
from feedstock.
The design of the ammonia plant (Figure 3) is based In the prereformer all higher hydrocarbons are con-
on the use of Haldor Tops0e A/S ammonia technology verted to methane, carbon oxides, hydrogen, and
and includes a number of novel design features. water. This gives some very favorable operating con-
Natural gas, naphtha, or a mixture of the two can be ditions for the primary reformer independent of the
used as both feed and fuel. The contractor who had feedstock.
responsibility for the project was Snamprogetti SpA. The primary reformer can be fired with natural gas
All catalyst used in the plant is supplied by Tops0e and/or naphtha fuel along with off-gases from the
and the following key process steps are used:
• Reforming section with primary/secondary
reformer and prereformer.
• Medium- and low-temperature shift sections.
BBS ?re- Primary Secondary
» Giammarco-Vetrocoke (G-V) CO2 removal. refbnaer Reformer Reformer
• Methanation.
» S-250 ammonia synthesis loop and 140 kg/cm2g
(2000 psig).
The plant is designed to be flexible and able to pro-
duce the stoichiometric amount of ammonia and car-
bon dioxide for all foreseen feedstocks, with or with-
out the purge gas recovery unit in operation. Since all
these possibilities have been taken into account in the
design from the very beginning, the design capacity of
each individual piece of equipment has been carefully
examined and real bottlenecks have been avoided. The
plant is able to maintain a constant high-capacity uti-
lization well above the nameplate capacity because of
these design characteristics.
Use of prereforming gives the plant the required
flexibility towards the changing feedstocks. The use of
MT/LT shifts assure a low CO leakage, which con-
tributes to low energy consumption. Furthermore, use Figure 4. Feed and fiiei flexibility.
of the S-250 loop in combination with a hydrogen
recovery unit assures a high conversion of ammonia ammonia recovery section. The naphtha fuel used is

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 34 1998

 CO2 Removal Unit
DMW

DMW/Condensate
Heat Exchanger

Figure 5. Integrated demineralized water preheating.

Sapcrfcater
BFW Dowutnaw
PlCtefer SMWdtiy
DoH Bcfanur teRtfonwrWHS
MTS
Saperkarted
HTStcsK
BFWPre- BBW •tllZM.SIS'C
_„„, hEBttrDawB-
BFW fa»
BTWP™, 5le*mOnin

BFW lit Batter DowMtitwn

Prtbccetr Seawdny Rdbraur
lipitrum
MTS Ud Boiler DownlcaB
Sccudtry Reformer

lit Bofleri« Loop

bid Be Her it Loop

Figure 6. Steam generation in ammonia plant.

Nmt«r«IG»Fee<l
N«phth«F««dl
1s / ; i
/\ __t
r (.
E

\
^•-_

< ;
f
Steam Fliat Gas Chan nd

Natural Gas Fuel

Naphtha Fuel
la Heat Recovery

Figure 7. Preformer.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 35 1998

evaporated before being introduced to the burners. Special equipment design
Combustion air to the reformer burners is preheated in
the cold end of the reformer waste heat section. Some of the novel design features introduced in the
The operation of the plant is fully automatic and the TATACHEM ammonia plant were introduced to cope
mixed-feed control strategy assures a smooth opera- with the special design philosophy adopted for the
tion of the plant independently from the feedstock. complex.
Among the key items are the prereformer, the S-250
Integrated demineralized water preheating converter system, and the steam boilers/superheater
combination after the secondary reformer.
The entire amount of demineralized water (DMW) Apart from these items, the inclusion of the purge
used in the complex is preheated in the ammonia plant gas recovery unit was is beneficial, especially when
in a scheme as shown in Figure 5. Export of up to 150 naphtha is used as feed, in which case an excess of
ton/h of preheated DMW is foreseen. CO2 is produced and a more efficient synthesis loop
Preheating is done using stripped process conden- makes production more energy-efficient.
sate, using waste heat from the CO2-removal section Another important design feature is the driver phi-
and from the overhead system of the process conden- losophy. It was decided to only have steam turbine dri-
sate stripper. vers on the major rotating machines. This improves
In order to control both the DMW preheating tem- energy consumption because small steam turbines
perature and the process parameters, the CO2 section with low efficiencies can be avoided. The reliability of
requires a special arrangement. In order to fulfill the the complex is maintained even with electric motor
above requirements, a number of bypasses and a drivers because all the power consumed is generated
standby cooler have been installed. The integrated within the complex in gas turbine generators. The
approach has resulted in an overall saving of cooling complex is therefore completely independent of the
water in the ammonia plant. power grid.
Prereformer. The prereformer was originally only
Steam generation in an ammonia plant envisioned to be in operation when naphtha feedstock
was used. Changeover from natural gas to naphtha and
Approximately 250 ton/h of high pressure steam is vice versa would require that the plant be stopped to
being generated in the ammonia plant in a steam sys- turn eight blinds so the feed could either pass through
tem, as shown in Figure 6. Boiler-feed water preheat- or bypass the prereformer. This would allow the use of
ing is done after the LT shift, before and after the MT naphtha in cases of longer periods of time with a
shift, and in the synthesis loop. The use of an MT shift restricted gas supply.
requires a relatively low inlet temperature of approxi- In reality, the gas supply fluctuated significantly.
mately 2000°C (392°F), and a BFW preheater is Therefore, it was decided to operate the plant with the
required upstream instead of a boiler or superheater as prereformer inline all the time, independent of feed-
normally used in combination with a traditional HT stock. Fluctuations hi feedstock would then be taken
shift. care of by the prereformer. The overall reaction taking
Steam is superheated in a superheater between the place in the prereformer is endothermic when the feed
two HP waste heat boilers after the secondary is natural gas, and slightly exothermic with naphtha
reformer. Final superheating is done in the reformer feed. But independently of feedstock the primary
waste heat section. reformer will operate as a purely natural gas reformer,
The steam system is very flexible, and the reforming methane and operating under completely
boiler/superheater/boiler combination after the sec- sulfur-free conditions because all traces of sulfur are
ondary reformer gives especially good flexibility. quantitatively picked up by the prereformer.
High pressure steam at 112 kg/cm2»g (1600 psi) and The system with the prereformer is shown hi Figure
515°C (959°F) is generated in the plant. 7 and provides many benefits.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 36 1998

 TATA 5-250 Converter System. The synthesis loop missioning and mechanical activities.
comprises a converter system with two synthesis con- Critical piping in the plant, especially in the synthe-
verters (Figure 8): The well-known Tops0e S-200 sis section, was thoroughly checked with alloy analyz-
ammonia synthesis converter, a two-bed radial flow er to detect any incorrect alloy material in the parent
converter with indirect cooling between the catalyst piping components and the welds. This ensured that
beds, followed by a Tops0e 5-50 hot wall radial flow no failure took place on startup of the plant.
converter. The TDC 3000 Distributed Control System is sup-
The converter system operates at approximately 140 plied by TATA Honeywell, Pune, India. The process
kg/cm2g (2000 psig) and gives a high conversion per engineers were thoroughly involved in the engineering
pass. High pressure steam is produced in waste heat of the software for the control system, including
boilers after each of the conversions. This system preparation of control groups and graphics, designing
gives a better utilization of the waste heat for boiling control strategies, and alarm management system. This
than a normal S-200 loop with only one converter. activity paid handsome dividends because the operat-
The 5-250 converter system has been a success for ing engineers became fully conversant with the system
TATACHEM and has is one of the most energy-effi- prior to commissioning of the plant. During the facto-
cient loops ever constructed. ry acceptance test, process and instrument engineers
Steam Boilers/Superheater. With a medium-temper- were stationed at TATA Honeywell, Pune, for thor-
ature shift installed, the steam generation in the ough checking of each instrument loop and trip logic
ammonia plant front-end is slightly different from the for the plant and machinery. This proved to be a very
normal layout. In the TATACHEM plant two waste effective step for the successful commissioning of the
heat boilers with one steam superheater in between are plant.
installed (Figure 9). Instrument engineers received training for installa-
The last waste boiler is followed by a boiler feed tion and commissioning and process engineers
water preheater in order to enable an inlet temperature received hands-on experience on a training simulator
to the MT shift of approximately 2000°C (392°F). The at TATA Honeywell.
steam boiler configuration is very flexible and load Top priority was given to the CO2-removal section
changes can easily be coped with. of the ammonia plant, which requires elaborate pre-
The steam superheater is equipped with 1 1/4 Cr 1/2 commissioning activities such as blowing of gas pip-
MO tubes and no evidence of metal dusting problems ing, water flushing of G-V solution piping, installation
has been found. of internals and loading of packing in columns, caustic
circulation and passivation, and so forth. This subse-
Precommissioning and Commissioning quently enabled gas from the reforming section to be
directly fed to this section without any loss of time.
Within 24 days of feed-in TATACHEM achieved
the unique distinction of producing ammonia. This is Table 1. Important Milestones Achieved in
a record for a grassroots project of this size executed Commissioning
in Southern Asia. The main milestones achieved are Feed into reformer Oct. 20, 1994
shown in Table 1. First CO2 production Oct. 22, 1994
Precommissioning and commissioning of the plant First urea production Nov. 4, 1994
in this short period was a result of meticulous plan- (with bought out ammonia)
ning. A detailed network for precommissioning and First ammonia production Nov. 14, 1994
commissioning, indicating interrelationships of the Commercial production Dec. 21, 1994
various sections and systems of the plant and giving Guarantee test run Apr. 13-18, 1995
priority to construction activities, was made.
Mechanical tasks, including piping, were completed The matter of chemical cleaning of the steam and
system-wide to maximize parallel progress of precom- BFW system was evaluated in detail on the basis of

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 37 1998

 S-200 S-50
Converter Converter

Purge Cas.

Product
Ammonia

Figure 8. TATA S-250 converter system.

Superheated
Steam
A

BFW

Process Gas
from Process Gas
Secondary to BFW
Reformer Preheater
HP Wast« HP Waste
Heat Boiler Heat Boiler

Figure 9. Steam boilers and superheater.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 38 1998

various discussions with the chemical cleaning con- blocks that was experienced prior to the firing of
tractors and consultants. Eventually it was decided not naphtha accelerated during the naphtha firing period.
to carry out chemical cleaning of the system because Many blocks were cracked and melted in the center,
neither any significant advantage in terms of cleanli- resulting in improper flames and heating up of the
ness of the system nor any savings in time would be mounting plates of the burners (Figure 11).
gained. In fact, chemical cleaning would have required To sustain the operation for the first time, patch
another week or two. All the waste heat boilers were work on the burner blocks using a quick setting mortar
cleaned using soda-boil out procedure. Steam lines was undertaken with the furnace in full operation. A
were cleaned by steam blowing and the BFW system thorough investigation into the matter revealed that the
was flushed with hot water. This decision was vindi- problem was attributable to the poor quality of burner
cated by subsequent startup when iron levels in the blocks, dimensionally incorrect tips, and incorrect
system were found to be well within the acceptable assembly and installation of the burners.
limits. During the shutdown from April to May in 1995,
some of these burner blocks were repaired/replaced
Operational Experience with the Plant and with indigenous burner blocks. After one year of oper-
Equipment ation, in the turnaround of April 1996, further repair
work on the furnace was undertaken to rectify the
Precommissioning, commissioning, and subsequent damage caused by the burner problems.
operation of the plant have generally been free of any
significant problems. Some of the problems encoun- Reformed gas boiler (RGB) refractory
tered are enumerated in the following sections.
The refractory at the dished ends of the inlet channel
Synthesis gas compressor and the manhole of RGB has failed repeatedly. Figure
12 shows the wear out of the refractory exposing
The machine was rolled for the first time on anchors and the inner surface of the pressure shell.
November 5, 1994. However, operation had to be Repairs were carried out in May 1995 and April 1996;
stopped on the same day because insulation on the tur- however, the problem with the refractory persists,
bine that had soaked oil during erection caught on fire. leading to an increase in the metal temperature from
The damaged insulation was removed and new insula- 350°C to 400°C (662°F to 752°F). The dished ends are
tion was applied. Subsequently, the oil seals of the HP being kept cooled by spraying demineralized water.
barrel of the machine had to be opened twice for This problem has been referred to the equipment sup-
heavy oil leakage through the seals. On both occasions plier and the consultants. The problem is most likely
the oil leakage problem surfaced on the restart of the due to improper workmanship, poor quality of materi-
machine after trips. The problem of the leakage of oil al used, and unsatisfactory dry out. Thorough repair
was overcome by replacing 'O' rings that were not fit- work under the supervision of the refractory supplier
ting properly and by lapping the inside surface of the is planned. All other equipment, as indicated by the
floating bush. It was suspected that the floating ring process parameters and inspection carried out during
was not free to slide over the shaft (Figure 10). the turnaround in April 1996, has been performing sat-
isfactorily.
Primary reformer burners The process gas steam superheater supplied by
Babcock (France) has not shown any evidence of
The primary reformer burners at TATACHEM, metal dusting after 1 1/2 years of operation. All parts
Babrala, are specified for firing both natural gas and of the equipment exposed to process gas are in stain-
vaporized naphtha in a mixture with off-gases from less steel (316L and 304L) construction except the
the synthesis section. During March 1995, when the tubes that are made of 1 1/4 Cr and 1/2 Mo alloy steel.
natural gas supply was restricted, naphtha firing in the The performance of this equipment has so far been
furnace was resorted to. Deterioration in the burner satisfactory.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 39 1998

 LEAF St>AM3

ä
^ ...;.
---U
";-"£l
....—j? .

Figure 10. Synthesis gas compressor oil seal assembly.

tocorract Ov0r haating of

C«rawool mounting plates
blank« Burn out back-up
thickness insulation board

Combustion Air Inlet

Figure 11. Primary reformer burner.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 40 1998

 75THK Rafraetoiv ^ t 2OOTHK H»fPtctO(V
150THK R«fr«cte»v Hi^h Alumin» CattaU» K r
Jnculaud Cutxbl»
Iniulitld C«ubl*

Bitum« Co«ino 7STHK FMrwtory Kgh

Aiuminé CMt«Mt

Figure 12. Refractory damage for inlet channel to reformed gas boiler.

On*tr«*m Effielcney

Capacity Utilization

f0«4-9S 1SÏ5-86 1 »86-07

Figure 13. On-stream efficiency and capacity utilization.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 41 1998

Stabilization of Plant Operation and Specific The training of operation and maintenance staff has
Energy Consumption been an important factor in achieving good results. It
was the well-considered decision of TATACHEM to
Meticulous precommissioning and commissioning form a core group of experienced personnel for opera-
activities have contributed significantly to fairly quick tion and maintenance. The team is mainly composed
stabilization of the plant and the process. Figure 13 of young, energetic diploma holders or graduates in
shows on-stream efficiency and capacity utilization engineering and science who are thoroughly trained
(based on 365 days) achieved during the last three for specific tasks. Regular classroom lectures and
financial years, which run from April to March. The group discussions under experienced leaders have
first year, that is, 1994-95, covers the period of time been the mainstays of the training program. All the
from December 21,1994 (the date of commissioning), engineering drawings and documentation, including
to March 31,1995. The capacity utilization achieved in vendor-supplied information, were thoroughly reviewed
1996-97 is highest among similar capacity plants in and discussed. Training at all levels is ongoing at the
India. Record production for a day has been 1822 met- complex.
ric tons (2,009 short tons), that is, 135% of the name-
plate capacity. The gross and net energy consumptions Commissioning of Prereformer and
(which include energy for startup and shutdown) as Additional Faculties
shown in Figures 14 and 15 are very close to the
design-specific energy consumptions during the year After the operation of the main plants was stabi-
1996-97. The net specific energy consumption of 7.53 lized, additional facilities, such as a naphtha predesul-
Gcal/metric ton (27.1 MMBTU/short ton) of ammonia furization unit (NPDU), a cryogenic purge gas recov-
actually achieved during the year 1996-97 is lowest so ery unit (PGRU), and mixed-feed provisions including
far in the country over the period of a year. an adiabatic prereformer, were commissioned in May

Table 2. Natural Gas, Naphtha, and Prereformer Outlet Analysis as of

January 8,1997.

Matiif«t <^a« Naphtha

Components Mola% Appearance Clear

Methans 83.625 Sulphur ppm 0,12
Carbon dioxide 7,976 Density @ 15°C om/mJ 0.72
Ethan« 7.481 Calorific Value Kcal/kg 10535,20
Propane 0.733 C/H w/w S,61
Mlutane 0,033 Aromatics %v/v 8,16
n-Butana 0.023 Olefins %vlv 0,04
i-Pentane 0,033 Bromine No. 0.10
n-Ptmtane 0,029 I.B.P °C 36.00
Hexane + 0,016 F.B.P 'C 140.00
Nitrogen 0.051 Molecular Mass g/mole 93,72
Flow T/hr 29,50

NG Flow 750O NrrïVhr

Mol. Weight 18,765 g/mole Pra Reforms Omtof ftna*y«fa
Calorific Value 8297,5 Kcal/Sm1
Specific Gravity 0.6479 Components Mole%
Compressibility 0,9976 Methane 52,61
Carbon No. 1,094 mole/mole Carbon dioxide 20.09
Carbon monoxide 0.33
Hydrogen 23,65
Nitrogen 3.32

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 42 1998

 Guaranteed=7.54
Öesign=7.37
H Gross Energy

1994-95 1995-96 1996-97

Figure 14. Gross energy feed plus fuel.

7.53
Design=7.37

Net Energy

1994-95 1995-96 1996-97

Figure 15. Net energy including power, DMW, and steam debit/credit.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 43 1998

1996 on the restart of the plant after annual turnaround fertilizer units based on the pipeline suffered heavy
in April 1996. production loss, whereas TATACHEM, having com-
The commissioning of the above facilities was very missioned the mixed-feed provisions and PGRU,,
smooth, and their operation stabilized quickly. In fact, achieved record production of ammonia (547,900 met-
these units have performed satisfactorily right from ric tons [604,080 short tons]) and urea (950,450 metric
the first feed-in. tons [1,047,900 short tons]) during the same period.
The above facilities provide TATACHEM unique
flexibility in terms of the feedstocks and ratio of Prereformer Performance
ammonia:urea production. Many gas-based plants are
forced to resort to burning synthesis gas as fuel (which The concept of prereforming has proved to be very
is an energy-inefficient process) to boost up CO2 pro- advantageous. The change in the ratio of naphtha and
duction. Any shortfall in gas supplies is easily made natural gas in feedstock does not significantly alter the
up by naphtha feed to maintain plant production level; primary reformer conditions, as all the higher hydro-
up to 90% w/w of naphtha in the feedstock has already carbons are completely reformed to methane in the
been tried so far. prereformer. The overall prereforming reaction with
On commissioning of two more fertilizer units in natural gas is observed to be endothermic, whereas
December 1996 and January 1997 (IFFCO and NFL with naphtha the prereforming reaction is exothermic.
expansion) based on the HBJ pipeline, the natural gas Incorporation of prereformer has, however, lengthened
supply situation during the year 1996-97 was start-up of the front-end by about 4 h. The prereformer
extremely erratic and unreliable. As a result, all the catalyst base being magnesia, steaming at tempera-

Calculated
Temperature

Measured
Temperature

0 «5
r* co
Q O Q O Q O O ' - ^ - < - * - t - » - « - M W C < l i

Axial Distance of Pre Reformer in meters

Figure 16. Prereformer temperature profile.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 44 1998

tures below the hydration limit (350°C at 5 kg/cm2.g feed due to the wide difference in the molecular
[662°F and 72 psig]) must be avoided to preclude any weights of natural gas and naphtha. In connection with
possibility of hydration of the carrier and consequen- the mixed-feed provision, the necessary algorithms
tial damage of the catalyst. The reforming catalysts are were developed and incorporated hi the control loops
first preheated with nitrogen to about 450-500°C and the trip logic.
(842-932°F) before feeding steam along with ammo-
nia (10 mol/mol) during start-up. Recycling of hydro-
gen, formed by cracking, is established simultaneously
in order to maintain the catalyst in the reduced state Conclusion
before feed-in of hydrocarbons.
Performance of the prereformer has so far been as The innovative and bold approach of TATACHEM
expected. Table 2 indicates typical process parameters in selecting Low Energy Process for ammonia and
relevant to prereforming of mixed feed of naphtha and urea plants and in incorporating novel features like
natural gas (82% naphtha w/w). As can be seen from prereformer for complete flexibility hi feedstock and
the table, all of the higher hydrocarbons are complete- fuel for both the ammonia plant and the CSPGP, going
ly reformed to methane, hydrogen, and oxides of car- against the contemporary approach of selecting
bon. conventional! echnology in the process, has proven to
Figure 16 shows that the overall prereforming reac- be well conceived. This divergent strategy has enabled
tion is exothermic for the above mixed feed. The fig- TATACHEM to sustain production levels despite peri-
ure also shows that the actual temperature profile is odic shortages in gas supplies. Any unconverted ammo-
close to the calculated temperature profile. In fact, the nia sent to storage while one of the urea streams is
actual sulfiding of the prereforming catalyst has been down is immediately drawn back on restart of the
much lower than expected. This is mainly due to very stream. This is done by increasing CO2 production
low sulfur slip (less than 5 ppb) from the final hydro- through enhancing naphtha content hi the mixed feed.
desulfurization section of the main plant. This avoids high inventory of product ammonia and
TATACHEM selected a full-fledged naphtha pre- using synthesis gas as fuel. The aforementioned innova-
desulfurization unit composed of deaerator, tions have set a trend hi the industry, and many new
hydrodesulfurizer, and stripper, which brings down projects now incorporate similar features. With the
sulfur content of naphtha to less than 1 ppm before it increased reliability of captive power generation, the
mixes with natural gas and goes to the final hydro- selection of the electrical drives for most of the critical
desulfurization section of the main plant. An interme- equipment, including ID and FD fans for the reformer,
diate sweet naphtha storage allows batch operation of has proved to be advantageous, not only in terms of
NPDU as per receipt of raw naphtha hi rail tankers. operation and maintenance, but also in achieving lowest
The control of steam carbon ratio and process air: overall specific energy consumption of 5.4—5.5
hydrocarbon ratio becomes more complex with mixed Gcal/metric ton of urea (19.4-19.8 MMBTU/short ton).

DISCUSSION
W. Verduijn, Kemira: You use the prereformer as a use our prereformer as an instrument in an energy con-
means to provide flexibility for your various feed sys- servation project. You could, in our specific case, regard
tems and feed compositions. We have used a prere- it as a kind of negative boiler since you enter steam into
former at Rozenberg since 1991 in our 1,700 ton/d the system and the system releases natural gas. As you
ammonia plant for a completely different reason. The know, energy conservation is good for our common
prereformer was developed in cooperation with Tops0e environment and even better for our wallets.
and Continental Engineering in Amsterdam and is used Gupta: We appreciate that you are telling the audi-
as a means to convert steam that otherwise would have ence that there are other possibilities for using prere-
to be vented back to a natural gas saving. We therefore formers. In India problems with gas shortages have
AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 45 1998
been very extensive through the last few years. All of ning because the overall requirement requires this.
the new plants being constructed in India are having Also there's a flexibility because if one gas turbine
prereformers installed mainly to take care of the varia- goes down, then the complex continues to run fully.
tion in the feed stock. But it's obvious that the prere- The normal practice is to keep one of them on naphtha
former can also be used in the revamp situations and one on natural gas, but there's no reason why both
where you want to save energy in an ammonia plant can't run on naphtha.
and put some of the load from your primary reformer Bhakta: What has been your experience using naph-
onto different parts of the plant. tha on run time?
D. K. Shah, Ruwais Fertilizer: One of the novel fea- Gupta: We had initial heating problems, especially
tures you mention is the steam superheater down- with the naphtha pumps, and also a problem that had
stream of the first waste heat boiler. You have not something to do with filtration of naphtha, but not
mentioned the temperature of the gas entering the really anything serious.
steam superheater, but I feel it would be in the range Bhakta: What was your longest running time using
of metal dusting temperature. So are you inspecting naphtha?
for any metal dusting in this superheater? Gupta: I think we have been able to run for three
Gupta: The steam-to-carbon ratio that we are main- months or so at a stretch. But since we have two tur-
taining is 3.2, although the plant is designed to operate bines we can always pull down one turbine and do
from 2.5 to 3.2. One of the reasons we like to maintain some work, if it is required.
the 3.2 ratio is, of course, to avoid the risk of metal A. Ilyas, Indonesia: How big is the difference in energy
dusting. The plant has been in operation for almost consumption when the prereformer is used?
three years and so far we have found absolutely no Nielsen: Maybe I can answer that question. For the
evidence of metal dusting. TATA plant in India the goal has not been to save
Ali Adi Jama, Qatar Fertilizer Company: What are energy, but the plant has been to be able to operate on
the process conditions at the inlet of the superheater a variety of feed stocks. For instance, for the plant
after the reform gas boiler? Also, what is the tube with Kemira, where the prereformer was installed to
material that you have in the superheater, and have save energy, a typical achievable figure is between
you experienced any problems so far? You just men- 0.05 to 0.1 Giga calorie per ton of ammonia, but that
tioned that there were no problems, but, since there depends on the savings you can achieve mainly in the
have been failures in superheaters similar to what you steam system around the prereformer and on the actual
have in your plant, are there any concerns? configurations of your plant.
Gupta: The temperature of the gas entering the super- I. J. Ohri, India: As Mr. Gupta has said, in India we
heater is about 600 to 650°C. The parts of the super- usually have a lot of problems with gas shortages, hi one
heater that are exposed to the process gas are mostly of the old plants, basically a Kellogg plant, we have
made of 304L and 316L except for the tubes, which installed a prereformer to take care of the shortage of gas,
are made of one and a half chrome and half moly. No and it has recently been commissioned and is operating
problems are evident. Of course we are concerned all right. I would also Eke to share that we are putting in
with the matter. another expansion plant based on naphtha, on Tops0e
We have been talking to various agencies like con- technology. There, the temperature and operating para-
sultants and equipment suppliers. One of the possibili- meters that we experience are more severe than at a gas-
ties is to upgrade the metallurgy to include Inconel based plant. For the superheater we are going to use
600, but we don't think it's really warranted at the Inconel 601 tubes instead of 304 L or other materials.
moment because there's absolutely no evidence of any G. Lai, Welding Services: I can maybe also add anoth-
problem. er comment on Mr. Ilyas' reply. IFFCO is also going
M. L. Bhakta, Brown & Root: With the gas shortage to use gas turbines operating on naphtha, perhaps in
in India, have you run your gas turbine using naphtha? the new expansion projects, and the gas turbines will
Gupta: Yes. We normally keep two gas turbines run- be used for driving the process air compressors within

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 46 1998

the process and not, as in Mr. Gupta's plant, located in turbine-driven air compressor in an ammonia plant
the off-sites. But even with the gas turbines operating on would lead to a lot of loss. That's why we are going to
naphtha, we expect that the normal schedule for turn- use two flow dividers with instrumentation and construct
arounds can be kept simply because all the equipment all of the piping and the tank from stainless steel. This
for the fuel handling of the naphtha is duplicated. plant is going to be commissioned in another two
Gupta: Let me share the experience that we have had at months and we hope that this plant will perform well.
IFFCO, using naphtha as fuel in the gas turbines. We Nielsen: I think that you mentioned the gas temperature
have been using naphtha as fuel in the gas turbines for was around 600°C. I would assume that the superheated
power generation for some time. Initially we had a lot of steam would have a much lower temperature, so as a
problems in the flow dividers. Last year we made certain result your metal temperature would be much lower, I
changes that mainly involved cleaning of the system. would guess probably 400°C. If you have a metal tem-
The naphtha tanks were lined with special epoxy, and perature of 400°C or 450°C, I don't think you are run-
the lines were cleaned. With those changes, we have ning into metal dusting problems. It's not 304 that is the
been able to run continuously on naphtha for more than issue, but rather that the temperature is so low that metal
four to five months without any problems. As Mr. dusting cannot occur. If you raise the temperature higher
Neilsen has said, we are, I think for the first time in the than that, I'm pretty sure you will run into metal dusting.
world, going to use a gas turbine using naphtha in any Gupta: Yes, you're right. The steam temperature is
ammonia plant. There have been certain precautions we maintained at 385°C, so naturally the tubes are much
have taken in doing that, because stoppage of a gas cooler.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 47 1998