Ammonia production process

Figure 8.3.1. Conceptual diagram of typical ammonia production process.

The more important ammonia production processes (including some of those mentioned above) will be discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters. 

The development of the ammonia production process was also beginning of systematic catalytic research and widespread use of catalysts in industrial chemistry. Many subsequent achievments in theoretical understanding and practical application of heterogeneous catalysis have their roots in the ammonia synthesis reaction with probably can be considered to be the best understood catalytic process, as demonstrated by the enormous number of publications. 

In several steps of the ammonia production process, especially in the synthesis section, the pressure shells of reaction vessels as well as the connecting pipes are in contact with hydrogen at elevated pressure and temperature with a potential risk of material deterioration [1211]-[1213], [1484]. 

I. Dybkjaer "Ammonia Production Processes in W. A. Nielsen (ed.) Ammonia - Catalysis and Manufacture, Springer, Heidelberg, 1995, p. 300-302. 

As shown in the chemical equation, hydrogen is an integral part of the ammonia production process. 

As any other industrial process. Ammonia production process has its own impact on the environment in terms of Carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Estimating the Carbon... 

Although Ammonia production process is claimed to be clean compared to other processes, the estimated Carbon Footprint of Ammonia process considering process emissions and major utility emissions range between 785 and 999 kg C02/ton Ammonia depending on production rate, type of feedstock, and steam utilization. The use of HYSYS simulation tool with MS Excel was very useful to estimate these values. Further improvements on the simulation especially for CO2 Removal unit are required to get more accurate results consistent with desired CO2 recovery. These improvements can help in proposing new modifications on the process to reduce energy consumption and hence CO2 emissions. 

We have applied HEAD and AHA to the ammonia production process, see Fig. 3. In this process, a hydrogen/nitrogen stream is fed to three catalytic reactors in series. The NH3 produced is fed to the separation section (V-100, V-101) to obtain a 95% pure product stream. Two heat exchangers are used for energy recovery and two coolers are used to obtain flash conditions. 

Ammonia production process. A. Pinto (Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd). US 4383982 (1983). 

Ammonia Production Processes 235 6.4.3 Commercial Ammonia Synthesis Converters... 

---