Ammonium nitrate capacity

Economic Aspects and Uses. Before World War II most ammonium nitrate was used as an ingredient in high explosives. Subsequently its use as a fertilizer grew rapidly, absorbing about 90% of production in 1975. Consumption of ammonium nitrate for all uses peaked in the United States in 1981 at 8.95 million metric tons in 1986, apparent consumption dropped to only 6.31 million metric tons, of which 75% was used as fertilizer. By 1990, consumption had risen slightly to 6.64 million metric tons total annual U.S. capacity in 1990 was 7.77 million metric tons. World ammonium nitrate capacity in 1985 was about 66 million metric tons, whereas reported consumption was about 44 million metric tons. 

World ammonia capacity increased by nearly 14% from 1984 to 1996 while capacity for urea, the primary downstream nitrogen product, increased by 45%. The increases were due primarily to 1) a desire by some major importing countries to become more self-sufficient and 2) the construction of export-oriented capacity in the Middle East and in the former Soviet Union (prior to its breakup). Ammonium phosphate capacity increased by 9% between 1984 and 1996. Ammonium nitrate capacity declined by 2% from 1984 to 1996 while ammonium sulfate capacity declined by 8%35. 

Production of fertilizer grade AN is concentrated mainly in Europe and North America. Apparent demand in the United States was 18% below the 1998 level of 10 billion tons. This was mainly due to weakness in the fertilizer sector. US production of urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) solutions also dropped significantly (from 3.8 million tons in 1998 to 2.9 million tons in 2001) from 1999 to 2001. In 2001 US ammonium nitrate capacity remains well in excess of domestic requirements as the industry operated at less than 70% of nameplate US capacity. Table 10.1 summarizes US supply and demand240. 

Table 8.18. Ammonium Nitrate Prilling Process Requirements F roduct Ammonium nitrate Capacity 1,400 tpd Capacity utilization 90% Annual production 415,800 tpy Process Hgh-density prilling Investment cost - battery limits, US 28 million - storage, US 7 million Working capital, US 3.6 million...

Product Ammonium nitrate Capacity 1,400 tpd Capacity utilization 90%... 

Ammonia from coal gasification has been used for fertilizer production at Sasol since the beginning of operations in 1955. In 1964 a dedicated coal-based ammonia synthesis plant was brought on stream. This plant has now been deactivated, and is being replaced with a new faciUty with three times the production capacity. Nitric acid is produced by oxidation and is converted with additional ammonia into ammonium nitrate fertilizers. The products are marketed either as a Hquid or in a soHd form known as Limestone Ammonium Nitrate. Also, two types of explosives are produced from ammonium nitrate. The first is a mixture of fuel oil and porous ammonium nitrate granules. The second type is produced by emulsifying small droplets of ammonium nitrate solution in oil. 

Frilling towers convert molten materials into droplets and allow them to solidify in contact with an air stream. Towers as high as 60 m are used. Economically the process becomes competitive with other granulation processes when a capacity of 200- 400 tons/day is reached. Ammonium nitrate prills, for example, are 1.6-3.5 mm dia in the 5-95% range. 

Table 9-4 gives the capital costs for six ammonia plants that were built between 1959 and 1969. When plant no. 5 is compared with the three other plants that have a capacity of 1,000 tons/day, it appears that its reported cost is in error. This could be a misprint, or the plant might be producing urea, nitric acid, and/or ammonium nitrate as well as ammonia. The reader must always be careful, since errors occur frequently in printed material. This is why care should be used when the cost of a plant is estimated from only one piece of information. 

CA 44, 7539(1950) (Character of the detonation break in powdered explosives) 7) Yu.B. Khariton, "On Detonating Capacity of Explosives A.F. Belyaev, "Influence of Physical Factors on Stability of Detonation in Ammonium Nitrate Explosives Ya.I. Leitman, "Influence of Fineness of Brisant Explosives on Sensitivity to Initiation . Series of papers in Russian, Vol 1 of the book "Problems of Theory of Explosives , IzdAkadNauk, Moscow(1947)... 

According to a description from a factory at Elsnig nitration is conducted in reactors with a capacity of 500 1., in which 1 part of hexamine per 8.6 parts of nitric acid plus the calculated amount of ammonium nitrate are added to 99% nitric acid. 

The acid is allowed to run into a container of 3 m3 capacity where it is neutralized with gaseous ammonia while the temperature is raised to 70°C. The cyclonite thus formed is separated on a vacuum filter, and the filtrate is cooled when about two-thirds of the ammonium nitrate crystallizes. The latter is separated in a centrifuge, and used in the preparation of explosive mixtures. The small amounts of hexamine... 

Manufacture at Bobingen [38,61] was on the following lines. A reactor of aluminium or stainless steel (capacity 1.2 m3) is filled with acetic anhydride and then 0.4% of BF3 is added. Acetic anhydride is warmed to 60-65°C and at this temperature ammonium nitrate and paraformaldehyde are added gradually. Due to the high temperature and the presence of boron fluoride the reaction starts at once and heat is evolved. The heating is then turned off and the temperature maintained by cooling, within the range 60-65°C. The addition of the reactants requires approximately 6 hr, after which the contents of the reactor are cooled to 20°C. The precipitated cyclonite is separated from the solution on a vacuum filter. The by-products remain in the spent liquor. 

Dimensional and some operating data for prilling of urea and ammonium nitrate also are in Table 12.18. Towers as high as 60 m have been installed. Because of the expense of towers, prilling is not competitive with other granulation processes until capacities of 200-400 tons/day are reached. 

Australia currently produces approximately 200 000 tonnes of nitric acid (100% basis) per year (Ref. MD5). It is a cyclical market that responds directly to the performance of the agricultural and mining sectors. This occurs because Australian nitric acid is used almost exclusively for the production of ammonium nitrate (a nitrogen-based fertilizer and a mining explosive). The nitric acid industry has grown from a production capacity of 32 000 tonnes in 1967 (Ref. MD1 ). During the last decade, large deviations in production levels have occurred (Refe. MD3, MD4, and MD5). The overall trend has been for a 3% increase each year. 

Integral to the feasibility of this new project must be the establishment of another ammonium nitrate plant in Western Australia. Such a plant, with an annual capacity of 50 000 tonnes, is planned for construction. This would require approximately 39 500 tonnes of nitric acid per year (on a 100% basis), and provides the required preliminary base demand necessary for a feasible project. 

The nitric acid storage tank proposed for this plant will provide a product storage capacity of one week supply in the event of a plant shutdown in the adjacent ammonium nitrate facility. The tank has a capacity of 1950 m3 (representing 1450 tonnes of product acid). 

A TANK is required to store the one week production capacity from the nitric acid plant. This storage buffer allows the plant to continue operation for up to one week in the event of an unforeseen shutdown in the adjacent ammonium nitrate plant. The tank is a fixed cone-roof cylindrical-type design,... 

A storage tank for product nitric acid is a necessity on this plant. The tank should have the capacity to store one week of full acid production to allow for continued supply in the event of unscheduled shutdowns in the adjacent ammonium nitrate plant. This requires a minimum tank capacity of 1500 m3. However, it is recommended to increase the tank capacity so that an inventory of 450 m3 of product acid is always available within the tank for outside sales. This extra volume is equivalent to 20 standard road-tanker loads. The tank must be constructed of stainless steel type 304L ( nitric acid grade ), the specification of this material is given in Appendix D. The design data required for this unit are specified below. 

The nitric acid plant was commissioned in 1968 and produces between 60,000 and 80,000 tonnes per year of a 58% product by weight, dependent upon the demand for ammonium nitrate. Current annual production is around 72,000 tonnes. Maximum production capacity is approximately 275 tonnes per day. 

The tank should have the capacity to store one week of full production, this allows continued production in the event of unscheduled shutdowns in the adjacent ammonium nitrate plant. This minimum capacity of 1500 m3 should also prove adequate to handle any external nitric acid sales. 

From the investigation into project feasibility, it is proposed to construct a plant that will deliver 280 tonnes per day of 60%(wt) nitric acid. This capacity is based on 8000 hours of operation per year, i.e. 330 days. It is envisaged that this nitric acid production facility will be centred within a larger chemical complex to be located in the Bunbury region of Western Australia. Other plants on this site will include an ammonia plant and an ammonium nitrate plant. Approximately 70% of the product acid will be consumed in situ for the production of crystalline ammonium nitrate. The remaining acid will be available to exploit the neighbouring South-east Asian export market. 

Neglecting radiation losses, calculate the mass of dry air passing through the dryer and the humidity of the air leaving the dryer. Latent heat of water at 294 K = 2450 kJ/kg. Specific heat capacity of ammonium nitrate =1.88 kJ/kg K. Specific heat capacity of dry air = 0.99 kJ/kg K. Specific heat capacity of water vapour = 2.01 kJ/kg K. 

In the future, developing nations are expected to continue to account for most of the increases in ammonia and urea capacity. Ammonia capacity is expected to increase by about 20 million tonnes and urea capacity by about 12 million tonnes of nitrogen between 1996 and 2002. The availability of relatively low-cost feedstock (usually natural gas) will be a major determinant as to where this new capacity is installed. Ammonium nitrate and ammonium phosphate capacity are also expected to rise35. The following tables summarize anticipated world capacity for nitrogen products by year (Table 3.1) and by major regions or countries (Table 3.2)148. 

The trend in nitrogen product production generally parallels the changes in product capacity. However, ammonium sulfate production is expected to rise as world industrial production increases, even though a significant increase in capacity is not likely. Also, ammonium nitrate production is projected to be flat even though some new capacity will be built35. 

Lessons have been drawn from accidents caused by faulty handling of certain substances. Through the work carried on by Alfred Nobel, we know how to stabilize nitroglycerin in the form of dynamite, and since 1946 methods have been devised to avoid the spontaneous explosion of ammonium nitrate. Ammonia units with capacities of 1,500 tons a day have been operating for decades without incident. 

---