Partial Oxidation Process of Heavy Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons heavier than naphtha can be used as -ieedsteeks-for-ammonia-produclion by partial oxidation processes. Natural gas and naphtha also can be used, but since the plant cost for the partial oxidation process is considerably higher than that for steam reformir, the lighter feedstocks are seldom used. However, the partial oxidation process does offer the advantage of wider choice of feedstock with greater tolerance for impurities. 

Crude petroleum can be used as feedstock, but the most common feedstock is heavy residual oil from petroleum refining processes, which has liad the more 

The feedstock requirement typically is about 0.76 tonnes of heavy oil per tonne of ammonia [36]. In addition, about 0.14 tonnes of oil or the equivalent in other fuel is required for generation of steam and electricity, or 530 kWh of electricity may be imported. In contrast with the steam-reforming process where most of the fuel is used in the reformir furnace, which requires a premium grade of fuel, the auxiliary fuel for a partial oxidation process is used in a separate unit, which can use coal, for example. 

The principal partial oxidation processes are known as the Texaco, Shell, arxi Koppers-Toteek processes. The Koppers-Totzek process is also used for coal and will be described urxier that heading. The Shell and 

The gasification pressure in partial oxidation processes has been gradually increased to a range of 60-90 atm, which helps save energy for compression. Texaco s commercial gasifiers for ammonia plants operate at 8,5-9 MPa [371. 

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