PROCESS EQUIPMENT UPDATE
A COOL IDEA for FERTILISER FACILITY
Femke Schaefer reports on how a ‘blackbox’ cooling solution is helping to enhance the growth goals of a fertiliser provider
Y
ara is a popular provider of sustainable crop nutrition solutions, supporting farmer profitability through knowledge, optimal quality and productivity. It has a leading position in nitrogen applications,
and has become a total solutions provider in the market for emission control solutions. Te Porsgrunn facility, about 140km southwest of Oslo in Norway, produces NPK and CN fertilisers. NPK fertilisers are primarily composed of three main elements: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), each essential in plant nutrition. Nitrogen helps plants grow quickly, increases the production of seed and fruit, and betters the quality of leaf and forage crops. Nitrogen is also a component of chlorophyll, the substance that gives plants their green colour, and also aids in photosynthesis. Phosphorus, also a key player in the photosynthesis process, supports the formation of oils, sugars and starches. Additionally, phosphorus encourages the growth of roots, and promotes blooming. Potassium assists in photosynthesis, fruit quality, the building of protein, and the reduction of disease. Yara’s current annual production capacity is: 500,000 tons of ammonia; 1,350,000 tons of nitric acid; 2,000,000 tons of NPK; and 810,000 tons (as solids) of CN. Te company started a scheme known
as the Bamboo project a couple of years ago. Bamboo is a fast growing plant, which makes it the perfect synonym for the fast growth plans of Yara. As part of this programme, the plant management has decided to increase the production capacity. One of the bottlenecks it wanted to overcome is the cooling capacity of the plant during the summer period. As standard solutions could not
achieve the required output temperature (i.e. as low as possible without having freezing problems), Bronswerk was requested to prepare three customised
14
www.engineerlive.com
Illustration of the blackbox cooling solution devised by Bronswerk
options to realise the preferred air conditions. The main difference between the three options could be found in the degree of compliance with the specifications. All of the three solutions would have the same thermal performance, however the ‘blackbox’ option, which was chosen by Yara, would be the fastest and most economical solution within the project requirements. This option was named blackbox because the solution was the focal point, and no stone was left unturned in finding it. Bronswerk allocated all possible resources to conduct extensive research resulting in a suitable (customised) solution. The difficulty in finding this solution lay in increasing the production performance
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52