Ammonia & Urea Plants

Green ammonia is no longer a pipedream. What’s more, since ammonia is a high-density energy carrier, it is also suitable for offsetting the fluctuations in the availability of renewable energy sources. Traditionally, ammonia production has been based on natural gas or coal. Now, thanks to optimized technology, the economies of scale for plants producing up to 5000 metric tons/day (mtpd) make this process very cost-competitive.

Under increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize operations, companies are now prioritizing climate-friendly production solutions. With this in mind, thyssenkrupp Uhde has developed an ammonia production solution based on renewable feedstocks that is 100% CO2-free. Production of ammonia that is CO2-free is designated as green ammonia. Besides climate considerations, other drivers of the move to distributed production of green ammonia from small-scale plants have been the desire for localised self-sufficiency, avoidance of high transportation costs and import or carbon taxes.

"Whereas in conventional ammonia plants, ammonia is produced by steam reforming natural gas, thyssenkrupp Uhde’s green ammonia production is underpinned by our alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) technology," says Nithesh Mohun, Senior Sales Engineer at thyssenkrupp Uhde. "The AWE technology for the production of green hydrogen is built on the proven chlor-alkali electrolysis technology developed by thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers and our EPC execution experience gained from more than 600 plants installed worldwide."

According to Mohun, the feedstocks for the green ammonia production are hydrogen, water and renewable power. Renewable power is produced by either solar PV, wind, hydropower or a combination thereof. Explaining green ammonia production, Mohun says, "Within the AWE plant, water is converted into green hydrogen by the application of direct electrical current. Nitrogen is produced in an air separation unit (ASU)."

For the production of green ammonia, thyssenkrupp Uhde has developed solutions with capacities ranging from 50 tpd up to 5 000 tpd. "Our smaller scale plants in capacity classes 50 tpd, 300 tpd, 600 tpd and 1200 tpd are offered on a fully modularized basis," adds Mohun. The plants would be fabricated, pre-