Nitrogen & Methanol articles from May 2003

Nitrogen & Methanol archives from May 2003

Methanol still on the agenda. (Editorial).(hydrogen may not be as environmentally friendly as thought)
May 1, 2003... There seems to have been a trend in the past few months -- the tone of all of the articles I have been reading about fuel cells and the "hydrogen economy" is starting to shift. There is a dawning realisation that the picture may not be as rosy...

Price trends.(Gas prices produce ammonia see-saw)
May 1, 2003... AMMONIA Gas prices produce ammonia see-saw The start of March saw record ammonia price rises in the US Gulf as plants closed due to the spike in natural gas prices. Plants soon began to restart as prices climbed from $225/t c. & f....

MissChem files for Chapter 11. (United States).(Mississippi Chemical Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Mississippi Chemical Corporation has announced that it has filed for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company will continue to operate its businesses during the period of the reorganisation process. The filing...

KBR to file for Chapter 11. (United States).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... US plant engineering and construction firm and ammonia technology supplier KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root), part of the Halliburton Group, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July as part of an agreement to attempt to settle 320,000...

Koch snaps up most of Farmland. (United States).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Koch Nitrogen has won the auction for most of bankrupt US fertilizer group Farmland's nitrogen assets in the US. Koch also bought Farmland's stake in the Farmland MissChem ammonia plant on Trinidad. The $295m deal will make Koch the largest US...

Kemira to buy IFI nitric acid plant. (Finland).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Kemira GrowHow Oy is to replace its oldest nitric acid plant at the company's Uusikaupunki site with a more modem unit. The replacement plant will be the second-hand idled 250,000 t/a Irish Fertilizer Industries nitric acid plant from the...

Alliance to recycle spent catalyst. (Trinidad & Tobago).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Avida Americas and TOSL Engineering Ltd, a Trinidad-based engineering services company, have announced the formation of an alliance to provide a coordinated programme of customised recycling, refining, reclamation and reuse of spent catalysts...

Stamicarbon pool condenser technology. (Nitrogen Industry News: Austria).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: A high pressure carbamate condenser leaves Schoeller Bleckmann Nooter in Austria en route to the 1.0m t/a Assaluyeh ammonia-urea complex in Iran. The plant, using Stamicarbon pool condenser technology, is the first greenfield...

Ukrainian urea suffers anti-dumping duty. (Nitrogen Industry News: Mexico).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Mexico has imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of urea from Ukraine. The move follows a tortuous investigation which began in 1997, but is something of a surprise given that no Mexican urea units have been operating for the past two years...

Iffco abandons Qeshm Island JV. (Nitrogen Industry News: Iran).(Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (Iffco) has finally abandoned plans to build a joint venture ammonia plant at Qeshm Island. The project has, in various manifestations, been around for ten years or more. The original 825,000 t/a...

Melamine explosion kills three. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... An explosion an DSM's Geleen melamine plant killed three workers on April 1st. The plant is to be closed for several weeks while repairs and investigation take place, removing DSMs demand for ammonia. According to the company, the accident...

Shiraz revamp contract awarded. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Shiraz Petrochemicals in Iran has awarded the $12m revamp contract for its urea plant at Shiraz to Chemprojekt of the Czech Republic. Under the contract, output will be raised from 500,000 t/a to 600,000 t/a. Chemprojekt will license...

Chinese nitric acid. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... A 60,000 n/a concentrated nitric acid plant has been commissioned in Anhui province for the Huaihua Group, increasing the company's capacity to 200,000 n/a.

Qatar to offer 15% of strategic industries. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Qatari government has formed Industries of Qatar, a holding company, as part of plans to partially privatise several state-owned petrochemical companies. Ownership of the Qatar Fertilizer Company (Qafco), Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco)...

Lovochemie belatedly starts up nitric acid plant. (Nitrogen Industry News: Czech Republic).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Lovochemie has started up its new 300,000 t/a nitric acid plant at Lovosice, five months behind the original schedule because of the flooding that hit central Europe last year. The $45m plant will replace several smaller ageing units at the...

AN anti-dumping duties imposed. (Nitrogen Industry News: India).(ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Indian Ministry of Commerce has imposed anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate imports from Russia and Iran. The action was initiated by Indian producers Deepak Fertilziers and Chemicals, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and National...

AN withdrawn from fertilizer use. (Nitrogen Industry News: China).(ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Chinese government has reclassified ammonium nitrate as a non-military explosive, effectively removing it from use as a fertilizer and making it subject to much more stringent safety management procedures. China produced about 3.0m tonnes...

Uhde sells its first mega ammonia plant to Safco. (Nitrogen Industry News: Saudi Arabia).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sabic affiliate the Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (Safco) has awarded the $520m contact for its Safco IV ammonia-urea unit to Uhde. The award marks a double milestone for Uhde--the company's first contract in Saudi Arabia, and more...

New AN regulations in force. (Nitrogen Industry News: United Kingdom).(ammonium nitrate)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The UK Department of Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced new regulations covering the production, import, storage and handling of ammonium nitrate (AN), effective from May 1st. The new rules stipulate that all AN...

Bintulu considering revamp. (Nitrogen Industry News: Malaysia).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... ASEAN Bintulu fertilizers is reportedly considering revamping the company's 600,000 t/a ammonia-urea unit at Bintulu, Sarawak province, on the island of Borneo. The plants at the site are only 18 years old, producing urea and a small ammonia...

MTO project moves forward. (Gas and Methanol News: Egypt).(methanol to olefins)
May 1, 2003... The Egyptian Arab Trading Company (EATCO), a private investment holding company founded by local entrepreneur Yehya El Komi, has announced that it is assembling an international consortium to develop a green field, integrated gas-to-polyolefins...

New MTBE scare. (Gas and Methanol News: Denmark).(methyl tertiary butyl ether)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... A recent report by the Danish environmental protection agency (EPA) has calculated that up to a quarter of Denmark's drinking water reserves could be contaminated by methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The figures are the result of a survey of...

Methanex scales back Burrup plans. (Gas and Methanol News: Australia).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Methanex has said that it has reconsidered its plans to build a 6,000 t/d plant at the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The project was put on hold while the company had been involved in a wide-ranging review of its operations in the...

Rentech continues its GTL licensing spree. (Gas and Methanol News: Australia).(gas to liquids)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Denver-based Rentech has signed a further licensing agreement for its proprietary gas to liquids (GTL) technology, this time to Australian firm GTL Energy. The companies will cooperate in examining the feasibility of various routes to GTL...

Methanol plant securing financing. (Gas and Methanol News: Australia).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... GTL Resources continues to make incremental progress on the firm's proposed 1.0m t/a methanol development on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. The National Australia Bank has now agreed to underwrite part of the $290m debt that will...

Energy Bill rumbles on. (Gas and Methanol News: United States).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... After failing to pass an energy bill during the last legislative session, Republicans in the US Congress now say that they want the issue out of the way by September. The bill failed last year after the Senate and House of Representatives were...

Assessing the impact of a post-conflict Iraq. (Gas and Methanol News: Iraq).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... With the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime and the prospect of a removal of sanctions on the country, various industries have had to begin factoring Iraq back into their calculations of supply and demand forecasts in the region. Although...

Sabic presents safety award. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) presented a series of awards to its affiliates in Jubail for industrial safety and environmental protection. The gold award was presented to Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Kemya. The Saudi Methanol...

Syntroleum in GTL study. (News in Brief).(gas to liquids)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... GTL technology supplier Syntroleum is to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of a 13,000 bbl/day GTL plant near Yakutsk in Siberia, in conjunction with Moscow-based IntertekhElectro. The study is expected to be complete by August.

Methanol expansion project. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Shaanxi Yulin Natural Gas Chemical Industrial Co Ltd is expanding production at its 120,000 t/a methanol unit at Yulin to 200,000 t/a. The expansion will be complete be the end of 2003.

Hydrogen filling stations. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Both Iceland and Germany have seen hydrogen filling stations open in the past month. The Reykiavik station will power three fuel cell buses as part of Iceland's plans to turn itself into a 'hydrogen economy'. The German station is part of...

Brunei in methanol feasability study. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Petroleum Brunei has engaged several companies to look at the possibility of building a methanol plant of up to l.65m t/a as part of the Sultanate's plans to expand petrochemical production. A final decision is expected by the end of the year.

Gas price rises on the way? (Gas and Methanol News: India).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Wrangling continues in India over proposals by the Ministry of Petroleum to increase natural gas prices as part of ongoing gas deregulation in the country. In December the Ministry's proposal to increase the price of natural gas from 75% of the...

Continued delay for methanol project. (Gas and Methanol News: Venezuela).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The projected start date of the second methanol train for Metanol de Oriente (Metor) in Jose has been put back once more, this time to 2006. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC), one of the joint venture partners in Metor, cites the reason for the...

New GTL process in running for South Pars. (Gas and Methanol News: Iran).(gas to liquids)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is conducting a feasibility study on a new gas to liquids (GTL) proposal as part of South Pars development phases 11-14. Shell and SasolChevron have already proposed their own GTL developments, but now a...

Large Scale Plant Construction Association. (People).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Dr Wolfgang Essig of Uhde is the new Speaker of the Large Scale Plant Construction Association within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), a position he will hold for two years. He takes over from Dr Aldo Belloni of Linde AG.

SABIC. (People).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... SABIC has appointed Yousef al-Benyan as general manager for the AsiaPacific region, operating out of Singapore and coordinat ing SABIC operations across the company's seven regional offices. Mr al-Benyan was formerly SABIC's commercial director...

Norwegian gas/ammonia. (People).(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Jaan Haako Pettersen will be the new managing director of Norwegian gas/ammonia shipping giant Bergesen from the end of 2003, when the current incumbent, Svein Erik Amudsen will depart.

Striking it lucky. (Australia).
May 1, 2003... Australia's reputation as the 'lucky country' has been given another boost by large-scale discoveries of oil and gas around its costs, discoveries which are now driving ammonia and methanol and downstream developments. But risks remain....

TEC -- new focuses. (Company Profile).(Toyo Engineering Corp.)
May 1, 2003... Japan's Toyo Engineering Corporation (TEC) is evolving its business strategies to compete in the global marketplace. David Hayes talked to TEC's Kenji Sato about the company's plans and activities. International demand for urea continues...

Buyers' guide to pumps for urea plants.
May 1, 2003... Urea plants provide the most demanding environment for machinery of all kinds. Hot ammonium carbamate solution is highly corrosive and, combined with the mechanical stresses of high pressure pumping can easily produce failure in machinery that...

DeNOx: an opportunity for urea producers? (Pollution Control).
May 1, 2003... With the Phase III standards for NOx emissions in combustion gases now in force, some large US boiler and furnace installations are using urea in their DeNOx systems instead of anhydrous or aqua ammonia Urea has a longer history in nitrogen...

Taking the heat off an HT shift converter: redesigned internals in an HT shift reactor at Ultrafertil's Araucaria plant have lowered pressure drop, increased catalyst life and raised output. (Revamping).(urea)
May 1, 2003... The Brazilian company Ultrafertil has the largest urea plant in Brazil, a Stamicarbon [CO.sub.2] stripping plant, which is located at Araucaria in the state of Parana. The ammonia plant associated with that urea plant generates its synthesis...