Nitrogen cooling
Cooling nitrogen for ammonia production plant
- The Challenge
Increase the flowrate of nitrogen during the summer heat
- The Solution
Two-stage system to cool outside air flowing into the compressor
- The Impact
Flowrate back to winter levels, ammonia production up to 38,000 kg per day
Client:South-east ammonia plant
Location:USA
Sectors:Petrochem plants - Process enhancement
The Challenge
Increase the flowrate of nitrogen during the summer
Producing ammonia requires a precise hydrogen/nitrogen feedrate ratio of 3:1. Mess with these ratios and ammonia production crawls to a standstill.
Nitrogen comes from outside air and is fed into the reactor via a large compressor, but in summertime the outside air is less dense, hence reduced flow, hence less ammonia production.
One way of getting the rate back up is to cool the air as it goes into the compressor. The producers had already tried this but the cooling system was unreliable and couldn't maintain the airflow rates required. With peak temperatures hitting 105°F (40°C), could we come up with a cooling system that would get the flowrates back to wintertime levels?