conference on fertiliser technology practices and case studies/conf-on... · surat, delivered the...

FAI organised a TechnicalConference on ImprovingProductivity and Reliability ofFertiliser Plants during 23-24 April,2015 at New Delhi. The Conferencewas inaugurated by Mr. SatishChander, Director General, FAI,New Delhi. Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal,Operations Director, Kribhco,Surat, delivered the keynoteaddress. The Conference wasattended by 120 delegates fromfertiliser plants, technologysuppliers, consultants, catalystsuppliers, equipment vendors andresearch organisations. Anexhibition was also arrangedwhere 4 vendors participated.

Inauguration

Mr. Satish Chander, DirectorGeneral, FAI in his inauguraladdress commended the efforts ofthe industry in improving theefficiency of the plant. Heexpressed concern over the pricingpolicy of the government whichdoes not provide due incentivefor efficiency improvements. Hementioned that reforms infertiliser sector announced in 2009but government selectivelyimplemented nutrient basedsubsidy (NBS) policy forphosphatic (P) and potassic (K)sectors in 2010. The policy hasworked well for the P& K sector. FAIhas been pursuing with the

government to bring similarreform in the urea sector. Hebriefed about the proposed newurea policy which was to beimplemented on 01.04.2015 onexpiration of existing policy butthe announcement is delayed. Heinformed that pooling of gas pricewill be a part of the proposedurea policy. This would providethe level playing field to all gasbased urea units. Existing energyconsumption norms are likely tobe further tightened. This wouldoffer a direct challenge to the plantpersonnel, technology suppliersand all involved in production offertilisers. These norms forindividual units will beapplicable for first three yearsand from the fourth year onwardsindividual norms for energyconsumption will be merged intothree groups. Therefore, it will be achallenge to urea units to maintainor improve energy efficiency toremain viable.

Mr. Satish Chander briefed aboutthe proposed policy for productionof urea beyond reassessed capacity.He further stated that FAI has beenrepresenting to the government toallow production from threenaphtha based plants till gas ismade available to these plants. Hementioned that the industry has tocontinuously upgrade itstechnology to meet the stringent

energy, environment and safetyregulations. He hoped thatdeliberations in the Conferencewould help to meet theseobjectives.

Earlier, Mr. Rajesh KumarAggarwal in his address pointedout the importance of ammoniaand urea in solving the foodsecurity problem of the country.He mentioned that country isheavily dependent on urea as itprovides the maximum output atminimum cost. Natural gas is thefeedstock for production of urea forwhich there is large dependence onimport due to shortage of domesticgas. He pointed out that ammoniaurea plants having two streamshave been revamped to produce3600- 3700 MTPD ammonia andcorresponding 6300-6400 MTPDurea. The space available with theplants has been fully utilised.Emphasising on the continuousoperation of the plant, hementioned that a start-up due tounforeseen shutdown costs Rs. 5crores considering energy loss of20000 kcal/SM3 per start-up andcost of energy as Rs. 2500/SM3. Hepointed out root cause analysis oftrips indicated that theseshutdown were avoidable andoccurred due to negligence duringretrofit or revamp. He advised thatthe plant should operate in amanner that shutdown to be taken

Conference on Fertiliser Technology

FAI ACTIVITIES

Indian Journal of Fertilisers, June 2015

81

Mr. Satish Chander, DG-FAI, delivering the inaugural address

only once in two years. He opinedthat running a plant continuouslywithout breakdown providesbetter efficiency than producing afew tonnes more.

Sharing the experience of revampscarried out at various plants ofRCF, NFL and Kribhco, heappreciated that the technologyadopted helped in improvingproductivity and energy efficiency.He mentioned that number ofplants could achieve theirrevamped capacity as a result ofimprovement in reliability andselection of technology at the timeof revamp. There is a need fortechnology suppliers and users toselect the right type of equipmentsas very thin margins have been leftfor safety and each shutdowncarries a huge cost.

Earlier Dr. S. Nand, Deputy DirectorGeneral, FAI welcomed the chiefguests and delegates. He mentionedthat the technology conference isorganised once in four years toupdate on all developments relatedto production technology. Theother programmes organised byFAI are specialized and focused onone particular area. He expressedthat most of the fertiliser plantshave reached a level of saturationin terms of on-stream, energy andraw material efficiency. Industryis further exploring thetechnologies for incrementalimprovement for old to very old

generation plants. Most of thetechnology suppliers and vendorsare well aware of the status offertiliser plants in India and bringtechnology to further improve theefficiency.

Mr. Manish Goswami, DeputyChief (Technical), FAI thanked DG,FAI for providing the insight of thepolicy and Mr. R. K. Agarwal forsharing his experience with thedelegates. He thanked the fertilisercompanies, vendors, sponsors,advertisers for their support.

Session I

The Technical Conference wasdivided into six sessions spreadover two days. The first andsecond Sessions were devoted toimproving the efficiency ofammonia plants. The first Sessionwas chaired by Mr. Rajesh KumarAggarwal, Operations Director,

Kribhco. Three papers werepresented during the Session viz (i)KBR’s Purifier Technology forImproving Reliability of GrassRoot Ammonia Plants by Mr. AkhilNahar, KBR Technology, Gurgaon,(ii) SAVeNG Concept: Anintegrated Approach to EnergySavings in Ammonia Plants by Mr.Damiano Marzari Chiesa, Casale,Switzerland and (iii) HigherEfficiency and Lower EnergyConsumption of Ammonia Plantswith Superior Catalysts by Mr.Stefan Gebert, Clariant, Germany.

Mr. Akhil Nahar highlighted theadvantages of purifier technologycompared to a conventionalammonia process. The ammoniaplant capacity of 3500 MTPDcould be designed with singlehorizontal 3-bed converter usingpurifier technology. Excess air isused in the secondary reformer anduse of purifier eliminates the needfor purge gas recovery unit. Excessair in secondary reformer alsogenerates about 8-10% morecarbon dioxide. The size of primaryreformer could be reduced by 30%with mild operation conditions dueto shift of duty to secondaryreformer. Other features includenon-metallic mixing chamber insecondary reformer and unitizedchiller in synloop. He alsopresented experience of operationof ammonia plants with purifiertechnology, their energyconsumption and on streamefficiencies.

To a query on application of KRESand purifier, Mr. Akhil Naharreplied that KRES is added parallel


82

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal, lighting the lamp during inaugural session along withDG-FAI

Session I : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. Akhil Nahar, Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Mr. D. Marzari Chiesaand Mr. Stefan Gebert

to primary reformer to increasecapacity by avoiding revamp ofprimary reformer while purifier isused for purification of synthesisgas. He further informed that theKBR is offering both KRES andPurifier in a standalone ammoniaplant where requirement forsteam export is not high. Toanother query on how muchenergy saving could be achieved ina revamped plant, he mentionedthat revamped plant efficiencywould depend upon level ofefficiency before revamp. However,it would require a huge investmentfor an old generation plant tomatch energy efficiency of a newplant because of inherentdisadvantages in processintegration and equipment.Another query on advantage ofavailability of more HighPressure (HP) steam generatedthrough two converters in place ofone, Mr. Nahar replied that twoconverters are used to increase theconversion per pass and sameobjective is achieved by using a 3bed single converter in KBRprocess without affecting theadvantage of HP steam generation.In reply to a question on experienceof revamp of Gas Turbine (GT) asdrive for Process Air Compressor(PAC) and utilisation of its exhaustas combustion air for primaryreformer burner, he mentionedthat this is one of the options forrevamp. However, this option isnot lucrative for revamp as itrequires lot of space and ducting.

Mr. Damiano Marzari Chiesapresented an integrated approachto optimise the steam and powersystems to improve the capacityand efficiency of ammonia andurea plants. The revamp optionscould be applied to ammoniaplants from 600 to more than 2000MTPD and all urea plantsirrespective of technology. Heinformed that energy saving to thetune of 0.5 Gcal/MT of urea couldbe achieved in a urea plant withcapacity of 3100 MTPD. Inammonia plants the modificationsinvolve installation of a radial pre-reformer which optimizes S/C ratioand reduced firing, revamp of CO

2

removal system with GV low

energy system and ammoniawash unit with loop reversal. Themodification in machinery wouldalso be required for higherefficiency. The urea plantmodifications suggested wereoptimisation of loop pressure andN/C ratio, maximum recovery ofprocess heat from ammoniapreheater and pre-concentratorand change of CO

2 compressor to

motor drive.

In response to a query, Mr.Damiano Marzari Chiesa clarifiedthat the energy saving of 0.5 Gcal/MT is for the overall ammonia-urea complex as result ofintegration of various units inammonia and urea plants. Toanother query, he mentioned thatfor VAM some source of heatingand cooling is needed which couldbe obtained from low pressuresteam generated either fromprocess heat recovery or exhaustof gas turbine and is available atno cost. The energy consumed inassociated cooling water systemwould be lesser compared to thecompression energy saved in CO

2

Compressor. On question ofalternate feedstock, Mr Chiesainformed that Casale had carriedout experiment with coal asfeedstock but it does not owntechnology for coal gasification.Casale has only developed processfor downstream sections like shift,purification, synthesis, etc.

Mr. Stefan Gebert presented thatcatalysts have played a major rolein improving efficiency inammonia plants. He presented thatClariant has developed more activeammonia synthesis catalysts,reforming catalysts with lowpressure drop and more selectivecatalyst for LT shift. He informedthat the AmoMax-10 catalyst insynthesis converter could increaseconversion upto 1% and reduceloop pressure upto 10 bar. Thecatalyst also reduces the start-uptime and hence lesser natural gasconsumption. The AmoMaxcatalyst is based on Wustiteinstead of Magnetite and have morestabilised Fe and increased surfacearea. The activation energyrequirement is 30% lower

compared to conventionalmagnetite based catalysts due tolesser oxygen content. He furtherlisted benefits of use of ReforMaxCatalysts for primary reformerwhich could reduce the tube walltemperature, higher hydrogenproduction and low pressuredrop. He presented a case studyof 1200 MTPD plant in WesternEurope where with the use ofReforMax catalyst the ammoniaproduction increased by about 9MTPD. Mr. Gebert explainedvarious factors that influencethe activity of a catalyst. The sizeof the catalysts has undergonetremendous improvement andhelp in reduction of pressuredrop. He presented experience ofuse of AmoMax catalyst in twoammonia plants in China andRussia. He shared experience ofReforMax catalyst in a 2300 MTPDammonia plant in Australia andanother plant revamped from1675 MTPD to 1890 MTPD in India.

During discussion, Mr. StefenGebert informed that to operate S/C ratio of 2.6-2.8, a specializedcatalyst is required to avoid sootformation. The soot formationcould be avoided temporarily byinjecting steam time to time. To aquery on reduction of pressuredrop in synthesis section on usingthe AmoMax, he replied thatquantum of reduction in looppressure would depend both onthe loop pressure and recycle andwould be plant specific.Guarantees could be offered onlyafter studying the plant. Onguidelines on maximum durationfor steaming the primary reformerin case of shortage of natural gasfeed, he replied that temperatureat the outlet of primary reformershould be maintained at of 650-7000C for 10-12 hrs depending onthe life of catalyst. He replied thatfor various types of reformingcatalysts the surface area is in therange of 8-10 sq.m/gm. Hementioned that the LDP shape ofthe catalysts with 10 holes andvoids help gas to pass througheasily and hence less pressuredrop compared to a compactparticle. In reply to a query onlesser time for reduction of


83

synthesis catalysts, he mentionedthat this is due to lower oxygencontent of Wusitie catalyst.

Chairman in his concludingremarks mentioned that thepurifier technology is intendedfor separation of inters fromsyngas and this is successfullyworking in both the revampedammonia plants at Kribhco.However, there is an issue relatedto higher pressure drop thandesign and Kribhco is workingwith technology supplier for thesolution. He advised theparticipants to take an integratedapproach while implementingenergy saving scheme in fertiliserplants. The ammonia wash unitand VAM in CO

2 compressors have

already been implemented byplants in India. On the option ofconversion of steam to motor drive,he informed that a studyundertaken by Kribhco showedthat by converting both the CO

2

compressors to motor drive (7MWeach), a saving of 0.13 Gcal/MTcould be realised for two ureaplants with combined capacity of6000 MTPD. He appreciated thatthe catalysts supplied by Clariantfor primary reformer couldperform with almost sameefficiency even after 10 years ofoperation. Synthesis requiredshorter time for 1 or 2 days forreduction due to lower oxygencontent of Wusitite. He pointedout that fertiliser plants areoperating very efficiently andwith high reliability despite oldvintage. Hence, catalyst suppliersshould provide adequateguarantees for faster decisionmaking in purchase of catalyst.

Session II

The Session II was also devoted toImproving Productivity andReliability of Ammonia Plantsand chaired by Mr. A. K. Lahiri,General Manager (In charge), NFL,Vijaipur. Three papers werepresented in the Session whichincluded (i) Energy Consumptionfor Ammonia /Urea Plants:Analysis and Optimization by Dr.Klaus Noelker, Thyssen Krupp,Germany, (ii) Improving Efficiency

of Carbon dioxide RemovalSystem, by Mr. Luigi Tomasi,Giammarco Vetrocoke, Italy and(iii) Lean Duplex SAF2304 aSolution for Heat ExchangerTubing in Ammonia Condensersand Cooler by Mr. M. VenkatRamesh, Sandvik Asia Pvt Ltd.,Pune.

Dr. Klaus Noelker made analysis ofenergy consumption for a 3300MTPD ammonia plants of Udhe. Hepresented a few scenarios foroptimizing energy efficiency inammonia plants. He compared theoptimisation of ammonia plantwithout steam export to that ofammonia plant with steam export.The plant where no steam isexported potential of energysaving is nil in the feed but somefuel saving is possible bylowering fuel firing in reformerand utilising process waste heatwithin the process. He suggestedthat steam should be utilized tomaximum within the ammoniaplant. Steam export is possiblewhen ammonia plant is integratedwith a urea plant. In such caseswaste heat should be utilized forgenerating more steam. Dr.Noelkar discussed the advantagesand disadvantages of GT asdriver for Process Air Compressor(PAC), GT as driver for PAC andgenerator, GT as driver for largegenerator (compressor on motor),GT as driver for PAC and use offlue gas as combustion air inreformer. He opined that the GTDrive with PAC is suitable forrevamping plants that requirereplacement of existing PAC. GT

for gear type PAC and powergenerator are suitable forrevamp, if existing PAC requiresreplacement and there isadditional demand for electricity.GT drive for combustion air forprimary reformer is not suitablefor revamp as it requirescomplete change of reformercombustion air and flue gassystem. He concluded that Gasturbine drives with waste heatutilization can significantlyimprove the energy efficiency byhigher steam export fromammonia plant. Thoughinvestment cost is high butpayback is very attractive in viewof high energy prices.

Mr. Luigi Tomasi, GiammarcoVetrocoke presented the GV lowenergy process with two stageregeneration operating at 1.0 kg/cm2g and 0.15 kg/cm2g. Thedifferential pressure generatesflash steam of lean and semi leansolution flowing from HP to LPstrippers. The energy saving fromgeneration of flash steam bypressure difference helps in saving45% of the regeneration heatrequirement. The regenerationheat is required in the range of 600-700 kCal/NM3 CO

2 with CO

2 slip of

500 ppm. He introduced a hybridconcept with integration ofchemical and physical absorptionsystems. A pre-absorber based onphysical absorption method wassuggested as a standalone unit inan existing plant to absorb 33% ofCO

2. The energy consumption with

hybrid system can be furtherreduced to 470 kCal/NM3 CO

2.


84

Session II : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. Klaus Noelker, Mr. A.K. Lahiri, Mr. Luigi Tomasi andMr. M. Venkat Ramesh

In response to a query on referencefor hybrid installation, Mr. Tomasireplied that at present it is atconceptual stage, however, it iscombination of two wellestablished technologies ofphysical and chemical absorption.The solvent is a proprietary ofMDEA and BASF and the schemehas been patented. To anotherquery, he replied that the existingsolution of CO

2 absorption is not

required to be replaced. In reply toanother query, he mentioned thatthe size of physical absorptionequipment is small hence there isvery minimum increase in pressuredrop. He mentioned that a CO

2

removal system completely basedon physical absorption system ispossible however the cost ofreplacement of existing system andprocurement and installation ofnew system would be very high.The hybrid system is designed formaximum utilisation of existingsystem and faster integration withnew system. In response toanother query, he mentioned thatoverhead condenser is not requiredto be replaced but boostercompressor need upgradation orparallel booster may be consideredin some approaches of revamp.

Mr. M. Venkat Ramesh in hispresentation described variousreasons for corrosion in thesynthesis gas coolers, inter stagecoolers, ammonia condensers, CO

2

stripper and lean amine solutioncooler. He presented thecomposition of SAF 2306 grade andits mechanical and physicalproperties. The SAF 2306 showedbetter tensile strength andhardness compared toconventional materials. Theresistance of material to pitting,stress and erosion corrosion wasbetter than conventional materials.Due to dual phase of duplex, intergranular corrosion and transgranular corrosion in austeniticand ferrite phases nullify eachother. This makes duplex good SCCresistance specially againstchlorides and carbonic acid attack.He informed that the thermalexpansion of material is similar tothat of carbon steel hence sametubesheet can be retained and

there are no issues with weldingwith 304 L or 316 L gradestubesheet.

In response to a query, Mr. Rameshreplied that lean duplex was notsuitable for sulphuric acid orphosphoric acid plants as for thoseapplications the material shouldhave higher nickel and copper. Insulphuric acid plant, it may workfor low concentration andtemperature but material shouldhave minimum 30% nickel andcopper alloy to give corrosionresistance. To another question onexperience with duplex materials,he informed that a number ofplants in India (Indo Gulf Fertiliser,Jagdishpur, RCF, Thal, IFFCO, Kaloland SPIC, Tuticorin) have changedover from carbon steel to duplexfor ammonia condenser. Replyingto another question, he said that thelean duplex material could be madeavailable in all forms, however,Sandvik supplies them in the formof tubes or pipes but othersuppliers offer in other forms. Ona query about welding electrode,Mr Ramesh mentioned that aspecial electrode of lean duplexwith slightly higher in nickel andnitrogen contents are available forsuch services.

Mr. A. K. Lahiri, Chairman of thesession remarked that ammoniawas not envisaged to be usedinitially for fertiliser productionand specifically urea where bothraw materials, i.e., NH

3 and CO

2 for

making urea are available fromsame plant. He mentioned that vastdevelopments in ammonia

technology have resulted insignificant improvement in energyefficiency and reliability inammonia production.Improvement in catalysts,reforming at high pressure,integrated heat recovery, GTdriven compressor, short loadingof catalysts, development in CO

2

removal and synthesis sections,improvement in monitoring ofrotating machines and safetysystems, etc., have made theproduction of ammonia moreefficient and plant more reliable.

Session III

Mr. M. R. Patel, Senior ExecutiveDirector, IFFCO, Kandla chairedthe Session III devoted toImproving Productivity andReliability of Sulphuric AcidPlants. Three papers werepresented in the Session on (i)Improving Efficiency andReliability of Vintage SulphuricAcid Plants by Mr. T.N.V.Satyanarayana, Technip IndiaLimited, Chennai, (ii) NovelVenadia Catalysts for LowTemperature SO

2 Oxidation by Mr.

M.S. Sundaram, Sud Chemie, NewDelhi and (iii) Role of Catalysts inimproving Efficiency of SulphuricAcid Plants by Ms. Setu Bajpai,Haldor Topsoe, Faridabad.

Mr. T.N.V. Satyanarayanamentioned that when capacity ofequipments is fully utilised duringrevamp, older plant may faceproblem of increase in pressuredrop during low load operation.Older plants faced problems as


85

Session III : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. T.N.V. Satyanarayana, Mr. M.R. Patel, Mr. M.S. Sundaramand Ms. Setu Bajpai

there are no margins left in airblowers, heat recovery is lowerdue to fouling and plugging andSO

2 emission is higher. He also

touched upon other operationaland mechanical problems in oldplants. He presented the latesttrends in design of new sulphuricacid plant which include overheadmelting tank with internal steamcoils having more efficiency andlesser space requirement. Both firetube or water tube boilers are beingsuggested by technologysuppliers. Converter with 3+2 bedconfiguration and use of casesiumcatalyst in first bed for lowerinitiation temperature weresuggested for higher conversionand low SO

2 emission. Provisions

of utilisation of low grade wasteheat for preheating of BFW andproduction of hot water forconcentration section are beingoffered. The structured towerpacking with geometricallyarranged corrugated sheetsprovides uniform gas distribution,resulting in intimate mixing andradial distribution of the liquid andgas streams. He presented theareas of improvement for oldplants include sulphur melting/filtration/ storage system, airsystem, sulphur furnace, converter,drying / absorption systems, heatrecovery systems and start upsystems. He brought out thevarious operation andmaintenance issues associatedwith old generation sulphuric acidplants. He also suggested fewmeasures that could help inreducing emissions from thesulphuric acid plant.

During discussion, Mr.Satyanarayana informed thatdespite the fact that with HRSsystem 70-90% heat recovery ispossible and cooling towercapacity could be reduced, manyplants have not adopted it becauseof difficulty in locating space forHRS due to duct routing. Secondly,the economics of existing plant donot favour HRS because of non-availability of utilities to effectivelyutilize additional low heatrecovered. To a query, he repliedthat melting of prill sulphur wouldtake lesser time than pelletized

sulphur. However, he added thatmelting of prill sulphur getsaffected by the purity of sulphur.To another query, he replied thatthere is no plant operating with 0.5kg/te SO

2 emission. For removal of

sulphur sludge from overheadmelting tank, he mentioned thatthe tank is cylindrical with conicalbottom and placed above groundand cleaning can be carried outonce a day with the help of plugtype valve at the bottom of conearea. Long term cleaning requirescomplete isolation of the system forremoval of harder deposits and iscarried out once in six months butfrequency would also depend onthe purity of sulphur. On use ofvapour ammonia for meltingsulphur, he replied that it is beingpracticed in some places buteffectiveness is less due tovaporization resulting in lowmixing and neutralization. This isnot recommended fromenvironmental point of view dueto emissions of ammonia vapour toatmosphere. To yet another queryon increasing the sulphuric acidplant capacity by use of enrichedoxygen, he replied that byincreasing oxygen alone would notresult in increase in conversion. Itwould be possible if there is aconverter with 3+2 configurationso that additional oxygen isinjected between 4th and 5th pass.Mr. Satyanarayana, in response toa query on types of pumps, repliedthat most of the pumps used insulphuric acid plants are verticalpumps and MOC depends upon theapplication, concentration,temperature, etc.

Mr. M.S. Sundaram presented arange of SulfoMax catalystdesigned for different requirementof sulphuric acid plant. The newlydeveloped SulfoMax Environ-mental Version (EV) catalyst worksat very low inlet temperaturethereby enabling higherconversion and in turn lower stackSO

2 emissions. The catalyst surface

has been modified withdiatomaceous earth (DE) for higheractivity and is promoted withproprietary metal sulphate for lowtemperature activity. The results ofexperiment of catalyst at a plant

site were presented which showedmarked improvement inconversion efficiency and lowerSO

2 emissions.

In response to a query on use ofSulfomax CV catalyst resulting inefficient emission control, Mr.Sundaram replied CV is designedfor final pass and has highconcentration of Casesium andVandium. He mentioned that SO

2

conversion after third pass at firststage of pass is around 1-1.5%. Hefurther informed that in one of theplants, change of catalyst toSulfomax, concentration of SO

2

was found to be <1% andconversion across final passimproved from 94% to 99.5%. To aquery on use of enriched oxygen,Mr. Sundaram mentioned thatsulphuric acid plants based onmetallurgical SO

2 gas utilises

oxygen that help in reduction incatalyst volume and size of theplant but it should be consideredright from the design stage.

Ms. Setu Bajpai presented thedevelopment of sulphuric acidcatalysts by Haldor Topsoe. Shepointed out that for a standardcatalyst with low initiationtemperature requirement forcatalyst would be high. The ToposeVK 69 provides higher conversionwith low catalyst volume. Shepresented that with use of VK 701in 3rd bed, which is designed forhigh SO

3 concentration, conversion

increases in the 3rd Bed. Theconversion further improves if it isused in conjunction with VK 69 inthe 4th bed. She also introduced adust protection catalyst that helpsin reduction of pressure drop dueto dust deposition in the first bed.Commenting on the need forscreening of catalyst, Ms SetuBajpai recommended that it is notnecessary to screen the catalyst in2nd, 3rd and fourth pass but for thefirst pass it may be screened aftertwo year only if there is increase inpressure drop. Screening activitycould destroy catalyst or mayresult in ingress of water vapours.To another question, she affirmedthat VK701 is a replacement forVK48 if there is requirement forlow emission. To another question


86

on use of VK 69 in fourth bed, shementioned that it has beendesigned for lower inlettemperature in the first bed(around 3800C) but it would notprovide any benefit in lowering ofemission by using in fourth bed.Reference for use of VK701 is notavailable in India but references inother parts of the world areavailable. Responding to a queryon dust protection catalyst, sheclarified that it activelyparticipates in conversion butdue to its large size its activity islower compared to conventionalcatalyst. The dust reductioncatalyst is added above theexisting catalyst with a height ofabout 15 cm. In case of spaceconstraint, part of top layer of oldcatalysts can also be replaced.

Mr. M. R. Patel informed thatIFFCO Paradeep installed first HeatRecovery System (HRS) in India ayear back and heat rejection incooling tower was reducedsignificantly. However, manyplants in India have not adoptedHRS. This may be due to severalreasons including spaceconstraints.

Session IV

The Session IV on ImprovingEfficiency and Reliability of UreaPlants was chaired by Mr. M SagarMethews, Director (Technical), NFLNoida. Three papers werepresented in the Session viz, (i)Evolve- CO

2 Production Add-on for

Urea Revamping ConsumingExcess Ammonia into Urea byIndependent CO

2 Production by Ms

Barbara Cucchiella, Stamicarbon,The Netherlands (ii) VortexGranulation: Flexible Tool forBoostering Finishing SectionPerformances by Ms. SerenaGabbiadini, Casale Switzerlandand (iii) Improving the Efficiencyof Urea Prilling Tower of ExistingPlants with JSC NIIK Technologyby Mr. Alexey Andreev, JSC, NIIKRussia.

Ms. Barbara Cucchiellaintroduced the Stamicarbon’s CO

2

production technology to utilizethe excess ammonia to produce

additional urea. She presented thelimitations of post combustionflue gas capture method where CO

2

partial pressure and concentrationare low and require active solventwith higher reaction energies andthus higher regeneration energy.The flue gases are present athigh temperature and have NOxand SOx contaminants. Shepresented the Stamicarbontechnology based on the CatalyticPartial Oxidation (CPO) of naturalgas, to convert hydrocarbon inpresence of air and steam intosyngas. The syngas produced overthe catalyst is composed of amixture of H

2, CO, CO

2, unreacted

CH4, unreacted H

2O and N

2 which

are then sent to water gas shiftreactor. The CO

2 production unit

works in parallel to the syngasproduction and does alter theexisting plant configuration. Thefeedstock is obtained from hydro-desulphurization section andextra CO

2 is sent to the urea plant.

The H2 rich fuel gas substitutes the

part of natural gas burned in thesteam boilers or steam reformerheater. CO

2 is extracted from

process gas by the chemicalabsorption with amine systemidentical to that installed in theconventional ammonia section.She compared the production cost(capital, operating andmaintenance) of the CO

2

production technology at variousgas prices. She concluded that the

technology offers an economicoption for higher urea productioncompared to conventional flue gasrecovery process at gas cost of 4.77$/mmbtu.

To a query on effect of sulphurdioxide on downstream processsteps, Ms Barbara Cucchiellareplied that the natural gas isrouted through desulphurisationand other contaminants likenitrogen and methane arerecovered in recycle loop and sentalong with hydrogen to be used asfuel in auxiliary boilers or reformer.Responding to another query, shementioned that the CO

2 generated

is sufficient to produce 100 MTurea. On comparison betweenEvolve process with postcombustion recovery, shementioned that while therecovery of flue gas is greenerprocess but Evolve is moreeconomical considering the Capex.To yet another query, she repliedthat Evolve is a self-sustainingprocess and has not been designedfor export of LP steam, however,since the process is exothermic,there is a possibility to recover thewaste heat.

Ms. Serena Gabiaddini presentedthe vortex granulation for thedebottlenecking of the existing prilltower as well as for new ureaplant. It can be designed for anycapacity and could be installed


87

Session IV : Dr. S. Nand, Ms. Barbara Cucchiella, Mr. Sagar Methews,Ms. Serena Gabbiadini and Mr. Alexey Andreev

within annual turnaround. Shementioned that the Vortexgranulation unit works in parallelwith the prill tower. The core ofthe Vortex granulation is arotating fluid bed in which therotating motion of the particlesobtained is similar to the motionobtained in drum granulatorswhich allows a better control ofspraying. The urea melt issprayed into the rotating fluidfrom side which providesuniform growth of the granule andthe final product has a sizedistribution equal or better thanthe seeds. Melt urea is sprayedinto the fluid bed using sprayingnozzles which produce smalldroplets or a thin film of urea meltover seeds. She underlinedadvantages of the Vortexgranulation as simple plantoperation, short start-ups, lowermaintenance costs, loweroperating cost, uniform productdistribution, etc.

Ms. Serena Gabbiadini during thediscussion informed that thenumber of nozzles of vortexgranulation depends on the ureasolution required to be sprayedand maximum 350-400 kg/hrsolution can be sprayed. Further,she clarified that change inweather does not affectgranulation as only the feed prilltemperature is changed due toweather while air fed to granulatoris heated inside the granulator.Responding to a question, shementioned that the length ofgranulator is about 18-20 metersand maximum capacity of onesection can be 600 MTPD ofsprayed product. The frequency ofcleaning of granulator is 40-45days and operation andmaintenance takes about 8 hours.Referring to another query, sheinformed that energy consumptionfor vortex granulation systemwould be 20 kW/tonne urea. Smallamount of steam is used forheating of air and fluidization.Regarding location of thegranulator, she mentioned that dueto requirement of huge amount offluidization air at low density andducting requirement, it is preferredto be located at the ground floor.

Mr. Alexey Andreev in hispresentation highlighted theconcepts developed by NIIK forrevamping of conventional prilltowers. This included replacementof bucket for urea melt sprayingwith a vibro-priller, installation ofa fluidized bed cooler andinstallation of wet type dust trapsfor air treatment. He presentedthat vibropriller improvesgranulometric composition of ureaprill. The regular vibrations ofvibroprills help to divide the meltjet through hole arranged atvarious angles such that uniformdistribution of prills into equal sizetakes place. This results in lowerproduct temperature andmaximum utilization of the towervolume. He suggested installationof a fluidized bed cooler forincreasing the intensity of heatexchange process for reduction oftemperature (around 50o C) of theprills at the outlet of the unit. Healso introduced a purification unitconsist of injection scrubber anddust trap to reduce urea dustemission. The purification unitensures efficient heat and massexchange between gases and liquidmedia providing high purificationrate. In this scrubbing method, theequipment can be fitted into theexisting design of prilling unit. Hepresented case studies ofimplementation of NIIKtechnologies for modernization ofprill towers which are runningsuccessfully. NIIK’s experience canbe used for revamps of prill towersnot only for urea plants but alsofor ammonium nitrate andcomplex fertiliser plants.

Mr. Alexey Andreev in response toa query, mentioned that theimprovement in prill strength byuse of vibropriller is possible dueto enlargement and uniformdistribution of prills. To anotherquestion, he replied that thecleaning frequency of vibroprilleris once a year during annualshutdown. To yet another query,he replied that rotating vibroprilleris more useful to improve theproduct quality than staticvibropriller.

Mr. M. Sagar Methews, Chairmanof the Session expressed thatimproving productivity andreliability of plants is important asthe industry is passing through adifficult time due to manyuncertainties. The industry wouldremain viable by implementingschemes to improve productivityand reducing specific energyconsumption. The urea process hasevolved from once through processto total recycle based on carbondioxide or ammonia strippingtechnology. He pointed out that thepresentations made in the Sessionwere related to each other. NIIKpresented technology forimproving efficiency of prill towerwhile Casale offered an option forgranulating additional urea in caseof limitation in prill tower.Stamicarbon offered a solution toincrease the carbon dioxideproduction provided the cost ofnatural gas is favourable.

Session V

The Session V on ImprovingProductivity & Reliability ofPhosphoric Acid & ComplexFertiliser Plants was chaired by Mr.G. M. Patel, Technical Director,CIFC, New Delhi. Three paperswere presented in the Session viz,(i) Role of additives in ImprovingExtraction Efficiency in PhosphoricAcid Manufacture by Mr. G. M.Patel, Technical Director, CIFC NewDelhi, (ii) Optimizing Operations ofComplex Fertilizer Plants throughBehavioural Practices by Mr.Narendran Subramaniam, RenoirConsulting Chennai and (iii)Optimizing Operations at FACTFertilizer Complex by Mr. K. B. Biju,FACT Ltd., Cochin.

Mr. G. M. Patel gave detailedpresentation on additives used forfoaming, flocculation & scalingproblems faced during themanufacturing of phosphoric acid.He presented that quality of rockphosphate plays a major role inextraction efficiency of phosphoricacid production. Three types ofadditives are used to overcomethese problems viz. Defoamer,Flocculant and Antiscalant.Foaming results due to release of


88

large volumes of carbon dioxideand silicon tetra-fluoride gasesthat gets entrained in the gypsumslurry. Defoamers are commonlyused to control surface foamingand reduce the entrainment of gasbubbles beneath the reactorsurface. He suggested that forsuperior defoaming, the defoamershould be stable in nature anddosage should be 0.05-0.15%. Inflocculation phenomenonpolymeric materials form bridgesbetween individual particles.Flocculants carry active groupswith a charge whichcounterbalance the charge of theparticles. It helps in improvementof gypsum crystallization andhence filtration. He recommendedthat flocculants should be used indiluted solution as highconcentration leads to highviscosity.

He pointed out that scaling is themost common problem faced inphosphoric acid evaporators. Thescale deposits can cause a numberof operational problems such asplugging of equipment, inefficientfeed rate to the evaporators,increased utility costs, lostproduction due to downtime, anddowngraded products from lowerconcentration due to poor heattransfer. He pointed out thatdifferent phosphoric acid plantsexperience different types of scale,and even within one plant, the typeof scale can differ greatly from onelocation of the process to the other.Certain formulated, water-soluble,functional organic reagents areuseful in preventing multiple

species of scale formation inproduction equipment at variousstages of the wet-process forphosphoric acid production. Suchformulated reagents extend thecontinuous operation time byreducing the frequency of thewashing/shut down time toremove scale, thereby improvingthe overall productivity of theequipment and plant.

Mr G.M. Patel in reply to a querymentioned that quantity ofaddition of silica and kaoline hasto be optimised based on thequality of rock which is mainlyguided by Fluorine to Silica ratioand should be maintained around0.9. He gave an example of a plantwhere 30-40 kg silica /tonne of rockis being added. To another queryon system of blending of rockphosphate supplier, he replied thatblending of rock is a simple systemwhere two conveyer belts carryingdifferent rock phosphatesdelivered to a single conveyer formixing before grinding. A numberof suppliers are available whocould design the system. However,he cautioned that operation ofdamper and ratio of various rocksto the grinder is important in orderto maintain the uniform quality ofrock. In response to yet anotherquery, he clarified that Triple SuperPhosphate (TSP) can be producedby using normal phosphoric acidas well as merchant grade.Importing merchant grade acid ismore economical. Most of theplants in India are based ondihydrate route and produce acidof concentration varying from 40-

48%, which can further beconcentrated to merchant grade.He gave examples of GSFC andFACT where filter grade acid ofconcentration 26-28% are beingused to produce APS having 20%P

2O

5 content. He pointed out that

water balance is the limiting factorin operation of phosphoric acidplant.

Mr. Narendran Subramaniumpresented results of case studiescarried out in various complexfertiliser plants to improveoperating efficiency throughbehavioural practices. Heexplained that objectives of theprogramme were to improve thecapacity utilization, reduceoperational and maintenancedowntime, improve managementof spares, operational efficiencieslike P

2O

5 recovery efficiency in

phosphoric acid plant, reductionin P

2O

5 and NH

3 consumption in

DAP plant, etc. He outlined theapproach adopted to implementvarious management systems. Thecauses of problems were identifiedwith the help of plant personneland various operationalaccounting and standard operatingprocedures were redesigned.Communication among theplanning, maintenance andproduction department was one ofthe key problems identified whichwas due to lack of adequate data orinability to analyze data properly.Resolving these issues resulted inreduction in downtime, increase inproduction, improvement inproduct quality and reduction instack losses.

Mr. Subramanium to a query onthe difference in ISO andbehavioural system replied thatISO is in place in most of theorganizations but it is how that isimplemented determines itsbenefit. Behavioural analysis andmanagement are the key elementsfor success. He clarified that thebenefits in his papers werecalculated by considering factorsjointly agreed with the plantmanagement.

Mr. K B Biju presented the effortsmade by FACT for optimizing the


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Session V : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. Narendran Subramaniam, Mr. G.M. Patel, Mr. K.B. Biju andMr. N. Ramakrishnan

operations of its complex fertilizerand phosphoric acid plants. Theefforts were focused on minimizingreactant losses, optimizingconsumption ratio, increasing theplant running time, reducing themaintenance needs, minimizingvariations in product quality andreducing start-up and shut downdurations. FACT at its twomanufacturing divisions produce6.335 Lakh MT of NP (20:20:0:13)and 2.25 Lakh MT of AmmoniumSulphate. The processes in theFACT plants are based on slurrygranulation with ammonia,sulphuric acid, and phosphoricacid as raw materials. He presentedthat for NP (20:20:0:13) production,the mole ratio of ammonia tophosphoric acid is beingmaintained at 1.4 in reactor and1.8 in granulator to ensureproduct quality as per FCOnorms. He also presented theimpact of impurities of phosphoricacid like MgO, Al

2O

3, Na

2O, CaO on

density and viscosity of acid andhence granulation process. Thespecific gravity of slurry inscrubber and reactor are beingmaintained to control the waterbalance. The ammonia losses arebeing minimized by controlling thefume scrubber liquor specificgravity between 1.19-1.20 andmole ratio at 0.9. He also explainedthe role of materials of constructionfor production of phosphoric acid.He mentioned that FACT hasshifted to Distributed ControlSystem (DCS) operations toenhance the optimization ofprocess with enhanced safetyfeatures. He presented variousmodifications carried out in theplant such as addition ofphosphoric acid directly into thescrubber, use of venture-cyclonescrubbers, etc.

During the discussion Mr. Bijuinformed that FACT is producingZincated Factomphos in smallquantities. Responding to aquestion, he mentioned that bymaintaining mole ratio of 1.4 atgranulator, the reaction is smoothbecause system is less dilute butfuel consumption will be higher. Itprovides better control withrespect to nitrogen as required N

is maintained without addition ofurea. To another query, he repliedthat addition of ammonia in liquidor vapour form would depend ondesign of the plant. In case ofchange from vapour to liquidammonia, the material ofgranulator and lining may getdamaged. On the question of auto-reversal, he replied that at FACTauto-reversal of granulator isdone for LT motor but for HT motorit has to be consulted withelectrical engineers. He furtherinformed that auto reversal isbeing done manually per shift butin case of PLC this is simpler andcan be done automatically. Toanother query on blending of rock,he replied that for blending it isimportant to identify the limitingfactor and in case of FACT it ischloride content. Therefore, only10% of low grade rock could beblended with higher grade tomaintain chloride at a level of 350ppm. He replied that bestoperation of exhaust systemrequires keeping the internal ofcyclones free from blocking byregular cleaning. Specific gravity ofscrubber liquor has be maintainedfor high scrubbing efficiency.

Session VI

The Session VI on Improvingreliability of Rotating and StaticEquipments was chaired by Mr. S.Jaggia, Ex-Operation Director,Kribhco, Noida. Three papers werepresented in the Session viz, (i)Revamp Experience of SteamTurbine of Syn Gas Compressor byMr. Rakesh Markan, NFL, Nangal,

(ii) Revamp of CO2 Compressors of

Urea Plant at NFL Vijaipur by Mr.S. K. Sharma, NFL, Vijaipur and(iii) Improving Life Expectancy ofPhysical Assets in FertilizerPlants by providing the ProperPainting Systems by Mr. K.K.Arora and Mr. Mudit Agarwal,Mohan Paints, Lucknow.

Mr. Rakesh Markan gavepresentation on the experience ofrevamp of steam turbine ofsynthesis gas compressor. Hepresented that the total job wasplanned to be completed in 27days but it took 67 days. The majorreasons for delay were numerousjobs that came up during revampwhich were otherwise notanticipated. These includedmodification of seating areas ofboth front and rear end bearingpedestals, replacement of steamcontrol valve assembly withmodified one, machining of ‘L’ ringseating area in top casing,replacement of all old studs, etc. Headvised that to avoid such delays,it should be ensured that thereshould be availability of spares,special and standard tools,facilities for various machiningjobs to be identified well inadvance, all machining jobsrequired to be done to be listedand procedures to be framed. Heemphasized that there should bepre-revamp meetings between coreteam carrying out the revampproject from customer side as wellas the OEM side.

Mr. Rakesh Markan on questionof prior checking of drawing and


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Session VI : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. Rakesh Marken, Mr. S. Jaggia, Mr. S.K. Sharmaand Mr. K.K. Arora

dimensions of critical spares,replied that in this particular casethe time left between annualturnaround and arrival of partswas short and there was acondition that all boxes to beopened in presence of OEM only.He, however, acknowledged thatspecifications could have beenchecked from the old sparesremoved from the machine whichare generally kept for emergencies.To another query on maintainingthe inventory of critical spares, heagreed that one set of criticalinsurance spares like rotor, guideblades, etc., have to kept. In thisparticular case it was deferred tillperformance of modified spareswere proven. In response to yetanother query on variation in thediameter of rotor provided byOEM, he mentioned that probablereason could be upgradation ofparts by OEM to improve thestrength.

Mr. S. K. Sharma presented theexperience of revamp of CO

2

compressors and its drive turbinefor enhancement of urea capacityfrom 2620 MTPD to 3231 MTPD.Major modifications were done inthe machine to achieve post-revamp duty such asreplacement of diaphragm androtor of LP and HP compressors,modification of HP nozzle and HPvalve yoke assembly of steamturbine and replacement of gearbox, coupling and intercoolers. Hementioned that modificationsalong with some specializedmachining jobs related to turbineHP valve yoke assembly onturbine casing and rectification

jobs on counter casing of BCLcompressor were successfully donewithin 21 days.Mr. S. K. Sharma during discussioninformed that the radial vibrationsafter revamp were well withinlimit and till date no problem wasfaced in mechanical parts ofturbine. To a query on steamefficiency, he replied that since theKW rating was increased andhence number of nozzles and flowrate across the turbine were alsoincreased but efficiency remainedsame with respect to change in KW.

Mr. Mudit Agarwal presented thecustomized painting system toovercome problems faced inspecific areas exposed tocorrosion in ammonia, urea, acidsand complex fertiliser plants andassociated utilities. He presentedthat the causes of corrosion infertiliser plants are atmosphericcontaminants, acids, chlorine,ammonia, moisture, temperatureand continuous deposition ofchemical substances for a long timeperiod on structure and othersurfaces. He presented variousproducts for areas of plants likeprill tower, silos, conveyors, ureabagging plant, cooling towers, etc.He mentioned the procedure andimportance of preparation ofsurface before painting. Hesuggested that for goodperformance steel surface shouldbe sand blasted before commencingthe painting. Area exposed tosunlight should be painted withUV resistant paints. Coolingtowers should be painted with coaltar epoxy paints. Application ofpaint should be done at ambient

temperature. He also highlightedthe limitations in painting of someof the equipments and civilstructure. He mentioned that forkeeping the plant clean andcorrosion free regular inspectionand touch up are very important.

Mr Mudit Aggarwal to a query onlife of painting on internal of prilltower replied that it could be 3-3.5years provided about 25 days ofshutdown time is available forpreparation of the surface. Toanother query, he replied that fornaphtha storage tank it isrecommended to have cathodicprotection with zinc silicateprimer with 85-90% zinc andsolvent free expoxy system inpaste form for total DFT of 500micron to be done in 2-3 coatsystem. To another query onsulphuric acid tank, he repliedthat the paint developed by theircompany has been applied on theexterior areas near sulphuricacid plant. He further informedthat they have developed paintsolution for internal surface alsobut it is yet to be commercialized.

The Chairman of the session, Mr.S. Jaggia expressed concern overthe bad experience of NFL, Nangalwhile revamping of syngascompressor. He underlined theimportance of meeting with OEMsand suggested to discuss veryminute details. He shared theexperience of Kribhco where boththe turbines of syngas as well asCO

2 compressors were revamped.

The capacity increase at Kribhcowas about 20%, while in case ofNFL it was 6-9%. He informed thatKribhco engaged the technologysupplier to OEM for revamp whoagreed on the condition that theywould open one of the turbinesduring a shutdown prior torevamp to trace drawing. Thetechnology supplier was notconfident of drawings of OEM asthe equipment was not deliveredby them. Kribhco engineers evenidentified the workshop prior tojob and visited the facilities. Forone of the turbines on sitemachining was carried out to cutdown on time.

Emphasizing on the importance of


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Session VI : Dr. S. Nand, Mr. Rakesh Marken, Mr. S. Jaggia, Mr. S.K. Sharmaand Mr. K.K. Arora

avoiding forced shutdown, Mr.Jaggia expressed that oneshutdown besides loss ofproduction also results in shocksto catalyst and thermal shock tostatic equipment which increasethe cost of shutdown. It is thereforevery important to have preventivemaintenance and save plant fromunnecessary shutdown. Hereferred to a presentation whereit was presented that ammoniaplants in the world are operatingfor more than 1000 days andadvised that Indian plant operatorshould learn to improve their onstream efficiency.

Two brief presentations weremade by representatives of M/sForbes Marshall and M/s Kriloskarpump. Mr. Sanjay Kumar ForbesMarshall presented the vibrationand condition monitoringsolutions for fertiliser plants. Mr.Madhuttam Kulkarni presentedfeatures of various turbine andpumps developed by KirloskarPumps.

Conclusion

In the concluding Session, Dr. S. Nandsummarized the two dayproceedings. He mentioned that Mr.Satish Chander briefed about therecent developments in policies forfertiliser sector. Mr. Rajesh KumarAggarwal emphasized that mannerof implementation of scheme is moreimportant than technology andoperating plants for higher streamdays gives better efficiency thanproducing more.

Dr. S. Nand pointed out that thepurifier process offered by KBR andGT driven Process Air Compressorare already well established andnumber of references are available.Casale presented options such asaxial radial prereformer, change fromturbine drive to motor drive andammonia wash unit and lower energyCO

2 removal system with saving

potential in the range of 0.4-1.0 Gcal/MT urea. One of the options ofturbine drive to motor drive is beingexplored by IFFCO in their upcomingrevamp. The reforming catalysts canhave life more than 6 years andoperates at S/C ratio of 2.6 and ithas been well established that

Wusite based AmoMax10 synthesiscatalyst with lower oxygen contentcompared to magnetite results inshorter reduction time.ThyssenKrupp presented conceptsof combination of GT to optimizethe overall steam and power balancein ammonia and urea complex. Hepointed out that GV offered a pre-absorber based on physical solventand compared it with GV low energyprocess. However, it would beinteresting to have comparison withother processes such as MDEAwhich are offering similar energyconsumption. The choice of use ofbetter metallurgy for tubing of heatexchangers like ammoniacondensers and coolers was offeredby Sandvik. The change of MOC ofthese heat exchangers depends oneconomics and problems withexisting MOCs.

The sulphuric acid plants are quiteold and there is scope forimprovement right from sulphurmelting to absorption (converter,drying, heat recovery). He mentionedthat catalysts have undergonetremendous improvement aspresented by Sud Chemie andHaldor Topse with specializedpromoters for improved conversion.With reference to SO

2 from sulphuric

acid plant, he advised the technologysuppliers to make claims what can beachieved in practice.

Dr. Nand mentioned that thepresentation by Stamicarbonprovided an alternative to producemore carbon dioxide. In his opinion itwas like adding a parallel secondaryreformer which is also a catalyticoxidation and exits of both these meetat the inlet of shift reactor. Hementioned that at present the optionis not viable both due to higher costand limited availability of natural gas.He found options offered by Casaleon vortex granulation and NIIK ofVibropriller interesting to increasethe capacity of existing urea plantsas well as prill quality. Most of theplants have revamped theircapacities from 2620 to 3200 MTPD.The plants are able to meet thequality requirement but there may beassociated problems like dustgeneration. Vortex granulationoffered options either by further

coating of prill with fresh urea solutionor use fines after screening as seed.He mentioned that the second optionwould provide higher strength to theproduct. The option presented byNIIK of fluidized bed cooler is wellknown and implementation ofvibropriller to improve the prillquality needs to be explored.

Dr. Nand expressed that Mr. G. M.Patel with his long experienceprovided the theoretical and practicalbackground of operation ofphosphoric acid plants. He pointedout that it is important to have bettercrystallization at reaction stage itselfto have better filtration. This alsodetermines P

2O

5 recovery efficiency

and throughput of the plant. The casestudy by FACT presented themeasures for improving productivityof NP granulation and product quality.He further mentioned that in the lastsession two case studies of revampcompressors were presented byNFL, Nangal and NFL Vijaipur. Heinformed that FAI organizes aprogramme for senior maintenanceengineers where about 15-20 similarcase studies are presented. Such casestudies help to draw useful lessonsfor all plant operators.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. S.Jaggia pointed out that for revampof plants, there could not be ageneralized solution and each planthas to be evaluated individually.Revamping options will depend onstatus of the plant and targetedresults. He mentioned that plantpersonnels are in best position tocarry out such study and outsideagencies can only polish them byproviding solution which are ofproprietary nature.

At the end, Dr. Nand thanked all theChairmen of the Sessions viz. Mr.Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal, Mr. MSagar Methews, Mr. A. K. Lahiri, Mr.M.R. Patel, Mr. G. M. Patel and Mr. S.Jaggia for providing valuable inputsand advice. He thanked all thespeakers, vendors, exihibitors andparticipants for their activeparticipation in the Conference.


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