Designing of Haldor Topsoe Exchange Reformer for Ammonia Plant

Abstract

In any plant, the main objective is to increase the profit either by increasing the capacity of plant or by making the process energy efficient. In the front end of an ammonia plant, varieties of options are available for the increase in capacity. One of the Smart and proven re-vamp option from both cost-effective and technical perspective is Haldor Topsoe Exchange Reformer(HTER) where capacity of plant can be increased up to 25%,keeping the methane leakage low. The Haldor Topsoe Exchange Reformer (HTER) technology works on the principle of heat transfer where the sensible heat is being exchanged between the outlet stream of the auto-thermal reformer, commonly called as secondary reformer, which is the hot media and the cold stream of syn gas and steam. The purpose of this reformer is production of hydrogen from methane which is then used for ammonia synthesis. It is a better choice to implement a HTER for a new plant rather than an existing one. This technology can be used in almost all of the ammonia plants and it is very helpful in saving energy given the situation of energy crisis in our country