FEASIBILITY STUDY OF SEPERATION OF NITROGEN FROM PURGE GAS OF FFBL AMMONIA PLANT

Abstract

Everyday millions of tonnes of ammonia are produced to meet the need of the increasing fertilizer demand in our country. The fertilizers in turn are needed to meet the agricultural demands of the ever-increasing population of our country. Thus, it is significant and noteworthy how important the production of ammonia is. Ammonia is produced by the reaction of Nitrogen and Hydrogen and since the conversion of the reaction is low loops are required in the production process where the gases unreacted are recycled back into the loop. Since the gases need to be recycled back into the loop, a purge gas stream is taken out of the loop. The aim to take out this purge gas stream out of the loop is to reduce the accumulation of inerts and flammable substances into the loop. The accumulation can be very dangerous and can result in severe explosions and environmental damage. The purge stream taken out of the loop consists of Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Ammonia, Methane, Water and Argon. Currently, FFBL has PRISM separation membranes for the separation of hydrogen gas from the ammonia purge stream and now by the industry directive we conducted a feasibility study for the separation of nitrogen from the purge stream. Material Balance, Energy Balance, Equipment Design, Simulation, Economic Analysis and Process Control have been applied over the course of this project and study to enhance and optimize the efficiency and production of ammonia by using Membrane Technology