07/12/2015

Uralchem completes ammonia facility modernization at its chemical plant in Kirovo-Chepetsk

Uralchem has completed a project for comprehensive equipment modernization of the ammonia facility operated by its subsidiary KCKK. The upgrade of the AM-70 unit took place during a shutdown maintenance period in October and November. Preparation work under the project started in the previous year, with project documentation being produced and a set of new equipment purchased and manufactured. 

The completed maintenance program has resulted in the most comprehensive overhaul of the facility since its launch in 1981. Hard, painstaking work was carried out simultaneously at several major nodes of the facility. The completed reconstruction of the facility's air compressor was aimed at bringing the facility's production capacity up to 1750 tonnes/day. The facility's syngas compressor has also been upgraded. As a result of this, the unit's capacity will rise by 3% while its per unit consumption of gas will decline by the same 3%. 

Extensive effort was undertaken to assemble a new gas dehydration unit in order to make the syngas compressor more reliable in operation. In 2014 the company carried out a tender to choose an equipment supplier. The contract was awarded to CEAMAG, a French firm with a rich experience of introducing syngas dehydrators to markets across the globe. 

On 17-18 November, the AM-70 unit was put through precommissioning. The adoption of the new unit has allowed the company to enhance the elimination of trace water and carbon dioxide from freshly produced syngas, to bring down pressure in the synthesis loop and the consumption of steam by the compressor's turbine, and to reduce the ammonia evaporator load. 

Sergey Momtsemlidze, CEO of Uralchem's KCKK subsidiary, said: "The modernization of the ammonia facility will allow us to increase the capacity and the output of the whole production department. We plan to bring the plant's energy intake down by more than 3%, at the same time making the facility's operation more stable, reliable and safe. In undertaking the capital repair of the AM-70 unit we managed to complete in one stroke three large investment projects started last year - the first providing for modernization of the syngas compressor, the second, for reconstruction of the air compressor, and the third, for the assembly of a new syngas dehydration system. The plant's investment allocations in 2015 totaled over RUB 2.2 billion. The estimated cost of the reconstruction of the AM-70 facility is RUB 555 million."

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