05/03/2019

Press release: Acron Launches New Nitric Acid Unit in Veliky Novgorod

Acron Group, a leading mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, has commissioned a new 135,000-tpa nitric acid unit at its Veliky Novgorod site. 

Acron Group’s updated investment programme, adopted in 2017, includes construction of two nitric acid units with a total capacity of 270,000 tonnes per year in Veliky Novgorod. Novgorod GIAP (a member of Acron Group) is the general designer for the project, which will cost a total of over RUB 2 billion. 

Acron Board of Directors Chair Alexander Popov comments: “The commissioning of this new unit will boost nitric acid capacity to 1.65 million tonnes per year. Following the launch of the second unit scheduled for mid-2019, aggregate capacity will reach 1.8 million tonnes per year, allowing the Group to increase its output of key products – AN, UAN and NPK – in the future”. 

The production of nitric acid as a primary material for mineral fertilisers was first launched at the Veliky Novgorod site in the 1970s. The new units are high-tech and state-of-the-art production facilities. With the launch of its new nitric acid units, Acron will reduce its ammonia consumption to the lowest rate when compared to similar facilities in the CIS. The highly efficient gas turbine unit GTU-8 will save over 4.3 million m3 of natural gas annually. As an added benefit, the expensive catalyst grids will need replacing only once a year, instead of the semi-annual replacements previously required.

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