Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Plans to Revamp Ammonia Plant

Planning to engage by June, 2022, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers ltd (MCF) has decided to revamp its ammonia plants. The ammonia and urea plants of MCF were commissioned in 1976, and the company produces around 4 lakh tons of urea every year. 

Conforming to the rules of the Department of Fertilizers, Director (Works) of MCF – Prabhakar Rao said              – “new urea policy which directs urea producers to further improve their energy consumption norms, MCF has decided to carry out a major revamp of its ammonia plant (intermediate in urea production) with the intention of improving its performance at par with the modern plants in terms of energy consumption.” 

Rao said – “the feedstock was switched over from naphtha to natural gas in December 2020, which has resulted in energy conservation and substantial environmental benefits” and added – “the existing plants were studied by renowned technology providers in the field of ammonia. Accordingly, the revamp plan was designed based on the technology of Kellogg Brown & Root. The environment clearance was obtained from the Ministry of Environment in August 2018, and subsequently detailed design and engineering was carried out by Worley.” 

“The plant will be built adhering to high quality safety standards. The project will reduce energy consumption of urea production by about 12 percent. It conserves natural resources such as natural gas to the same extent. The plant will also produce up to 25% additional ammonia, which will substitute ammonia import by the country. With installation of most modern equipment, the reliability of the plant will improve substantially. The project is scheduled for commissioning in June 2022.”  

In the agriculture industry, Urea (obtained from ammonia) is of great importance as it is used as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Ammonia is synthesized from hydrogen present in natural gas and from nitrogen that is present in the air.

About 80% of ammonia is produced by the industry to be used as a fertilizer in agriculture. Along with this, ammonia is also used as a refrigerant gas, for purification of water supplies, in the manufacture of plastics, explosives, textiles, pesticides, dyes and other chemicals.