Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) Ltd, which has decided to carry out the revamp of its ammonia plant, is planning to commission it by June 2022.
Prabhakar Rao, Director (Works) of MCF, said, in line with the Department of Fertilizers’ 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 modern plants in terms of energy consumption.
The ammonia and urea plants of MCF were commissioned in 1976. Presently, the company produces around 4 lakh tonnes of urea per annum.
Energy efficiency
Stating that the plants are among the most energy efficient among the plants of that vintage, 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.
He said 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.
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Rao added that the project is scheduled for commissioning in June 2022.
The plant will be built adhering to high safety standards. The project will reduce energy consumption of urea production by about 12 per cent. It conserves natural resources such as natural gas to the same extent. The plant will also produce up to 25 per cent additional ammonia, which will substitute ammonia import by the country. With installation of most modern equipment, the reliability of the plant will improve substantially, he added.