AMMONIA-II

Natural gas is used as the raw material for the ammonia plant. Process
feed and fuel gas (natural gas) arrives at plant site through a 14 line
from Mari Gas field located 55km away.
The field has to deliver 180 million standard cubic feet (sfc) of natural
gas. But 170 million scf is delivered to the FFC, Goth Machhi plants, 75
million scf of which, is delivered to Plant-II.
The design composition of natural gas is:
CH4
C2H 6
C3H 8
CO2
N2
S

73.8%
0.2%
8.0%
18.0%
5ppm

Ammonia is produced from a gaseous mixture of Hydrogen and

Nitrogen in the stoichiometric ratio 3 to 1. The gas mixture contains
limited amount of inerts coming from the raw materials i.e. Argon and
Methane. The preparation of this synthesis gas takes place in various
steps mentioned below.
For the ammonia plant, the sources for hydrogen and nitrogen are
natural gas and atmospheric air respectively.
The processes necessary to produce ammonia from the raw materials
are divided in different areas:
AREA-42: Desulphurization of the hydrocarbon feed in one step.
Reforming of the desulphurized hydrocarbons in two steps by steam
and air. The process gas from these steps contains hydrogen and
nitrogen as well as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane and
argon. CO is first converted to CO2 and H2 with steam in order to
increase the yield of H2.

 AREA-43: CO2 is removed in the CO2 removal section and

afterwards the remaining CO and CO 2 in the converted gas are
removed from the methanator.
AREA-44: The purified synthesis gas is then compressed.
AREA-45: The synthesis gas is converted into ammonia by a
catalytic reaction. The ammonia refrigeration system and recovery
of ammonia are also employed in this area.
AREA-51: Ammonia is stored in the storage tanks.
AREA-48: Process water is collected from the plant and is cooled in
the cooling towers.

AREA-42
Area-42 is comprised of the following main units:

Desulphurizer (R-4101)
Primary Reformer (F-4201)
Secondary Reformer (R-4202)
Medium pressure shift converter (R-4203)
Low pressure shift converter (R-4204)

Natural Gas at Plant Battery limit is at a pressure of 49kg/cm 2

(maximum) and around 35oC. It contains moisture which is separated
in a knock out drum (V-4202). A knock out vessel has a sieve called
Demister. The gas passes through the demister whereas water vapors,
in the form of moisture, are stopped there which are then drained from
the bottom making the gas moisture free.
After the knock out drum, this natural gas is divided into two separate
heeders:
Process Feed Gas
Fuel Gas

Fuel Gas heeder is reduced to 6kg/cm2 through pressure let down

control valves (PV-42003A/B).
The process gas is heated in the convection section of the primary
reformer by passing through a Natural Gas Preheater coil E-4204 B
which raises its temperature to 245 oC. After preheating, the process
gas is mixed with the recycle gas which is rich in hydrogen gas. Now
this mixed stream is again passed through a coil E-4204A Natural Gas
Preheater which raises the temperature to 400 oC. This gas is now fed
to the Desulphurizer R-4201.

DESULPHURIZATION:
The natural gas that feeds the plant contains up to 5ppm of sulphur
compounds which have to be removed in order not to poison the
reforming catalyst in the Primary Reformer (F-4201) and the Shift
catalysts in CO converters R-4203 and R-4204.
The Desulphurizer R-4201 contains two 10.5m 3 beds of ZnO catalyst
(HTZ-3). The normal operating temperature in the desulphurization
section will be 300-400oC. At low temperatures, the catalyst will react
with hydrogen sulphide (H2S). This inorganic sulphide is removed from
the process gas in the Desulphurizer. The following reaction occurs:
H2S

ZnO

ZnS

H2O
At normal operating temperature, the catalyst will also react with the
carbonyl sulphide (COS).
ZnO

COS

ZnS

CO2
To some extent it will also remove organic sulphur compounds;
however, these should be pre-hydrogenated in a hydrogenation unit.
The purpose of mixing of recycle gas in the process gas is that it

converts organic sulphides into inorganic sulphides before entering in

the Desulphurizer as under:
COS
Merceptants (R-S)

H2

H2S

H2

H 2S

+
+

CO
R-H

Without these reactions, mercaptants can be removed by HTZ but the

removal is a little more difficult than of hydrogen sulfide, and the
removal requires a slightly larger absorption front in the reactor.
An important point is that in spite of the fact that in desulphurizing
section an exothermic reaction is being conducted still the temperature
goes down at out let. The reason for this is the following endothermic
side reaction.
CO2

H2O

H2

CO

Almost all of the sulphur is removed by passing through the first bed.
The second bed acts as standby so that in any case if the first bed gets
exhausted, the second bed comes in service.
The sulphur contained in the natural gas leaving the Desulphurizer is,
therefore, reduced to a very low level, i.e. below 0.05ppm by weight.

REFORMING:
The reforming unit consists of a tubular catalytic Primary Reformer F4201, an auto thermal catalytic Secondary Reformer R-4202 and a
waste heat (convection) section.
The steam reforming of the hydrocarbons can be described by the
following reactions:
CnHm + 2H2O
H2O

heat

C n-1Hm-2

CO2

CH4
-

2H2O

CO 2

H 2O

H 2O

heat

(Shift Conversion)

CO2

H2

CO

heat

The necessary heat of reaction in the two reactors is supplied in quite

different ways. In the primary reformer it is supplied as indirect heat of
firing. It is desirable to keep the methane content as low as possible
which is favored by high temperature, low pressure and provision of
steam in excess.
The process gas leaving the Desulphurization unit is then mixed with
steam. The mixture is heated in a coil Process Gas Preheater E-4201,
installed in the flue gas section. It is then fed to the Primary Reformer
(F-4201).

Primary Reformer (F-4201):

The fuel gas heeder is mixed with the synthesis gas and is led to the
primary reformer. This fuel gas is used as the fuel of the burners of the
primary reformer. Primary reformer is equipped with self aspiring back
flame type burners.

Primary reformer is equipped with 384 of such burners to heat up, by

radiations, 168 tubes containing nickel based catalyst, installed in two
radiate chambers. The tubes are placed inside a fired heater of primary
reformer (F-4201) where sensible heat and heat of reaction are
transferred to the tubes by radiation from a number of wall burners to
the tubes.
The process steam after passing through the trim heater E-4313, which
preheats the synthesis gas from methanator by this process steam,
enters the primary reformer. The gas leaving the reformer tubes will be
at a temperature of about 810oC and the hydrocarbon content, which is
methane only, will be about 11.4% (on dry basis).
Around 70% of the methane is reformed in the primary reformer. The
process gas is sent to the secondary reformer through a refractory
lined transfer line.
The gas leaving the primary reformer is having a composition of:
H2

60.49%

N2

7.57%

CO

10.46%

CO2

9.95%

Ar

0.01%

CH4

11.52%

Secondary Reformer (R-4201):

In the secondary reformer, the heat is supplied by combustion of part
of the process gas achieved by mixing sir into the gas. The burning gas
provides the heat for the rest of the reforming. The reforming taking
place in the primary reformer is so adjusted that the air supplying the
reaction heat in the secondary reformer will give the required
hydrogen/nitrogen ratio of 3 to 1.
The gas is admitted to the secondary reformer through a top dome
mixing chamber, where it is mixed with atmospheric air compressed by
the process air compressor (K-4421) and preheated to 600 oC in the flue
gas section by process air preheater (E-4202A/B).
The top section of the reactor is equipped with an auto thermal burner.
It doesnt require any external source to ignite. The reactor
temperature is enough to start the combustion of the gas. The
remaining shell of the reactor is filled with the catalyst.

A combustion reaction takes place in the mixing chamber:

CH4

O2

2H2

O2

CO2

H 2O

heat

heat
2H2O

And it supplies the heat necessary to complete the reforming

reactions over the nickel catalyst bed in the lower part of the reformer.
The reforming reactions of methane will lower the temperature during
passage of the gas mixture through the catalyst bed, and at the exit of
the reformer the temperature will be about 950 oC. The outlet methane
concentration is approximately 1mole% (on dry basis). The reaction
mixture contacts the catalyst at about 1100 to 1200 oC.
The process gas leaving the reforming section flows through the waste
heat boiler E-4207), steam super heater (E-4209) and waste heat boiler
E-4208. In the two boilers, saturated steam at 115kg/cm 2g is produced

and, in the super heater, the saturated steam coming from the steam
drum V-4201, and waste heat boiler E-4501 are partially superheated
before final superheating takes place in the flue gas section. The
process gas is then cooled to 220 oC in the BFW preheaters E-4212A/B
before it is sent to the 1st shift convertor (R-4203).
The reformed gas contains:
H2

54.61%

N2

22.15%

CO

13.5%

CO2

7.71%

Ar

0.2%

CH4

1.83%

Consequently there is a theoretical risk of carbon formation:

2CO

CO 2

(soot)
This occurs when the gas is cooled. This reaction can only take place
below 800oC and because of equilibrium conditions and above 650 oC
because of low reaction rate. This temperature range should be passed
quickly.

Flue Gas Waste Heat Recovery:

The flue gases from the primary reformer are used to preheat process
gas, natural gas and process air, boiler feed water, demineralized
water and superheating steam. The outlet temperature of the flue is
reduced to 150oC from 1015oC.
After this an induced draft fan K-4201 takes the gas to the reformer
stack.

Process Gas Waste Heat Recovery:

The gas leaving the secondary reformer is passed through the
combined waste heat boiler E-4207 and steam superheater E-4209 to
the waste heat boiler E-4208. The steam drum V-4201 is common to
the waste heat boilers which produce saturated steam at 115kg/cm 2g
which is then superheated in the superheater before sending it in the
flue gas section. The process gas is cooled to 220 oC in the BFW
preheater E-4212A/B before being introduced in the 1 st CO shift
Convertor.

SHIFT CONVERSION:
The CO conversion (shift reaction) takes place in two reactors R-4203
and R-4204.
CO

H 2O

CO 2

H2

heat
This reaction will proceed in contact with a catalyst. The reaction is
favored by low temperature and more steam, whereas, higher
temperatures result in lower reaction rates. As the reaction results,
there is a rise of outlet temperatures and the heat must be removed
before the completion of conversion.
Therefore, the reaction takes place in two steps using copper based
catalyst in both reactors. In spite of low steam/gas ratio, this system
ensures a low CO slippage and a low formation of by-products.

1st (Medium pressure) Shift Converter R-4203:

The 1st CO converter (R-4203), contains a total of 61.6m 3 shift
catalysts:
Upper protection layer
Main charge
Lower protection layer

(4.4m3 LK-811)
(48.8m3 LK-811)
(8.4m3 LK-821)

Chlorine, silica and sulphur are the serious poisons for the catalyst,
which must be avoided. The chlorine and silica will be fixed in the
upper protection layer and it is made sure that no sulphur should be
present in the feed.
At startup combined charge needs to be activated. It takes place by
the reduction of the catalyst with hydrogen in a carrier gas. The
reduction temperature is between 150-200 oC depending upon the
space velocity.
The catalyst can be operated at a 200 oC. The temperatures should be
kept above the dew point of steam. The reduced catalyst is prophoric
and must not be exposed to air.
The main part of the reaction takes place in the 1 st CO converters with
a conversion of 90% of the CO fed. The contents of the reactor, after
this much reaction, are needed to be cooled somewhat before feeding
to the 2nd shift converter.
After the reforming, normally about 13.9% and 7.71% by volume of CO
and CO2 respectively are present in the gas. In the first CO converter,
the CO content is reduced to 0.35%.
The major part of the reaction takes place here, causing a temperature
rise of 90-120oC. The outlet temperature of 340oC is acceptable for this
catalyst but not for the higher activity catalyst of 2nd shift converter.

2nd (Low Pressure) Shift Converters R-4204:

The catalyst of 2nd shift converter is copper based LK-821. The reactor
contains 54.3m3 in a single bed. As being catalyst of higher activity, it
cant be used for such high temperatures that are present at the outlet
of R-4203.
The LK-821 catalyst of R-4304 is activated in the same way as
mentioned for R-4303. The process gas is cooled in the BFW preheater
E-4213 and sent to the 2nd shift converter. Here the CO content is
reduced to 0.35%.
After the reactor R-4204, the process gas is first cooled to 154 oC in the
process gas cooler E-4214, then it is cooled to 127 oC in the MDEA
reboiler E-4215 and finally to 75oC in the demineralized water

preheater E-4216. The condensate is separated from the gas in the

separator V-4304 and sent to the process condensate treatments
section. The gas is sent to Area-43 for the removal of CO 2 from the
process gas.

AREA-43
Area-43 is comprised of:
CO2 removal section
Methanation

CO2 REMOVAL SECTION:

The gas leaving the CO conversion section has a CO 2 content of 18.5%.
After the separation of process condensate in V-4304 the gas enters
the CO2 absorber C-4302 at a temperature of 75oC.
The CO2 is removed from the gas by absorption in a MDEA (Methyl
DiEthanol Amine) containing 45 wt% MDEA, 5% piperazine and 50%
H2O. Piperazine acts as an activator and increases the mass transfer
rate of CO2.
The CO2 is absorbed as:
R 3N

H 2O

2R2NH

CO2
+

R3NH+
CO 2

+
R 2NH2+

HCO3+

R2NCOO

The first reaction is for MDEA and the second is for piperazine.
The CO2 absorption takes place in the absorber (C-4302). Absorption
takes place in two steps: First in the lower part with the semi lean
(flashed) solution, where the major absorption takes place. This part of
the column is filled with 2 CS rings. Second is in the upper part where
the lean (stripped) solution is used for scrubbing. Lean absorber is
provided with 1 CS rings. These rings are used for high interfacial
areas between gas and liquid.
The gas leaving the absorber contains less than 500 ppm of CO 2. To
prevent the losses by entrainment of the lean solution in the gas
leaving the absorber, the top of the column is provided with three

bubble cap trays which are fed with BFW, which traps the solution
allowing only purified gas to pass through it.
The rich solution leaving the bottom of the absorber is depressurized in
the hydraulic turbine (XP-4301) which is used as a driver for the
flashed solution pump (P-4301A), thereby reducing total electric power
consumption of the process. The pressure of the rich solution is
reduced from 27kg/cm2g to 5.5kg/cm2g.

Regeneration of Solution:
The regeneration of the solution is done in two steps:
Flashing
Stripping
First the flash regeneration of the rich solution is done. It is further
done in two stages. In HP flash drum (V-4302), the main parts of the
dissolved inert components are liberated at 5.5kg/cm 2g. The flashed
solution is cooled to 40oC in the recycle gas cooler (E-4307). The
condensate is separated in recycle gas separator (V-4305). The flashed
gas is compressed in the MDEA recycle compressor (K-4301). It is a PD
compressor that brings the gas to the pressure of the absorber and
feed it to the absorber inlet.
The remaining CO2 is removed in the LP flash drum (V-4301) at
pressure 0.3kg/cm2g. Both flash drum are provided with packing of 2
SS and CS rings and two bubble cap trays to prevent solution loss due
to entrainment. The condensate from recycle gas separator (V-4305)
and CO2 separator (V-4303) is fed on the bubble cap trays.
The flashing is done in two stages due to the presence of absorbed
inert gas along with CO2 in the solution. Since the partial pressure of
CO2 is greater than 5.5kg/cm2g, some part of it remains in the solution
while other inerts totally flash out of the solution due to lower partial
pressures. Then in the second stage, the pressure is reduced below
5.5kgkg/cm2g to flash out remaining CO2 from the solution.
The CO2 released from the flash vessels is saturated with water at
75oC, which is cooled in the LP flash gas cooler (E-4304) to 40 oC. The

condensate is separated in the CO2 separator and the 99.8% pure CO2
is sent to urea-II. The condensate is returned in the regeneration
system.
The solution leaving the flash vessels is divided into two streams. The
major portion is sent to the Flashed solution main pump (P-4301A/B)
which pumps the solution to absorber pressure and feed in the
absorber as semi lean solution. The remaining part is sent to the
flashed solution split stream pump (P-4302A/B). Before entering the
top of the CO2 stripping column (C-4301), solution is preheated in
solution heat exchanger (E-4301) by the lean solution at the
downstream of the stripper. The solution is heated by the steam at 97113oC produced by the MDEA reboiler (E-4215) which boils the MDEA
solution by exchanging heat from the process gas. The CO 2 leaving the
stripper is saturated with water at 97 oC. The vapors are passed through
the LP flash vessel. By condensation of water, the temperature of the
LP flash vessel is increased, resulting in its better performance.
The lean solution from the bottom of the stripper is cooled in solution
heat exchanger (E-4301), DMW preheater (E-4306), lean solution
cooler (E-4303). It is then pumped by the lean solution pump (P4303A/B) to the top of the absorber.

METHANATION:
After the removal of the CO2 from the process gas, the traces of CO 2
and CO must be removed, since these compounds are poison for the
ammonia catalyst.
It is done in the methanator (R-4311), where the reverse of the
reforming reaction takes place and following exothermic chemical
reactions occur:
CO

3H 2

CH 4

H 2O

heat
CO2
+

heat

4H 2

CH 4

2H 2O

The methanator (R-4311) contains 22m 3 of the PK-5 (nickel based)

catalyst in a single bed 3.1m high. The catalyst has approximately the
same characteristics as the reforming catalysts being a nickel catalyst
on a ceramic base.
The inlet temperature to the reactor is around 300-320 oC. The inlet gas
is preheated in gas/gas exchanger (E-4311A/B) and, if required, in trim
heater (E-4313). The gas leaving the methanator has the CO and CO 2
content less than 10 ppm. The leaving gas is cooled in gas/gas
exchanger (E-4311A/B) and final gas cooler (E-4312A/B). Now the gas
is sent to the compression section.

AREA-44
Area-44 is comprised of:

Air Compression Section

Ammonia Compression Section
Syn. Gas Compression Section
Booster PD Screw type Compressors

First three of these are steam turbine driven whereas the last ones are
motor driven.

AIR COMPRESSION SECTION:

Air is used as:

Air is compressed in the Air compression section. A steam turbine

driven, four stage compressor DSTK-4421 is used to compresses the air
from atmosphere to 37kg/cm2g. The steam turbine is condensing and
induction type. HS steam is used to drive the turbine.
The turbine consists of 13 blades; of which first is impulse blade and 12
are reaction blades. According to turbine design, at the 10 th blade, the
pressure of steam becomes 3.8-4kg, which is the LS steam pressure

where more LS steam is injected. The turbine runs on 56 tons/hr of

total steam; of which 21 tons/hr is HS steam. The rest is LS steam. The
turbine runs on a speed of around 9800rpm.
Before the suction of the compressor, the air is passed through a series
of filters S-4421:
Inertia filter
Primary filter
Secondary filter
By passing through these filters, the air comes to the suction of the
first stage of the compressor.

1st Stage:
Air enters the suction of the first stage at a pressure of around
-0.01kg/cm2g. After passing through the first stage, the air is
compressed to a pressure of 1.71kg/cm 2g. Due to this compression, the
temperature of the air is raised to 199oC, which is dropped to 40oC by
passing through a heat exchanger E-4421. The moisture of the air is
removed into the knockout vessel V-4421. The air enters the second
stage.

2nd Stage:
Air enters the suction of the second stage at a pressure of around
1.71kg/cm2g. After passing through the second stage, the air is
compressed to a pressure of 7.12kg/cm 2g. Due to this compression, the
temperature of the air is raised to 203oC, which is dropped to 40oC by
passing through a heat exchanger E-4422. The residual moisture of the
air is removed into the knockout vessel V-4422.
The discharge of the 2nd stage is equipped with an inter-stage vent
valve. During startup, the compressor cant be run on max speed; the
speed is brought gradually to the desired value. The excess of gas on
the upstream of the compressor is vent after the second stage. This is
done by the vent valve until the compressor gains its normal working
speed.

3rd Stage:
Air enters the suction of the third stage at a pressure of around
7.12kg/cm2g. After passing through the third stage, the air is
compressed to a pressure of 15.1kg/cm 2g. Due to this compression, the
temperature of the air is raised to 144oC, which is dropped to 88oC by
passing through a heat exchanger E-4423.
After the 3rd stage, a part of the air is extracted and cooled in the heat
exchanger E-4424 and after removing the residual moisture from the
air in the knock out vessel V-4425, it is sent to the air storage tank V5001A. From here, the air is supplied to the instrument air generation
section, inert gas generation section and as the passivation air.
The remaining air is sent to the suction of the 4th stage.

4th Stage:
Air enters the
15.11kg/cm2g.
compressed to
temperature of

suction of the fourth stage at a pressure of around

After passing through the fourth stage, the air is
a pressure of 37kg/cm2g. Due to this compression, the
the air is raised to 218oC.

The discharge of the 4th stage is provided with an anti-surge valve. It

prevents the surging by letting down the discharge pressure to the
vent if surging is likely to occur. The air is sent to the Secondary
reformer R-4202 as the process air.

AMMONIA REFRIGERATION COMPRESSOR:

WATER TREATMENT
There are two water sources for the Fauji Fertilizer Company:
Canal Water
Well Water
Canal water supply comes from the way of Rahim Yar Khan. This supply
from canal is not continuous and there comes a need of another source
when the canal water supply is cut off.
To overcome the need of water, the second source is the well water.
The wells that provide water to FFC are located in Ahmedpur Lamma,
40 km away from the plant site.
The water from these two sources is stored on the plant site at S-912
basin. It consists of three sections:
Fire pit
Suction pit
Main Reservoir

4000m3
7000m3
30000m3

Fire pit and main reservoir are filled with well water, whereas suction
pit is filled with canal water. These sections are interconnected by
gates, which can be set to open or close according to the situation of
the supply.
The fire water is for any emergency or incident of fire on the plant site
or the township. Four fire water pumps are used to pressurize the
water for fire hydrants. Pumps (P-972A/B) have a capacity of 50m 3/h
and always pressurize the header at 7kg/cm 2g. In intense situations
when this capacity is not enough or when the pressure drops below

3.5kg/cm2g, P-971 having a capacity of 500m 3/h automatically cuts in.

In case of power failure, a diesel powered pump is also there in
standby which also has the capacity of 500m3/h.
Canal water from the suction pit is preferred to use on the plant due to
less hardness. But the turbidity is high and need to be properly treated.
In case of unavailability or shortage of canal water, well water is used.
This water is low in turbidity but hardness is quite high and need to be
properly treated before using it as process water in the plant.
The water treatment is done in Area-09. Pumps (P-903A/B/C) deliver
canal water from suction pit to the sludge contact clarifier.

Sludge Contact Clarifier:

Sludge contact clarifier is used for clarification and the removal of
temporary hardness from the water. It is comprised of three zones:
Mixing zone
Reaction Zone
Setting Zone
Mixing zone has a mixing turbine and a scrapper. The quick lime, after
being converted as the slaked lime, in the lime slaker, is fed to the
clarifier in the mixing zone. This reacts with the water in the reaction
zone and removes the temporary hardness from the water by having
the following reaction with the bi-carbonates that are causing
hardness:
Ca(OH)2

Ca(HCO3)2

2CaCO 3

2H2O
This converts soluble bi-carbonates into insoluble carbonates, which
can easily be separated in the separation zone.
To remove the turbidity, aluminium sulphate is added in the water. This
causes the following reaction:

Al2(SO4)3

Ca(HCO3)2

Al(OH) 3 + CaSO4 +

CO2 + H2O
The Al(OH)3 attaches the clay, organic matter and dirt particles with it
and settles down in the settling zone of the clarifier. Since it takes
more time to settle due to slight density difference, a polyelectrolyte is
added in the water as a flocculent. It makes flocks of those settling
masses and increases their density. This lowers the settling time.
The concentration of the sulphates and aluminium in the water is kept
below 10ppm and 20ppb respectively.
The sludge is periodically removed from the bottom of the clarifier. The
water flow pattern is made in such a way that after the mixing zone
and removal of hardness, the water goes below the sludge bed and
passes through it. The bed of insoluble matter acts as a filtering
medium. Thats why whole of the sludge is not removed from the
bottom. A specific height of sludge is always maintained in the clarifier.
Then the water is raised in the settling zone where grooved channels
are made where the clarified water overflows in is sent in the Clarified
water basin (S-902). The major part of the clarified water i.e. around
80% is sent to the cooling towers as their makeup water through
pumps (P-904A/B/C).

Sand Filters:
The remaining water is further processed for making able to be used in
the boilers for the generation of steam. Pumps (P-905A/B/C) deliver the
clarified water in the Sand filters (V-901A/B/C/D/E). Gravels are used as
the filtering media, which removes the residual turbidity including clay,
sand, mud and other organic impurities from the water. The turbidity
level after the clarifier becomes in ppbs. The sand filters are back
washed after every 16 hours of service.
Backwashing is initiated by air scoring. Air scoring is an operation of
blowing the air from the bottom of the vessel. This loosens the gravel
bed that is blocked by the impurities. Then, previously filtered water
from the sand filters is used to backwash the filters. Backwashing is

done for 20 minutes. This is repeated after every 16 hours of sand filter
in service.
The filtered water is sent to the storage into the tank T-902 having a
capacity of 750m3. The filtered water is sent to a series of ion
exchangers. Pumps (MP-907A/B/C/D/E) are used to deliver this water to
the Strong cation exchanger (V-905). The water leaving the tank T-902
is having a pH around 10.2 due to the dissolved mineral salts.

Strong Cation Exchanger:

Strong Cation Exchanger (V-905) contains 12.7 m3 of Relite CFS resin. It
contains H+ ion as the mobile group. It exchanges the cations (Ca 2+,
Mg2+, Na+, K+, Al3+ etc) by the H+ ion. The hydrogen ion reacts with the
remaining NO3-, Cl-, SO42-, CO32- etc forming free mineral acids like
H2SO4, HNO3, HCl, H2CO3 etc. This suddenly reduces the pH to 2-2.5.
Now the water is led to the degasifier.

Degasifier:
Degasifier consists of a bed of rashig rings. The water is sprayed from
the top and the air is blown from the bottom. This air decomposes the
weak acids as:
H2CO3

air

H2O

CO2

Now the water is termed as decatanized water and sent to the

decatanized water vessel (V-906) through which it is sent for the
removal of the anions left by the salt in the weak anion exchanger (V907).

Weak Anion Exchanger:

The water is sent to the weak anion exchanger (V-907). Weak anion
exchanger contains 4.6m3 of Relite A329 resin. It contains OH - as
mobile group. It replaces strong anions like SO42-, NO3-, Cl- by the OHion making water with the H + ion previously attached to these ions;
thus increasing the pH of water towards neutrality.

Strong Anion Exchanger:

The water now comes in the strong anion exchanger (V-908). It
contains 8.6m3 of Relite 3AS. It also contains OH - ion as the mobile
group. Here weak anions like silicates, phosphates etc are
interchanged by the OH- ion. Now the water is called Deionized Water.
This Deionized water is stored in the tank T-903 with a pH of around 89.5.

Carbon Filters:
The process condensate from urea and ammonia is led to the carbon
filters (V-914). It contains a bed of activated carbon that stops any
urea, ammonia, dissolved gases, oil or organic matter or their traces on
its surface. The water leaving the carbon filters is now completely free
from all the insoluble impurities.
The water from carbon filters (V-914) and from the strong anion
exchanger (V-908) is now taken to the mix bed polisher by means of
pumps MP-915A/B/C.

Mix Bed Polisher:

The water is now finally passed through a polisher (V-915) which
contains a mix bed of both strong cation exchanger and strong anion
exchanger. These both exchangers are different from that of the
precious ones.
The strong cation exchanger contains a bed of 2m 3 of Relite CFSMB
resin and strong anion exchanger contains a bed of 2m 3 Relite 3ASMB
resin. These both beds are present in the mixed condition in the
polisher. The deionized water passes through the polisher and is made
free from the last remaining traces of the mineral ions.
The water enters the polisher with a pH of around 8-9.5 but since the
cation exchanger resin is denser than anion exchanger and a part of it
settles down at the bottom of the polisher, it decreases the pH of the
exiting water to around 6.5. This happens because cation exchanger
hives H+ ion making the pH slight acidic.

Now the water is termed as Demineralized water and is taken in

Deminalized Water Storage Tank T-901 having a capacity of 8500m 3.
Since the pH of the water is slight acidic, it tends to corrode the
material of the tank. Therefore, at the upstream of the tank, a vessel
(V-921) adds up a little amount of ammoniacal solution by a small
pump (P-929) which add the ammoniacal solution to the demineralized
water tank T-901 at a rate of 1m 3/h. This maintains the pH of water at
the safe levels.
The water is now sent to plant-I and plant-II. There, it is deaerated and
used as the boiler feed water.