CONTENTS

 Acknowledgement - 2

 Introduction to CFCL - 3

 Ammonia plant - 6

 Urea Plant - 17

 O&U Plant - 22

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Nothing concrete can be achieved without an optimal inspiration during the course of
work. The project entitled “Urea Manufacturing Process at CFCL” was finished in the
stimulated time frame. The task might have been onerous had it not been under the
active guidance of the industry employees. I was privileged to receive the same from a
group of enthusiastic individuals.

I am very thankful to Mr. Inderjeet Singh (Dy General Manager) for providing me an
Opportunity to work with “Production Departments” of CFCL- Gadepan (Kota).

I would like to convey my sincere thanks to Mr. Vishwadeep Jain (Sr. Manager – O&U) for
expressing confidence in me and giving me an opportunity to undertake such a valuable
project under an organization of such importance to the agricultural sector of the country.

I offer my heartiest regards to my project leader Mr. B P Gupta (Manager – Ammonia-1)

and Mr Arvind Kumar (Sr manager – Urea-1) for their continuous guidance, monitoring and
informal discussion, which were beacon of light for me in the entire duration of this
project.

I am thankful to Mr. R Chaba (Dy General Manager - Urea) for his instructions and
technically critical help throughout the course of my training.

I would like to thank employees of C.F.C.L who helped me tour the plant site safely in an
environment of high hazard risk and very importantly Mr. Sainath K., whose lectures
helped me understand the subject thoroughly and with clarity.

Humbled.

Siddhant Singh
B. Tech- Chemical Engineering (2nd Year)
BMSCE Bangalore

2
1. INTRODUCTION TO CFCL – Gadepan;

Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd (CFCL), promoted by Zuari Industries Ltd. Goa,
is a flagship company of KK BIRLA Group with an excellent track record in the field of
Fertiliser Production. The project is located near village Gadepan, 34 kms away from
Kota city on National Highway – 76.

CFCL complex is spread over an area of 400 hectares, housing Ammonia and Urea
plants, Off- Site facilities including Captive Power Plant, DM Water Plant, Naphtha
Storage, Ammonia Storage, Bagging, Railway siding and Amenities like residential
complex, Club, School etc. in a pleasant and green surroundings.

CFCL has established and maintained an Integrated QEHS (Quality, Environmental,

Occupational Health and Safety) Management System as per the requirement of ISO-
9001:2008, ISO-14001; 2004 and OHSAS-18001: 2007. The company has also bagged
various prestigious awards for its excellent track record in the Environment
protection, Energy management and Safety management. CFCL was awarded the
prestigious “Environment Protection Award” for the year 2010 by Govt of India, “FAI
award for Excellence in Environment Management” for the 3 consecutive years
2009-10, 2010-11 & 2011-12 by Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) and “FAI Award for
Best Performance among Nitrogenous fertiliser plants” for the year 2002-03.There
are many more awards bagged by CFCL in the field of Safety, Performance excellence,
Technical innovation, Energy management, Social welfare and Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR). CFCL has also implemented Process Safety Management (PSM)
system proactively to ensure the best and safe practices for plant operation and
maintenance. Behavior Based Safety (BBS) implemented by CFCL takes care of the
safety of employees and contract manpower in their day to day activities.

Plant-1 of CFCL commonly known as Gadepan-I Plant is a state of the art Hi-Tech
complex, based on Natural Gas feed stock and designed by ‘Haldor Topsoe’ of Denmark
for ammonia plant. The design capacity of Ammonia-1 plant set up in 1994 was 1500
Tons per day (TPD) which was revamped to 1770 TPD in 2009. The Urea-1 plant of
2250 TPD capacity designed by Snam-Progetti of Italy was set up in 1994 and then
revamped to 3100 TPD in 2009.

3
Plant-2 of CFCL commonly known as Gadepan-II Plant is also a state of the art Hi-Tech
complex, based on Naphtha / Natural Gas feed stock and designed by ‘M W Kellogg’ of
USA for ammonia plant. It was commissioned in Oct-1999 with the design capacity of
1500 TPD and further revamped to 1710 TPD in 2009. The Urea-2 plant of 2350 TPD
capacity designed by Toyo Engineering Corporation, Japan was set up in 1999 and then
revamped to 3000 TPD in 2009.

Both the Ammonia plants involves purification of feedstock, steam reforming, gas
purification by shift reactions & GV solution CO2 removal process, ammonia synthesis,
refrigeration, ammonia recovery from purge gases and in-plant condensate treatment
for its reuse. Both urea plants involve urea synthesis, purification, concentration and
prilling steps. In-plant condensate treatment is done to recycle treated condensate as
boiler feed water.

CFCL has undertaken massive tree plantation in and around the plant since inception
of the project and has crossed the target of 33% of area plantation. CFCL enjoys a high
credibility with Financial Institutions and Banks. There have been absolutely no
defaults or extensions in the payment of interest or repayment of installments to any
of the institutions or banks. CFCL’s marketing, distribution and collections resulted in
excellent working capital management and is operating well within the sanctioned
limits. Growing rapidly with the best technology, skilled manpower, proven systems
and procedures, the Urea brand ‘Uttam Veer’ is positioned as a new age fertilizer for
the new-age farmers. CFCL aims to be a partner in providing India’s food security. The
Zuari-Chambal vision is to be one of the largest fertilizer combine in the world.

The important features of CFCL are summarized below;

Advent of the industry:

Gadepan-1 Plant:
Year of commissioning : Jan 1994
Capacity Ammonia production : 1520 MTPD
Capacity Urea production : 2620 MTPD
Revamped capacity : 1770 (Amm) & 3100 (Urea) TPD
Technology Ammonia : Haldor Topsoe
Technology Urea : Snamprogetti, Italy

4
 Gadepan-2 Plant:
Year of commissioning
Capacity ammonia production
Capacity Urea production
Revamped capacity
Technology ammonia
Technology urea
: Oct 1999
: 1520 MTPD
: 2620 MTPD
: 1710 (Amm) / 3000 (Urea) TPD
: MW Kellogg’s Technology
: TEC Advance Cost and Energy Saving process

Operational Departments of CFCL:

 Offsite and Utilities

 Phase-1 (Ammonia-1 and Urea-1)
 Phase-2 (Ammonia-2 and Urea-2)
 Urea Product Handling
 Instrumentation Department
 Electrical Department
 Mechanical Department
 Environment and Quality Control
 Fire and Safety Department

In this project, the study of Offsites & Utilities plant, Ammonia-1 plant and Urea-1
plant was done to understand the process of Urea manufacturing. The brief
understanding of these plants is summarized in the following sections;

5
2. AMMONIA-1 PLANT

2.1. Ammonia Manufacturing Process:

Ammonia-1 Plant is designed based on Haldor Topsoe technology having Natural

Gas (NG) as feedstock. The plant’s design capacity was 1500 tons per day
ammonia and it was commissioned in Jan-1994. The plant was revamped in
March-2009 wherein capacity was increased to 1770 TPD and few schemes were
implemented to improves plants energy consumption. The current operating
energy of Gadepan-1 plant is as below
 Energy cons (Ammonia feed & fuel) = 7.30 Kcal/MT amm
 Energy cons (Amm overall) = 7.90 Kcal/MT amm
 Energy cons (Urea overall) = 5.45 Kcal/MT urea

Following process steps are involved in the manufacturing of liquid ammonia:

- De-sulphurization of Feedstock
- Steam Reforming
- Gas Purification (Shift Conversion and CO2 Removal)
- Ammonia Synthesis & Refrigeration
- Ammonia Absorption & Recovery
- Process condensate stripping

In the revamping of Ammonia-1 plant in 2009, CFCL had installed KRES (KBR Exchanger
Reformeing System) which has facilitated debottlenecking of reforming section without
affecting the already installed equipments. This KRES is one of the unique features of
the licensor KBR and it is the 2nd of its kind in the world. CFCL had also installed 2 nd
Ammonia converter in series to the 1 st converter during revamping which had resulted
in significant energy saving.

The Ammonia-1 process steps are depicted in the following block diagram;

6
 2.2. Desulphurization of Feed Stock

The desulphurization section consists of three vessels, one containing the

hydrogenation catalyst and two vessels containing the H 2S absorption mass (ZnO bed).
Over the hydrogenation catalyst, the Organic sulfur present in Natural Gas is converted
into Hydrogen Sulfide in presence of hydrogen rich gas at temperature of 390 oC. The
hydrogen sulfide formed is absorbed by zinc oxide in ZnO Absorber as per the following
reaction.

RSH + H2 RH + H2 S
C4H4S + 4 H2 C4H10 + H2 S
ZnO + H2 S ZnS + H2 O
(Zinc Oxide) (Hydrogen Sulfide) (Zinc sulphide) (Water)
The final De-sulphurisation feedstock contains less than 0.05 ppm sulphur.

7
The arrangement of desulphuriser reactor & ZnO absormer is shown in the following

sketch.

2.3. Steam Reforming (Primary & Secondary reformer)

The desulphurised feed gas is mixed with Process Steam to achieve steam to carbon ratio of
3.3 and preheated in the convection section of Primary Reformer up to 520 oC. The mixture
then passes through vertical Primary Reformer tubes containing 42 M 3 nickel-based catalyst.
There are 288 centrifugally cast reformer tubes placed in two chambers of primary reformer,
each chamber having 288 tubes. The tubes have OD of 133 mm, thickness 11.5 mm and the
heated length of 11.5 meters.
Primary Reformer reforming reaction is given below:

C2H2n+2 + 2H2O Cn-1H2n + CO2 + 3H2 - HEAT

CH4 + H2 O CO + 3 H2 - HEAT

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(Methane) (Water) (Carbon Mono-oxide) (Hydrogen)

CO + H2O CO2 + H2 - HEAT

(Carbon Mono-oxide) (Water) (Carbon Di-oxide) (Hydrogen)
CH4 + 2H2O CO2 + 4 H2 - HEAT
(Methane) (Water) (Carbon Di-oxide) (Hydrogen)

Since the reforming reaction is endothermic, the necessary heat is provided in the furnace by
burning Natural gas, Tail gas and off gases as fuel in Air Oil burners. There are 576 burners,
mounted in 6 rows on 4 walls of reformer, each row having 24 burners (24 x 4 x 6). Naphtha
fuel system was commissioned in 1999 due to short supply of Natural gas. The gas leaving the
primary reformer tubes at a temperature of about 800 oC with methane slip of 11 mole% (Dry
basis).The reformer is side fired in case of Ammonia-I. The Primary Reformer furnace is
designed to achieve maximum thermal efficiency and uniform heat distribution. Maximum
heat is recovered from the flue gases in the convective section of Primary Reformer to pre-
heat mixed feed (gas/steam mixture), natural gas, and Process air for Secondary Reformer,
Combustion air and to superheat the High Pressure steam.

The following schematic explains the arrangement of burner in Primary Reformer;

9
The partially reformed gas from Primary Reformer is then mixed with Process air and the
mixture flows through a bed of nickel based catalyst in the Secondary Reformer. In the
secondary reformer, the partial combustion of process gas gives high temperature at the top
of catalyst bed about 1100 oC to 1200oC. The reforming reaction of methane lowers down the
temperature and the gas exits secondary reformer at about 990 oC.Process Air Compressor
(Man GHH make) supplies the process Air to Secondary Reformer. The quantity of air is
controlled to provide nitrogen in the required proportion for the formation of ammonia. The
process gas from the Secondary Reformer is routed to a Waste Heat Boiler to generate high-
pressure steam at pressure of 115 Kg/cm2g. KRES

The following photograph is showing Primary Reformer, Secondary Reformer and KRES;

Secondary
Primary Reformer
Reformer

2.4. CO Conversion (Shift reaction);

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Gas leaving the Waste Heat Boiler system at about 380 oC enters the High Temperature
CO Shift converter (HTS) charged with Iron-oxide catalyst (92 M 3). Here the carbon
mono-oxide content is converted to carbon di-oxide. Inlet and outlet CO composition
of HTS catalyst bed is 13% and 3.6% respectively. Since the reaction is exothermic, the
outlet temperature rises to 443 oC. The main part of reaction takes place causing
temperature rise. This gas is then cooled down to 336 oC in another Waste Heat Boiler
by producing high pressure steam. Finally the gas is cooled to 215 oC in BFW Pre-
heaters before entering Low Temperature CO Shift Converter (LTS).

Residual CO is further converted to CO 2 by reaction over a Copper based Catalyst in

low temperature shift converter (catalyst volume = 122 M 3). Inlet process gas
temperature of LTS Converter is 215oC and outlet temperature is 239oC.
Shift reaction is exothermic, which is given below:
CO + H2O CO2 + H2 + Heat
(Carbon Mono-oxide) (Water) (Carbon Di-oxide) (Hydrogen)

Shift Converter outlet gas is further cooled in two BFW Pre-heaters giving its heat to
boiler feed water. Then, it enters the Re-boiler of CO2 removal system after the
removal of process condensate in a separator. This process condensate is sent to
Process Condensate treatment section.

2.5. CO2 Removal (GV Section) :

GV (Giammarco – Vetrocoke of Italy) is the Process Licensor of CO 2 Removal Process.

Carbon Dioxide is removed from process gas by absorption in Hot Potassium Carbonate
solution (approx. 25% wt% potash K2CO3).The solution contains dual activators i.e.
glycine & DEA (2%) and vanadium oxide (0.5%) as corrosion inhibitor. The process gas
is then cooled in the series of exchanger (Re-boiler, Boiler and DM Water pre-heater)
before entering CO2 absorber at temperature of 104oC.
The absorber is a packed column. The hot potash solution is introduced into the
Absorber at two places, the lean solution (275 M 3/hr) is at the top bed and the semi-
lean solution (1370 M3/hr) at the middle-bed. The CO 2 rich solution from the Absorber

11
bottom at 28 Kg/cm2g is depressurized through a Hydraulic Turbine before it is
discharged to the top of the first Regenerator operating at 1.0 Kg/cm 2g, where the
part CO2 gets flashed off. A stream of rich solution extracted from top of first
regenerator is further depressurized and enters the top of second regenerator
operating slightly above atmospheric pressure about 0.1 Kg/cm 2g.The heat for
regeneration is supplied to the first regenerator partly from the Re-boiler and partly
from low pressure steam. The regenerated solution is pumped to the Absorber by Lean
& Semi-lean solution circulation pump (Nuovo Pignone make pump & Eliott make
turbine).The main feature of GV process is that GV consists of two regenerators.
Product CO2 is sent to Urea Plant from the stripper after cooling to 40 oC at pressure of
0.6 Kg/cm2g. Design CO2 slip from the system is 1000 ppm but actual operating is
about 300 ppm.

2.6. Methanation

The gas from Absorber at temperature of 60oC is pre-heated to 320oC by gas/gas heat
exchanger with the outlet gas from the Methanator at temperature of 350 oC. The
small quantities of 0.39% CO and 0.10% CO 2 in the process gas are converted to
methane by reaction with hydrogen over a nickel-based catalyst (30M3).
CO2 + 4 H2 CH4 + 2 H2O + Heat

(Carbon Di-oxide) (Hydrogen) (Methane) (Water)

CO + 3 H2 CH4 + H2O + Heat

(Carbon Mono-oxide) (Hydrogen) (Methane) (Water)

The exit CO & CO2 slip is less than 1 ppm. The Methanator effluent gas from
Gas/Gas Exchanger outlet is cooled in a final gas cooler and sent to the suction of
Synthesis Gas Compressor. The inlet temperature to the make-up synthesis gas
compressor is about 41oC and the cooling takes place in cooling water cooler. The
make-up gas from methanation section is compressed in 3 stages of Synthesis Gas
Compressor (Compressor- Dresser-rand, Turbine - MHI) from 25Kg/cm 2g to 211
Kg/cm2g before introduction to Ammonia synthesis loop. The synthesis gas has
hydrogen & nitrogen in a volumetric ratio of 3:1 and some inert.

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2.7. Ammonia Synthesis & Refrigeration

The make-up synthesis gas leaves the make-up synthesis compressor group at 211
Kg/cm2g and 41oC.This is further cooled in the chiller giving an outlet temperature of
23oC. The mixing to the recirculated synthesis gas takes place between the 1st
Ammonia chiller and 2nd Ammonia chiller. The final condensing takes place in the
second Ammonia chiller, where the gas/liquid mixture is cooled to the separation
temperature. The gas/liquid mixture is separated in Ammonia separator. The
synthesis gas leaves the top as re-circulating synthesis gas and from bottom liquid
Ammonia flows to the Letdown vessel, operating at 25Kg/cm 2g pressure.

13
The schematic of Ammonia converter is given below;

14
The liquid Ammonia from Letdown vessel is supplied to Urea plant. The recirculated
synthesis gas leaves the top of the Ammonia separator at 12 oC and is passed to the
shell side of cold heat exchanger. The gas is pre heated to about 35 oC by heat
exchange with converter effluent gas .The preheated gas is sent to synthesis gas
compressor where it is compressed from about 208 to 222 Kg/cm 2g. The compressed
synthesis gas is preheated in hot heat exchanger up to 244oC, by converter effluent
gas, before feeding to Ammonia converter. The Ammonia converter is a radial type
Sereis-200 converter with the gas flowing through the two catalyst beds (Topsoe type
KMIR with nominal diameters of catalyst granule in both beds are 1.5 mm to 3 mm) in
radial direction and one internal heat exchanger. The converter contains a total
volume of 105.1 M3. Ammonia Converter synthesis reaction is given below:
N2 + 3 H2 2 NH3 + Heat

(Nitrogen) (Hydrogen) (Ammonia)

Ammonia
COnverters

15
The converter effluent gas is cooled in a number of steps, first in Waste Heat Boiler
from the converter exit temperature of about 455 oC to 350oC, then the boiler feed
water feed pre-heater to 274oC followed by hot heat exchanger and the water cooler
to about 40oC, and finally in the cold heat exchanger and two chillers to 12 oC.The
condensed ammonia is separated from the circulating gas in Ammonia Separator.
Ammonia Refrigeration system consists of two stage centrifugal Refrigeration
compressor (BHEL make) and Screw type compressor (Howden make) for handling low
pressure. The purpose of refrigeration circuit is to provide necessary cooling capacity
in Ammonia synthesis loop. The circuit operates at three temperature (Pressure)
levels thus comprising three compression steps.
A] High chiller level (7.4 Kg/cm2g, 19oC)
B] Medium chiller level (4.8 Kg/cm2g, 8oC)
C] Low chiller level (0.05 Kg/cm2g, -33oC)

Saturated ammonia vapor from the purge gas chiller, letdown gas chiller and
evaporated ammonia from flash vessel are compressed in ammonia booster
compressors. The gas leaving the booster compressor is mixed with evaporated
ammonia from second chiller and inert gas chiller and is fed to first stage of ammonia
refrigeration compressor. The gas leaving the first stage is mixed with evaporated
ammonia from first ammonia chiller and make-up gas chiller and gets compressed in
second stage of refrigeration compressor. The outlet gas from the compressors at 18
Kg/cm2g and 110oC is cooled and condensed in two ammonia condensers installed in
parallel at 45oC, where this gets liquefied for supply as refrigerant. The refrigeration
circuit consists of three separate vessels.

During normal plant operation, ammonia from Letdown vessel flows to urea plant but
incase ammonia is to be taken to ammonia storage then the liquid ammonia from
Letdown vessel is taken to flash vessel. The flash vessel operates at 0.05 Kg/cm 2g
pressure. Owing to the reduced pressure, part of the liquid ammonia is evaporated
and fed into the refrigeration circuit. The rest of the ammonia is passed to the
ammonia storage by means of one of the two ammonia product pumps.

16
Make up gas contains small amount of argon and methane. These gasses are inert
without undergoing any reaction in Ammonia converter. This inert gas gets
accumulated in ammonia synthesis loop un-till the addition of inert gases is
counterbalanced by removal of same quantity of inert gasses from loop (Purge gas).
The purge gasses from the synthesis loop are taken to High pressure ammonia
scrubber for scrubbing Ammonia before feeding to purge gas recovery unit (Membrane
type: Air Products) for hydrogen recovery. The purge gas recovery unit comprises of a
set of 10 prism separators, where hydrogen passes through the prisms and non-
permeate are letdown to utilize as fuel. The recovered hydrogen is fed to the
synthesis gas compressor suction. The ammonical effluent from the HP Ammonia
scrubber is treated in the ammonia distillation column.

2.8. Ammonia Absorption & recovery section

Letdown gases & Inert gases from the Synthesis loop are fed to a low pressure
absorber at a pressure of 15 Kg/cm 2g where ammonia is absorbed in the circulating
water. The ammonia free gas is then sent to fuel system. The Ammonical water is
treated in a distillation Column to recover out ammonia at a pressure of 20 Kg/cm 2g.

2.9. Process condensate stripping section.

The condensate stripping section treats process condensate from the front end
separators and the process condensate from CO2 absorption section. Condensates from
CO2 section are treated in CO2 stripper located in the top of Process condensate
stripper which treats the process condensate at pressure a pressure of 0.2 ~ 0.4
Kg/cm2g .The process condensate unit removes the ammonia, CO 2 and methanol etc
from the condensate before sending to DM Water plant in off-sites.

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 3. UREA –1 MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Urea-I plant is based on Snamprogetti, Italy process and has two streams of 1125 TPD
each with the common Prilling Tower and Process Condensate Treatment Sections. The
Urea production process involves the following steps:

 Urea Synthesis
 Urea Purification
 Urea concentration
 Urea Prilling
 Process Condensate Treatment

The block diagram of Urea-1 process is presented below;

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3.1. Urea Synthesis

Synthesis of Urea is carried out at high pressure of 156 Kg/Cm²g and temperature of
about 190°C in a carbon steel Rector with SS 316L modified liner. The liquid ammonia
coming directly from the Ammonia Plant is collected in the Ammonia Receiver. From
the receiver, it is pumped by means of a pump and fed to the Urea Reactor. The
carbon dioxide is also compressed to Synthesis pressure by a centrifugal compressor
and fed to the Reactor. The small quantity of air is added into carbon dioxide for
Passivation of the stainless steel surfaces and thus protects the equipments form
corrosion.

Exothermic reaction between Liquid ammonia & gaseous carbon dioxide in Urea Reactor is
given below:

a) Carbamate Formation

2 NH3 + CO2 NH2 COO NH4 + Heat

(Ammonia) (Carbon Di-oxide) (Ammonium Carbamate)

b) Dehydration

NH2 COO NH4 NH2 CO NH2 + H2O - Heat

(Ammonium Carbamate) (Urea) (Water)

The reaction products from the Reactor flow to the steam heated falling film type
Stripper operating at Synthesis pressure. The mixture is heated as it flows down
and the carbamate is decomposed by the stripping action. The carbamate
decomposition heat is supplied by steam on the shell side. The overhead gases
from the stripper flow to the carbamate condenser along with recycle carbamate
solution from down stream, where these are condensed and recycled back to
Reactor. Condensing the gases at high-pressure results in low-pressure steam
generation in carbamate condenser, which is utilized in the process.

3.2. Urea Purification

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Urea purification takes place in two pressure stages i.e. MP pre-decomposition
(proposed to be installed in revamp case) and MP Decomposition at operating pressure
of 17 Kg/Cm²g and LP Decomposition at operating pressure of 3 Kg/Cm²g. When
solution is let down from high pressure to lower pressure, gaseous ammonia & carbon
dioxide are generated. These gaseous mixtures are condensed/absorbed at respective
pressures and recovered Carbamate solution is recycled back to the Reactor.

3.3. Urea Concentration Section

Urea solution leaving the LP decomposer shall be sent to first vacuum concentrator
operating at 0.3 Kg/Cm²A pressure.

The gases leaving from pre-concentrator & I st vacuum separator are removed first
vacuum system. Final concentration of 99.7 % is achieved in the second vacuum
concentrator operating at 0.03 Kg/Cm²A pressure. The gases leaving the top separator
are removed by the second vacuum system. Water vapors from the concentration
section are condensed in cooling water Surface Condensers and recovered condensate,
which contains urea mist, CO2 and Ammonia is sent to Process Condensate treatment
section.

3.4. Urea Prilling

The molten Urea solution at temperature of 136 degC after final concentration in
vacuum section is fed to the Prilling bucket by means of a Urea Melt pump. The urea
coming out from the rotating prill bucket encounters cold airflow in a natural draft
Prilling tower, which causes its solidification. The product urea prills falling to the
bottom of the Prilling tower are collected through a rotary scrapper and are sent to
Bagging Plant for packaging or Silo for storage.

3.5. Process Condensate Treatment

The process condensate containing small amount of CO2, Ammonia and Urea coming
out of vacuum condensers is collected in a buffer tank. The solution from this tank is
fed to Process Condensate Stripper to strip ammonia and CO 2. The solution drawn from
an intermediate tray of this column is sent to a Hydrolyser. In the Hydrolyser Urea is
hydrolyzed to ammonia and carbon dioxide. Hydrolyser vapors are recycled to the

20
stripper for further stripping of ammonia & CO 2. The treated condensate, which is
practically free of ammonia and urea, is sent to Off-sites and Utility facility for use as
Boiler Feed Water after polishing.

The vacuum concentration section of Urea-1 plant as studied is represented below;

21
22
23
4. PROCESS DESCRIPTION – OFFSITES & UTILITIES (O&U) PLANTS;

Offsite & Utilities (O&U) plant is the service department for both Gadepan-1 and
Gadepan-2 plants. O&U consists of various sections which include Steam & Power
Generation (SPG), Raw Water Pumping station, Water Pre-Treatment (WPT),
Demineralized (DM) water plant, Cooling Towers, Instrument & Process air (IAPA) and
Inert Gas Generation (IGG) plants. Each section has independent activities and they
are extremely important for supporting the trouble-free operation of the main plants
(Ammonia and Urea). Activities in each of these plants are briefly described in the
following sections;

4.1. SOURCE OF RAW WATER and PUMPING STATION :

Significant quantity of water is required for any fertilizer plant. The typical water
requirement Urea manufacturing plant is approx. 6.0 m3/MT. For continuous running
of plant there should be a reliable source of raw water. The requirement of water for
Chambal Fertilizer and Chemical Ltd (CFCL) varies from 1400 m³/hr. to 1700 M³/hr.
The source of raw water for CFCL is Kalisindh River which is non perennial in nature.
CFCL has installed pumping station at a natural water reservoir of the river which is
about 6 km from the factory. In order to have the un-interrupted supply of water to
the plant, CFCL has made two anicuts on the river. One anicuts has been made at the
pumping station having capacity of 3.0 million m3. The another anicuts has been built
at the upstream of pumping station having the capacity of 6.0 million m3.

The pumping station consists of 4 nos of vertical, turbo, multistage pumps of capacity
630m³/hr and head of 68 MLC. These pumps are installed on the top of an intake well
which is circular, vertical RCC structure. Water is pumped into two large open
reservoirs of 60,000 m3 capacity each located inside the CFCL boundary. Water is then
directed to WPT for further treatment.

Details of pumps installed at KSPH PUMPS DETAIL

Make : JYOTI PUMPS LTD
CAPACITY : 630m³/hr each
NO. OF STAGES : 4
NO. OF SHAFTS : 11
RPM : 1450
KW : 150

24
The details of intake well made at the KSPH for water pumping is shown in the
following diagram;

4.2. WATER PRE-TREATMENT (WPT)

Water impurities include dissolved and suspended solids. Calcium bicarbonate is a

soluble salt. A solution of calcium bicarbonate is clear, because the calcium and
bicarbonate are present as atomic-sized ions which are not large enough to reflect
light. Some soluble minerals impart a color to the solution. Soluble iron salts produce
pale yellow or green solutions; some copper salts form intensely blue solutions.
Although colored, these solutions are clear. Suspended solids are substances that are
not completely soluble in water and are present as particles. These particles usually

25
impart a visible turbidity to the water. These impurities must be removed before
water is sent for various usage in the plant. This treatment is done in WPT section.

Following non ionic impurities are removed by pretreatment in WPT;

 Turbidity, Silt, dirt and other suspended matter

 Organic matter
 Color
 Colloidal silica
 Micro organism and bacteria
 Oil
 Dissolved gases such as H2S and CO2
 Total dissolved solids (TDS)

Raw water from reservoirs is directed to WPT plant where it is treated to remove
turbidity and organics in the water. Process involved in WPT is chlorination,
clarification and filtration. Chemicals used in WPT are chlorine for killing bacterial
growth and alum or Poly-aluminum Chloride (PAC) as coagulant to remove turbidity.
Treated water has got turbidity < 1NTU. This water is stored in three tanks and utilized
for different usage.

The water Pre-treatment plant consists of two streams of clarifloculator of 800 m³ /hr
capacity and one no tube settler of 400m³/hr capacity. and associated filters, storage
tanks and utility pumps. Working of clarifier is described in the following para;

4.2.1. WPT-1 (CLARIFIER)

The raw water from Raw Water Reservoirs is pumped through gravity/pumps to the
stilling chamber. This reduces the kinetic energy of water in an open tank ensuring
that pressure and flow oscillations applicable at the discharge of the pump are
dampened to insignificant level. This dampening ensures that no external disturbance
influences formation, growth and settling of flocs in the clarifloculator. This is having
special significance during change of plant load.
Chlorine solution is fed into the stilling chamber along with chlorine di oxide (ClO 2)
Primary purpose of chlorination ClO2 & is killing and trapping of bacteria
Water from the stilling chamber flows to the 2 nos. flash mixers (S-0901 A/B) by
gravity. Chemical solution i.e. Alum/PAC is fed into flash mixer through pipes from
their respective dosing skid. These chemicals are added as coagulant. The agitator

26
inside the flash mixer ensures that uniform solution of coagulant is piped from the
flash mixer to the flocculation zone of the clarifier (T-0902 A/B ).
In the flocculation zone, rotating paddles suspended from the flocculating arm ensure
mixing with minimum disturbance. This helps in formation of flocs and agglomeration
of the flocs to larger size. Most of the flocs settle down at the bottom and water
flows radially out of the clarifier zone. The scrappers hung from the clarifier bridge
push the sludge towards the centre. which is removed by blow-down intermittently
Suspended solid contents in the clarifier zone is relatively small, the retention time is
much higher (155 mts), and the flow is upward. This zone is considered to be static
and further settling of the flocs takes place without any hindrance.
The clarified water from the outer zone of the clarifier flows to the outer launder of
the clarifloculator. Water from the launder flows to the filters through 22” dia pipe.
A circular baffle plate, projecting 75 mm above the water levels prevents carry over of
scum in to the launder. The scum retained by the baffle plat is led into a collector
and diverted to a drain.A skimmer is suspended from the clarifier arm transfers the
scum to the collector reducing the scope for mixing the scum with the clarified
water.
The clear water from the clarifier is filtered by the gravity sand filters.
Four nos. of sand filters each having two beds have been provided for the filtration of
water. The filtered water at the outlet of the filter is led to the underground covered
RCC Filter Water Well (T-0903) .
The filtered water from this well is transferred to the three fire cum filter water
storage tanks ( T-912A/B & T-5912 ) having capacity of 18167 M³ each. A common
suction nozzle (size 36” ) is provided in each of the tanks at 8163 mm above the tank
bottom reserving the lower 7417 M3 in each tank for firefighting.

The complete process flow of WPT is depicted in the diagram shown on the next page;

27
28
4.3. COOLING TOWERS

Cooling water is necessary for taking away the heat generated in various heat
exchangers across the plant. CFCL has two cooling towers Ammonia cooling Tower
(ACT) & Urea cooling tower (UCT). These Cooling towers are Cross Flow with Induced
draft fan. Ammonia Cooling Tower has got 8 cells & Urea Cooling Tower has 5 cells.
Both Cooling towers were commissioned by Ms Paharpur. Chembond Drewtreat
maintains the chemical treatment of cooling towers. Water circulating pumps for both
ACT & UCT are supplied by M/s Mather & platt and motors by M/s BHEL.

4.3.1. Mechanism of cooling

Mechanism - Atmospheric air contains some moisture and is in unsaturated states

whenever this air comes in contact with water surface, a portion of water evaporates
out. The heat of evaporation is taken from the mass of the water itself thus the water
becomes cool. This process will continue till air becomes saturated or wet bulb temp is
reached. As hot water temp is higher than the atmospheric air, total heat is
transferred in form of Evaporation and sensible heat to air.
Rate of heat transfer depends upon hot water temp, Dry bulb temp, Wet bulb temp,
relative humidity, air movement and solar radiation.

4.3.2. Some definitions related to Cooling Towers;

Dry Bulb Temp: Temp of the air on a common thermometer is known as the dry
bulb temp.

Wet Bulb Temp: is same as dry bulb temp if relative humidity is 100%; Temp
recorded by the wet bulb instrument is lower because of chilling by evaporation
lowering the humidity decreasing the wet bulb temp.

Cooling range: Difference between hot water (return cw) temp to cold water
(supply cw) temp. Range is the direct function of the quantity of water circulated
and the heat load. Here the dissipation of heat on high temp is economical.
Approach: Difference between the temp of cold water leaving the cooling tower
and the wet bulb temp of the surrounding air.
Drift: is the small amount of unevaporated water lost from atmospheric water
cooling equipment in the form of mist or fine droplets. Drift is the water entrained
by the circulating air.
Filling: exposed evaporating surface area per unit volume of tower. Usually is 5 to
20 ft2/ft3 of space filled.

29
 Cycle of concentration: Which is the ratio between the dissolved solids (TDS) in
cooling water and the TDS in the make up water. An alternative to measuring total
solids in the cooling water and make up in order to calculate cycles of
concentration is to measure a typical soluble ion. I.e. Chloride.
Hold up capacity of the system (V)
= water contained in basin + sump of cooling water +water contained in
piping and equipment
Blowdown (B)
part of water removed from the system to control concentration of
impurities/dissolved solids in water.
Evaporation loss
water lost to atmosphere in the cooling process. Generally 1% of circulation rate
evaporates for each 5.6 deg T
System losses (S) :
Circulating water is lost in the plant through pumps, valves or leakages in plant.
Concentration cycle (C) :
COC = Cooling water chlorides (ppm) / Makeup water chlorides (ppm)
May be taken on Silica basis
Choice of proper cycles of conc. is to determine its design, water characteristics,
and operating parameter and treatment program.
Make up water (M) = Evaporative water loss + Windage and drift loss + system
losses + blowdown
Blowdown = E / (C – 1)
Where C = COC and E= evaporation rate
Holding time index:
The holding time index is an expression of a half-life of a treatment chemical
added to an evaporative cooling system. The index represents the time required to
dilute an added chemical to 50% of its original conc after the chemical addition is
discontinued. It is also the time required to concentrate the makeup solids by a
factor of ‘2’.
HTI = 0.693 * (hold up capacity) / Blow down (gal / day)
Each program has maximum allowable HTI beyond which chemical looses its
effectiveness.
Tower thermal efficiency =
CW (return temp – supply temp) / CW (return temp – wet bulb temp)
Total tower heat load = CW flow rate * (return temp – supply temp).

4.3.3. COOLING TOWER DATA

Parameters ACT UCT
Recirculation flow M3/hr 28000 16000
Tower Inlet water temp. ‘C 45 45

30
Tower O/L temp. ‘C 36 36
Design amb. Wet bulb temp. 32 32
Design drift losses 0.05% 0.05%
Evaporation loss at 50% RH 1.56% 1.57%
No. of cells 7 5
System holding volume including piping 7000 4000+1000
Blow down rate M3/hr 55 31
Time per cycle (minutes) 15-22 15-17
Cycles of concentration 7-10 7-10
HTI hours 88-120 89-100
Summer temp water In/Out temp ‘C 39 / 32 39 / 33
Winter water In / out temp. ‘C 37/ 28 37 / 28
Evaporation losses flow M3/hr 385 220
Make up water rate M3/hr 440 251

In Ammonia Cooling Tower there are four circulating pumps (2 Motor driven & 2
turbine driven). Urea Cooling Tower has four motor driven circulation pumps. Apart
from it each cooling tower also have wetting down pumps for wetting the structure
during shutdown.

A view of a Cooling Tower at CFCL is shown in the picture below;

31
4.4. DEMINERALISED WATER PLANT (DM Plant) :

DM Plant is designed to produce polished water suitable for boiler feed which
requires following attributes;

 It should not form scale in boiler

 It should not corrode the boiler

 It should not cause priming and foaming in the boiler

 It should not cause embitterment in boiler

To get this type of water, dissolved salts responsible for scale formation, corrosion,
priming and foaming are removed

4.4.1. PRINCIPLE EMPLOYED FOR DEMINERALISATION IN D.M.PLANT

Ion exchange is a process in which cations and anions are exchanged with cations
and anions of a solid absorbent called ion exchanger. Separation of cations and
anions by this process involves an ionic exchange reaction between the mineral
ions in the water, with hydrogen and hydroxyl ions on the ion exchange resin.

CATION EXCHANGE REACTION;

The Cation exchanger contains strongly acidic cation exchanger resin in H + form.
When filtered water is passed through it the cation like Calcium, Magnesium and
sodium are retained by the resin and equal numbers of hydrogen ions are given to
water

R H + Ca++ - R Ca + H+

R H + Mg++ - R Mg + H+

R H + Na+ - R Na + H+

ANION EXCHANGE REACTION

The anion exchanger contains anion exchange resin in hydroxyl form (OH -). In anion
exchanger, anions like chlorides, Sulphates, bicarbonates, are removed by the resin
and equal numbers of hydroxyl ions are given to the water
R –OH + Cl- - R Cl + OH-

32
 R –OH + SO4-- - R SO4 + OH-
R –OH + HCO3- - R HCO3 + OH-

CATION EXCHANGER REGENERATION PROCESS

When the resin is exhausted, it is regenerated by using dilute solution of
hydrochloric acid.
R Ca + HCl - R-H + CaCl2
R Mg + HCl - R-H + MgCl2
R Na + HCl - R-H + NaCl

ANION EXCHANGER REGENERATION PROCESS

When the resin is exhausted, it is regenerated by using dilute solution of sodium
hydroxide.
R Cl + NaOH - R –OH + NaCl
R SO4 + NaOH - R –OH + Na2SO4
R HCO3 + NaOH - R –OH + NaHCO3

4.4.2. DM Plant Description:

There are two DM plants called DM plant1 Supplied by M/s Ion exchange pvt. Ltd.
and DM plant 2 Supplied by M/s Thermax India pvt. Ltd. The process of DM-1 plant
is described below;

4.4.3. DM-1 PLANT :

In DM1 there are three units of DM stream of 90 M3 capacity each to produce DM
water. This DM water is stored in DM Tank of 4561 M3 capacity. This DM water is
pumped to 4 nos. Mixed Bed units of 170 M3 capacities each. The outlet of MB unit
is polished Water which is stored in Polished water tank of 4561 M3 capacity. This
Polished water is of required quality to feed in Boiler Section. There are some
recycle condensates which we are receiving from Ammonia & Urea plant viz.
Ammonia process condensate (APC) , Urea process condensate (UPC), Steam
condensate (SC) & Turbine condensate (TC).
APC & UPC are collected in a Buffer Tank of 490 M3 capacity from where this mixed
condensate is fed to 2 nos. condensate Polishing Units (CPU) consists of Activated
Carbon filter (ACF) , Strong Acidic Cationic Exchanger (SAC) & Degasser Unit. This
treated condensate is pumped to DM Water Tank.

33
 Turbine Condensate is coming from Ammonia & Cooling tower condensing turbines.
This TC is almost highly pure but need some filtration so it is passed through 3 nos.
Micro Cartridge Filters (MCF) , 2 in service and 1 standby. This TC after passing
through MCF goes into Polished Water Tank. If the quality of TC is deteriorated
CHAMBAL FERTILISERS AND CHEMICALS LTD. FOR REGENERATION then outlet of MCF may be diverted
OFFSITE & UTILITIES AND GROUP OF PLANTS
to DM Tank.
SC ACF SAC WBA SBA is coming from urea plant and it is passed
6" 6" through 1 no. MCF & then
6" 6" 6"
discharged to DM Tank, if
quality is poor then it may be
FROM WPT 12" ACF SAC WBA SBA
diverted to Buffer Tank.
6" 6"
6" 6" 6"

ACF SAC WBA SBA

6" 6"
6" 6" 6"

10"

ORIFICE PLATE
FROM S-21
APC 8"

UPC 6" 6"

4" @ 6"

SC (UREA) CPUACF-A CPUACF-B CPUSAC-A CONDUCTIVITY

METER
T.C
ORIFCE FROM APC LINE 16"

8"

RESIN
TRAP

NOTE:-
1.) LINE IS TO BE REPLACED FROM 2" (SOME LOCATION 3") TO 4".
2.) 2" VALVE IS TO BE SHIFTED FROM @ LOCATION TO @1 LOCATION.
3.) SHIFTING OF ORIFICE FROM 8" APC LINE TO 8" TC LINE TO P.W TANK.& SHIFTING OF ORIFICE FROM 6: UPC LINE TO 8" APC LINE.
4.) MODIFICATION DONE
5.) MODIFICATION IS TO BE DONE

34
4.5. STEAM GENERATION – AUXILLIRY BOILERS :

In the O&U plant, there are two Gas Turbines for power generation, two
Auxiliary Boiler boilers of 80 ton/hr capacity at pressure 110 Kgs/Cm²
and 520 °C temperature for steam generation. To recover the exhaust
heat from each gas turbine there are two Heat Recovery Steam
Generator (HRSG) of 70 ton/hr capacity at pressure 40 Kgs/Cm² and 400
°C temperature. To meet the power and medium pressure steam
requirement of the plant, always one Gas Turbine will be in service
along with one HRSG. The second unit comprising Gas Turbine and HRSG
remains standby.

The Aux. Boiler is supplied by BHEL. It is forced draft bottom supported

natural circulation water tube boiler. The Aux. Boiler is having two-pass
system, first pass is furnace section and second pass is having secondary
super heater, primary super heater and Economizers. To recover the
heat from the exhaust flue gases, a tubular Air heater is installed having
3 blocks (each heating surface area 7000 M²). The total heating surface
area of the boiler is 1924 M². The boiler is having 4 dual firing burners.
Burners can be fired either on Natural Gas or Naphtha. Natural gas is
also used as an ignitor gas for each burner.
Three safety valves are provided on boiler. 2 on boiler drum and one on
super heater of adequate relieving capacity.

After treating in WPT & DM Plant the treated water (Polish Water) is fed
to deaerator where the dissolved Oxygen is removed by mechanical &
thermal deaeration upto 7 PPB. For heating in deaerator, LP Steam is
used. The deaerator pressure is maintained 2.4 Kgs/Cm² absolute and
126 °C temperature. The deaerated water is supplied to boiler by boiler
feed pumps. The schematic of the Auxilliary boiler is explained in the
following sketch.

35
 36
GAS CONDITIONING SKID STEAM
DRUM
SATURATED STEAM
FLUE GASES
NAPHTHA SKID SECONDARY
SUPER HEATER
TURBINE DRIVE
DESUPERHEATER
PRIMERY
FLUE GASES FD FANS
SUPER HEATER
ATOMISING STEAM
BURNERS
MOTOR DRIVE
SUPERHEATED STEAM
CHIMNEY
ECONOMISER
MOTOR DRIVE AIR
EVAPORATOR
PREHEATER
FROM
DEAREATOR
TURBINE DRIVE FEED WATER STATION
4.6. POWER GENERATION – GAS TURBINES :

Two Gas Turbines (GT) have been installed to meet the total power
requirement of the Ammonia & Urea plants. This makes the operation
reliable by making the plant independent of the power supply from state
power grid which is not very much stable. The GT’s of M/s GE make are
supplied by M/s BHEL-Hyderabad. The control system for both the GT is
done by GE’s latest controlling technology Mark Vie. For GT efficiency
improvement and capability enhancement the inlet air cooling system
based on Vapor Absorption Machine (VAM) has been installed for cooling
the suction air upto 20 degC.
The design data of Gas Turbines with Natural Gas as fuel are as below;

 GAS TURBINE DESIGN DATA-MODEL PG 5371 P

 Design output (ISO), MW 26.3
 Design heat rate (LHV), Kcal/Kwh 3021
 Design heat consumption (LHV), Mkcal/hr 79.5
 Design exhaust flow 124.2

Normally one GT is kept in operation at approx. 21 MW power

generation. The second GT is kept as standby. The associated HRSG
generates MP steam upto 70 TPH which is used for driving various steam
turbines in O&U, Ammonia and Urea plants.

4.7. Instrument & Plant Air (IAPA) section :

IA/PA plant comprises of 3 nos. air compressors, 3 nos. air driers, 1 no.
service air reservoirs & 3 nos. instrument air reservoirs.

Two no’s Main air compressors of 3500 NM3/Hr. capacity Supplied by Ingersoll –
Rand, Centak sucks the air from atmosphere and discharged to 1 no. service air
reservoir.
The service air is distributed to all over the complex through this reservoir.

37
 The another compressor Consolidated pneumatic make Auxiliary air compressor
also taking suction from atmosphere and discharging to Service air reservoir.
This service air contains moisture & CO2 which is highly dangerous to
instrumentation & control valve , so this moisture & CO2 is removed by passing this
service air through 3 nos. air driers ( 2 nos. Main air driers of capacity 3500
NM3/Hr. & 1 no Aux air drier of capacity 1000 NM3/Hr.)
The air coming out from these air driers is sent to 3 no’s instrument air reservoirs
& then sent to all over the plant for instruments & control valves.

4.8. Inert Gas Generation (IGG):

Nitrogen is required in main plant to provide inert atmosphere to catalysts &

purging of vessels while shutdown.
To cater this requirement CFCL has sufficient capacity to produce gaseous nitrogen
as well as liquid nitrogen for storage purpose.
In case of IGG tripping the nitrogen production is stopped but plant requirement is
fulfilled by virtue of 2 nos. nitrogen bottles. The old bottle is having the capacity
of 50000 lits Supplied by BHPV & the new bottle is having 60000 lits capacity
Supplied by LINDE.

IGG plant Supplied by Bharat Heavy Plates & Vessels (BHPV) is having capacity of
600 NM3/hr based on cryogenic process. In this process the oxygen is extracted
from atmospheric air by distillation at low temperature. The air is found in
Proportions: oxygen 20.93% by volume and Nitrogen 78.03% by volume.

38