Facility Inspection Report

Nitric Acid Plant

Prepared by:
International Process Plants
Hamilton Business Center
17A Marlen Drive
Hamilton, NJ 08691

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Nitric Acid Plant

Executive Summary

• This Nitric Acid Plant is rated for 500 tons/day in the summer and 540
tons/day in the winter of 65% concentrated nitric acid with turn-down
capabilities as low as 300 tons/day.

• The plant uses Weatherly high-pressure technology with the absorber running
at 130 psig.

• The 304L stainless steel absorber column is 11 feet diameter by 127’ tall with
44 sieve trays in the absorber section and five sieve trays in the bleach
section.

• The plant uses an Ingersoll-Rand two-stage centrifugal air compressor with a

Terry 520 psig steam-turbine drive assisted by a Dresser-Rand tail-gas turbine
drive.

• The plant uses a catalytic combustor unit for environmental controls yielding
less than 3 lbs of NOx vented per ton of nitric acid produced. The natural gas
system for the combustor includes carbon beds and desulfurizer for
purification.

• Documentation is excellent for this facility, with much being available

electronically. Documents include process flow diagrams with mass and
energy balances. Some Aspen modeling of the plant is also available.

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Process Description
This nitric acid plant is designed to produce 500 tons/day in the summer and 540
tons/day in the winter of 65% concentrated nitric acid with less than 0.2% sulfur, less
than 0.1% non-volatile matter, and less than 0.1% NO2. This plant is a net steam
exporter with 550, 175, and 60 psig steam being produced on various waste-heat
boilers and 520 psig steam being consumed by the air compressor steam-turbine
drive. The plant can run as low as 300 tons/day of nitric acid production.

Nitric Acid Plant Process Flow Diagram

A general plant material and energy balance is shown in the table below. However,
we have a complete, detailed material and energy balance at various production
rates available with the plant electronic process flow diagram package.

Material Balance
Unit (per ton NA)
Ammonia ton 0.3032
Hydrogen SCF 919
Natural Gas SCF 918
500 psig Steam (Export) lb -2,337
25 psig Steam (Export) lb -307
5 psig Steam lb 310
Boiler Feed Water lb 3,697
Cooling Water M gal 24.3
Electricity KWhr 4.0
Demin Water lb 380
Net Pt Catalyst Loss Troy Oz. 0.005
Nitric Acid Plant Material and Energy Balance

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Ammonia is vaporized, filtered, mixed with air, and fed to the converter. The air is
compressed in a two-stage centrifugal Ingersoll-Rand air compressor that is driven
by a 520 psig steam turbine and assisted by a tail gas expander. The converter
assembly discharges directly to the “heat train”, which consists of the expander gas
heater, high-pressure waste heat boiler, tail gas heater, filter, and low-pressure waste
heat boiler. The product then goes through the cooler/condenser before entering the
lower section of the absorber column.

Heat Train

The air compressor is an Ingersoll-Rand unit with a CVM-4F first body and a CVM-
4FIC second body. It has a Terry model GF-4 steam-turbine drive rated for 13,000
hp with a tail gas expander assisting. The tail gas expander is a Dresser-Rand rated
for 11,300 hp with 2,970 lb/min gas flow rate. The inlet conditions are 123.9 psia at
1,250°F with a 14.7 psia outlet pressure. We have detailed inspection reports for the
compressors and turbines from the most recent 2010 inspection.

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Air Compressor

The converter is constructed of 304L stainless steel with an Inconel 617 basket. The
catalyst composition is 90% platinum, 5% rhodium, and 5% palladium. The mesh
size is 80 per linear inch with a 0.003” wire diameter and a 60" overall catalyst gauze
diameter. Over 96% of the ammonia is converted under normal operating conditions.

The 304L stainless steel absorber
column is 11 feet diameter by 126'-9"
tall with 44 sieve trays in the absorber
section and five sieve trays in the
bleach section. It has 5,875 square
feet of cooling area and is rated for
140 psig at 200°F. The column has
been tested at 550 tons/day capacity.
The absorber feed water is fed to the
top of the column. Weak acid pumps
are used with a cooler to circulate
weak acid from the bottom to the top of
the column for reflux. The column
bottoms, which is the 65% nitric acid
product, is pumped through a platinum
filter, cooled, and then sent to storage.
The absorber column operates at 98%
efficiency with the inlet pressure at or
below 133 psig. Cooling water flow to
the absorber is 5,555 gpm with the
flow per cooling coil varying from 12 to
27 gpm. The column overheads return
through the tail gas heater and then
the expander gas heater in the “heat
train”. The heated tailgas is used to
make steam in the tail gas high-
pressure boiler.

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Absorber Column

The tail gas then proceeds through the catalytic combustor on its way to drive the tail
gas expander. The combustor uses hydrogen and natural gas to react with oxygen
and the 2,500 ppm of NOx in the tail gas to produce nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and
water. This enables the plant to run less than 3 lbs of NOx emissions per ton of nitric
acid product. The stainless steel combustor uses a Sud-Chemie ceramic
honeycomb catalyst with platinum and palladium. The vessel is rated for 140 psig at
1,250°F. The catalytic combustor uses less than 1,200 SCF of hydrogen per ton of
nitric acid produced. A small amount of natural gas is also used as fuel in the
combustor. The natural gas may have some sulfur content, so it is first passed
through carbon beds and a desulfurizer for purification.

The nitric acid plant vent stack analysis along with all ammonia fugitive emissions
data are available in an environmental report, dated August, 2011. The overall stack
emissions are less than 3 lbs of NOx per ton of nitric acid produced.

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Nitric Acid Plant

We have an abundance of electronic documentation available immediately on this

Nitric Acid Plant including process flow diagrams with mass and energy balances.
Some Aspen modeling of the plant is also available.

Construction and operating details for all of the major equipment are shown in the
following table.

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EQUIPMENT LIST
Material of
UNIT EQUIPMENT NAME DESCRIPTION Construction

24" diam x 8' T/T Static Mixer

Nitric Acid Plt Ammonia Air Mixer 304L SS
Dsg. 160 psig, 650 °F

304L SS w/
Capacity 199138 lb/hr with 13,712nlb/hr NH3
Nitric Acid Plt Convertor Inlet Cone/Basket Inconel
Dsg. 155 psig, 650 °F
Basket

556 sq ft, 38" diam x 5' 6"

Nitric Acid Plt Tail Gas High Pressure Boiler Dsg. Shell 600 psig, 650 °F CS
Tube: 140 psig, 1050 °F

2736 sq ft, 48" dia x 13' 1 1/2"

Nitric Acid Plt High Pressure Waste Heat Boiler Dsg. Shell 650 psig, 650 °F CS
Tube 150 psig, 800 °F

2891 sq ft, 48" dia x 10' 0"

Nitric Acid Plt Low Pressure Waste Heat Boiler Dsg. Shell 200 psig, 650 °F CS
Tube 145 psig, 600 °F

Ingersoll Rand CVM-4FIC Assorted steel

Nitric Acid Plt Air Compressor, 2nd Body
2 nd Body Casing Cast Iron

Ingersoll Rand CVM-4F Assorted steel

Nitric Acid Plt Air Compressor, 1st Body
1st Body Casing Cast Iron

Current expander performance per Dresser Rand for E-520:

Nitric Acid Plt Gas Expander 11,300 HP for 2970 lb/min flowrate, M. Wt. 27.87, Inlet 123.9 psia Alloy STL/SS
1250 °F, Outlet 14.7 psia

Nitric Acid Plt Steam Turbine Terry Turbine GF-4 Assorted steel

2120 sq ft
CS Shell
Nitric Acid Plt Surface Condenser Dsg. Shell 15 psig/FV, 300 °F
304 SS Tubes
Tube 75 psig, 300 °F

310 sq fr
Shell SA-106-8
Nitric Acid Plt Ammonia Superheater Dsg. Shell 250 psig, 400 °F
Tube SA-214
Tube 330 psig, 500 °F

536 sq ft, 25" diam x 7' 0"

Shell 304 SS
Nitric Acid Plt Air Heater Dsg. Shell 600 psig, 500 °F
Tube 304 SS
Tube 160 psig, 500 °F

488 sq ft, 24" dia x 5' 10"

Shell 304L SS
Nitric Acid Plt Tail Gas Preheater Dsg. Shell 125 psig, 353 °F
Tube Titanium
Tube 122 psig, 223 °F

898 sq ft, 48" dia x 10' 7" SS shell, tubes

Nitric Acid Plt Expander Gas Heater Dsg. Shell 600 psig, 500 °F channels.
Tube 160 psig, 500 °F Inconel outside

3322 sq ft, 48" diam x 11' 3"

304L SS tubes
Nitric Acid Plt Tail Gas Heater Dsg. Shell 140 psif, 550 °F
and shell
Tube 145 psig, 650 °F

315 sq ft
Shell CS
Nitric Acid Plt Ammonia Vaporizer Dsg. Shell 250 psig, 350 °F
Tube 304 SS
Tube 110 psig, 350 °F

4090 sq ft, 34" diam x 24' 0"

Shell CS
Nitric Acid Plt Cooler Condenser Dsg. Shell 110 psig, 200 °F
Tube Zirconium
Tube 145 psig, 500 °F

Outside area including fins 19117 sq ft Shell CS

Nitric Acid Plt First Intercooler Dsg. Shell 60 psig, 350 °F Tube 90-10 Cu-
Tube 75 psig, 350 °F Ni

Outside area including fins 41259 sq ft Shell CS

Nitric Acid Plt Second Intercooler Dsg. Shell 75 psig 300 °F Tube 90-10 Cu-
Tube 75 psig 200 °F Ni
12' 2" x 12' 6" x 12' 11"
2 Stage Roll-o-matic 304SS
Nitric Acid Plt Inlet Air Filter
Primary Roll-o-matic 12-108, fiberglass media
Secondary Duracel XL-90 cartridge , Woven glass media
304L SS
48" diam x 10' 9" T/T
Nitric Acid Plt Platinum (Brinks) Filter Media: Brink
Dsg. 145 psig, 650 °F
glass fiber

Sud-Chemie Ceramic Honeycomb catalyst with Pt/Pd

Dsg. 140 psig, 1250 °F, Outlet nozzle 1310 °F
Nitric Acid Plt Combustor 347H SS
Inlet flange 18" 400# RF, Outlet flange 18" 600# with ANSI 300#
bolting
11' diam x 126' 9" T/T, 44 sieve absorbtion trays + 5 sieve bleach
Nitric Acid Plt Absorber Column trays, 5875 sq ft cooling area 304L SS
MAWP 140 psig, 200 °F

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