CHAPTER X

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

10.1 Conclusion

In this particular design, its objective of producing 100 000 MTA of

Ammonia had being fulfilled. This chemical plant design is economically as well as
technically feasible to be operated in Malaysia. The proposed plant site is situated at
Gebeng (Phase IV), Pahang. It is a fully facilitated industrial estate with advantages
of competitive land price, easy accessibility of raw materials because it is near to
port, good local labour market, available of attractive incentives from Pahang State
Government and good transport facilities.

Based on the number of process alternatives that are available at the moment,
it is fairly easy to choose the best process to be implemented for the new plant. The
most suitable process is definitely the Fauser Process with proper modification which
is using Hydrogen and Nitrogen as raw material and promoted iron as catalyst. This
because; currently most of the commercial Ammonia is produced from this process,
most of the other processes are old and outdated in technology. Due to the high
equipment cost in producing hydrogen, we are not going to produce by ourselves, we
buy it directly from the producers which can be found locally in Malaysia.

In responding to the environmental responsibility, the plant has been designed

to achieve the target of waste minimization and cost minimization. The waste
of the plant is being combusted and well treated to ensure the emission coming out
from the plant has met the standard of environmental act of Malaysian Government.

In the mean time of making maximum profit with the least capital, plant
safety measures can not be traded off for the sake of cost saving. Plant with major
equipment start-up and shutdown and safety precautions in operation on site were
documented in this report as well. However, further studies and more complete
studies in this particular area should be kept on so that improvement of designing for
safer plant could be achieved. Production of Ammonia is quite environment friendly
due to the small amount of waste produced. Since the waste treatment process is
proposed in this plant design, we can conclude that it has fulfilled the Environment
Rules and Regulation, 1997.

For the economic evaluation of the process plant, the cost of the plant is
estimated by calculating cost of major equipment. The total fixed capital of the plant
is RM 171,542,066.40 or RM 171.5 million. The pay back period for the plant is 6
years excluding 3 years for construction. With the rate of return of 33.75%, the
construction and operation of this designed Ammonia plant is highly recommended.

Based on the extensive design work done, we are confident that this plant is
economically feasible and thus should be constructed in our beloved country.

10.2 Recommendations

After studied and reviewed the whole process of the plant, there are few
recommendations to operate this plant in more efficient way, as stated below:

i) Hazard and Safety

Safety methods and procedures are important for a plant to operate. They
should be recommended to ensure the plant safety. One of the examples is
equipment in high-temperature service should be designed in such a way that
thermal expansion is uniform and predictable. Besides, gas should be

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 properly distributed in towers and materials should be used in all duties with
adequate strength.

ii) Energy Saving and Control

Since a large quantity of utilities is used, a more efficient design is
recommended to save the energy. Energy may loss in the form of heat and
therefore a better insulation system can be installed. Heat recovery are be
considered by making better use of the latent heat of the raw materials and
wastes.

iii) Improvement of Equipment Efficiency

The equipment involve in this plant is quite a large number and expensive. In
addition the operating costs are very expensive. So operating the process at its
optimum condition to save money must increase the efficiency of the
equipment. By increasing the efficiency of equipment, the number of
equipment may successfully being reduced and thus the fixed capital cost will
be more effective.

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