10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

Business Divisions

Home

Divisions

Scale-up

News Room

Careers

Contact

Sulfuric Acid
NORAM provides innovative process technology,
engineering and equipment to metallurgical, sulfur-
burning and acid regeneration acid plants. NORAM’s
equipment and systems, reduce environmental
emissions, increase energy efficiency , increase capacity
and improve plant reliability of plants of all scales
around the world.

NORAM Engineering specializes in all aspects of sulfuric

acid manufacture and abatement of SO2 containing
gases from industrial sources. Technologies pioneered
by NORAM have enabled sulfuric acid producers
around the globe to extend the life of existing facilities,
improve operating economics, and cost-effectively
meet more stringent environmental emission
standards. Our capabilities encompass plant design,
systems design, optimization and debottlenecking
studies, supply of equipment, and design and
engineering of integrated acid plants.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 1/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

We design and supply all major equipment required in a

sulfuric acid plant. Projects often start with engineering 
studies using proprietary process flowsheeting programs to
simulate complete plants, specify new equipment or
identify plant bottlenecks. Further work develops detailed
designs and mechanical drawings for systems and
equipment to meet stringent process specifications and
reliability requirements.

Our Capabilities
Offices
NORAM has sulfuric acid specialists in our offices in
Vancouver, Canada and also in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Industrial References
Key references include:

Modernization of 19 world-scale sulfuric acid plants.

The supply of over 200 major pieces of sulfuric acid plant
vessels/equipment.
Over 300 engineering studies for acid plants in different
industries.
Two large 2,750 MTPD acid plants delivered to the Ambatovy
Nickel Project in Madagascar became the first greenfield acid
plants wholly designed by NORAM to incorporate NORAM’s
proprietary process and equipment platforms.
A greenfield 300 MTPD sulfur dioxide plant was delivered to
the Boleo Project in Mexico, providing high pressure SO2 gas
to leaching operations.
Our Cellchem™ sulfur burners have over 180 installation
references.

Clients
Our client base includes plants in the fertilizer, the
metallurgical, hydrocarbon, and pulp and paper industries.
NORAM has clients in North America, South America,
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Alliances
Synergies within the NORAM group of companies:

In-house fabrication of sulfuric acid plant equipment in

conventional and specialty alloys in our Axton-Ellett
fabrication Shop, Vancouver, Canada.
Inventory of NORAM SX™ alloy materials in Sweden and
Canada.
Technology development in our BC Research Inc. pilot
facilities, Vancouver, Canada.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 2/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

External alliances:

Alliance with Sedgman Limited to support the sulfuric acid
industry in Australia and further afield.
Alliance with Turboscrubber™ (Osprey/FTL) for fluidized-bed
scrubbers.
Alliance with CPPE Carbon Process & Plant Engineering S.A.
for carbon-bed scrubbing.

Engineering, Design
and Supply of Plants
and Systems
NORAM provides solutions to clients for greenfield plants or
to retrofit existing installations to achieve new goals. Typical
systems supplied by NORAM achieve the following
objectives:

Greenfield sulfuric acid plants

NORAM’s technology is largely used for production of
sulfuric acid, and oleum in sulfur-burning, metallurgical and
acid regeneration facilities. The plants are also used for
abatement of sulfur-containing gases at industrial scale,
such as in metallurgical plants (abatement of metallurgical
SO2) and pulp and paper plants (abatement of NCGs).

Greenfield SO2 plants

NORAM’s technology is used for production of SO2 gas at
any industrial scale. Applications are found in industries
such as pulp and paper, mining (cyanide detoxification,
leaching), pulp and paper (feed to chlorine dioxide
generators, sulfite and bisulfite solutions, SO2-water
solutions for pulp souring), water treatment (waste water
de-chlorination, bromine removal), food (de-colourization,
corn wet milling), and chemicals (sulfuric acid production,
in-house production of SO2, production of liquefied SO2).

Reduction of SO2 emissions to the

environment
Clients often approach NORAM to explore how to reduce
the stack SO2 emissions on a continuous basis. NORAM’s
system may include a 3 to 5 bed catalytic converter,
equipment for improved gas temperature management,
and SO2 conversion catalysts.

Reduction of plant start-up emissions

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 3/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

NORAM offers proprietary technology to greatly reduce the

plant start-up emissions. This technology is especially 
suitable for adjacent acid plants, allowing for faster start-
ups and ultra-low gas emissions during the plant preheat
and start-up.

Improved plant preheating

NORAM offers complete preheating systems to increase the
temperature of process gas and equipment during start-up
and process upsets. Such systems include a hydrocarbon
combustion furnace and a preheat gas exchanger to
achieve faster start-ups and higher reliability.

Capacity increase and debottlenecking

NORAM studies existing facilities to identify practical
methods to achieve capacity increase. NORAM specializes in
complex retrofits due to a wide experience in plant
upgrades. These capacity increase projects may require
replacing or upgrading equipment and internals in a single
stage or multiple stages of project execution.

Reliability upgrades and equipment

replacement
Equipment in sulfuric acid is replaced by state-of-the art
NORAM equipment utilizing improved mechanical designs
and more robust materials of construction.

Training and site services

NORAM’s staff can deliver training to operators and
engineers, and provide site advisory services for inspection,
construction, commissioning and start-up of equipment and
systems.

Our Proprietary
Equipment
Catalytic Converters
Constructed from all-welded stainless steel (Typically SS-
304H), which largely eliminates corrosion, while reducing
maintenance requirements and extending service life.
Robust mechanical designs eliminate thermal expansion
and reliability issues, provide excellent gas distribution, and
maximise SO2 conversion. Typical converter options
include:

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 4/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

Converter with internal heat exchanger: Can accommodate

the hot gas exchanger integrally to simplify ducting and plant

layout.
Converter with internal welded posts: 100% of the available
cross sectional area is available; multiple dished plates for
improved reliability.
Converter with single dish plate: For vessels up to medium-
size, catalyst requirements can be accommodated without
internal posts.

Gas-to-Gas Heat Exchangers

Efficient gas exchanger designs with improved heat transfer
performance and high reliability include:

RF™ (Radial Flow) exchangers: The radial geometry achieves

uniformly distributed gas flow perpendicular to the
exchanger tube banks, and optimized use of all heat transfer
surfaces. These exchangers can be used in any position in
the sulfuric acid plant.
SF™ (Split Flow) exchangers: The SF™ Split Flow option of the
RF™ heat exchanger allows effective control of the tube and
tubesheet temperatures at the cold or hot end of the
exchanger, to mitigate condensation and/or thermal
stresses. Types of SF™ offered:
RF™-SF™ preheat exchangers: The Split Flow is used for a
‘cold sweep’ which decreases the tube wall temperature at
the hot end. This increases the overall fuel efficiency and
may be used to design a smaller, less expensive preheat
furnace and heat exchanger solution.
RF™-SF™ cold or cold interpass exchanger: The Split Flow
is used for a ‘hot sweep’ which increases the tube wall
temperature by up to 68°F (38°C). The SF™ exchanger
operates well above the acid dew point, and significantly
reduces sulfate fouling and corrosion.
RF™-SF™ SO3 cooler: The Split Flow is used for a hot
sweep’ which raises the tube wall temperature. This
design can eliminate condensation / solidification of SO3,
reduce the rate of sulfate fouling, and results in a
compact heat exchanger.

Acid Towers
Acid tower designs are available for Drying, Interpass
Absorption, Final Absorption, Oleum, Quench, Stripping and
Scrubbing. Design options are:

Brick-lined towers: Brick lining has traditionally been used in

acid towers, as it withstands the widest possible range of
acid concentrations should upset conditions occur. We offer
state-of-the-art bricking, with innovative stable dished
bottoms, self-supporting dome packing support, and internal
or external dilution.
Alloy towers: Fabricated in high-silicon stainless steel
(NORAM SXTM, UNS 23615). The use if this alloy allows for
lighter equipment and faster installation, often critical in
plant retrofits.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 5/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

Acid Pump Tanks


Vertical-type and bullet-type configurations are offered for
service in strong acid circuits. Brick-lined or NORAM SX™
materials of construction are available. Tanks can be
operated with or without internal dilution.

HP™ Saddle Ceramic Packing

Our proprietary HP™ packing is made through a slip-casting
process which produces saddles of uniform shape within a
narrow range of size tolerances. The high-performance
design achieves high absorption capacity and low pressure
drop. Breakage during shipping and installation has
typically been less than 0.1 percent. NORAM HP™ packing is
often used to debottleneck acid towers and achieve higher
plant capacities due to pressure drop savings.

Acid Distributors
SMART™ acid distributors: Allows for easy installation, and
cleaning from external ports without entering the tower.
Uniform acid distribution throughout tower cross section
area, low spray generation rate is also achieved.
Trough acid distributors: A robust design with all-metal
construction.

Acid Coolers
Anodically protected acid coolers: Use large diameter
cathodes, which minimize the voltage drop along the
cathode and give more uniform passivation.
NORAM SX™ alloy acid coolers: Often preferred for simpler
installation and virtually maintenance-free operation. SX™
coolers can deal with higher temperatures and can be used
for boiler-feed water preheating.
Alloy acid coolers for seawater service: Coolers are offered
in alloy materials without anodic protection for high-chloride
service

Furnaces
NORAM-Cellchem™ sulfur furnaces: Proven in over 180
reference installations. The burners utilize air-atomization,
with capacities typically ranging from 0.5 to 400 MTPD sulfur
burned (1.5 to 1,200 MTPD of H2SO4 equivalent), and
produce SO2 gas concentrations up to 19%. Turndown to 8 to
12.5% capacity is possible. Two configurations are offered:
CF (Cyclone-flame): For very small scale (0.5 to 16 MTPD
sulfur burned).
SF (Spiral-flame): For medium scale (5 to 400 MTPD sulfur
burned).
Pressure atomization sulfur furnaces: For larger plants
producing 100 MTPD to 3,000+ MTPD of H2SO4 equivalent
capacity.
Preheat furnaces: For plant preheating applications.
https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 6/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

Spent acid regeneration furnaces: For decomposition of

spent sulfuric acid. Feed from a variety of sulfur-containing 
streams are viable, including H2S, spent acid, sulfur as well as
hydrocarbons.

NORAM SX™ Valves for Hot Sulfuric Acid

Service
Developed from NORAM SX™ for corrosion resistance,
designs include:

A family of butterfly-type valves, triple offset triple offset,

Class V valves, designed for use in both control and tight
shut-off applications, available in a variety of sizes and
configurations.
Ball-type valves

Acid Entrainment Capture

Capture of entrained H2SO4 droplets and mist can be
addressed by:

Cyclonic capture: Applicable downstream of acid towers to

reduce acid carryover and to protect equipment, using
cyclonic principles.
Demister vessels: Filter vessels and knock-out vessels fitted
with conventional meshpads, impaction candles or Brownian
diffusion candles.

Acid Dilution Systems

NORAM provides systems for internal acid dilution using
weak acid or water. These systems can be located inside
towers and pumptanks, or be configured externally.

Hot Acid Strainers/Filters

Manufactured from NORAM SX™ alloy. The strainers can be
located inside acid towers, at pump suction, or be
configured externally with internal removable basket.

NORAM SX™ Materials and Piping

We inventory a comprehensive selection of metal plate,
flanges and piping for hot sulfuric acid service. Training for
welding of NORAM SX™ material is also offered.

Ducting, Gas Dampers and Expansion

Joints
Our experience with thermal expansion and thermal cycling
allows robust gas ducting and systems to be designed. We
incorporate finite element analysis (FEA) and special
expansion joint designs suitable for high temperature gas
service into our designs.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 7/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.


Our Projects

Two green-field 2,750 MTPD sulfuric Acid Plants, designed

and engineered by NORAM, and delivered to the Ambatovy
Nickel Project In Madagascar.

The 300 MTPD SO2 Plant at the copper plant in Santa

Rosalia, Mexico, provides high-pressure SO2 gas to leaching
processes.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 8/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

NORAM’s Plant Preheating System used in a metallurgical

plant of 2800 MTPD capacity allowing for fast start-up and
simultaneous preheating of 4 catalyst beds.

NORAM’s Absorption System retrofitted to a metallurgical

plant of up to 2,000 MTPD capacity allows for ultra low
emissions of SO3 and H2SO4 to the environment.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 9/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

Absorption System in a 2,650 MTPD sulfur-burning plant,

uses dry, interpass and final towers in NORAM SX™
material.

NORAM’s SO2 Conversion System installed in a 850 MTPD

sulfur-burning acid plant reduces emissions of SO2 to the
environment and boosts capacity.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 10/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

A wide-range of specialty equipment and internals is

supplied to the sulfuric acid aftermarket – from the
industry-leading high-performance HP™ saddle packing for
reduced pressure drop in towers, to the large heat
exchangers, towers, and converters manufactured in our
custom fabrication shops.

NORAM’s modular sulfur burners are typically supplied in

the size-range 0.5 to 400 MTPD, in applications as diverse as
minerals processing and pulp and paper plants.

Sulfuric Acid Enquiries?

Send us your details to be contacted by
NORAM

Your Name

Your Email

Your Interest

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 11/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

SEND


Links
 Home

 Divisions

 Scale-up

 News Room

 Careers

 Contact

Location
NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd
Process Innovation and Scale-up Specialists in Vancouver,
BC
Suite 1800 – 200 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C.,  V6C 1S4 Canada
Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Phone: +1 (604) 681-2030

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 12/13
10/3/22, 10:42 AM Sulfuric Acid – NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.


© 2022 NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.

https://www.noram-eng.com/sulfuric-acid/ 13/13