Raw Materials

The two main Raw Materials required to produce Urea are Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide. [1] Carbon
Dioxide is readily available in Sri Lanka as it is produced as a waste gas in many major industries all
around the country.

The three main industries that contribute to the emission of CO2 are the Cement industry, Crude oil
refining industry and power generation through coal.[2]

Any large plant that generates over 292,000 tons of CO2 annually should be ideal. ( As 0.73 tons of CO2
is required to produce 1 ton of urea [3] and the annual demand in Sri Lanka is roughly 400,000 tons )
The Norochcholai coal power plant on its own produces 2 million metric tons of CO2 per year [4]. Hence
the demand is easily satisfied by the urea plant if CO2 is extracted from there.

Supplying ammonia to the urea plant

Ammonia is not a raw material that is produced in Sri Lanka hence we are faced with the options of either
building an ammonia plant within our urea plant or importing ammonia from overseas. Let us analyze
these options further.
We require 0.57 tons of ammonia to produce a single ton of urea [5]. Hence our annual requirement will
be 228 000 metric tons of the raw material. The cost of a plant with that capacity can be approximated to
800 million USD- 1200 million USDs depending on the location.[6]

Even if we assume that we have that much of foreign capital to build the plant, the raw materials needed
to produce NH3 are not readily available in Sri Lanka. Even though N2 is produced in Sri Lanka the
quantity currently produced in the country is not sufficient [7] . And even if we consume all of the N2
produced for the plant there will be a shortage within the country for the tire industry and for packaging of
goods.

In order to produce H2 we have the following options.

1. Steam methane reforming.- However Sri Lanka does not have a methane plant. The cost of a
Natural gas plant with the Haber process is approximately 1603 million USD.[6]
2. Electrolysis of Seawater- Similar case as above the cost approximating to 2370 million USD [6]
3. Steam Reforming of Naphtha [8]- This was how the previous urea plant in Hunupitiya satisfied its
hydrogen demand.[9] However that naphtha is now used to run Kelanitissa power plant which
generates 165 MW to the national grid [10]. We would lose that energy if we decide to consume
the naphtha for urea.
Or we could import H2; however the cost of importing Hydrogen is larger than importing urea as the cost
of transporting Hydrogen is higher than regular compounds due to safety reasons. Hydrogen has the
lowest density of all gasses and is also highly flammable when mixed with the smallest amount of air
causing large damages.[11]

All of the following reasons combined and considering Sri Lanka's depleted foreign currency reserves we
can conclude that it is not viable to produce ammonia in the country at the moment. Hence we will have
to import NH3 as a raw material in order to produce urea.

India is the best country for us to import NH3 from as they are one of the leading ammonia producers in
the world . Yara Fertilizers India Private Limited, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd., and Malanadu
Ammonia Pvt. Ltd., among others, are the leading players in the industry. The Indian ammonia market
attained a volume of 16.9 million metric tons in 2022 driven by the rising food demand and growing
fertilizer demand.[12] We can expect good quality raw materials at a reasonable rate (120,000 LKR per
ton with shipping[13] - Retail price. wholesale rates not to be found -we can assume that it would be
cheaper.) as well as low shipping costs due to the proximity of India to Sri Lanka.
1.8.Chemosphere,Volume 291, Part 3, 2022 ,132806, ISSN0045-6535 ,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132806.

2.Hannah Ritchie, Max Roser and Pablo Rosado (2020) - "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions".
Published online at OurWorldInData.org. 'https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions

3. A.R. Khan, L. Al-Awadi & M.S. Al-Rashidi (2016) Control of ammonia and urea emissions from urea
manufacturing facilities of Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), Kuwait, Journal of the Air & Waste
Management Association, 66:6, 609-618, DOI: 10.1080/10962247.2016.1145154

4.Rathnasiri, Janaka. “Extension of Norochcholai coal power plant – Putting people from frying pan into
the fire (Was the President in slumber when this decision was taken?).” Island, 2 october 2019,
https://www.bioenergysrilanka.lk/extension-of-norochcholai-coal-power-plant-putting-people-from-frying
-pan-into-the-fire/.

5.Morris, Gregory DL. “New Capacity Bolstering Gas Demand | Exclusive Story | Web Exclusives.”
American Oil & Gas Reporter, 2013,
https://www.aogr.com/web-exclusives/exclusive-story/new-capacity-bolstering-gas-demand.

6.Brown, Trevor. Ammonia plant cost comparisons: Natural gas, Coal, or Electrolysis? Ammonia Energy
Associaltion, 2017. Ammonia energy Association,
https://www.ammoniaenergy.org/articles/ammonia-plant-cost-comparisons-natural-gas-coal-or-electrolysi
s/.

7.Professor Buddhi Marambe- University of Peradeniya, and Professor Sarath Nissanka- University of
Peradeniya. Sri Lanka Status Report on Sustainable Nitrogen Management. Ministry of Mahaweli
Development and Environment, Sri Lanka, 2019. ISBN : 978-955-8395-40-0

8.F. Melo, N. Morlanés,Naphtha steam reforming for hydrogen production,Catalysis Today,Volumes

107–108, 2005, Pages 458-466, ISSN 0920-5861, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2005.07.028.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920586105003469)

9.Maitipe, Anura. “Features.” Online edition of Sunday Observer - Features, 4 December 2005,
https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2005/12/04/fea27.html.

10.“KCCP.” CEB, https://ceb.lk/thermalcomplex/industry/industry/kccp.html.

11.Brown, Dimity. “The next frontier: challenges and developments in the transport of hydrogen in bulk.”
Allens, 27 April 2022,
https://www.allens.com.au/insights-news/insights/2022/04/challenges-and-developments-in-the-transport-
of-hydrogen-in-bulk/.

12.“Indian Ammonia Market Size, Share, Price Analysis, Report 2023-2028.” Expert Market Research,
https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/indian-ammonia-market.

13. “Ammonia Gas - NH3 Price, Manufacturers & Suppliers.” Exporters India,
https://www.exportersindia.com/indian-suppliers/ammonia-gas.htm.