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Successful Feeding of Ammonia Synthesis Unit at Ningxia Petrochemical Plant Author/Source: Sinochem News Network Date: 2020-03-23 Clicks: 110 On March 16, the ammonia synthesis unit at Ningxia Petrochemical’s Third Fertilizer Plant successfully introduced raw gas into the pipeline system, and the first feeding to the conversion furnace was successful, marking the full entry of this main plant facility into operation. In April 2019, during a critical period of optimized operation of the company’s third fertilizer production facility, major design flaws were identified in several key equipment units, including the synthesis unit E1802, which posed serious safety risks; as a result, it was decided to shut down the entire facility for comprehensive maintenance. To completely eliminate potential hazards in the equipment and achieve long-term stable operation of the installations, the company carried out a series of maintenance and improvement tasks, including 249 repairs aimed at fixing defects related to E1802, 163 anti-freezing inspections, and the disassembly of heads and cleaning of 84 heat exchange units. It also carried out system purging, pipeline cleaning and replacement, as well as the use of blind flanges for isolation, all in strict accordance with relevant standards. At the same time, in response to various issues that arose during the commissioning of the plant in 2018–2019, they focused on addressing key problems that affected its stable operation this year, such as excessive nitrogen oxides at the boiler denitration inlet, the limited operational flexibility of the ammonia recovery tower C2003 which led to liquid flooding, low vacuum in the pre-concentrator, and high concentrations of liquid ammonia. These issues were resolved, thereby removing obstacles to the smooth commissioning of the triple-fertilizer plant. To ensure the smooth operation of the three fertilizer production units during the pandemic, the company coordinated efforts regarding the formulation of startup plans, monitoring of maintenance progress, quality inspections, and process tuning, in order to thoroughly resolve the bottlenecks and potential issues that arose during the operation of these units last year. At present, the commissioning and feeding tasks for the conversion section of the three fertilizer plants have been successfully completed, with key parameters such as the liquid level in the conversion drum, the water-to-carbon ratio in the conversion furnace, and the methane content at the outlet all within the design specifications.