What is the optimal ratio of ammonia to alcohol in coal chemical processing?
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Dear colleagues in the industry, as the profits in the methanol market become increasingly slim and some operations even incur losses, this poses a significant challenge for ammonia production plants that have large methanol production capacities. I would like to ask about the optimal ratio of ammonia to methanol – that is, the point that offers the best economic efficiency. In our gas produced from briquetted coal, CO accounts for 28%, CO2 accounts for 8%, and H2 accounts for around 43%. Currently, the ratio of ammonia to methanol is close to 1:1, with a daily production capacity of 1,550 tons of ammonia and methanol combined
In fact, the profitability of the methanol market is also very low; it can even be said to be in a loss-making state. Many companies design their operations on a 1:1 basis, but in practice adjustments are made randomly, and things remain uncertain – the key factor is the market conditions for methanol.
The original poster is really good at generating gas – the effective gas content in briquette gas can reach 71%, with only 8% CO2. What size are your furnaces? Where is the raw coal from? What is the gas output? In our plant, the effective gas content in the coal gas produced is only 65%, while CO2 levels are as high as 13%. The alcohol-to-ammonia ratio is 25%. We also want to reduce this ratio, but the full low-temperature shift process (three-stage) fails to reduce CO levels. Additionally, due to limitations in ammonia synthesis capacity, we can only produce more methanol.
The ammonia to alcohol ratio can be adjusted; generally, a ratio of 4 to 1 is appropriate!
The alcohol-to-ammonia ratio should be adjusted appropriately based on the prices of urea and methanol. When the price of methanol is high, the production of methanol can be increased, thereby raising the alcohol-to-ammonia ratio; conversely, when the price of urea is high while the price of methanol is low, the production of methanol can be reduced, thus lowering the alcohol-to-ammonia ratio. It is generally kept at 1:4-5.
Reply to 3# qsy: We use DN3000 (the symbol before it is hard to type, so we use DN). The gas output is around 10,000 to 12,000. With our previous 20 furnaces, the maximum amount of ammonia alcohol produced in a single day was 1,540 tons. Overall, a high ratio of ammonia alcohol production to other factors isn’t necessarily good – factors such as efficiency, safety, and market conditions also play a role
Thank you, the forum administrator. Could you please let me know which factory it is? I would like to have the opportunity to visit your factory for learning purposes.
Sure! Welcome! I’m from Hubei Sanning Chemical; we welcome guests from all over!
Reply to 8# yfjin2010: I have worked at Hubei Sanning Chemical for over 10 years, and I’ve never heard that CO2 makes up 8% – the original poster is just making things up
Reply to 9# lanquan: The operational capabilities vary from one place to another; our carbon dioxide level is also around 8–9%, and it drops to 8% as well in some cases.
This post was last edited by lanquan on 2010-9-7 at 14:09. I also work in process engineering at Sanning Chemical; it’s always I who analyzes the results related to semi-water gas, but none of the values reach 8%. I can’t believe our boss, Mr. Jin!!!