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Unleashing Hidden Potential to Generate Real Financial Benefits – A Record of Lu’an Chemical Tianji Group’s Nitric Acid Plant’s Efforts to Reduce Consumption and Increase Production. Author/Source: Sinochem News Network. Date: June 9, 2023. Clicks: 10. “The consumption of acid and ammonia per ton has been reduced by 5.8 kilograms, resulting in annual savings of around 3.3247 million yuan; the daily production of nitric acid is 10 tons higher than the designed level, yielding annual gains of about 2.3348 million yuan. Together, these savings amount to 5.6595 million yuan.” ”On June 1, Zhu Weiwei, the director of Workshop 1 at Luan An Chemical Tianji Group’s nitric acid plant, carefully calculated the benefits resulting from this effort to improve efficiency at the oxidation furnace of Unit 2 for nitric acid production. On one end is reducing consumption, and on the other end is increasing production. The two sets of tangible benefits demonstrated by Tianji Group’s Nitric Acid Plant No. 2 are the results of the plant’s efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency, of its pursuit of continuous improvement through benchmarking, of its reliance on technological innovation, and of its promotion of a culture focused on cost analysis – all of which have yielded significant outcomes. The oxidation furnace is the core equipment in the ammonia catalytic oxidation process of nitric acid plants; it burns a mixture of ammonia and air over a platinum mesh to produce nitrogen oxides. The stable operation of the oxidation furnace in this device directly affects the cost of nitric acid and the product output. According to Zhu Weiwei, before the renovation, the oxidation furnace of Unit 2 for nitric acid experienced multiple instances of redening of the furnace walls and peeling of the platinum mesh, which resulted in lower production volumes, a decrease in the oxidation rate, reduced continuous operation time, and increased cost expenses. To identify the problem, the key is “treatment”. The engineering and technical staff at Tianji Group’s nitric acid plant developed an implementation plan, deciding to carry out targeted upgrades to the oxidation furnace and grating plates during the major maintenance period. The nitric acid plant of Tianji Group adopted a design that included filler sealing rings in addition to the original catalyst frame structure, thereby preventing irregular leakage of the fillers due to deformation of the support plates. By optimizing the original filler plate structure and increasing the amount of irregular fillers used, the uniform distribution of reaction gases was improved. Furthermore, they optimized the original honeycomb filler plate by converting it into a sieve plate design, which increased the residence time of gaseous ammonia in the furnace during the ammonia oxidation reaction and boosted the production of the main product. According to calculations, after the renovation, the average ammonia consumption per ton of acid was 266.1 kilograms per ton. This is a reduction of 5.8 kilograms per ton compared to the average consumption of 271.9 kilograms per ton before the renovation, resulting in annual savings of 3.3247 million yuan in raw material ammonia costs ； The daily nitric acid production capacity can reach 912 tons, which is significantly higher than the 894.8 tons per day before the renovation. Based on a nitric acid cost of 778.26 yuan per ton, the annual additional output value from nitric acid is 2.3348 million yuan. Tian Jingwei, the director of the nitric acid plant at Tianji Group, said, “Going forward, the nitric acid plant will focus on the ‘cost accounting’ culture guided by lean thinking, further clarify its cost structure, identify the existing gaps and problems. Through lean management and technological innovation, it will define clear responsibilities, establish effective operational and evaluation mechanisms, so as to optimize production costs and maximize efficiency.” ”