thyssenkrupp Uhde and Johnson Matthey have been commissioned by İstanbul Gübre Sanayii A.Ş. (İGSAŞ), Kocaeli (Turkey) to supply a solution to significantly reduce the pressure in the synthesis loop of an ammonia plant while maintaining the nameplate capacity of 1,200 metric tpd. The new cartridge will be based on the latest design principles, including a modular design with removable catalyst beds which enable better accessibility during catalyst filling, axial-radial flow beds, lower pressure drop, etc. The cartridge, which will be installed in the existing pressure shell, will bring further benefits in terms of safety as no major welding activities are required during installation.

The currently installed cartridge, based on a reliable design by thyssenkrupp Uhde, has reached an extraordinarily long lifetime of 36 years in operation. Usually, replacements are necessary after two catalyst exchange cycles, approximately after 20 years. However, thanks to the robust design and high-quality requirements set by thyssenkrupp Uhde during equipment manufacturing and testing, life times of 30 years and more are feasible.

Kutay Durna, factory manager at İGSAŞ said, “With this upgrade of our plant, we are ready for the future. Key decision points for choosing thyssenkrupp Uhde were the proven reliability of their products combined with reducing the energy consumption in our Kocaeli plant.”

Thore Lohmann, Executive Director Fertilizer and Methanol at thyssenkrupp Uhde: “This is further proof that our uhde ammonia technology can meet the diverse requirements of plant owners around the globe. Our proprietary design of ammonia converter cartridges meets the highest quality standards and, when retrofitted to ammonia converters, it hugely enhances plant performance.”

The improved reliability of the plant and energy savings will be achieved by combining the new uhde ammonia converter cartridge with Johnson Matthey’s high-performance catalyst KATALCOTM 74-1. This combination will open the potential for a further increase in plant capacity in the future, for example for green ammonia production.

The new equipment is under fabrication, and start-up is scheduled for mid-2024. thyssenkrupp Uhde will perform full supervision services during converter opening, catalyst unloading, cartridge disassembly, converter inspection, cartridge assembly, catalyst filling/activation, startup and performance testing at this time. Besides supplying the new cartridge for İGSAŞ, thyssenkrupp Uhde has eight additional uhde ammonia converter cartridge retrofits underway for their current blue ammonia projects.