Ammonia production in the industrial gas process

Ammonia is used as an industrial gas in diverse industrial fields in varying purity grades and qualities – for example for the nitration hardening of steel, as a refrigerant, in flue gas cleaning or for chemical synthesis for producing nitric acid, amines or nitrates, as well as for the production of plastics and synthetic fibres.
Synthesis gas is always the base product for industrial ammonia production. Synthesis gas for ammonia synthesis is manufactured by partial oxidation with air. The carbon monoxide that always occurs when natural gas is used is converted to CO₂ and additional hydrogen with water vapour in a second reaction stage.
After the CO₂ is separated in the gas scrubber a mixture of N₂ and H₂ is obtained. In another ancillary process, the CO₂ scrubbing agent is also regenerated.
The next process step for ammonia synthesis is based on the classic Haber-Bosch process. For this, the hydrogen and nitrogen extracted beforehand in the synthesis gas process are catalytically converted to ammonia in another reactor at high temperatures and high pressure. For the most part, the ancillary processes involve elaborate and complex purification and treatment processes, for example the regeneration and separation of the CO₂ scrubbing agent.

For the area of industrial gas production, for example ammonia, KROHNE's range includes high-precision ultrasonic flowmeters, which reliably measure the flow of process gases without moving parts in the measuring tube. They do not cause any pressure loss, are low-maintenance and highly durable. There are also industrial resistance thermometers and electronic differential pressure measuring devices. And we also have non-contact radar level meters in our range for monitoring the ammonia reservoirs and the scubbing agent regeneration. These provide reliable results, even under harsh process conditions.
The flowrate of the absorber liquid (e.g. ethanolamine/water) is measured using electromagnetic flowmeters. Gas scrubbing can be controlled and optimised on this basis. The sophisticated measuring equipment enables precise adjustment of optimal process conditions.