Paper 5d

Causes and Consequences of

By-product Formation in Ammonia
Plants
The paper describes various by-products that can be formed; indicates plant operating modes which
are likely to lead to or exacerbate by-product formation and comments on the consequences of by-
product formation.

John Pach
Johnson Matthey Catalysts

Introduction This paper describes various by-products which

can be formed, indicates plant operating modes

B
y-products can be formed in many sections
of an ammonia plant. These include spe- which are likely to lead to or exacerbate by-
cies that may be formed across the hydro- product formation and addresses the consequences
desulphurization reactor, ammonia forma- of by-product formation.
tion in reformers, a variety of substances which are
formed across shift reactors and Fischer Tropsch The paper does not address carbon forming reac-
reactions which can occur across the methanator. tions across reforming catalysts which are dis-
cussed in many other papers.
By-products of by-products are also possible -
amines are formed when ammonia produced in the
secondary reformer reacts with methanol produced
in the shift reactors. In addition, various salts can
be formed by the reaction of carbon dioxide with
ammonia. Carbonyl formation can also be a con-
cern.

Depending on the particular substance, by-product

formation can lead to environmental or safety con-
cerns, can affect plant efficiency or reliability, or
can merely be of academic interest.

2009 263 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

 Reactions across HDS catalysts Methanation
Whilst CoMo and NiMo are only weak methana-
Hydrodesulphurization (HDS) is normally tion catalysts, the consequence of a large methana-
carried out across a sulphided cobalt molybdate tion exotherm can be severe.
(CoMo) catalyst. In certain circumstances, such
as low operating temperature or high carbon When the carbon oxide content is high, or can be
oxide content, sulphided nickel molybdate high under abnormal conditions, sulphided NiMo
(NiMo) may be used in preference. The catalysts is used in preference to sulphided CoMo and it is
used for the HDS reaction are powerful particularly important to ensure the catalyst is, and
hydrogenation catalysts in their own right – remains in, the sulphided state. It may also be ne-
NiMo more so than CoMo. Various side cessary to limit the inlet temperature. If it is found
reactions are described in Reference 1. necessary to operate below 300°C (150°F) a high
activity catalyst such as KATALCOJM™ 61-2T
would be required.
Reverse water gas shift reaction
Thermal cracking
HDS catalysts are effective water gas shift cata-
lysts. If CO2 is present hydrogen will be consumed Operation above 400°C (752°F) should be avoided
in the reverse water gas shift reaction (1) and an al- both to prevent catalyst deactivation through car-
lowance should be made when specifying the hy- bon laydown arising from the accelerated thermal
drogen requirement for the hydrodesulphurization cracking of hydrocarbons and to prevent the possi-
reaction. ble initiation of side reactions such as hydrocrack-
ing.
CO2 + H2 ↔ CO + H2O (1)
Olefins
In most circumstances, this reaction will attain
equilibrium at the conditions prevailing at the reac- Any olefins that are present will hydrogenate.
tor exit. As the reaction is endothermic, a small
temperature loss may be observed across the HDS The reaction is strongly exothermic and it might be
catalyst. necessary to decrease the inlet temperature to the
vessel to maintain the exit temperature at or below
Carbonyl sulphide (COS) the design maximum of 400°C (752°F).

COS can be present in natural gas feedstocks and Hydrogenation consumes hydrogen and it is impor-
can also be formed across the HDS catalyst as de- tant to ensure that there is enough residual hydro-
termined by the equilibrium of Reaction 2. gen to allow the hydrogenolysis of organic sulphur
compounds. If insufficient hydrogen is present,
CO2 + H2S ↔ COS + H2O (2) olefins, which may be formed in preheaters, can
react to form organic sulphides, which are not cap-
If CO2 is present in abnormally high concentra- tured by zinc oxide and will impact on the perfor-
tions, steam addition may be required to drive the mance of the primary reformer and low tempera-
COS level down to acceptable levels. Water pro- ture shift catalysts (Figure 1).
duced by the reverse water gas shift reaction (1)
will also help drive COS hydrolysis and, in most
cases, will be sufficient to reduce the COS to the
required purity levels.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 264 2009

 Acetylenes ride removal absorbent such as KATALCOJM 59
3 should be used in the purification section imme-
Acetylenes can polymerize leading to the forma- diately upstream of the KATALCOJM 32-4 and
tion of high molecular weight compounds which KATALCOJM 32-5
block catalyst pores and lead to high pressure drop.

Oxygen Ammonia formation in reformers

Oxygen will react with hydrogen across HDS cata- Ammonia is formed by the classic nitro-
lyst, and it is again necessary to ensure that suffi- gen/hydrogen reaction.
cient hydrogen remains for the HDS reaction itself.
N2 + 3H2 ↔ 2NH3 (4)
Oxygen can lead to the formation of sulphur dio-
xide, which is not retained by zinc oxide and can Primary reformers
therefore pass to the reformer and shift catalysts.
In a primary reformer, nitrogen is only present in
Depending on the relative quantities of oxygen and low concentrations and this limits the amount of
sulphur, oxygen can also lead to the desulphiding ammonia that is formed.
and hence deactivation of the HDS catalyst.
The reaction is kinetically limited and always far
from equilibrium with a number of consequences.
Hydrogen sulphide absorbent
In addition to absorbing H2S, KATALCOJM 32-4 o The higher the reformer exit temperature the
and KATALCOJM 32-5 will also absorb small higher the ammonia concentration.
amounts of hydrogen chloride from the process o The age of the catalyst has a marked effect
gas. with ammonia levels falling ‘exponentially’
over a period of 3-6 months.
ZnO + 2HCl ↔ ZnCl2 + H2O (3) o The type of catalyst also has an effect, with
smaller catalysts having more active nickel per
Whilst this is useful if unexpected traces of HCl unit volume than larger catalysts.
contaminate the plant feedstock, continuous expo- o The longer the residence time, the greater the
sure to trace levels or occasional exposure to large quantity of ammonia that is formed.
spikes of HCl should be avoided as these will re- o The longer the time spent at temperature, the
duce sulphur absorption efficiency. In addition, higher the quantity of ammonia.
even under normal operating temperatures zinc
chloride (ZnCl2) may migrate through the zinc Secondary reformers
oxide leading to the potential for contaminating
downstream equipment and catalysts. In secondary reformers, nitrogen is present in high
concentrations and the ammonia concentration is
Thus, when chlorides are expected to contaminate close to equilibrium.
feedstocks on a regular basis an appropriate chlo-
Consequences of ammonia formation

Ammonia formation has three major effects – the

formation of ammoniacal condensate (effluent), the
Figure 1 – formation of organic sulphides formation of amines by reaction with methanol (ef-

2009 265 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

 fluent, odour), and the possibility of forming am- This phenomenon places a lower limit on the
monium salts (operational inconvenience). steam:hydrogen ratio. Copper, which is added to
most HTS catalysts, has the effect of lowering the
steam/hydrogen ratio required for the onset of
HTS over-reduction over-reduction.
High temperature shift (HTS) catalyst is supplied
as hematite (Fe2O3) and is reduced to the active Water gas shift - methanol
magnetite species (Fe3O4)

3Fe2O3 + H2 ↔ 2Fe3O4 + H2O (5) Small quantities of a multitude of by-products are

3Fe2O3 + CO ↔ 2Fe3O4 + CO2 (6) formed across both HTS and LTS catalysts. The
largest component of these by-products is metha-
Under certain abnormal operating conditions, it is nol which is believed to be formed by the reaction
possible to reduce the Fe3O4 further to Fe and of carbon dioxide with hydrogen (Reference 3).
Fe5C2 (Figure 2 and Reference 2). This is termed Ethanol levels are typically 5 to 10% of the metha-
‘over-reduction’. nol level.

Fe3O4 + 4H2 ↔ 3Fe + 4H2O (7) CO2 + 3 H2 ↔ CH3OH + H2O (12)

Fe3O4 + 4CO ↔ 3Fe + 4CO2 (8)
5Fe3O4 + 32CO ↔ 3Fe5C2 + 26CO2 (9) Whilst the methanol concentration leaving the HTS
catalyst is close to equilibrium and therefore inde-
pendent of catalyst type, methanol formation in
If the catalyst attains the metallic iron phase when LTS catalysts is kinetically limited and does not
over-reduced, it can promote the disproportiona- reach equilibrium. As HTS catalysts operate at
tion of carbon monoxide (10) and Fischer Tropsch higher temperature, and the methanol forming
type reactions (11). reaction is exothermic, the shape of the equilibrium
curve dictates that methanol formation across HTS
2CO ↔ CO2 + C (10) catalysts is substantially less than that across tradi-
CO + H2 → CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H8 (11) tional non-selective LTS catalysts (Figure 3).

Levels of methanol, ethanol, formic and acetic acid With the advent of low methanol LTS catalysts
can also indicate that the catalyst is in the over- such as KATALCOJM 83-3X, an 85% reduction in
reduced state. methanol formation is possible and the relative
contribution from HTS catalysts is much greater,
Over-reduction of HTS catalyst leads to structural and methanol emissions can be grossly underesti-
changes in the catalyst causing weakening of the mated if formation across the LTS is considered in
pellets. Whilst extremely over-reducing conditions isolation (Figure 4).
can have an immediate impact, mild or short pe-
riods of over-reduction may only show signs fol- Consequences of methanol formation
lowing several years of operation. Cycling the
catalyst between phases can have an accumulative Environmental legislation
effect and can be detrimental to the catalyst per-
formance. Other effects can be increased pressure Methanol often needs to be stripped from process
drop, reduced process efficiency and (depending condensate to comply with legislative require-
on the type of CO2 removal process) impaired CO2 ments. Tighter legislation has forced some plant
quality. operators to modify vents with low-pressure con-

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 266 2009

 densate strippers to prevent VOCs from being tonne/day. Of course, recycling this methanol to
vented to atmosphere. the reformer via a medium pressure stripper will
largely offset these losses.
Odour
Control of methanol by-product
Methanol reacts with the ammonia formed in the
reformers to form amines some of which are re- The amount of by-product methanol produced in
moved with process condensate, the remainder the LTS converter is influenced by a variety of fac-
passing forward to the CO2 removal system. The tors, which are summarized in Table 1. In practice
amines concerned have very strong odour thre- the latitude for the plant operator to change operat-
sholds and can be detected at part per billion levels ing conditions is limited with the result that LTS
when amine-containing streams are released to at- catalyst selection as the most practical tool for re-
mosphere or drain, ducing methanol by-product formation.

Quality of process condensate Effect of increase in: Methanol make

Steam/hydrogen ratio ↓
It is normal to recycle process condensate for re- ↑ (not at equilibrium)
use and this will normally involve stripping and re- Inlet temperature
cycle to a polishing unit. Any increase in methanol ↓ (at equilibrium)
concentration in the condensate may result in diffi- Pressure ↑
culties in recycling this water. Water treatment Space velocity ↓
costs may increase and in some cases the water Catalyst age ↓
may have to be exported as effluent incurring Catalyst selectivity ↓
higher water costs as well as creating an effluent
problem.
Table 1 – Effect of various operating parameters
on methanol production
Quality of carbon dioxide
It is critical therefore that a catalyst supplier is able
A proportion of the methanol that is formed in the to provide an accurate prediction of the level of
LTS reactor will pass forward to the CO2 removal methanol that both shift catalysts will make during
system, which can lead to the synthesis of for- their service life. In order to improve its methanol
mates. by-product predictions for low methanol LTS cata-
lyst, KATALCOJM 83-3X, Johnson Matthey Cata-
If CO2 is recovered for external sale or down- lysts has utilized the expertise of the Technical
stream use, it may be necessary to scrub the CO2 to University of Delft to develop a detailed kinetic
achieve the methanol level specified by the down- model for methanol formation over this catalyst.
stream user. The kinetics from this have been incorporated into
Johnson Matthey Catalysts’ modeling programs
Plant efficiency and now enable detailed and accurate predictions
of by-product methanol levels, as illustrated in
For every mole of methanol that is formed, three Figure 5. (Reference 4).
moles of hydrogen are consumed (Reaction 12).
Hence, for every tonne of methanol that is formed,
a typical ammonia plant will lose approximately
1.1 tonnes of ammonia product. In a 2000 mtpd
ammonia plant with a poorly performing LTS cata-
lyst, methanol formation can be as high as 4-5

2009 267 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

 Water gas shift – amines Formates are undesirable for a variety of reasons.
Heat stable amine salts (HSAS) can be formed in
Amine formation takes place preferentially across amine based CO2 removal processes as illustrated
the LTS catalyst – only negligible amounts are by Equation (17)
formed across the HTS catalyst. The reaction is be-
lieved to be kinetically limited. R3N + CH3COOH = R3NH+ + CH3COO- (17)

CH3OH + NH3 ↔ CH3NH2 + H2O (13) The salts are referred to as heat stable because they
CH3OH + CH3NH2 ↔ (CH3)2NH + H2O (14) do not decompose when heated in the stripper and
CH3OH + (CH3)2NH ↔ (CH3)3N + H2O (15) therefore lead to a permanent reduction in the
quantity of amine available for removing CO2 and
As with methanol, some amines will pass into the therefore a general reduction in performance. An
process condensate downstream of the low temper- increased tendency for corrosion has also been ob-
ature shift with the remainder entering the CO2 re- served. In addition to methanol and formates,
moval system. which enter the CO2 removal system via the gas
stream, impurities in make-up water can be another
Smaller quantities of ethylamines may be formed source (Reference 7).
from ethanol, but the quantities are not significant
(see Reference 5). In Benfield systems increased formate levels have
been associated with foaming and increased CO2
Amines can cause a significant odour nuisance slip.
(they smell like fish). Since the levels of ammonia
and methanol depend on plant conditions, amine Formates are difficult to remove by steam stripping
levels can vary considerably from plant to plant. and the presence of organic acids can lead to cor-
However, as the odour threshold for amines is so rosion when stripped condensate is heated up, for
low (the value for methylamine is 0.021ppm v/v) example in pre-boiler systems.
even small quantities can cause a nuisance if not
contained during plant operation, or whilst drain- In addition, when organics such as methanol and
ing down equipment for maintenance. (Reference ethanol enter a boiler system they can be degraded
6) or oxidized to form low molecular weight organic
acids such as acetic and formic acids. Any ammo-
nia that is present will also tend to leave in the
Formates and organic acids steam with the resulting pH depending on the bal-
Whilst traditionally associated with HTS catalyst, ance of ammonia versus organic acid and CO2
small quantities of formates can also be formed (References 8 and 9).
across low temperature shift catalysts. Testing
conducted by Johnson Matthey Catalysts indicates Effective control strategies for reducing formate
that formate levels are largely independent of LTS and organic acid levels include the use of low me-
catalyst formulation. thanol LTS catalysts such as KATALCOJM 83-
3X, effective condensate treatment and monitoring
Formates may also be synthesized downstream of and ensuring that CO2 removal operating tempera-
the shift converters by the reaction of methanol tures are not unduly high.
with carbon monoxide. Again, formation is highly
temperature sensitive.

CO + CH3OH → HCOOCH3 (16)

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 268 2009

 Methanator primary reformer fuel gas when the drying gas is
used as reformer fuel. In some plants the regenera-
Conventional methanators operate with an inlet tion gas is recycled to the inlet of the methanator
temperature around 290–310°C (554-590°F). In the and the heavier hydrocarbons could therefore build
LCA process methanators operated at 250°C up. The ethane and propane containing gas leaving
(482°F) (and for short periods down as low as the driers then passes through a cold box. The
200°C (392°F)). ethane and propane are liquefied in the rectifica-
tion column and then removed as waste gas to be
Higher hydrocarbon by-products were however used as fuel gas on the primary reformer.
discovered by one operator when operating at 210-
220°C (410-428°F) with plant analysis confirming In more conventional plants, hydrocarbons not re-
that they did not originate from the high tempera- moved by gas drying and refrigeration are purged
ture shift (Reference 10). from the loop and end up in the primary reformer
fuel gas system.
The hydrocarbons were formed by a Fisher-
Tropsch type process in which carbon monoxide
and hydrogen are converted into hydrocarbons via Nickel carbonyl
a chain growth process described by the equations
The hazards of nickel carbonyl were discussed at
(18) to (21)
the 2008 Ammonia Safety Symposium (Reference
11). A brief summary is presented here.
2H2 + CO → CH2(s) + H2O (18)
CH2(s) +2(n-1)H2 + (n-1)CO →
Nickel carbonyl is an extremely toxic substance
CnH2n(s) +( n-1)H2O (19)
that can be readily formed when carbon monoxide
comes in contact with nickel and its formation is
CH2(s) + H2 → CH4 (20)
favoured by low temperature and high pressure.
CnH2n(s) + H2 → CnH2n+2 (21)
Ni + 4CO ↔ Ni(CO)4 (22)
Table 2: Temperature dependency of FT-reactions
As it is not normally present, the potential for its
Temperature C2H6 C3H8 C4H10 C5H12
formation can be easily overlooked.
inlet/outlet
°C (°F) ppm ppm ppm ppm Chemistry of nickel carbonyl formation
215/241 (419/466) 8.4 <1 60 11
225/253 (437/487) 6.7 <1 40 9 Nickel carbonyl Ni(CO)4 can form when a reduced
235/262 (455/504) 6.7 <1 30 6 metallic nickel surface is exposed to a gas atmos-
245/272 (473/522) 6.3 <1 23 5 phere containing carbon monoxide under certain
255/282 (491/540) 3.7 <1 18 5 temperature and pressure conditions.

Impact on the ammonia process The following equilibrium relationship, derived

from thermodynamic data, is generally considered
In one plant operating a PurifierTM process metha- to be reliable:
nation is followed by molecular sieve drying (UOP
13X). Analyses showed that whilst ethane and pro- log10 Kp = 8546/T- 21.64
pane are not absorbed on the sieve, butane and
pentane are absorbed. When the sieves are regene-
rated, the butane and pentane traces end up in the

2009 269 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

 where T is the temperature in degrees Kelvin and The key is to review start-up and shutdown proce-
KP is the equilibrium constant for Reaction (22), dures and plant design to either ensure that CO is
pressure in atmospheres (Reference 12) not present or to modify the physical conditions so
that nickel carbonyl won’t be present
Three key conditions must exist for nickel car-
bonyl to be formed in an ammonia plant
- reduced nickel Physical conditions
- carbon monoxide
- appropriate physical conditions. Controlling the physical conditions is key to avoid-
ing the formation of nickel carbonyl in a syngas
plant.
Available nickel
Fortunately normal operating conditions of high
The main sources of available nickel are the hy- temperature prevent nickel carbonyl from being
drodesulphurization, pre-reforming, primary re- formed.
forming, secondary reforming and methanation
catalysts. It is only during periods of operation at low tem-
perature below about 200°C (390°F) that the issue
It is not simply the nickel content that is important may arise, that is under start-up and shutdown
but the fact that these catalysts are designed and conditions only.
manufactured to maximize the nickel surface area
available to catalyse reactions which makes it more
reactive. Ammonium salts
Ammonium salts can be formed where ammonia
Another carbonyl, iron pentacarbonyl, is also high- and CO2 come into contact at low temperature and
ly toxic and issues regarding both these carbonyls moderate pressure. Typical problems include
have been studied for many years (Reference 13). plugged impulse lines and blockages in seldom-
used pipework.
Whilst there are other sources of nickel within an
ammonia plant, catalysts are by far the most signif- CO2 + NH3 + H2O = NH4HCO3 (23)
icant. Although pipework has been shown to be a
potential source that may lead to formation of both 2NH3 + CO2 = NH4COONH2 (24)
nickel carbonyl and iron pentacarbonyl there ap-
pear to be no known incidents where substantial Blockages have been reported in vent stacks due to
quantities of carbonyls have been formed in this mixing ammonia and CO2 containing streams
way leading to risk to personnel. (Reference 14); similar incidents have also been at-
tributed to the reaction of CO2 formed from flare
Available CO stack pilots with a slow ammonia-containing dis-
charge.
Whilst CO is obviously present in certain sections
of the plant a thorough risk assessment is required A poorly performing methanator can also lead to
to determine whether there is a foreseeable risk of CO/CO2 slip into the synthesis loop which can lead
it being present at other times. A simple example to the formation of ammonium salts which plug
would be contamination of a nitrogen purge lead- heat exchangers and even lead to the mechanical
ing to the presence of CO in the reformer when damage of machines.
none would otherwise be expected.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 270 2009

 The basic guidance for avoiding problems is to References
avoid mixing ammonia and CO2 containing
streams wherever possible and to trace, purge, lag
or otherwise keep hot any sections of plant where 1 “Catalyst Handbook”; M V Twigg; Second edition;
1996
the mixing of these two substances is unavoidable. 2 “ICI’s Operating Experience with Shift Catalysts at
Establishing routines to blow down impulse lines Low Steam Ratios”; D Kitchen, A Pinto and H van
can also be useful. Praag, AIChE Ammonia Safety Symposium 1988
3 “The Methanol Synthesis: How does it Work?”; G
Whilst uncommon, some plants recycle ammonia C Chinchen, K Mansfield and M S Spencer,
CHEMTECH, 1990, 20, 692.
containing streams to the front end of the plant 4 “Development of a Kinetic Model for Methanol
where they can react with CO2 contained in natural Formation over Low Temperature Shift Catalysts”,
gas and CO formed by the reverse water gas shift P Broadhurst, Nitrogen 2006
across HDS catalyst. 5 “Predict Methanol and Ammonia in Hydrogen
Plant Process Condensate and Deaerator Vent Emis-
sions”, R G Kunz and W F Blade, Air Products &
In the LCA process, ammonia and CO2 containing Chemicals Ltd, NRPA 2000 Environmental confe-
streams were present throughout much of the front rence, Sept 10-12, 2000
end of the plant. The temperature at which ammo- 6 “Odour Control – A Concise Guide”, FHH Valentin
nium salts will form varies according to the pres- and AA North, Warren Spring Laboratory, Prepared
sure and relative concentrations of CO2, ammonia on behalf of the Department of the Environment
1980
and moisture. An assessment was carried out to de- 7 “The UCARSEPTM Process for On Line Removal
termine the minimum temperature required to pre- of Non-regenerable Salts from Amine Units”, D
vent salt formation at various locations in the plant. Burns and R A Gregory, Union Carbide Corpora-
This information was used to determine the re- tion, 1995 Laurence Reid Gas Conditioning Confe-
rence)
quirements for heat tracing, which was found to be
8 “Steam Chemistry in a Steam Methane Reformer:
an extremely effective method of control. Best Practices”, A Banweg and M Gallegos, Nalco
company, 14th Annual International Seminar on
Hydrogen Plant Operations
Conclusions 9 “Corrosion damage in Waste Heat Boilers; Major
root causes and remediation”; Harrie Duisters, Am-
A range of by-products can be produced in an am- monia Technical Manual 2005
monia plant. The paper has described how several 10 “Low Temperature Methanation Operating Expe-
of them can be formed. rience Something Unexpected”, S Van Den Broek
& M Fowles; Ammonia Technical Manual 2008)
11 “Nickel carbonyl – are you sure your company
It is hoped that operators will be able to use the in- knows how to avoid it, detect it and treat its ef-
formation to understand ammonia plant chemistry fects?”; T Abbott, K Lascelles, Ammonia Technical
better and in so doing appreciate the potential is- Manual 2008
sues associated with their formation. 12 L W Ross, F H Haynie, and R F Hochman, J. Chem.
Eng. Data 9(3), 339-40, 1964
13 L S Cooper, A B Densham, and M W Tanner, I.G.E
KATALCO is a trademark of the Johnson Matthey Journal 183-203, March 1964.
group of companies. 14 “Self supported flare stack vibrations” R Stevens
and U Desai, Ammonia Technical manual 2008
Purifier is a trademark of KBR Inc.

2009 271 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

 Temperature °C
350 400 450 500 550 600

Steam/hydrogen ratio 1.0

0.5
Fe3O4

FeO

Fe

0.1
650 750 850 950 1050 1150
Temperature °F

Figure 2 – Fe3O4 – FeO – Fe Equilibria

Operating window for MeOH formed over LTS bed

By-product MeOH

MeOH equilibrium

Operating window for HTS catalyst

LTS HTS
Temperature

Figure 3 – Effect of equilibrium on methanol formation

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 272 2009

 ATE for non-selective LTS
By-product MeoH

MeOH equilibrium
Non-selective LTS
Selective LTS
Conventional HTS

ATE for selective LTS

220 450
Temperature °C

Figure 4 – relative methanol formation from selective catalysts

1000
Predicted
Methanol in condensate ppmw

800 KATALCOJM 83-3X

Standard catalyst
600

400

200

0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
time years
Figure 5 – Accurate methanol predictions

2009 273 AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 274 2009