UFC-85 Plants for Urea

Fertilizer Projects
Formaldehyde plants, which are designed to meet the needs of urea fertilizer producers, have been
developed and constructed. The UFC-85 Package Plant concept, which uses the "excess air"
principle and Tops0e's FK catalyst, produces a higher yield and is easier to operate than traditional
plants. This article examines the design, processes, and operation of the UFC-85 Package Plant.

Carl-Vilhelm Rasmussen
Haldor Tops0e A/S, Lyngby DK 2800, Denmark

Introduction improves mechanical strength, moisture resistance, and

free-flowing characteristics to urea from a single point

U
rea is produced on a worldwide scale well of injection in the urea production process.
exceeding 100 million metric tons per year.
The product can be finished in the form of Recommended Dosage
prills, granules, or liquid fertilizer.
Although prilling is in general the cheapest product The injected formaldehyde or UFC-85 is applied in
finishing technique, more and more customers are con- the following concentrations relative to the urea prod-
verting to granular urea due to possible sizing of gran- uct:
ules, uniformity, and more consistent yields. Prilled: approx. 0.25% formaldehyde by weight (as
Urea fertilizer, produced either in prills or in gran- 100% formaldehyde).
ules, shows a tendency to cake or form lumps. Granulated: up to approx. 0.55% formaldehyde by
Therefore, some kind of additive should be used in weight (as 100% formaldehyde).
order to minimize caking, especially when the bulk As can be calculated from the above, a typical 1,000
urea storage facility has no humidity control or when MTPD ammonia plant producing 1,725 MTPD urea
bulk urea has to be shipped long distances. will require per day:
In the case of the urea granulation process formalde- Prilled: 4.3 TPD as 100% formaldehyde equal to 7
hyde addition is mandatory where the formaldehyde TPD of UFC-85.
also reduces dust formation during the production. Granulated: 9.5 TPD as 100% formaldehyde equal to
The use of formaldehyde in UFC-85 (urea- 16 TPD of UFC-85.
formaldehyde-precondensate containing 60 wt. % To provide for the local formaldehyde requirement,
formaldehyde, 25 wt. % urea and balance water) as Haldor Tops0e A/S has developed and built a number
anti-caking agent serves the dual purpose of condition- of formaldehyde plants with special focus on the needs
ing, as well as coating, of urea granules or prills. It of urea fertilizer producers.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 122 2002

The Formaldehyde or UFC-85 Package operation. See Figure 2.
Plant Concept While the plant is compact, the layout provides easy
access to all the equipment, instruments, and valves.
The plant consists of three 40-ft. standard container
modules plus the absorber. These are assembled and TheTopsoe Experience in Formaldehyde
tested in the factory before delivery. They can be trans- Production
ported to the plant site by truck or ship, like other nor-
mal containers. See Figure 1. Jointly with the Japanese company of Nippon Kasei
The modules are mounted on foundations provided Chemical Co. Ltd., Haldor Tops0e A/S has developed a
by the customer. Two modules containing the process process for the production of formaldehyde by oxida-
equipment will be positioned vertically. The third mod- tion of methanol.
ule contains the oil system and the rotating equipment. The process uses the so-called excess air principle,
This module is placed horizontally. Instrument panels and the oxidation of methanol takes place over a cata-
and motor control center, if part of a package plant of lyst composed of iron oxide and molybdenum oxide.
the "stand-alone" type, could be placed in an addition- This catalyst, denominated FK, is developed and pro-
al horizontal container. duced by Tops0e. See Figure 3.
Only a few welds and cable connections have to be The advantages of the excess air process offered by
performed at the site. Meanwhile, the catalyst, heat- Tops0e as compared to the excess methanol process
transfer oil, and absorber packings are installed. using a silver type catalyst are:
Thereafter, the plant is ready for startup and subsequent

Figure 2.17 MTPD UFC-85 Tops0e pack-

Figure 1.17 MTPD UFC-85 package age plant at the Popka Urea Project at
plant layout/ assembly drawing. Bontang East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 123 2002

• The plant is easier to operate and is not very sensi- 8.4% by volume and oxygen content of 10% by vol-
tive to power failure. It may be readily restarted after ume.
power failures lasting up to several hours. The preheated gas enters the reactor hi which it pass-
• The yield is higher, typically 93% compared to es through tubes containing Tops0e metal oxide cata-
87.5% for the silver catalyst process. lyst type FK-2. The principal reaction, the catalytic oxi-
• The metal oxide catalyst is not very sensitive to poi- dation of methanol into formaldehyde, occurs accord-
soning. Therefore, the quality demands for the ing to Eq. 1
methanol feedstock can be less stringent.
• A high formaldehyde content can easily be obtained CH3OH + _O2_HCHO (1)
without the use of auxiliary equipment.
• The methanol content in the product is low, typical- A limited amount of formaldehyde is further oxi-
ly 0.21% by weight in UFC-85. dized to carbon monoxide by the following side reac-
tion
Process Description
HCHO + _O2 _ CO + H2O (2)
The Tops0e formaldehyde or the UFC-85 process
unit will be laid out in accordance with the Process
Also minute amounts of dimethyl ether and formic
Flow Diagram, shown in Figure 4.
acid are formed.
Liquid methanol is mixed with air and recycle gas
These reactions are strongly exothermal, and in order
circulated by the blower. The mixture is simultaneous-
to maintain optimum temperature conditions and to
ly evaporated and heated to a temperature of approx.
limit the formation of byproducts, the heat of reaction
165°C in the methanol evaporator/process gas heater
has to be removed during the reaction. This is done
by heat exchange with circulated liquid heat-transfer
through heat transfer from the catalyst tubes to a bath
oil. The reaction mixture has a methanol content of
of a heat-stable boiling heat-transfer oil. See Figure 5.

Figure 3. Tops0e FK-2 formaldehyde catalyst

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 124 2002

 PURIFIED TAIL GAS

RECYCLE GAS ABSORBER

AIR COOLER CATALYTIC
"• f «T 'S INCINERATOR
J I
EVAPORATOR/PREHEATER n\oe»/
—r uu u /?N
CW —rSn-»"
^~~^
j OIL
TOR
X
jiJLn. —ö

< r"\ WATER OR UREA SOLUTION

v^/
MM&
AIR

1EACTOR
BLOWER
uu u Jl^\.

X CW—^W*

METHANOL/ JI_JLjL —Q
FORMALDEHYDE AF-37/55 OR
PUMP uu u UFC-85 PRECONDENSATE
AFTER
COOLER • X^N
\ tt
r><C
l WW ~~v >(/*'

-s
Figure 4. Process flow diagram for a 17 MTPD Tops0e urea formaldehyde (UFC-85) Plant.

TEMPERATURE °C
400

380
360
340
320
300
280
260 *• GAS FLOW DIRECTION

240
220
/ TOP ZONE (DILUTED CATALYST) BOTTOM ZONE
200
O 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
CM FROM TOP

Figure 5. Temperature profile in a catalyst tube during normal operation.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 125 2002

 The oil vapors from the reactor are sent to the oil sep- enters the catalytic incinerator. Here the Tops0e CKM-
arator and then condensed in the air cooler. All con- 22 catalyst makes the combustible compounds, CO,
densed oil is recycled by gravity to the reactor via the CH3OH, HCHO and (CH3)2O burn with the O2 present
oil separator. In the oil separator the temperature of the in the tail gas. Thereby the gas temperature is increased
return oil condensate is equilibrated with oil vapor thus to approx. 450°C. The hot gas leaving the incinerator is
ensuring a uniform oil bath temperature in the reactor. cooled by heat exchange with the untreated tail gas and
The reactor effluent is cooled to about 130°C in the then discharged to the atmosphere via a separate vent.
after-cooler by heat exchange with heat-transfer oil, If excess condensate produced by the UFC-85
which has been cooled in the aforementioned evapora- process cannot be utilized for instance for preparation
tor/preheater. The heat-transfer oil is of the same type of the urea solution, it can as well be vaporized by the
as used for cooling the reactor. It is circulated in a excess heat produced by the process in a separate
closed circuit by the heat-transfer oil pump operating at excess condensate evaporator, whereafter it is mixed
a relatively low temperature of 90-100°C. with tail gas and purified in the catalytic incinerator. As
The formaldehyde-containing gas is passed on to the a result, the formaldehyde plant is completely neutral
absorber, where the formaldehyde is absorbed in urea towards the environment.
solution, which can be directly obtained from the urea
process. If aqueous formaldehyde solution product is Steam production
desired, this can be obtained by introduction of process
water to the absorber in place of urea solution. The If required, the formaldehyde plant can be built to
lower part of the absorber contains two packed beds produce steam for export.
with a number of valve cap trays in between. The upper
part of the absorber contains a section with valve cap Operation of the Plant
trays and one packed bed at the top.
The heat of the solution and the sensible heat of the Startup procedure
reaction gas are removed in the lower beds by the two-
absorber coolers. In this way the major part of the The reactor is first heated to the reaction temperature
formaldehyde is absorbed. Having passed the two of 260-275°C. This heating takes place by circulating
packed beds, the gas stream enters the upper tray sec- the oil in the reactor through an electric startup heater
tion, where most of the remaining formaldehyde and by one of the heat-transfer oil pumps. While the reac-
methanol are removed from the gas by countercurrent tor is heated, liquid levels are adjusted in the absorber,
washing with urea solution. In the top packed bed max- the liquid recirculation loops are started, and circula-
imum cooling is applied and from this stage the excess tion of heat-transfer oil through the process gas heater
water is also drawn. and aftercooler is established.
The purified gas leaving the absorber is split in recy- The blower is now started at reduced capacity, and
cle gas, which is recycled back by the recirculation the ratio between fresh air to recycle gas is controlled
blower and tail gas, which is vented after further purifi- to the normal operating level. While heat input to the
cation by a catalytic incinerator. reactor is maintained, the evaporator/preheater is
The UFC-85 product at the exit of the absorber con- warmed up and methanol is added at a low rate. The
tains approx. 0.04 wt. % formic acid. methanol concentration is kept low during startup.
Only when the oxygen concentration has dropped to
Catalytic tail gas incinerator 10%, the airflow, recirculation flow, and methanol flow
are gradually increased until design capacity has been
The catalytic tail gas incinerator treats the scrubbed achieved.
tail gas as well as it may eliminate the surplus excess
condensate. Scrubbed tail gas is heated to approx.
250°C in the tail gas heater. At this temperature, the gas

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 126 2002

Normal operation Plant turndown capacity and onstream factor

The plant is easy to control by the methanol flow, the The turndown capacity of the plant is 40% of the
recirculation flow, and the airflow. The optimum reac- name plate capacity.
tion temperature, which is practically independent of The expected onstream availability of the plant is
the plant capacity, is controlled by the heat-transfer oil minimum 350 days per year.
pressure. This is adjusted once in a while by adjusting
the pressure controller at the inlet to the air cooler. Manpower

The yield Within the battery limits, the plant is equipped with
all necessary measuring and control systems to ensure
The theoretical consumption of methanol per metric safe operation without continuous supervision by oper-
ton of 37 wt. % formaldehyde solution is 395 kg. The ators.
actual consumption will increase both with the amount Manpower requirements are limited to one full-time
of byproducts formed and with the amount of uncon- panel operator and one part-time field operator.
verted methanol. The operators may take care of other plants as well.
A low methanol consumption, that is, a high yield,
can only be obtained if both the overall conversion and Materials of construction
the selectivity are high. The overall conversion is the
fraction of the feed methanol which is converted. The The whole absorption system and the equipment
selectivity is the fraction of the converted methanol between the reactor and the absorber are made of
which is transformed into formaldehyde. austenitic stainless steel for all parts in contact with the
By changing the temperature of the heat-transfer oil reactor effluent gas. The choice of this material is made
- the most important process parameter — the two fig- to avoid corrosion and to obtain a maximum purity of
ures will vary in opposite directions as shown in Figure the product. The remaining equipment is made of car-
6. The yield, which is the product of the overall con- bon steel.
version and the selectivity, will therefore be maximum
at a certain temperature. Design Basis

Tables 1 through 4 represent a typical case and are

adaptable to the client's requirements. Table 1 depicts
feedstock and raw materials, available by pipeline at
battery limits. The Tops0e catalytic combustion unit
(CATOX) will reduce the content of organics and CO
in the tail gas to the values shown in Table 2. All excess
water may be vented after evaporation and treatment in
the catalytic incinerator. It is anticipated that the utili-
ties shown in Table 3 are available at the battery limits.
For consumption and production figures, see Table 4.

Plant layout

A typical layout of the formaldehyde unit is shown

in Figure 1.
The process unit, with a capacity of 17 MTPD (UFC-
Figure 6. Conversion, selectivity, and 85), requires a ground area of approximately 10 x 15 m.
yield vs. oil temperature.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 127 2002

 Table 1. Feedstock and Raw Materials
Methanol
Methanol Content wt. % 99.3
Appearance clear
Acidity mg KOG/g 0.1
Aldehyde content (as CH3CHO) wt. % 0.1 Table 2. Waste Streams
Ketone content (as acetone) wt. % 0.1 Tail Gas
Water content wt. % 0.2 CH3OH, max ppmv 10
Specific gravity 0.7902 HCHO, max ppmv 10
DME, max ppmv 10
Urea Solution CO, max ppmv 10
Aqueous urea solution wt. % 65-70 Temperature °C 454
Temperature °C 60 Pressure atmospheric
Pressure kg/cm2 4.0
Process Condensate (Excess Water)
Product Urea Formaldehyde Precondensate Temperature °C 55
2
Temperature °C 39 Pressure kg/cm g 2.0
Typical Composition,
HCHO wt. % 60.00
Urea wt. % 25.00
CH3OH wt. % 0.21
HCOOH wt. % 0.04
H2O wt. % balance

Table 3. Utilities Table 4. Consumption and Production Figures

Electricity Expected Consumption Per 1,000 kg of UFC-85
Voltage V 380-500 Methanol (as 100% CH3OH) kg 700
Phases 3 Urea solution (as 100% urea) kg 250
Frequency Hz 50 or 60 m3
Cooling water 81
Electricity kWh 115
Cooling Water
NaOH (as 100%) kg 0.35
Temperature inlet/outlet °C 35/45
2
Pressure inlet/outlet kg/cm g 3.5/2.5 (2.0 at BL) Production Per 1,000 kg of UFC-85
UFC-85 kg -
Instrument Air 3
Tail gas Nm 1562
Pressure kg/cm2g 6 Excess Water kg 588
Quality clean and dry
Dew point at pressure °C 20 below amb. temp.

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 128 2002

Erection at Site months from the effective date of order when the com-
plete and relevant design basis plus all relevant specifi-
The package formaldehyde plant is erected at the site cations are available.
in only three weeks, provided that foundations and
paving are ready to receive the plant. All instruments, Conclusion
valves and control loops, as well as rotating equipment,
are tested before transportation to the site. The inclusion of a package formaldehyde or UFC-85
First, the absorber and the modules are placed on the plant in an ammonia urea fertilizer plant (project) may
foundations and are aligned and bolted together. Then, compare with other package utility systems for boiler-
the top section of the absorber is welded to the bottom feed water, nitrogen, instrument air, and so on.
section and the transport fixations are removed. The advantages of ordering a package unit for supply
Meanwhile, catalyst is loaded into the reactors, heat- of the required amount of formaldehyde is to ensure the
transfer oil is filled into the oil tank and the absorber following benefits to the end-user:
packing is installed. After that, the piping between the (1) Fast and easy installation at site.
modules is connected by welding and by means of dis- (2) Produces formaldehyde or urea-formaldehyde in
tance pieces. Also, the customer's piping is connected. the same plant.
When the power supply has been established and (3) Fully automatic operation with supervision from
cables between the modules have been rolled out and urea plant control room or the package plant.
connected, the plant is ready for commissioning. (4) No waste materials or harmful effluents to the
environment.
Project Schedule (5) Competent and dedicated design to do the spe-
cialized job.
Delivery of equipment, materials and catalyst

The EXW delivery time may be as short as 12

AMMONIA TECHNICAL MANUAL 129 2002