Chemical Oct 12, 2012 5:27 PM
thyssenkrupp Uhde is selected to engineer one of the world’s largest liquid fertiliser plants
OCI Construction Group has selected thyssenkrupp Uhde for an engineering and procurement contract for the construction of one of the world’s largest single-train liquid fertiliser plants to be built in the United States of America.
The German plant construction company thyssenkrupp Uhde was awarded the contract for the design and supply of a liquid fertiliser plant, which will be built near Wever, Iowa in the USA, through its U.S. business partner Uhde Corporation of America. The liquid fertiliser urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) is produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide, with urea solution, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate being produced as intermediates. The customer is Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), which is building the entire complex for its subsidiary, Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo). Commissioning is scheduled for 2015.
This will be the first new sizeable fertiliser complex to be built in the USA in almost 25 years. thyssenkrupp Uhde will develop the engineering for six of the seven process plants, as well as supplying the required process equipment and machinery. As an additional product the plant will produce a high purity urea solution (also called Diesel Exhaust Fluid, DEF) which will be used to improve the environmental performance of diesel engines by reducing the nitrogen oxides in the exhaust. The scope of supplies also includes a plant for manufacturing urea granules which will be produced using the thyssenkrupp Uhde Fertilizer Technology (UFT) process.
thyssenkrupp Uhde's equally highly efficient processes are also being used in the nitric acid, ammonium nitrate and UAN plants, whilst the urea plant will use the synthesis process from Stamicarbon in the Netherlands. In 2006 to 2008 thyssenkrupp Uhde successfully engineered a similar-sized plant at the Point Lisas site on the island of Trinidad and provided the plant's key equipment. Together with the aforementioned plant in Point Lisas the new Iowa fertiliser plant with a daily production capacity of 4,300 tonnes will be the largest single-train UAN plants in the world.
"The Iowa fertiliser plant is the next chapter in our success story with OCI, which, after Egypt and Algeria, has now taken us to the United States," said Dr. Michael Thiemann, Chairman of the Management Board of thyssenkrupp Uhde. "Our outstanding technological expertise and the excellent performance of our reference plants contributed to this success against international competition."
OCI Construction Group Chief Operating Officer, Osama Bishai, commented: “We have worked well with thyssenkrupp Uhde on several projects and believe our performance on this project, with an overall investment of USD 1.4 billion, will be a landmark reference for us to grow our business in North America.”
The OCI Construction Group can look back on a long-standing relationship and successful track record of working with thyssenkrupp Uhde on various projects. These include several nitrogen fertiliser plants in Egypt and Algeria with a combined value of more than USD 2 billion.
thyssenkrupp Uhde has a workforce of more than 5,600 employees worldwide and is a company in the Plant Technology business area of the thyssenkrupp Group. The company's activities focus on the engineering and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: fertilisers; electrolysis; gas technologies; oil, coal and residue gasification; refining technologies; organic intermediates, polymers and synthetic fibres; and also coke plant and high-pressure technologies. We also provide our customers with professional services and comprehensive solutions in all areas of industrial plant operation. Details are available at www.uhde.eu
Uhde Corporation of America a company of thyssenkrupp Inc, USA is headquartered in Bridgeville, (Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania, U.S. and is a business partner of thyssenkrupp Uhde.
Orascom Construction Industries is one of Egypt’s largest corporations employing more than 72,000 people in 35 countries around the globe. The OCI Fertilizer Group owns and operates nitrogen fertilizer plants in Egypt, the Netherlands, the United States, and Algeria and has an international distribution platform spanning from the Americas to Asia. The OCI Fertilizer Group ranks among the world’s top fertilizer producers with a production capacity which will exceed 7.0 million metric tons in 2012. The OCI Construction Group provides international engineering and construction services primarily on infrastructure, industrial and high-end commercial projects in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for public and private clients. The OCI Construction Group ranks among the world’s top global contractors.