Kellogg Brown and Roots Advanced Ammonia Process (KAAP)

- Utilize its Purifier process

- combines low-severity reforming in the primary reformer
- a liquid N2 wash purifier downstream of the methanator to remove impurities and adjust the
H2:N2 ratio
- a proprietary waste-heat boiler design
- a unitized chiller and a horizontal ammonia synthesis converter
- energy consumption can be as low as 28 GJ/m.t. cuz secondary reformer uses excess air
- primary reformer can be smaller than in conventional designs
- ammonia concentration exiting the low-pressure-drop horizontal converter is 20-21 %, which
reduces energy requirements for the recycle compressor.
- A low-pressure ammonia loop that employs a combination of magnetite catalyst and its
proprietary ruthenium catalyst

KBR Reforming Exchanger System (KRES): used with excess process air fed to the autothermal
reformer.

Excess nitrogen, along with the methane, most of the argon, and other impurities are removed in
the KBR Purifier.

resulting high-purity makeup synthesis gas is compressed to the KAAP synthesis loop pressure of
about 90 bar

uses a ruthenium-based, copromoted catalyst on a graphite support. As much as

twenty (20) times more active than the iron-based catalysts.

results in improved synthesis efficiency because the synthesis pressure is lowered

from a typical pressure of 150 bar (2175 psig) to 90 bar

in 1992 used a two-bed, hot-wall KAAP reactor that featured a low pressure drop and
radial flow. Because of the KAAP catalysts high activity, thin beds are necessary to
keep operating temperatures within the desired range

In 2002 the KAAP reactor had evolved to a four-bed design

A magnetite catalyst is used in the first bed of the synthesis loop when the ammonia
concentration is below 2% of the feed. Then the ruthenium catalyst is used in the
next three beds to bring the ammonia level up to 18% or more

radial-flow converters, the upper portion of the bed is sealed with excess, unused
catalyst. This design prevents feed gas from by-passing the reaction section when the
catalyst settles. KAAP reactor uses a proprietary sealing system to overcome this
problem. This sealing system avoids the catalyst maldistribution that can lead to
formation of hot spots in the catalyst bed. The system also allows 100% of the loaded
catalyst volume to be utilized for the ammonia conversion reaction

KAAP catalyst generates a smaller amount of water during reduction because it

contains much less metals than conventional iron catalysts. For this reason, the
 catalyst reduction proceeds swiftly and required 19 hours in one installation. (Iron
catalyst reduction usually requires 36 to 48 hours.)

Capital cost savings of 3% to 8% may be achieved

These savings are a result of the following design

features:

- No air separation plant,

- No primary reformer,
- Single case synthesis gas compressor,
- Synthesis at 90 bar,
- No purge gas recovery unit and
- Reduced plot space.

maintenance costs are lower because KAAPplus eliminates the primary reformer
and greatly simplifies the syngas compressor

reduces the severity of the operating conditions. Reforming exchanger and

autothermal reformer exit temperatures are about 100C lower than in conventional
plants. Synthesis pressure at 90 bar is substantially lower than other processes81

Haldor Tops0e

- proprietary side-fired reformer which uses radiant burners to supply heat for the reforming
reaction.
- a proprietary iron-based synthesis catalyst
- radial-flow converters consisting of one two, or three beds, and a proprietary bayonet-tube-
waste heat boiler.
- S-300 converter is a three-bed radial-flow configuration with internal heat exchangers
- S-350 design combines an S-300 converter with an S-50 single-bed design with waste-heat
recovery between converters to maximize ammonia conversion.

based on the S-200 ammonia converter. Two-bed radial flow converter with indirect cooling
between the beds. efficient use of converter volume and low pressure drop (factors related to the
use of small catalyst particles: 1.5 to 3.0 mm), and high conversion per pass due to indirect
cooling

installation of a new S-200 basket in an existing pressure shell with full opening closure or an in
situ modification of the existing internals of bottle-shaped converters. Modifications of this type will
typically result in a reduction in specific energy consumption of about 0.3 Gcal/tonne of ammonia
and/or a capacity increase of up to 20%
Krupp Uhde GmbH ammonia Process

- a conventional plant with a unique secondary reformer design,

- a proprietary waste-heat boiler, radial-flow converters, and a dual-pressure ammonia
synthesis loop.
- Today, a production rate of 3,300 m.t/day can be achieved using the TKIS dual-pressure
process