International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2012

25-26January, 2013, Khulna, BANGLADESH

MIE12-068
Economic Aspects of Setting up Purge Gas Recovery Unit (PGRU) with Ammonia Production
Process
Sohrab Hossain1, J.A.Shamim2*, P.K. Bhowmik3
1
Department of Planning, Eastern Refinery Limited, Chittagong-4000,BANGLADESH
2
Department of Inspection, Eastern Refinery Limited, Chittagong-4000,BANGLADESH
3
Department of Instrumentation and Communication, Eastern Refinery Limited, Chittagong-4000,BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT
This paper outlines a broadly applied method for reducing the cost of an Ammonia Production Process by setting up a Purge
Gas Recovery Unit (PGRU) with it. Purge gas stream from ammonia process contains ammonia, hydrogen, nitrogen and
other inert gases. Among them, ammonia itself is the valuable product lost with the purge stream. Moreover it has a serious
adverse effect on the environment. Besides this, hydrogen is the most valuable feed for the ammonia synthesis process.
Most of the major units of ammonia process are engaged on hydrogen production. A PGRU can recover ammonia and
hydrogen from the purge gas stream of Ammonia Production Process. It is very much useful and economical. It is also a
wonderful end of the pipe solution for the environmental safety.

Keywords:Purge Gas, Purge Gas Recovery Unit (PGRU), Cryogenic Separation, Fixed capital investment.

1.0 Introduction
Ammonia is one of the truly fundamental raw materials 2.3 Synthesis and refrigeration section
for modern civilization, which is mainly consumed in This section consists of ammonia converter (ACV) and
fertilizer industries for production of different sulphate, ammonia liquefaction & storage section.
nitrate & phosphate fertilizers. During production of The Ammonia production process also required some
ammonia,a portion of gas, which is a mixture of other additional process system to ensure effectiveness
hydrogen, nitrogen and some inert gases, must be vented of the production process. These systems include:
to increase synthesis rate of ammonia. This part of gas is - Desulfurization
called emission gas. The separated liquid NH3 (product - Primary & Secondary Reforming
ammonia) is depressurized and sent to let down vessel. - Shift Converter
Dissolved H2, N2 and inerts in the ammonia at high - Carbon Dioxide removal
pressure is separated due to pressure reduction. A certain
percent of ammonia is also vaporized. This gas mixture
evolved due to pressure reduction is known as flush gas.
The combination of emission gas and flush gas is
considered as purge gas.Besides this, hydrogen is the
most valuable feed for the ammonia synthesis process.
Most of the major units of ammonia process are
engaged on hydrogen production. So the savings of
hydrogen can reduce the cost of these units. A PGRU
can recover ammonia and hydrogen from the purge gas
stream of Ammonia Production Process. It is very much
useful and economical. It is also a wonderful end of the
pipe solution for the environmental safety. The
objective of this study was to perform an analysis on the
economic aspects of setting up a PGRU with an
Ammonia Production Process.
2.0Overview of Ammonia Process Description
Ammonia production process using natural gas as raw
material of hydrogen may be divided into following
three major steps:
2.1 Preparation of raw synthesis gas section
This section consists of primary reformer (PRF) and
secondary reformer (SRF).
2.2Raw synthesis gas purification section
This section includes high temperature shift converter Fig1.Block Diagram of Ammonia Production Process
(HTS) and low temperature shift converter (LTS) without PGRU.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +88-01773244555

E-mail address: Jubair.buet.bd@gmail.com
 - Methanation Besides this, hydrogen is also a valuable feed for the
- Ammonia Converter ammonia process. Most of the major units of ammonia
- Refrigeration & Storage process are engaged on hydrogen production. So the
- Purging System savings of hydrogen can reduce the cost of these units.
Due to the pollution of ammonia, purge gas cannot be
A simplified block diagram of above mentioned directly emitted into atmosphere. It should be recovered.
processes are shown in page-01. Inthe subsequent The common processes are water wash and cryogenic
sections of this paper only purging system and Purge separation. The recovery of the hydrogen, nitrogen or
Gas Recovery Unit (PGRU) have been discussed as argon is sometimes required as well. The recovery of
details of other systems are beyond the scope of this those gases will increase ammonia's production rate,
paper. reduce the energy consumption. At mean time it will
benefit environment pollution control as well.
2.4Purging System
A purge stream is withdrawn from a process when a
3.0Description of PGRU
species enters in the process feed and is completely
A typical PGRU used in ammonia production consists
recycled. If this species were not removed from the
of following sections:
purge, it would keep accumulating in the process system
- Chiller & Cooler
and eventually lead to shutdown.
- Ammonia recovery unit (Absorber after
chilling process)
- H2 recovery Unit (Adsorber& Cold Box)

3.1 Chiller & Cooler

Purge gas chiller & cooler are used to recover a certain
percent of ammonia as liquid from purge gas before fed
Fig2.Schematic diagram of a simple purge system to the absorber where water is used to absorb the
residual ammonia in purge gas. Actually, this
2.5Requirement of Purging in Ammonia Process combination reduces ammonia content of purge gas
In the production of ammonia, air is used as the source from 7.78% to 1.78%. In the chiller liquid ammonia is
of N2. Air also contains Ar, He in addition to nitrogen used as chillant which gets heat from purge gas and
and oxygen. This He and Ar are inert for the process forms ammonia vapor by taking latent heat of
and accumulated continuously in the system. Again vaporization. As a result the purge gas cool down and
hundred percent of CH4cannot be converted into desired ammonia is separated in liquid form from the other
product i.e. into H2 during steam reforming reaction. components of the purge gas. Resultant remaining cold
Steam reforming reaction also produces CO and CO2 gas flows through the tube side of a heat exchanger to
which cannot be removed completely from the process cool the purge gas effluent from the ACV and then
gas. Since oxide components are poisonous to synthesis passes to the absorber section for further separation of
catalyst, they are converted into methane using ammonia.
methanator before charging the process gas into the
system. Methane is inert to the system. Thus process gas 3.2Absorption
contains inert about 1.2%. Absorption is the very first step in NH3 recovery from
purge gas. Water is used as solvent. Ammonia rich
The feed elements, hydrogen and nitrogen, are not purge gas is sent upward through the absorber, counter
completely converted to ammonia in the ammonia current to the flow of water. The absorber consists of
reactor by a single step. The conversion rate is as low as several trays that act as equilibrium separation stages
25%. So it is essential to recycle a major part of the where NH3 from the purge gas is absorbed by the water.
effluent from the reactor to save the unconverted feed Washed gas from the top of the absorber contains NH3
elements. Due to the continuous recycling process, there in ppm level and H2 should be recovered from it. This
accumulates inert gases that reduce the synthesis rate of wet gas is then sent to the adsorption unit. The bottom
ammonia. As a result, purging is must to be performed product of the absorber is preheated and sent to the
to keep the system running. regenerator which is also valve tray column, mounted
on top of a reboiler. NH3 rich water flows downwards
2.6Requirement of PGRU in Ammonia Process through the trays (that act as equilibrium separation
Purge gas stream from ammonia process contains stages) to the reboiler. NH3 gas liberated from the water
ammonia (about 7.7%), hydrogen, nitrogen and other in the reboiler passes upwards through the trays,
inert gases. Here, ammonia itself is the valuable providing heat and picking up some NH3 from the water
production lost with the purge stream. Moreover, ithas a flowing downwards. The NH3 leaves the unit from the
sharp irritating odor and burns the eyes and skin. More top of the column through an atmospheric reflux
than a sniff of this toxic, reactive and corrosive gas can condenser that provides a partial reflux for the column.
make one ill and can even is fatal. So it has a serious This NH3 of 99% purity is sent to the ammonia plant.
adverse effect on the environment. The NH3 rich solution in the reboiler is heated to

MIE12-068- 2
approximately 300ºC, using low pressure steam. The The hydrogen product stream leaving the feed gas
lean water from the bottom of the reboiler is sent to the separator is passed through the pressure control valve,
tube side of a heat exchanger where the regenerated re-heated in the exchangers and then out of the cold box
water is cooled by NH3 rich water fed to the regenerator, to battery limits. The condensed liquid in the feed gas
and fed to the top of the absorber through the lean separator is expanded to fuel gas pressure across the
solution pump. In this process water wash absorption level control valve. The resultant Joule Thomson effect
process is preferable as: (isenthalpic expansion) leads to a temperature drop
 NH3 readily dissolves in water sufficient for the main exchangers to work adequately.
 Easy and economic regeneration During start-up or if the fuel gas pressure is relatively
 Water is very cheap solvent high or the feed is particularly rich in hydrogen, then the
Joule Thompson effect may be increased by injecting
3.3Adsorption some of the hydrogen product into the low pressure
This is the pretreatment stage of the gas for H2 liquid. The net effect of this is to reduce the partial
separation as the NH3 and H2O freeze at the lower pressures of the condensed components, so the
temperature of the cold box and clog the line. The condensate evaporates at a lower temperature and thus
effluent gas from the top of the absorber is sent to the improve the performance of the main exchangers.
molecular sieve to adsorb water and remaining NH3 (in
ppm level). This is a cyclic adsorption process. For The re-mixed liquid-vapor stream is then re-heated
continuous operation, two beds (say A & B) are used in against the incoming feed stream in exchangers before
parallel. When adsorberA proceeds regeneration steps, leaving the cold box at ambient temperature as the fuel
adsorber B remains in service. The cyclic steps through gas product. Part of the fuel gas stream is used for
which an adsorber runs can be stated as follows: regeneration of the adsorbers before recombination with
the remaining fuel gas and then delivery to battery
Table 1: Cyclic steps for an adsorber in PGRU. limits via a pressure control valve.
Steps Adsorber A Adsorber B Time (min) 4.0 Purge Gas Recovery Process
1 Service Venting 15 Due to the pollution of ammonia, purge gas cannot be
2 Service Pre-heating 15 directly emitted into atmosphere. It should be recovered.
3 Service Main 135 The common processes are water wash and cryogenic
Heating separation.A block diagram of NH3 Production Process
4 Service Cooling 165 with PGRU is shown below:
5 Service Equalizing 15
6 Service Service 15
7 Venting Service 15

The feed gas flows downward during dehydration

through one adsorber containing a desiccant bed, while
the other adsorber is being regenerated by a stream of
gas discharged from the cold box. Gas flow is
downward for dehydration so as to lessen bed
disturbance due to high gas velocity, and therefore,
permit higher gas rates. Regeneration gas, on the other
hand, is sent upward through regeneration of the bottom
of the bed, which is the last area contacted by the gas
that is dehydrated. Most contamination occurs at the top
of the tower, and by sending the generation gas upward;
these contaminants can be removed without flushing
them through the entire bed. The purge gas feed leaving
the on-stream adsorber, free both ammonia and water
and suitable for low temperature processing, is then fed
to the cold box.

3.4 Cold Box

The feed gas is cooled and partially condensed in the
heat exchangers against returning hydrogen product and
fuel gas product. The two-phase mixture resulting from
the partial condensation is separated in feed gas
separator where the vapor forms the hydrogen product
and the liquid makes up the fuel gas product. Also, for
starts up, liquid ammonia is passed through a third heat
exchanger to provide extra refrigeration to the feed gas. Fig3.Diagram of NH3 Production Process with PGRU.

MIE12-068- 3
4.1 Water Wash Process
Ammonia dissolves readily in water. The purge gas
Purchased equipment-delivered (including fabricated
from ACV contains about 7.78% of ammonia. The
equipment and process machinery)
ammonia from the purge gas is absorbed with the help
= $ (178,340 × 1.3)
of water in an ammonia absorption tower. Ammonia
rich purge gas is fed to the absorption tower at the lower ≅ $ 231,000
half and lean water enters the tower at the top. Rich
The below table represents the determination of fixed
water from the bottom of the absorber was regenerated
capital investment values PGRU.
for absorption by a regenerator. Ammonia from the
regenerator was sent to the reservoir. Washed gas from
the top of the absorber contains NH3 in ppm level. Table 3: Determination of fixed capital investment
(direct & indirect cost) values for large addition to
4. 2 Cryogenic Separation Process existing facilities1.
Cryogenic separation of inert gases from the raw Component Range% Assumed Cost
synthesis gas is a commonly used approach. This unit % of Total (US$)
is integrated into the purge gas recovery loop from the Direct costs
back to the front end of the ammonia unit. It serves to Purchased 15-40 35 231,000
recover hydrogen from the purge stream and feed it
equipment
back to the ammonia synthesis loop after
recompression. Purchased 6-14 8 52,800
In this separation process, inerts in the synthesis gas are equipment
removed through cryogenic condensation. Typically, the installation
composition of conventionally prepared synthesis gas is Instrumentation & 2-8 4 26,400
about 74% hydrogen, 0.8-1.0% methane, 0.32% argon controls (installed)
with the balance being nitrogen. In this process, nearly
Piping (installed) 3-20 6 39,600
all of the methane is removed along with half of the
argon present, thus it produces "cleaner" synthesis gas Electrical (installed) 2-10 4 26,400
for ammonia production. Moreover, the hydrogen to Buildings (including 3-18 5 33,000
nitrogen ratio of the synthesis gas can be controlled services)
independently without affecting the performance of Yard improvement 2-5 2 13,200
front end. Traditionally, this ratio is controlled by Service facilities 8-20 9 59,400
varying the process air flow to the secondary reformer
(installed)
which makes the system reactive between front end and
the back end. A cryogenic separation unit eliminates Land 1-2 1 6,600
the dependence of the back end on the performance of Indirect costs
the front end. Engineering & 4-21 8 52,800
However, this process does not contribute to energy supervision
savings. Rather, it represents a good option for revamps Construction 4-16 10 66,000
after achieving the limits of capacity using conventional
revamps. The cryogenic separation process creates expense
additional margin in the front end by allowing more Contractor’s fee 2-6 2 13,200
methane slip and by reducing the total quantity of inerts Contingency 5-15 6 39,600
in the loop. Total fixed capital investment 100 660,000

5.0Economic Analysis of PGRU with Ammonia So, Capital Investment for PGRU = USD 660,000.
Process

5.1.1 Capital Investment for PGRU 5.1.2 NH3 Recovered from Purge Gas by this PGRU
Typical price of major equipments involved in PGRU is
shown in the table below: Amount of purge gas: 25,500 Nm3/hr
Composition of NH3 before recovery: 7.78%
Table 2: Price of Material cost for Equipment of PGRU. Composition of NH3 after recovery: ppm level
Equipment Price (US$) So, NH3 recovered =25,500× 0.0778 Nm3/ hr
Heat Exchangers 124,558
Columns 28,994
Vessels 16,900 = 1,984Nm3/hr× × × ×
.
Pumps 2,790 = 36.14 ton/ Day
Separators 5,098
Total 178,340
1
Reference (6), p.167

MIE12-068- 4
5.2.0 Fixed Capital Investment2 Saved by PGRU.
Cost index (Marshall and Swift, All industry) at 1990
5.2.1Fixed Capital Investment of the Plant without NH3 = 904 (Table 4)
Recovery Assuming linear relationship between the years and cost
Plant Capacity : 1500 ton NH3/Day indexes, we can draw a straight line.
Working Day : 330Day/yr
Annual Plant Capacity : 495,000 ton NH3/yr 1600
Reference Plant Capacity3 : 100,000 ton NH3/yr y = 24.55x - 47994
Power Factor for Plant Capacity Ratio4 : 0.53 1400
Fixed Capital Investment for the Reference Plant: 24 million $
So, Fixed capital investment for the plant 1200
.

Cost Index
,
= 24× million $ 1000
,
= 56.021 million $ (1990)
800
5.2.2Fixed Capital Cost of the Plant of the Same 600
Capacity Based on NH3 Recovery Unit
NH3 Recovery : 36.14 ton/Day 400
Working Day : 330Day/yr
Annual recovery : 11,925 ton 200
Required capacity = (495,000 – 11,925) ton/year
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
=483,075 ton/ year
Fixed capital investment for the plant Year
, .
= 24×24× ,
million $
Fig 5: Marshall and Swift Installed Equipment Indexes
= 55.302 million $
(1926=100) for all industry.
5.2.3Reduction in Fixed Capital Cost by NH3
From the figure:
recovery
Y = 24.55X – 47994 [Where, X= year and Y = Cost
Fixed Capital investment for additional capacity at 1990
Index]
= (56.021 – 55.302) million $
Thus, Cost Index for the year 2013 = 24.55×2013 –
= US$ 719,000
47994 = 1425
Table 4: Cost Indexes (Marshall and Swift Installed-
Cost index (Marshall and Swift, All industry) at 2013
Equipment Indexes) for all-industry.
= 1425
Year Cost Index Year Cost Index
So, Difference between Fixed Capital investments of the
1926 100 1988 852 plant at 2013
1975 444 1989 895 =US$ 719,000 ×
1976 472 1990 904 = US$ 1,133,380
1977 505 1991 930.6 Fixed capital cost for PGRU: US$ 660,000
Reduction in Fixed Capital Cost by NH3 recovery
1978 545 1992 943.1
= US$ (1, 133,380 – 660,000)
1979 599 1993 964.2 = US$ 473,380
1980 560 1994 993.4 Fixed capital investment for additional capacity
1981 721 1995 1027.5 Fixed capital investment for PGRU
1,133,380
1982 746 1996 1039.1 = ≅ 1.72 times.
660,000
1983 761 1997 1056.8
1984 780 1998 1061.9 5.3Amount of NG Saved by H2 Recovery from Purge
1985 790 1999 1068.3 Gas
A huge amount of hydrogen is recovered from purge
1986 798 2000 1089
gas of the ammonia process by the purge gas recovery
1987 814 unit. This amount of hydrogen saves the consumption of
natural gas (NG) in the reforming section as well as
2
Estimation of fixed capital investment with power factor lessees the size requirement of the equipments.In the
applied to plant-capacity ratio. This method is chosen from reformer sections, natural gas containing methane and
Reference (6), p.185-190 ethane are converted into hydrogen, carbon monoxide or
3
Reference (6), p.186 dioxide with help of steam. As the natural gas of
4
Reference (6), p.186 Bangladesh contains almost complete amount of

MIE12-068- 5
methane, in this case, we can consider the reactions for $3,364,416 considering the tantamount NG cost. Beside
methane only. this, most of major equipments of ammonia process are
CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2 engaged on raw gas purification and preparation
CH4 + 2H2O CO2 + 4H2 sections. The recovery of hydrogen reduces the required
The selectivity’s for these parallel reactions are found to capacity of this section. Thus hydrogen recovery by
be fifty-fifty. In this case, the following calculation PGRU also reduces the fixed capital investment of an
shows how much NG is saved: ammonia production plant. This amount of reduction
Amount of hydrogen recovered = 15,000 Nm3/hr may be subjected of further analysis.
The recovered H2 could be used for more NH3
production or for H2O2 production. If the H2 recovered
from total purge gas of our country and was used for
H2O2 production than nearly 86 ton H2O2/Day could be
produced without any raw gas purification and
preparation sections.
= 3364.4 MMSCF
NG consumed for per MMSCF of H2=2/7 MMSCF 6.3 Environmental Aspects
NG consumed for 3364.4 MMSCF of H2 Total amount of purge gas is not used as fuel in the
= 2/7 ×3364.4 MMSCF reformers as it has a lower heating value. As a result a
= 961 MMSCF huge amount of purge gas, containing an appreciable
Amount saved by H2 recovery (with respect to NG) amount of ammonia (about 7.78%), is vented to the
atmosphere. Ammonia has a sharp irritating odor and
burns the eyes and skin. More than a sniff of this toxic,
reactive and corrosive gas can make one ill and can
= US$ 3,364,416/ year even is fatal. It also has bad effects on crops and plants.
By combination, it has a serious adverse effect on the
environment near the industrial zone. Due to the
6.0Result and Discussion pollution of ammonia, purge gas cannot be directly
As the ammonia converter of an ammonia process has a emitted into atmosphere. It should be recovered.
low conversion factor (as low as 25%) product stream is Recovery of ammonia using PGRU reduces its amount at
recycled and there inerts are accumulated. So it is must ppm level in the effluent stream. So it may be also
to have a purging system for the sake of conversion rate considered as something like an end of the pipe solution
by removing the inerts. This purge gas contains a huge for environmental protection.The recovery of the
amount of valuable NH3 and H2 gas. The total NH3 nitrogen or argon is sometimes required as well. The
production in our country is nearly 1.887×106 ton/yr and recovery of all of those gases will increase ammonia's
the total amount of purged gas is nearly 31.13×106 production rate, reduce the energy consumption. At
Nm3/year. From this purged gas approximately 1,437 mean time it will benefit environment pollution control as
ton of NH3 and 961 MMSCF H2 gas could be well.
recovered by using PGRU having the efficiency same
to that of the PGRU unit of KAFCO. 7.0Recommendations
Urea fertilizer is the most important fertilizer in the
6.1 Economic Aspects of Ammonia Recovery agricultural sector and Ammonia Process is the heart of
In this analysis, it is shown that fixed capital investment Urea Fertilizer Factories. So, ammonia process is very
(direct and indirect cost) of an ammonia production important in the perspective of an agricultural economic
plant can be reduced by using a PGRU. A typical plant based country like Bangladesh where about eighty
of annual capacity 483,075 ton ammonia can increase percent of economy is dependent on agriculture. There
its capacity by 11,925 ton with a PGRU combination to are seven ammonia-urea complexes established in our
ammonia process. This increased capacity will have a country to serve the demand of urea fertilizer on
fixed capital investment of $1,133,380 whereas the agricultural sector. It is a matter of great regret that none
PGRU will have only $660,000 which is about 1.72 of these factories without KAFCO has a PGRU after the
times less only considering the NH3. By utilizing the end of the ammonia process. Even having the same
recovered ammonia nearly 2,536 ton of additional urea licensor for ammonia process (HaldorTopsoe) JFCL has
could be produced yearly without any cost of natural no running PGRU. Because of fault position of a valve
gas. The savings of natural gas is important not only for the PGRU of JFCL is damaged. As a result a large
cost reduction but also for utilization of limited natural amount of valuable NH3 and H2 are lost into the
resources. environment causing extensive pollution. But BCIC is
not paying concentration to conjoin PGRU where it is
6.2 Economic Aspects of Hydrogen Recovery absent from ammonia process.
The PGRU will also recover H2 and reduce operating Now-a-days, there is a talk of setting up two new
cost by saving a huge amount of NG. Annual recovery fertilizer factories to meet the demand of urea fertilizer
of 3364.4 MMSCF of hydrogen with PGRU will save in our country. Therefore it may be a useful

MIE12-068- 6
recommendation to BCIC to conjoin PGRU with 9. Nomenclature:
ammonia process at least for the new plants considering ACV : Ammonia Converter
both the economic and the environmental aspects.It may DEA : Diethanol Amine
be added that our country has a demand for Hydrogen HTS : High Temperature Shift Converter
Peroxide (50%) of 500 ton per day. A little amount of JFCL : Jamuna Fertilizer Company Ltd.
this demand is served by HP Chemicals Ltd. (30 ton per KAFCO : Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Ltd.
day, 35%) and Samuda Chemical Complex (35 ton per LTS : Low Temperature Shift Converter
day, 50%) and other two companies (ASM, Fakhir NG : Natural Gas
Group) are under construction. Therefore the large PG : Purge Gas
amount of recovered hydrogen, from purge gas by PGRU : Purge Gas Recovery Unit
PGRU, can serve as the raw material of hydrogen PRF :Primary Reformer
peroxide production process. This process is very SRF : Secondary Reformer
simplified as hydrogen is used as raw material instead
of NG and no reformer section is needed here. 10.0References
[1] Austin, George T.: Shreve’s Chemical Process
8.0Conclusion Industries, 5th ed. (international edition), McGraw-
In this paper the economic aspects of setting up a PGRU Hill Book Company, 1984.
with ammonia production process is analyzed and the [2] Felder, Richard M., et al.: Elementary Princiles of
benefits that can be obtained by using this small unit is Chemical Processes, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons,
illustrated. Due to the complexity involved and the Asia, 2000
constraint of funding no pilot plant was used in [3] McCabe, Warren L., et al,: Unit Operations of
thisproject. The analysis is performed as far using the Chemical Engineering, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Book
data of PGRU of an existing plant named KAFCO. The Company, 1985
installation of a purge gas converter ensures a very [4] Mott, Robert L.: Applied Fluid Mechanics, 5th ed.,
efficient use with respect to hydrogen and nitrogen Merrill Publishing Company, 1972
balancing. An increased ammonia production, along [5] Perry, Robert H., et al,: Chemical Engineers
with hydrogen recovery and environmental regulation, Handbook, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill Book Company,
has been obtained. Furthermore, fixed capital 1997
investment for raw gas purification and preparation [6] Timmerhaus Klaus D., et al.: Plant Design and
sections reduces. Economics for Chemical Engineers, 4th ed.,
McGraw-Hill International Editions, 1991
[7] www.meps.co.uk, 21/6/2008.
[8] www.metalprices.com,21/6/2008.
[9] www.wikipedia.com, 21/6/2008.

MIE12-068- 7