Shubham

Sachan
Chemical
Engineering (UPES)

PROJECT REPORT ON AMMONIA

PRODUCTION
NFL PANIPAT
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The internship opportunity I had with National Fertilizer Limited was a great
chance for learning and professional development. Therefore, I consider
myself as a very lucky individual as I was provided with an opportunity to be a
part of it. I am also grateful for having a chance to meet so many wonderful
people and professionals who led me though this internship period.

Bearing in mind previous I am using this opportunity to express my deepest

gratitude and special thanks to Mr. J.K Mandal of [Production Ammonia] who
in spite of being extraordinarily busy with her/his duties, took time out to hear,
guide and keep me on the correct path and allowing me to carry out my
project at their esteemed organization and extending during the training.

I express my deepest thanks to Mr.[Sushil Kumar Maurya ], [Manager] for

taking part in useful decision & giving necessary advices and guidance and
arranged all facilities to make life easier. I choose this moment to acknowledge
his/her contribution gratefully.

It is my radiant sentiment to place on record my best regards, deepest sense of

gratitude to Mr. Anshuman Srivastava (HR) for their careful and precious
guidance which were extremely valuable for my study both theoretically and
practically.

I perceive as this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I

will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way, and I will
continue to work on their improvement, in order to attain desired career
objectives. Hope to continue cooperation with all of you in the future,
Sincerely,
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. About NFL
2. Introduction
3. Ammonia Plant
4. Description of Ammonia Plant
4.1.Desulphurisation section
4.2.Reforming section
4.3.Shift section
4.4.Co2 Removal section
4.5.Methanation Section
4.6.Ammonia synthesis Section
 ABOUT
National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) – Miniratna (Cat-1) company (BSE: 523630) (NSE: NFL) is
an Indian state-owned corporation that manufactures chemical fertilizers,
organic fertilizers and industrial chemicals. As of 2018, it was the second largest producer of
fertilizers in India.[2]
NFL, incorporated in 1979 is India's largest Central Public Sector Enterprise (Government of
India Undertaking) in Fertilizer Sector with a turnover of over Rs. 75 billion. Coming under
the administrative control of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, it is the second largest
producer of the key fertiliser urea in India. NFL has five gas-based ammonia-urea plants viz
Nangal and Bathinda in Punjab, Panipat in Haryana and two at Vijaipur (Madhya Pradesh).

HISTORY
NFL was established in 1 sep 1979, as a public-sector undertaking of the Government of
India.
NFL initially operated two plants in Bathinda and Panipat. In 1978, the ownership and
operations of the Nangal plant of FCI was transferred to NFL.
The Govt. of India, in 1984, entrusted the company to execute the country's first inland gas
based fertiliser project of 726,000 tonnes urea capacity in District Guna of Madhya Pradesh,
and commercial production started from 1 July 1988. The company built and commissioned
its Vijaipur plant in Guna district of Madhyacapacity was doubled to 1.45 million tonnes in
1997.
NFL was granted the Mini-Navratna status with additional autonomy due to its profitable
operations.
In 2001, the company went public, with listings on the Bombay Stock Exchange and
the National Stock Exchange.[3]
Industrial and business operations
NFL has five gas-based urea plants viz Nangal and Bathinda in Punjab, Panipat in Haryana
and two at Vijaipur (Madhya Pradesh). The plants at Panipat, Bathinda and Nangal have
recently been converted from fuel oil feedstock to natural gas. Vijaipur plants have also
been revamped for energy saving and capacity enhancement.
Products
NFL is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of urea, Neem-coated urea, bio-fertilizers
(solid and liquid) and other allied industrial products like ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium
nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate etc.
The value-added Neem-coated urea developed by NFL and widely recognized for its
effectiveness is being produced at its three units at Panipat, Bathinda and Vijaipur. NFL is
the first company in India to be permitted by the Government of India to produce and
market Neem-coated urea.
NFL manufactures and markets three types of Bio-Fertilizers namely Rhizobium, Phosphate
Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) and Azotobacter. Starting with a mere 23 MT production in 1995–
96, the production has risen to 231 MT (Approx) in 2010–1
Business
The company is also doing trading business in various agro-inputs like certified quality seeds,
compost / Vermicompost manure, agrochemicals like Insecticides / Herbicides, Bentonite
Sulphur etc. Company is also taking up initiative for setting up of Single Super Phosphate
(SSP), Heavy water, Bentonite Sulphur plants etc.
Marketing
The company's marketing network comprises central marketing office at NOIDA, Four zonal
offices at Bhopal, Lucknow and Chandigarh and Hyderabad, 14 state offices and 39 area
offices spread across the country.
Future projects
An agreement for a joint venture company "Ramagundam Fertilizers And Chemicals
Limited" has been signed on 14 January 2015 between National Fertilizers
Limited, Engineers India Limited (EIL) and FCIL for setting up new ammonia and urea plants
of 2200 MT per day and 3850 MT per day capacity respectively at the existing site of
Ramagundam Fertilizer Plant in District. Ramagundam in Telangana. As per this joint venture
agreement, NFL shall provide commissioning, operation, maintenance and marketing
services to the joint venture company and EIL shall provide Engineering, Procurement and
Construction Management (EPCM) Consultancy Services for the project. The total capital
expenditure of 50 billion is being funded in Debt:Equity of 70:30 percentage. NFL and EIL are
contributing equity of 26% each and 11% is from FCIL. The balance equity is in the process of
being tied up.[4] The company also has a joint venture (33.33% share) “Urvarak Videsh
Limited” with M/s. KRIBHCO and RCF as promoters. The main objective of the joint venture
company is to explore investment opportunity abroad and within the country in
nitrogenous, phosphatic and potassic sectors and to render consultancy services for setting
up projects in India and abroad.
Consultancy
NFL is well known for taking up assignments in India and abroad in the fields of:

 commissioning activities of plant/ equipment

 heavy equipment erection supervision
 complete operation of chemical plants on a continuous basis
 overall maintenance of plants; specialised maintenance and repair
services/shutdown/turn around jobs
 special maintenance and repair services for rotatory equipment, like pumps,
compressors, turbines etc.
 energy audits leading to energy savings safety audit services
 design and monitoring of environment protection systems
 NDT, corrosion and RLA services
 laboratory services
 training of technical manpower in operation maintenance and safety management
 consultancy in project management
Assignments taken abroad
Assistance in checking the operability and maintainability of PETROBRAS
Fertilizer Plant in Brazil and training of Specialist Welders.
Assistance in operation and maintenance of Ammonia and Methanol Complex of Gulf
Petrochemical Industries Co., Bahrain.
Assistance in operation and maintenance of Ammonia Plant of NAPETCO, Libya through
UNIDO.

Performance
Production
The percentage share of NFL in urea production in the country was 14.2% during 2012–13.
The company produced 3211,000 tonnes of urea, which includes 10.83 LMT of Neem-coated
urea. 448 MT of bio-fertilizers (solid and liquid) was produced during the year.
Sales and marketing
During 2012–13, company sold 31.62 LMT of urea (including 10.92 LMT of Neem-coated
urea). Industrial products of worth ` 956.3 million and Bio-Fertilizers (liquid and solid) of`
36.5 million were sold during 2012–13. Turnover of traded Agri products (compost, seeds,
Bentonite sulphur and pesticides) was ` 300.8 million.
Financial
The company, during 2012–13, achieved a sales turnover of ` 67.47 billion (previous year `
73.41 billion). The lower turnover was primarily due to lower urea production as all the units
were under shutdown for hooking up and commissioning activities of the projects. The loss
before tax was ` 2306.2 million (previous year profit `1842.0 million) and loss after tax was `
1707.3 million (previous year profit `1267.3 million). The main reasons for loss were due to
the following:
1) Lower production / sale because of shut-downs taken for commissioning of urea capacity
enhancement projects at Vijaipur and changeover of feedstock from Fuel-oil to natural gas
at Nangal, Bathinda and Panipat Units.
2) Decrease in sale and contribution of industrial products due to non-availability of cheaper
ammonia, non-availability of gases, Sulphur and Argon gas at three Fuel-oil based Units post
commissioning.
3) Provision for purchase tax liability pertaining to previous years.
4) Higher interest expenditure mainly due to delay in receipt of subsidy.
Some of the major strategic issues affecting the profitability of the company include:
1) Non-allocation of domestic gas for operation of FO-based plants converted on natural gas
at Panipat, Bathinda and Nangal Units.
2) Non-revision of concessional price for existing capacity of urea by updation of fixed cost
in NPS-III.
3) Timely release of urea subsidy from GoI.
Performance Highlights

The company has five gas based Urea manufacturing plants with an annual installed capacity
of 35.68 LMT. The Company, during 2019-20 registered a total Urea Production of 37.27
LMT with an overall capacity utilization of 115.35% (w.r.t reassessed capacity of 32.31 LMT)
against previous year production of 38.59 LMT.During current year, the cumulative
production of Urea for the period from April ~ August 2020 was16.11 LMT (119.6%).

The company is in marketing of its own produced fertilizers as well as trading of imported
fertilizers along with other agro products through its pan India dealers’ network. During
2019-20, the company recorded the ever best sale of Fertilizers equivalent to of 57.03 LMT
surpassing previous best of 48.95 LMT during 2018-19 thus exhibiting higher sale by 16.51%
as compared to previous year.

During current year, the cumulative sale of fertilizers from April ~ August’ 2020 was 24.05
LMT  against corresponding period last year (CPLY) of 20.72 LMT thereby registered a
growth of 16% in fertilizers sale over CPLY despite the stringent restrictions due to lockdown
in the country owing to Covid-19 outbreak.

The company has a Bio-Fertilizers plant at Vijaipur with an annual capacity of 660 MT where
itmanufactures 4 strains of Bio Fertilizers (Solid & Liquid). During 2019-20, the company
produced and sold 713 MT of Bio Fertilizers (Solid & Liquid).
The Company has also set up a Bentonite Sulphur plant at its Panipat Unit and during 2019-
20 12807 MT of Bentonite Sulphur was produced against CPLY of 8567 MT.

The company is engaged in manufacturing of ammonia based Industrial products namely

Nitric Acid, Ammonium Nitrate, Sodium Nitrate & Nitrite at its Nangal Unit. During 2019-20,
the company registered a production of Industrial products to the tune of 23119MT. 

The company is presently having 6 static and 2 mobile soil testing laboratories. Using these
soil testing labs, the company is undertaking soil tests for macro & micro nutrients and also
providing soil health cards to the farmers to enhance balanced use of fertilizers.  Apart from
this, the company is also having 100 Kisan Suvidha Kendras (KSKs) to provide all agro
products and services to the farmers under single window concept.

Projects completed / underway

Revival of closed Urea plant of FCIL at Ramagundam Plant in Joint Venture mode: The
company is currently executing the revival of closed Urea plant with annual installed
capacity of 12.71 LMT through a Joint Venture Company namely Ramagundam Fertilizers &
Chemicals Limited (RFCL) along with EIL,FCILand other partners.  The cost of project is ` 6165
crore with equity participation of 26% each of NFL and EIL, 11% each of FCIL and State of
Telangana, 14.3% of GAIL  and 11.7% of a Consortium led by M/s HTAS, Denmark.

This project is expected to commence its commercial production by November 2020.

NFL has also been mandated to market 100% of Urea to be produced by RFCL

Seeds Processing Plant at Bathinda, Panipat and Indore

The company has recently commissioned its two seeds processing plant at Bathinda and
Panipat recentlyand one more plant at Indore is being set up. The company would be
processing the seeds to be grown & harvested under its flagship Seed Multiplication
Program which was otherwise being processed through outsourcing to third party. The total
seeds processing capacity of the company after commissioning of all the 3 plants would be
1.20 Lakh quintals. 
 Integrated Energy Saving Projects

In order to meet the new energy norms stipulated under NUP-2015, the company is already
in the process of setting up Gas Turbine Generators along with Heat Recovery Steam
Generation (HRSG) Unit at Panipat, Bathinda & Nangal Units with a total project cost of `
675 crore. These schemes are expected to be commissioned by end of December 2020.
Besides this, the company is also implementing energy reduction schemes at its Vijaipur
Units to meet these new energy norms and would be commissioned in a phased manner by
March/April’ 2021.

Setting up of manufacturing facilities for Agrochemicals at Bathinda

In order to make self-sufficient in Agro-Chemicals business, NFL is setting up an Agro-

chemical manufacturing facilities at Bathinda with total Capex of the project approx. ` 9.30
crore. 
The plant is expected to be completed during 2021-22.

Implementation of Energy Reduction Schemes at NFL Panipat, Bathinda & Nangal Units

As per New Urea Policy-2015, NFL Panipat, Bathinda & Nangal Units have been placed under
Group –III for which the target energy norms for the year 2018-19 would be 6.5 Gcal/MT of
Urea. However vide letter no: 12012/1/2015-FPP dated 28th Mar' 2018, GoI has extended
the energy norms for the units for a further period of two years i.e., till 31st Mar’ 2020.
In view of the above, NFL intends to further reduce the specific energy consumption of
Ammonia / Urea plants at Panipat, Bathinda & Nangal Units by installing 1 (one) unit of Gas
Turbo Generator (GTG) of 20 MW capacity  along-with 1 (one) unit of Heat Recovery Steam
Generator (HRSG) at each unit.
The estimated capex of these projects is around INR 675 crores. The subject works has been
awarded to M/s Thermax Limited, Pune on 01.02.2018. The projects are expected to be
completed by Feb/March 2020.  

Implementation of Energy Reduction Schemes at NFL Vijaipur-I & II

Under New Urea Policy (NUP)-2015, Vijaipur-I & Vijaipur-II units have been placed under
Group-I with energy norm of 5.50 Gcal/MT. For reduction of energy at Vijaipur-I and
Vijaipur-II, the estimated capital expenditure shall be around INR 234 crore.
Following four schemes have been identified for implementation:
1.  Switch over of Process condensate stripping process from low pressure to MP Stripping
Section in Ammonia Plant of Vijaipur-I.
2.  Revamp/retrofit of Synthesis Gas Compressor and Turbine in Ammonia Plant of Vijaipur-I.
3.  Switch over of Condensing steam turbine drives to motor drives of GV solution and
Cooling Tower pumps in Ammonia Plant of Vijaipur-II.
4.  Installation of VAM for Gas Turbine in Captive Power Plant, to chill process air
compressor suction air and 3rd stage suction of synthesis gas compressor to 15 deg C in
Viajipur-II.
The executions of above schemes are in progress. Major energy saving schemes
(Revamp/retrofit of Synthesis Gas Compressor and Turbine in Ammonia Plant of Vijaipur-I)
are expected to be completed by April 2020.
 
PURGE GAS RECOVERY PLANT AT VIJAIPUR – II
NFL has installed latest state of the art technology Purge Gas Recovery (PGR) unit at its
Vijaipur-II plant. The membrane based PGR unit helps in recovery of Hydrogen from purge
gases which in turns increase Ammonia production by 80 MTPD  besides reducing energy
consumption of Ammonia Plant. The PGR unit has been commissioned in 2016.
 INTRODUCTION
AMMONIA
Ammonia, a colorless gas with a distinct odor, is a building-block chemical and a key
component in the manufacture of many products people use every day. It occurs naturally
throughout the environment in the air, soil and water and in plants and animals, including
humans. The human body makes ammonia when the body breaks down foods containing
protein into amino acids and ammonia, then converting the ammonia into urea.
USES
Ammonia is a basic building block for ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which releases nitrogen,
an essential nutrient for growing plants, including farm crops and lawns. About 90 percent
of ammonia produced worldwide is used in fertilizer, to help sustain food production for
billions of people around the world. The production of food crops naturally depletes soil
nutrient supplies. In order to maintain healthy crops, farmers rely on fertilizer to keep their
soils productive. Fertilizers also can also help increase levels of essential nutrients like zinc,
selenium and boron in food crops.
Mass production of ammonia mostly uses the Haber–Bosch process, a gas phase reaction
between hydrogen (H2) and nitrogen (N2) at a moderately-elevated temperature (450 °C)
and high pressure (100 standard atmospheres (10 MPa)):

This reaction is both exothermic and results in decreased entropy, meaning that
the reaction is favoured at lower temperatures and higher pressures. This makes it difficult
and expensive to achieve, as lower temperatures result in slower reaction kinetics (hence a
slower reaction rate) and high pressure requires high-strength pressure vessels that aren't
weakened by hydrogen embrittlement. In addition, diatomic nitrogen is bound together by
an exceptionally strong triple bond, which makes it rather inert. Both the yield and efficiency
of the Haber–Bosch process are low, meaning that ammonia produced must be
continuously separated and extracted for the reaction to proceed at an appreciable pace.
Combined with the energy needed to produce hydrogen and purified atmospheric nitrogen,
ammonia production is a very energy-intensive process, accounting for 1 to 2% of global
energy consumption, 3% of global carbon emissions, and 3 to 5% of natural
gas consumption.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Ammonia is a colourless gas with a characteristically pungent smell. It is lighter than air, its
density being 0.589 times that of air. It is easily liquefied due to the strong hydrogen
bonding between molecules; the liquid boils at −33.3 °C (−27.94 °F), and freezes to white
crystals[19] at −77.7 °C (−107.86 °F).
Ammonia may be conveniently deodorized[by reacting it with either sodium
bicarbonate or acetic acid. Both of these reactions form an odourless ammonium salt. like
water, liquid ammonia undergoes molecular autoionisation to form its acid and base
conjugates:
2 NH ⇌ NH+4 + NH−2
Ammonia often functions as a weak base, so it has some buffering ability. Shifts in pH will
cause more or fewer ammonium cations (NH+4) and amide anions (NH−2) to be present
in solution. 
UREA
Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula CO(NH2)2.
This amide has two –NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl (C=O) functional group.
Urea serves an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by
animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. It is a
colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water, and practically non-toxic. Dissolved in
water, it is neither acidic nor alkaline. The body uses it in many processes, most
notably nitrogen excretion. The liver forms it by combining two ammonia molecules (NH3)
with a carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule in the urea cycle. Urea is widely used in fertilizers as a
source of nitrogen (N) and is an important raw material for the chemical industry.
For use in industry, urea is produced from synthetic ammonia and carbon dioxide. As large
quantities of carbon dioxide are produced during the ammonia manufacturing process as a
byproduct from hydrocarbons (predominantly natural gas, less often petroleum derivatives),
or occasionally from coal (steam shift reaction), urea production plants are almost always
located adjacent to the site where the ammonia is manufactured. Although natural gas is
both the most economical and the most widely available ammonia plant feedstock, plants
using it do not produce quite as much carbon dioxide from the process as is needed to
convert their entire ammonia output into urea. In recent years new technologies such as the
KM-CDR process have been developed to recover supplementary carbon dioxide from the
combustion exhaust gases produced in the fired reforming furnace of the ammonia
synthesis gas plant, allowing operators of stand-alone nitrogen fertilizer complexes to avoid
the need to handle and market ammonia as a separate product and also to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.

The basic process, developed in 1922, is also called the Bosch–Meiser urea process after its
discoverers. Various commercial urea processes are characterized by the conditions under
which urea forms and the way that unconverted reactants are further processed. The
process consists of two main equilibrium reactions, with incomplete conversion of the
reactants. The first is carbamate formation: the fast exothermic reaction of liquid ammonia
with gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) at high temperature and pressure to form ammonium
carbamate (H2N-COONH4):[47]
2 NH3 + CO2 ⇌ H2N-COONH4 (ΔH= -117kJ/mol at 110 atm and 160°C)[48]
The second is urea conversion: the slower endothermic decomposition of ammonium
carbamate into urea and water:
H2N-COONH4 ⇌ (NH2)2CO + H2O (ΔH= +15.5 kJ/mol at 160-180°C)[48]
The overall conversion of NH3 and CO2 to urea is exothermic,[7] the reaction heat from the
first reaction driving the second. Like all chemical equilibria, these reactions behave
according to Le Chatelier's principle, and the conditions that most favour carbamate
formation have an unfavourable effect on the urea conversion equilibrium.