Ammonia production process

Abstract

A process for the synthesis of ammonia, where: a front-end produces a make-up syngas (10) having a substantial excess of nitrogen, the H2 / N2 ratio being less than 3; hydrogen is separated from a purge stream (15) taken in the high-pressure synthesis loop, with a molecular sieve or a cryogenic device, obtaining a hydrogen-rich gaseous stream (16); said hydrogen-rich gaseous stream (16) is returned to the ammonia synthesis loop, thus obtaining that the H2 / N2 ratio of the gas feed (12) actually converted into ammonia is close to 3 and preferably in the range 2.9 - 3.1.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a process for the preparation of ammonia. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for the production of ammonia by catalytic reaction of make-up synthesis gas in a high-pressure synthesis loop, and said make-up synthesis gas is produced by conversion of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Background technique [0002] Known methods of producing ammonia involve the catalytic reaction of make-up synthesis gas comprising hydrogen and nitrogen in a high-pressure (HP) synthesis loop typically operating at a pressure of about 80 to 300 bar. The make-up synthesis gas is produced in the upstream front end of the synthesis loop by converting a suitable hydrocarbon feedstock, eg natural gas. For example, at a temperature of about 800°C, hydrocarbon feedstocks are desulfurized and subsequently steam reformed in a reformer to obtain 2 and H 2 The first gas product; at a temperature of about 1 000 ° C, the first gas product is ...

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Problems solved by technology

[0004] It is also known that a certain amount of purge gas flow is taken from the HP loop to remove inert gases, otherwise, the inert gases may build up and reduce the overall efficiency

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