Malaysia is a major producer of ammonia which is mainly controlled by PETRONAS chemical group berhad The company first commence commercial production of ammonia in !"#$ in %intulu &omple' (&hemicals)technology* +,!!- +,!!- There are . main sites that produce ammonia in Malaysia which are located in %intulu Sarawa/* 0ertih Terengganu and 1urun* 0edah 2n +,,"* Malaysia produces appro'imately "$, thousand metric tonnes of ammonia (inde'mundi* +,!$- 2n +,!!* PETRONAS chemical group announced that an ammonia)urea plant project in Sabah Sa bah (SAM3R- will schedule production by +,!$ which will double the company4s production 2n +,!$* South 0orea4s 5u)&hems 6ine &hemicals &orp is in7esting 3S8!bil to build a manufacturing plant for chemical products including ammonia in %intulu Sarawa/ that will produce 9,, thousand tonnes of ammonia upon completion by +,!" (thestaronline* +,!$- Most of the ammonia produced in Malaysia is used on site as a feedstoc/ to produce p roduce urea* which is produced from synthetic ammonia and carbon dio'ide 3rea is used as a nitrogen)rich fertili:er which is of great importance to the agricultural sector* which is one of Malaysia4s major industries 1lobally* appro'imately #,; of all ammonia produced is used to produce fertili:ers< the remaining is mainly used as raw material to produce 7arious products such as nitric acid* ammonium nitrate* late' anti)coagulant* refrigerant* plastics and countless others Most of the ammonia and ammonium)based products produced are consumed domestically while the others are e'ported o7erseas 2n +,!+* Malaysia e'ported a total of 3S8+.9 million worth of ammonia (The Atlas of economic comple'ity* +,!+- %efore the early +,th century* most ammonia was produced by the dry distillation of nitrogenous 7egetable and animal fats< the decomposition deco mposition of ammonium chloride by al/aline hydro'ides< and the reduction of nitrous acid and nitrites with hydrogen (Milton %eycho/* +,!!- 5itherto* almost all large scale ammonia production is produced by b y a process /nown as the 5aber 5ab er process which nitrogen and hydrogen react in the presence of catalyst to form ammonia This method is preferred not only due to its cheap and accessible raw material used (natural gas and water-* but also ammonia can be produced in large =uantities 5owe7er* this is a high energy process that consumes lots of energy 2n Malaysia* ammonia is produced by a process /nown as the 5aber process 2nitially* 2nitially* all sulfurous compounds must be remo7ed from the natural gas to a7oid catalyst poisoning These are remo7ed by heating the gas with :inc o'ide Ne't the gas which contains superheated steam and methane is sent into the primary reformer The gas mi'ture is heated to >,, & in the presence of nic/el catalyst 2n this condition the e=uilibrium reactions shifts to the right* con7 erting the methane to hydrogen* carbon dio'ide and small =uantities of carbon mono'ide?
&54 @ 52O .52 @ &O BBBBBBB C!D &54 @ +52O 52 @ &O2 BBBBBB
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These gases are also called syngas 2t then flows to the secondary reformer and is mi'ed with air The reaction is highly e'othermic and the reaction between o'ygen and methane produces more hydrogen 6ollowing this* the gas is passed to the shift reactor* where carbon mono'ide is con7erted to carbon dio'ide in a reaction /nown as the gas shift reaction? &O @ 52O &O2 @ 52 BBBBBBB
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The gas mi'ture is cooled so that water 7apor condenses and is remo7ed from the system The gases are pump through a solution of 3&ARSOF solution &arbon dio'ide is highly soluble in 3&ARSOF and dissol7es in the solution The remaining solution is con7erted to methane by heating and using Nic/el catalyst according to the formula? &O2 @ 52 &54 @ +52O BBBBBB CD Now the syngas is compressed and enter the ammonia synthesis loop Ammonia and unreacted gases are mi'ed with the incoming syngas and is cooled to $ & The unreacted gas is heated to $, c and GG %ar in the presence of iron catalyst GG; of the gases is con7erted to ammonia under these conditions The reaction is? N2 @ .52+N53 BBBBBBBBB
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The outlet gas from the reactor is cooled to ., & This cooling process condenses the ammonia* which is then separated by the flash unit The remaining gas is purged and recycled bac/ into the synthesis loop* mi'ing with the syngas The purge gas is used as fuel for the heating of the reformer Production of ammonia uses . primary raw materials? natural gas* air and water All of the ammonia production plant in Malaysia is located in the 7icinity of a gas plant so that natural gas is easily accessible Hue to cheap and accessible raw material and good infrastructure and facilities* Malaysia remains a leading ammonia producer in South East Asia
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