sichuan bluestar machinery was recently on the home stretch of finishing its fifth new energy-efficient urea synthesis tower. the tower has become the company’s knock-out product at the moment.
the tower is a new piece of chemical equipment that applies a cutting-edge stream stripping process. at the moment, china’s urea productions are mostly based on the aqueous solution total recycle process and the carbon dioxide stream stripping process. compared with the traditional aqueous solution total recycle process, the urea tower can save 300 kilograms of steam, 60 tons of circulating water, 15 kilowatts-hours of electricity and 10 kilograms of ammonia.
to date, china’s annual urea capacity stands at 90 million tons, including 40 percent from aqueous solution total recycle process. if the 40 percent capacity can be shifted to the use of new urea production technology, it will save production costs by 2.5 billion yuan ($401.4 million) per year, standard coal by 2.28 million tons, and carbon dioxide emissions by 6.14 million tons.
sichuan bluestar has committed itself to new product research and development over the years, and developed the urea tower with low energy consumption and small investment after absorbing various urea production processes. the china nitrogen fertilizer industry association conducted a 72-hour performance evaluation on the tower and concluded that it has a simple process and steady operations. it is also easy to operate, safe, reliable, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. the unit can be used in all existing urea units, using the aqueous solution total recycle process and new urea units. the technology was named a major energy conservation project that will receive support from the national development and reform commission.
at the moment, four units using the technology have been built. the technology raises the carbon dioxide conversion rate from 65 percent to 73 percent, and brings down the decomposition system’s load as urea conversion rate rises, which increases unit safety and cuts steam consumption. the new urea technology also enables efficient waste treatment.
urea towers using the technology have been used in sichuan, xinjiang and shandong and have produced good benefits.