Huge quantities of fertilizer are used all over the world in order to increase yields. Producing fertilizer, however, is an energy-intensive process which requires monitoring
On the world’s largest fertilizer manufacturers has chosen to use gas and dust measuring technology from SICK. With the MCS300P HW process gas analyzer, the GM series of in-situ gas analyzers, the DUSTHUNTER dust measuring devices, and an extensive range of services from a single source, SICK proved to be the best choice. As a special solution, SICK developed a self-cleaning in-situ measuring probe for reliable gas measurement in environments with wet dusts.
Specifically, the companys needed a solution for monitoring gas and dust emissions during the processing of phosphate rock and the production of sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid. Furthermore, it also had to be capable of monitoring processes during the manufacture of mono- and diammonium phosphate (MAP/DAP).The customer’s key requirements were greater plant safety, fewer failures, lower operating costs, and access to real-time production data.
In most cases, SICK already had tried and tested products available that were ideal for the task at hand. With regard to the processing of phosphate rock, the company needed a product to monitor SO2, NOx, CO, and CO2 as well as dust loads at the outlet of the rotary kilns. In this particular case, the solution had to be able to provide reliable and accurate measurements even in the presence of fine dusts. SICK provided the GM32 in-situ gas analyzers for SO2 and NOx, the GM35 for CO and CO2, and the DUSTHUNTER SP100. The chosen solution provides a number of benefits, not least reliable in-situ measuring technology and excellent value for money.
In the case of sulfuric acid production, the solution had to be able to monitor SO2 and O2 emissions from the stack. In this case, the best choice was the MCS300P HW multi-component analyzer system, as it requires significantly less maintenance due to its hot/wet extractive measuring technology and it eliminates the complicated process of sample preparation.
As phosphate rock contains fluoride, HF is released during the production of phosphoric acid and is washed out in the wet scrubber. In order to monitor the performance of the scrubber, HF levels need to be measured on the stack. This task was taken on by the GM700 laser gas analyzer, which has a proven track record in the measurement of aggressive and corrosive HF.
Low NH3 concentrations also need to be measured during the production of mono- and diammonium phosphate (MAP/ DAP) from phosphoric acid and ammonia in order to monitor the efficiency of the wet scrubbers. At the same time, the HF emissions from the stack need to be monitored as well, as they provide information about the fluoride content and, hence, the quality of the final fertilizer product. And last but not least, the dust emissions also have to be measured.
These tasks proved to be a major challenge, as the humid, aggressive, and dusty process media made it very difficult to take continuous measurements. The chosen solution in this case was the GM700 in-situ gas analyzer combined with the FWE200 extractive dust measuring device. SICK developed a special measuring probe for the GM700 which cleans itself periodically. The solution can withstand the high levels of salt formation in the stack without any problems and significantly reduces the amount of maintenance work required. As a result of the continuous monitoring, the excess ammonia in the process can also be cut considerably. The final step was to install FWE200 dust measuring device
