urea process

split flow loop tm

The most efficient

process design
for modern
urea plants
 casale urea process split flow looptm

urea process inerts

split flow looptm

nh3 inerts
hp scrubber
carbammate
lp
condenser
condensate
treatment
H2O

inerts

The Split Flow Loop™ is Casale’s process for new urea plants vacuum
reactor hp condenser
with capacity up to 3,500 MTD. condensers

Key features
• Proven design
• Optimized plant cost urea
lp vacuum
hp stripper
• Low energy consumption decomposer concentrator

hp LOOP
CO2
Split Flow Loop™ process – Block diagram

process outline
The main steps of the Split Flow Loop™ process are the following:
The Split Flow Loop™ process is an improved CO2 stripping process. It uses the principle • The solution from the reactor is first treated in a stripper, operating at the same pressure as the reactor, where,
using steam and CO2 as stripping agent, most of the unreacted NH3 and CO2 are driven off.
of directly routing to the reactor a minority portion of the gas flow leaving the HP stripper • Part of the unreacted NH3 and CO2 leaving the stripper is sent directly to the reactor, while the rest is recycled back
sufficiently large to maintain the correct heat balance and provide the amount of passivation air to the reactor through an HP condenser.
needed in the reactor, while sending the rest first to the carbamate condenser and then, • From the stripper, the urea solution, still containing unreacted NH3 and CO2 in the form of carbamate, is sent to a
after separation of the carbamate solution, directly to the inerts scrubber. low-pressure single decomposition/condensation stage, where practically all the remaining unreacted NH3 and
CO2 are separated and recovered in the form of a carbamate solution.
In this way the volume of inerts passing through the reactor is reduced, which has • The urea-water solution, containing only small quantities of NH3 and CO2, is then further treated in a two-stage
a beneficial effect on conversion efficiency. vacuum evaporation section to obtain a urea melt for the prilling tower or the granulator.
In addition, condensation efficiency is enhanced by using a submerged condenser • The process condensate obtained from the vacuum condensers is purified in two columns and one hydrolyser so
as to eliminate all NH3, CO2 and urea.
(the Full Condenser™) for HP carbamate condensation.
• The carbamate solution obtained in the LP section is sent to the HP scrubber, where the inerts leaving the HP loop
are washed.

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 casale urea process split flow looptm

DISTINCTIVE
advantages technological elements
The synthesis section operates with very low inerts content with the following advantages: The main elements characterizing the HP loop of the Split Flow Loop™ process are:
• high CO2 conversion in the reactor (up to 62-63%); • the Casale Full Condenser™;
• high stripping efficiency; • the Casale-Dente high efficiency trays;
• high condensation efficiency. • the Casale high-efficiency hydrolyser used in the process condensate treatment unit.

The Split Flow Loop™ process is a highly efficient technology and, Casale Full Condenser™
for a given capacity, needs smaller, less costly equipment than The Casale Full Condenser™ is a submerged condenser
less efficient conventional stripping processes. And the operating with natural circulation. Both the gases and vapours from
costs of the Split Flow Loop™ process are as low as those of the the stripper and liquid carbamate are introduced at the bottom
most advanced competing processes. and flow together upwards through the majority of the tubes.
Because of the relatively small size of its critical equipment items, carbammate However, the gas flow is directed away from a small number
the Casale Split Flow Loop™ process is suitable for plants of very of the tubes, and without the levitating influence of the gas
large capacity. The configuration of the HP loop of the Split Flow the liquid in these tubes flows downwards. That produces
reactor scrubber
Loop™ process is shown below. the internal natural circulation.
The interfacial area between the two phases (liquid and gas)
The solution leaving the reactor is treated in the HP stripper, where in the rising-flow tubes is significantly greater than in
the carbamate present in the solution and containing unreacted a conventional falling-film condenser, so the mass and heat
NH3 and CO2 is decomposed with the help of the CO2 feed as strip- transfer performance of the exchanger is highly improved.
ping agent. hpcc The HPCC is also better protected against corrosion in
full
The vapor stream generated by the carbamate decomposition, condensertm
the new configuration, as all tube surfaces are better wetted.
containing NH3, CO2, some water and all the inerts present in the The new flow pattern of the HPCC, shown here, can be
CO2 feed, is split after leaving the HP stripper. Only a portion of that summarized as follows:
vapor stream is condensed in the HP carbamate Full Condenser • Vapors coming from HP stripper are fed through one of
for return to the reactor. the bottom nozzles and are distributed into the continuous
nH3
liquid phase by a distributor on the bottom of the HPCC.
Total condensation is not possible in the condenser because of the • As the two-phase flow rises through the tubes the vapors
presence of inerts, so small amounts of uncondensed vapors leave condense, although inerts remain in the gaseous phase.
from the top of the condenser and are sent directly to an HP scrub- • When the two-phase flow exits the tubes from the top tube
ber together with the inerts. The rest of the vapors are directed to sheet, the inerts separate from the condensed liquid and
the reactor to provide the necessary amount of heat. leave the condenser through the top nozzle.
In this way, about two thirds of the total amount of inerts present • Fresh liquid (ammonia and carbamate mixture) enters
in the CO2 are not sent to the reactor, and consequently urea con- the exchanger through the second nozzle in the bottom
and is distributed in the tubes.
version is maximized.
• A top weir defines the liquid level in the top part
The HP scrubber recovers NH3 and CO2 from the inerts streams of the condenser. Overflowing liquid exits the exchanger
leaving the Full Condenser™ and the reactor using the carbama- through the second top nozzle.
te flow coming from the LP recovery section. Carbamate coming stripper
Casale determines the appropriate internal circulation ratio
from the HP scrubber is sent to the Full Condenser™, to enhance needed to achieve optimal heat transfer in the two-phase
condensation, using an ejector driven by the ammonia feed, which upward tubes.
is also sent to the Full Condenser™. The Full Condenser™ is very efficient, with 50% higher heat
To keep the correct N/C ratio in the Full Condenser™, part of the transfer efficiency than a standard falling-film condenser.
NH3 feed bypasses the HPCC and is sent to the reactor through Also, a significant amount of urea is formed in the HPCC itself,
another ejector, which enhances the driving force for the circula- co2 lp decomp. reducing the load on the reactor.
tion by accelerating the carbamate leaving the Full Condenser™. In spite of all these advantages, the mechanical design is very
simple, and it is proven in commercial use.

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 VAPOR
OUTLET
casale urea process split flow looptm
VAP. VAP. VAP.
VAPOR
VAP. OUTLETVAP.
VAPOR
LIQ. OUTLET
LIQ. LIQ. LIQ.
VAP. VAP.
VAP. VAP.
Casale-Dente high-efficiency trays The trays are plates corrugated into a series of parallel linear rid-
VAP. VAP.
Casale-Dente high-efficiency trays are the most efficient trays ges and troughs. The ridges are flattened at the top and the trou-
available in the market and are also an essential element in mak- ghs are similarly flattened at the bottom.
VAP.VAP. VAP. VAP.
CASALE
ing the Split Flow Loop™ as efficient as possible, minimizing Large perforations are provided in the trough bottoms for liquid to
LIQ. LIQ. LIQ. LIQ. LIQ. HIGH
LIQ. EFFICIENCY
LIQ. LIQ.
the required reaction volume and thus significantly saving on in- pass through and there are small perforations in both the sloping
vestment cost. walls and the tops of the ridges for gases accumulating beneath TRAYS
The improved tray geometry of the Casale-Dente design promotes them to pass through.
CASALE
very efficient transfer of NH3 and CO2 from the vapors into the This unique design produces extremely small bubbles and, in con- CASALE
HIGH EFFICIENCY
liquid phase, where urea is formed. sequence, a very high specific surface area for mass and heat LIQUID STEAM HIGH EFFICIENCY
The new trays are designed so that: transfer, enhancing the highly efficient mixing between vapors and OUTLET TRAYS
liquid mentioned above. TRAYS
• Vapors and liquid follow separate but adjacent cocurrent paths
through the space between the trays. This guarantees stable LIQUID STEAM
flow of the two phases and a better approach to an even, uni- OUTLET
form flow of the two phases throughout the whole reactor.
LIQUID LIQ. + VAP. STEAM
VAP. VAP. VAP. OUTLET
• These separated paths through the tray are chosen so that very VAP.
efficient mixing takes place between vapor and liquid. Conse- LIQ. + VAP.
quently there is a very high degree of both mass and heat tran-
sfer within the liquid phase.
VAP.
LIQ. + VAP.
• It is possible to generate vapor bubbles with a far smaller dia-
meter than with any previous design. In consequence, the in- STEAM VAP.
terfacial surface for mass and heat transfer is increased. LIQ. LIQ.
• There is also a much larger interfacial surface for exchange VAP. VAP. VAP.
STEAM
LIQ. CASALE
LIQ.
between the vapor bubble emulsion and clear liquid. HIGH EFFICIENCY
CASALE
• The relatively short path length of the recirculation streams into LIQ. LIQ. LIQ. LIQ. HIGH EFFICIENCY
TRAYS
LIQUID TRAYS
STEAM
the emulsion phase significantly decreases transfer resistance. LIQUID
INLET
INLET
LIQ. LIQ.
Casale-Dente high efficiency trays. CASALEHigh efficiency hydrolysers
HIGH EFFICIENCY
LIQUID TRAYS
INLET
High-Efficiency Hydrolyser
The High-Efficiency Hydrolyser makes it possible to treat the process condensate removing all of its ammonia and urea
content, so it can be discharged without any environmental effects or can equally well be used as boiler feed water.
performance
• CO2 conversion in the reactor 62.5 %
With the help (if necessary) of one or two supplementary stripping columns, Urea Casale’s High Efficiency Hydrolyser
(HEH) can reduce the residual content of NH3 and urea in the process condensate to below 3 ppm, such that it can be used • stripping efficiency 82 %
as boiler feed, which is particularly beneficial in locations where fresh water is scarce and/or expensive. • pressure of produced LP steam 5 bar a
The High Efficiency Casale Hydrolyser makes efficient use of the stripping action of steam to enhance the hydrolysis of • specific carbamate recycle rate 450 kg/t
the urea content of the condensate by removing the NH3 and CO2 hydrolysis products, which would otherwise tend to • HP steam to turbine (41bar, 380°C) 1,000 kg/t (1)
slow the hydrolysis down. That is achieved by dividing the hydrolyser into two compartments, both provided with high- • MP steam consumption (22 bar, superheated) 770 kg/t (2)
efficiency Casale trays. • Raw material consumption 564 kg/t (2)
The two zones have the following characteristics: • CW consumption 65 m3/t (2)(3)
• The first zone, fed by the waste condensate to be treated, oper-ates in co-current, with injection of steam in the bot- • Electricity consumption 21 kWh/t
tom. At the top of the first zone the vapors are finally removed from the liquid, which is then treated in the second zone.
(1) Assuming standard steam turbine and CO2 compressor efficiencies
• The second zone, fed by the liquid coming from the first zone, operates in counter-current, with liquid going downward (2) Urea solution unit coupled with granulation unit
and vapor going upward. Fresh steam is injected again in the bottom of this second zone. The driving force for the (3) Process users only
extraction of NH3 and CO2 is, in this way, increased, allowing the urea content to be reduced to less than 3 ppm.
The vapors are separated from the liquid at the top of the zone and exit the hydrolyser, along with the vapors from the By virtue of its high efficiency, the equipment size and investment cost for a Split Flow Loop™ plant
first zone. Steam at pressure lower than 25 bar can conveniently be used. of a specific size are lower than for other processes.

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 casale urea process split flow looptm

operating at virtually atmospheric pressure, before being discharged

to atmosphere. The LP absorber also utilizes clean and cold steam

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The main distinctive features are:

condensate for washing the gas.
It is not advisable to further wash the exhaust from the MP absorber
in the LP absorber on account of the amount of inerts, which would
• provision of pressurized carbamate accumulator; both negatively affect the thermodynamic equilibrium and lead to
Casale has drawn on its long experience in revamping urea plants
• provision of a spillage recovery system; ammonia entrainment.
of any technology to include certain features in the Split Flow Loop™ process • ammonia scrubbing of all process streams; As Casale’s recent experience grass-roots projects verifies, in plants
aimed at improving its reliability and operating flexibility and at minimizing • collection of all process safety valves; where acid solution is available and where it is also possible to
the environmental impact of the urea plant. • optimized lay-out. recover the salt solution from the washing column, the use of acid
scrubbing enhances ammonia absorption significantly to reach the
target concentration in the vent of 30 mg/Nm3.

Pressurized carbamate accumulator Collection of all process

The Casale process includes a tank located at the suction of the HP carbamate pump that collects the ammonium carbamate
safety valves
solution from the LP condenser. There are two main benefits. reactor Discharges from all the process gaseous discharge points (safety
Plant flexibility: During a normal run, the extra storage volume allows the amount of carbamate recycled to the synthesis loop E.L. 50000 valves and process vents) are collected in the blow-down system.
to be kept constant for a long time, which contributes to the stability of operation. During a plant upset, this accumulator can be Any liquid is separated in a dedicated drum, whereas the vapors
used as emergency storage – for example, in case the reactor has to be drained. are conveyed to the vent stack. By separating the liquid phase
In comparison with an atmospheric tank, the same volume in a pressurized vessel accommodates a larger quantity of unreacted and recovering it into the process, the environmental impact of
process components (NH3 and CO2 in the process solution), since the carbamate concentration in the liquid is proportional the emission can be minimized. And if the discharge of the vent is
to the pressure. SCRUBBER located at sufficient height, operating safety is also ensured.
Emissions control: The vent of the accumulator is usually sent to an atmospheric washing column to detect possible leakage, HPCC Optimized layout
although during normal operations the vent is almost always closed. But during start-up or shut-down urea or carbamate solution E.L. 38000
has to be drained from the HP synthesis loop, and gaseous ammonia flashes off. The layout of the synthesis section for a Split Flow™ plant is vertical
to provide gravity flow for fluid circulation in the HP loop. Using
Operating under pressure significantly reduces the amount of ammonia evolved and, therefore, the possibility of overloading
ejectors driven by the ammonia feed for transporting the carbamate
the downstream washing column, which would allow ammonia to be emitted to the atmosphere.
from the HP scrubber to the Full Condenser™, as well as from the
Spillage recovery system liquid outlet of the HP carbamate condenser to the reactor, reduces
the structural height necessary to ensure proper circulation in
Instead of being simply lost in the plant, all liquid escapes from the process are collected in an underground tank.
comparison with a total gravity process. Therefore, at the moment,
From there a submerged pump sends them to the ammonia water tank, from which they are fed, along with the plant process the height of the plant is essentially dictated by the height of the
condensate, to the waste water treatment system for recovery of nitrogen values. E.L. 22000
reactor.
That not only keeps atmospheric emissions of both ammonia and carbon dioxide, to a minimum but also allows more efficient use
Up to now, it has been necessary to build a supporting structure
to be made of raw materials.
around the reactor strong enough to sustain it, including also the
Ammonia scrubbing of all process streams stripper
E.L. 16000
relevant stairs and platforms. But recently, a solution has been
developed allowing the whole installation to be lightened while still
Every continuous gaseous stream containing residual NH3 and CO2 is thoroughly washed before discharge to the atmosphere,
providing the necessary support for the reactor.
with the dual aims of minimizing emissions and recovering unreacted materials. For each stream, the most suitable scrubbing
conditions have been selected to optimize the ammonia absorption. Unlike typical arrangements, in this layout no dedicated structure is
For this reason, off-gases from the HP scrubber, which are particularly rich in inerts originating from the CO2 feed and the provided for the reactor over its full height. On the rare occasions
passivation air, are scrubbed in a dedicated absorber, operating at medium pressure. The upper part is fed with clean and cold when it is necessary to climb to the top, it is possible to do so using
steam condensate for final washing to reduce the ammonia vented to atmosphere practically to zero.The vents coming from ladders installed directly on the reactor wall.
the vacuum systems, from the LP condensation system and from the reflux condenser are scrubbed in the LP absorber column, The highest platform is 38 m above ground level, so the whole
structure is lowered and lightened, with consequent savings in
E.L. 0.00
investment for both materials and civil-erection works.
Combining Casale’s deep know-how of process technology with
the its high-level engineering capability, it has also been possible to
develop a very compact and efficient plant configuration.
Typical elevation plan of Casale Split-Flow™ urea plant The plot plan shown in the diagram is for a plant with capacity of
2,000 t/d and would require an area of approximately 50 x 55 m.

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 casale urea process split flow looptm

modular design concept

Full condenser
VAP. TO
SCRUBBER Applying a proven process technology for HPCC: A special modular vapor distributor is installed Stripper: Good performance of this item is guaranteed
a production capacity much larger than in the bottom of the Full Condenser™. Each tube is fed by uniform distribution of the reactor effluent into the
referenced ones is always a challenging by a single metering tube. tubes, the number of which is defined to give the opti-
exercise. But in the case of the Casale Split Thanks to this special vapor distributor, the HPCC can mum specific liquid load for each tube, proved by ex-
Flow™ process there need be no doubts be properly designed for any load by simply providing perience in many applications. Thanks to its proprieta-
about reliability when scaling up to a jum- the appropriate number of tubes for the required ca- ry liquid distributor, Casale is able to guarantee uniform
LIQ. TO VAP. bo urea plant, thanks to the modular de- distribution of the liquid into the stripper tubes at any
pacity.
REACTOR sign basis of each item of Casale critical capacity.
equipment. Focusing our attention on the
HP loop equipment it is easy to show that:
Reactor: Each high-efficiency tray crea-
tes a series of mixing zones for the two
phases that maximizes mass and heat
transfer. The modular sequence of mixing
zones on the tray makes it possible to de-
sign it for very large capacities, since the
number of mixing zones can easily be in-
creased, enlarging the tray diameter and
then, ultimately, the reactor diameter.

Full condenser distribution system HP stripper distribution system

Casale has experience in scaling up urea process technologies and has demonstrated the effectiveness
of its concepts in this respect, reaching a scale-up factor of 2 without any problems.
Casale Technology is suitable for the capacity of 3,500 t/d. Even higher capacities are achievable
– up to 5,000 t/d – by providing an MP section comprising an MP decomposer and condenser
working in parallel with the HP stripper.

VAP. FROM LIQ. FROM

STRIPPER EJECTOR
10 11
 FEDERICO BOLLARINO SRL
Via Giulio Pocobelli, 6 | 6900 Lugano | Switzerland (CH)
tel. +41 91 6419200 | fax +41 91 6419291
www.casale.ch | info@casale.ch

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