AmoMaxTM-Casale - the sustainable, award-winning new ammonia synthesis catalyst jointly developed by Clariant and Casale. With significantly higher activity than previous catalysts, AmoMax-Casale makes ammonia production more efficient and less polluting than ever before.
MUNICH, GERMANY: Meet AmoMaxTM - Casale: the sustainable, award-winning new ammonia synthesis catalyst jointly developed by Clariant and Casale. Thanks to significantly higher activity than previous catalysts, AmoMax-Casale makes ammonia production more efficient and less polluting than ever before.
The Birth of AmoMax-Casale
Producing ammonia (NH3) creates more carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than any other chemical synthesis process. That’s why Clariant works relentlessly to enhance its ammonia synthesis catalysts, leading to step changes like the industry proven AmoMax 10, which changed the game of ammonia synthesis from magnetite-based to wustite-based catalysts. Now, there’s a solution that even surpasses the past generation AmoMax.
Born of Clariant’s catalyst expertise and Casale’s ammonia converter design know-how, AmoMax- Casale delivers an up to 30 percent higher efficiency factor, also thanks to a larger active surface area than previous generations of AmoMax. This striking performance surge significantly lowers the energy consumption of an ammonia plant, such leading to a major reduction in CO2 emissions.
Two Ways AmoMax-Casale Cuts CO2 Emissions
1. The catalyst’s higher activity allows operation of the ammonia synthesis loop with considerably less pressure. This means the plant consumes less energy to produce ammonia, and hence generates less CO2 emissions.
2. Higher catalyst activity means higher conversion, so the plant will consume less energy for the recirculation of the process gas in the reactor loop. Again, less CO2 is emitted.
More Rewarding, Less Polluting
The combination of a higher active catalyst with the Casale design of converter internals makes the difference. This means, a typical ammonia plant producing 1600 tons/day, would save potentially $300,000 annually on energy costs, and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 85,000 tons over the catalyst’s average lifetime of 15 years. Furthermore, AmoMax-Casale is capable of increasing the ammonia production capacity by up to 5 percent.
Already Shining in First Commercial Reference
The benefits of AmoMax-Casale are not just theoretical. The catalyst has already proven its great performance in its first industrial reference at an ammonia plant in the Americas. The plant was upgraded to a Casale 3-bed interchanger using the AmoMax-Casale catalyst in late 2019 and is already reporting energy savings of 50,000 kcal/MT, which translates to an expected annual reduction of $700,000 in costs, and 6.148 tons in CO2 emissions.
While the partners are delighted about their joint achievement, it’s an added bonus to be recognized by respected peers. Clariant and Casale have won two awards: The Swiss Chemical Society’s Sandmeyer Award 2021 and this year’s prestigious ICIS Innovation Award for “Process with Best Benefit to the Environment and Sustainability.”
The two experts leading the AmoMax-Casale collaboration are Marvin Estenfelder (ME), head of R&D at Clariant Catalysts and Ermanno Filippi (EF), Casale’s chief technology officer.
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