View Hoboken (Belgium) plant after the facelift (early 2009).
N2O Abatement Catalyst (Cutting greenhouse gases)
Agriculture relies heavily on the use of fertilizers, in which nitric acid plays a prominent role as a key ingredient. Nitric acid itself is produced via the oxidation of ammonia: this process however generates nitrous oxide (N2O) as a by-product. The challenge is that “laughing gas”, as N2O is commonly referred to, is agreenhouse gas and as such contributes to global warming. N2O emissions in 2003 accounted for about 17% of allgreenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources in the European Union, according to European Environmental Agencystatistics.
Reversing this trend and reducing N2O emissions in the nitric acid industry will therefore help fi ght the warming of our planet and offer the fertilizer industry the opportunity to contribute its bit to meeting environmental regulations and help turn our planet into a sustainable one!
Umicore, along with its partner Alvigo, has developed a cost-efficient catalyst technology that will cut the emission of N2O gases from ammonia oxidation reactors by more than 90%, depending on the application.
The catalyst system – in the form of a honeycombed hexagonal monolithic structure – does not contain any precious metals, making it very cost-effective. Unlike some of its rivals, which rely on heavy metals, it uses iron to trigger the catalyst reaction with N2O gases, making this a very environmentally friendly technology.