The aim of the project is to reduce the energy requirements of the ammonia plant by substituting the naptha feed with refinery tail gas.

Under the present refinery operating scheme, the refinery tail gas is directed to the low pressure fuel gas system. However, by scrubbing this gas, to remove hydrogen sulphide, then compressing and pre-heating it, it can be used as feed for the ammonia plant. The naptha, which is the present ammonia plant feed, will be used in the production of JP-1A or diesel after suitable modification of the naptha reformer furnace. These two measures will lead to a substantial increase in the refinery's total product output and a reduction in energy consumption.
The ammonia plant feed system will be modified in the following way; a sodium hydroxide scrubber will be installed to reduce the hydrogen sulphide concentration in the gas from 50 VPPM to 2 VPPM using a 10% soda solution. To compress the gas a one-stage recriprocating compressor of 440 H.P. will be used. A gas pre-heating system, comprised of banks of tubes, will be installed at the top two tube rows of the naptha vaporiser convectionsection.
Modification of the naptha reformer furnace will consist of the installation of twenty heavy fuel oil burners and twelve soot blowers. Steam will be used for the fuel oil atomisation.
Plant improvement will be determined by measuring the fuel consumption in the naptha reformer furnace and in the naptha vapouriser on a daily basis. Ammonia, diesel and JP-1A production will be extracted from the monthly production statements of the refinery and ammonia plant. These figures will then be compared with the data for the six months leading up to the plant's conversion.