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AMMONIA and METHANOL

Ammonia and Methanol Production

Optimizing Ammonia and Methanol Production

Ammonia and methanol are both produced from natural gas using similar process steps typically involving the natural gas feed, primary reformer, shift converters, and recycle streams. Because each process stage feeds into the next, even small variations in gas composition can have significant downstream effects. Precise, real-time monitoring and control are essential to maintaining efficiency, safety, and product quality.

Customer feedback has shown that integrating the EXTREL™ MAX300-RTG™ 2.0 Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer into a closed-loop control scheme delivers measurable benefits, including:

  • Energy savings
  • Reduced process variability
  • Increased production throughput

Comprehensive Process Monitoring

The MAX300-RTG provides real-time analysis of all major process streams in ammonia or methanol production, enabling tight control over critical parameters:

  • Natural Gas Feed: Calculates the steam-to-carbon ratio to ensure efficient reforming
  • Ammonia Converter Inlet: Provides rapid, full-spectrum composition analysis to maintain the optimal H₂:N₂ ratio, achieving a ±0.01% tolerance
  • Hydrogen Recovery Unit Effluent: Enables optimization of inert gas purging
  • Recycle Streams: Detects methane slippage and inert gases quickly to support safe, efficient operation
  • Process Control: Delivers fast, accurate data to optimize process algorithms and reduce stress on critical equipment such as compressors

By monitoring and controlling these key variables in real time, the MAX300-RTG ensures tighter process control, greater operational stability, and higher yields.

In ammonia production, the MAX300-RTG is used to tightly control four key process variables:

  • Steam-to-carbon ratio
  • Hydrogen-to-nitrogen (H₂:N₂) ratio
  • Methane slippage
  • Process inert gases
Process Insights Analyze with Ease
max300-rtg 2.0 mass spectrometer

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Maintaining tight control over these variables helps producers achieve lower fuel costs, higher yields, and improved efficiency.

The Imperative for Real-Time Monitoring

Traditional periodic sampling methods are increasingly insufficient for today’s operational and compliance needs. Real-time monitoring of emissions and process gases offers several advantages:

  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensures emissions remain within permissible limits
  • Process Optimization: Enables rapid identification and correction of inefficiencies
  • Operational Safety: Supports early detection of hazardous conditions

Technologies that deliver continuous, high-resolution data are becoming indispensable for forward-thinking manufacturers.

In addition to our MAX300-RTG, other technologies help fertilizer plants monitor and optimize key processes:

TIGER OPTICS™ CRDS Analyzers

  • Technology: Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy for ultra-sensitive trace gas detection
  • Application: Measuring moisture, ammonia, methane, and impurities in process streams

COSA XENTAUR™ Dew Point Meters

  • Application: Monitoring moisture in compressed air and process gases to prevent corrosion and ensure product quality

GUIDED WAVE™ ClearView db® Photometers

  • Technology: Dual-beam photometry for in-situ chemical analysis
  • Application: Tracking specific chemical concentrations in liquid and gas streams to support quality control and efficiency

Together, these technologies enable continuous monitoring and fast intervention, which are essential for modern fertilizer production environments.

CRDS gas analyzers
Proces Insights_COSA Dew Point Meters
Proces Insights_clearview db photometer

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