Technology provider KBR, Houston, announced on Dec. 4 that it has secured a contract for its ammonia synthesis technology from Wuhuan Engineering Co. Ltd. (WUHUAN), a Chinese EPC contractor (GM Sept. 20, p. 27), for the Talcher fertilizer unit as part of a benchmark coal-to-urea project in India. KBR will provide License and Basic Engineering Design (LBED), catalyst, and proprietary process equipment for the plant, based on KBR’s ammonia synthesis technology.
The project is part of the Government of India’s efforts to increase domestic urea capacity for fertilizer production, reducing India’s reliance on imported urea and fertilizer. At present, there are no operational coal-to-urea plants in India.
Talcher Fertilizer Ltd. (TFL), a joint venture of Indian public sector companies formed to complete the project, awarded WUHUAN a lump sum turnkey (LSTK) contract to implement coal gasification and ammonia/urea packages earlier this year.
Since the 1960s, KBR said it has licensed, engineered, or constructed more than 237 ammonia plants worldwide.