Piling work is set to begin from this month on a new technical grade ammonium nitrate (TAN) complex under way at Gopalpur Industrial Park in Odisha (formerly Orissa) state on India’s East Coast, for Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd.’s (DFPCL). The work follows a ground-breaking ceremony and foundation stone laying for the project by DFPC subsidiary Smartchem Technologies Ltd. (STL) on Dec. 9, Lugano-based Casale SA reported.
The project, for which 50 percent of the engineering work already is completed, is expected to be completed by August 2024, and on full ramp-up will have capability to produce 377,000 mt/y of TAN.
Casale is providing its proprietary NA2000 process (dual pressure) for the 900 mt/d nitric acid unit, as well as its AN2000 pipe reactor technology for the 1,143 mt/d AN solution plant.
The Swiss industrial solutions supplier is also supplying its newly-acquired technology from Australia’s Orica Ltd. for the project’s prilling unit. The unit will be capable of producing 1,000 mt/d of High Density AN (HDAN) or the same quantity of Low Density AN (LDAN).
Casale was awarded the contract in late 2018 (GM Jan. 4, 2019).
The new TAN plant will be located near major mining hubs and the Gopalpur port, enabling it to capture domestic demand and tap into export opportunities, local media citing DFCL reported.
The cost of the project is put at INR22 billion (approximately US$297 million at current exchange rates).
DFPCL is India’s only producer of explosive grade AN solids. The company produced 427,800 mt of TAN in FY2021, down slightly on FY2020’s 436,200 mt due to COVID-19 related restrictions. As of mid-2021, it put its existing market share of India’s TAN market at approximately 42 percent out of a total TAN market of 1,050,000 mt/y (GM June 4, 2021).