Melamine process with purification of melamine offgas

A process for the synthesis of melamine including the steps of:

• reacting a feed stream of urea melt in a melamine synthesis section under non-catalytic high pressure melamine synthesis conditions to generate a raw melamine product and an offgas comprising ammonia and carbon dioxide,
• subjecting said offgas to a purification process by washing the offgas with urea melt, to obtain a purified offgas and a urea melt which, as a result of the washing process, contains ammonia and melamine precursors,
• wherein the purification process is performed in a single purification stage, said offgas to be purified and said urea melt being introduced in said single purification stage and said purified offgas being extracted from said single purification stage,
• wherein the urea melt used for the offgas washing process in the purification stage includes a fresh urea melt and a recirculated urea melt,
• wherein said recirculated urea melt is withdrawn from said purification stage after contact with the offgas, subjected to a cooling process and reintroduced in said purification stage after said cooling process;
• wherein said cooling process is performed in a shell and tube heat exchanger and where, in the cooling process, said recirculated urea melt is cooled to a temperature of not less than 165° C.