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US 2026/0124595 A1Published application
Urea plant with modified condenser and modified reactor internals
AssigneeStamicarbon B.V.
InventorsWilhelmus Hubertus GEURTS, Paul Wilhelmus Maria MEIJBOOM
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Abstract
The disclosure pertains to a modification of a stripping-type urea plant by replacing the falling-film type HP carbamate condenser with a horizontal submerged condenser in combination with modification of the reactor internals, thereby permitting to maintain gravity flow in the modified plant.
Claims24
A method of modifying an existing urea plant, wherein the existing urea plant comprises a high-pressure (HP) synthesis section comprising:
- a vertical urea reactor;
- a stripper having an inlet for gaseous CO2 feed;
- a falling-film high-pressure carbamate condenser configured to receive gas from the stripper, wherein the falling-film high-pressure carbamate condenser is a falling-film shell-and-tube heat exchanger having a bottom outlet from the tubes connected to a bottom inlet of the reactor,
- wherein the reactor comprises one or more feed pipes for fluid from the condenser, the one or more feed pipes having an outlet at a first vertical level in the reactor;
- wherein the method involves:
- replacing the high-pressure carbamate condenser by a replacement carbamate condenser that is a horizontal submerged condenser which is a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a tube bundle and with a shell side space, configured for condensation in the shell side space, preferably wherein the replacement condenser is a pool condenser;
- and
- modifying at least one of the one or more feed pipes of the reactor to have an outlet at a second vertical level that is higher than the first vertical level, preferably modifying the one or more feed pipes of the reactor to have an outlet at a second vertical level that is higher than the first vertical level.
5 more elements
A urea plant comprising a high-pressure synthesis section comprising:
- a vertical urea reactor comprising a first and a second feed pipe;
- a stripper having an inlet for gaseous CO2 feed;
- a high-pressure carbamate condenser configured to receive gas from the stripper, wherein the high-pressure carbamate condenser is a horizontal submerged shell-and-tube heat exchanger with condensation of gas from the stripper in the shell, having a horizontal tube bundle, preferably wherein the high-pressure carbamate condenser is a pool condenser,
- and a liquid flow line for condensate from the condenser to a first feed pipe of the reactor and a separate gas flow line from the condenser to a second feed pipe of the reactor;
- wherein the vertical distance between the outlet of the second feed pipe for gas to the bottom of the reactor is at least equal to (equal to or larger than) the height or diameter of said tube bundle.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.