Danish catalyst and technology company Haldor Topsoe has won two separate contracts to supply its SynCOR process technology. The first is from Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilizers, a Western Australia-based company that is planning to build a 2 million t/y ammonia/urea complex in Karratha.

Haldor said the 3,500 t/d ammonia plant will be the world’s largest single-line facility for the product and the first to use its SynCOR technology.

“We are now full steam ahead on this important project that will use the latest and best technologies available. We expect Haldor Topsoe’s innovative SynCOR ammonia technology to deliver significant economies of scale that will contribute to making this world-scale plant exceptionally competitive,” said Vikas Rambal, Perdaman Group’s founding chairman and managing director.

Perdaman is investing A$4 billion in the complex, which is also licensing urea technology from Stamicarbon. Most of the plant’s urea output will be exported. The project’s financial close is expected by the end of March 2020. Construction is scheduled to start after the summer of 2020 and will take three years to complete.

Topsoe said that contrary to conventional two-step reforming processes, its SynCOR technology uses a single-step autothermal reformer and reduces steam throughput by 80%, enabling “exceptional” economies of scale in large-scale grassroots ammonia plants.

Separately, Topsoe has signed another contract with Russia’s GTM One and Japanese contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHI) for the design, construction and operation of a 3,000 t/d methanol plant based on SynCOR technology.

Topsoe will provide a license, basic engineering, catalysts and proprietary hardware for the plant, which will be located at the Khimprom site in Volgograd, Russia.

In the first phase, Topsoe will perform basic engineering for the process unit while MHI will develop the front end engineering design package for the site. At a later state, the parties expect to sign an engineering, procurement and construction contract. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2020; a date for completion was not given, although reports earlier this year have indicated 2022.

As well as ammonia and methanol, SynCOR technology can be used in the production of synthesis gas and synthetic gasoline.