US contractor KBR has been awarded a contract by Israeli fertilizer and chemicals company Haifa Chemicals to revamp a nitric acid plant in Mishor-Rotem to meet stricter environmental regulations.

KBR subsidiary Weatherly will design, supply and commission a complete system for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with additional catalyst beds for nitrous oxide and ammonia slip abatement.

The SCR system will be integrated into two of Haifa Chemicals’ existing nitric acid plants with a capacity of about 79,000 t/y and 48,500  t/y. Weatherly previously designed both plants, which were commissioned in 1987 and 1999 respectively. A timeframe for the project was not disclosed.

In separate news, the Houston-based group has won a contract to provide a license for its Selective Cracking Optimum Recovery (SCORE) technology along with basic engineering design services for a mixed feed cracker to be built by GS Caltex in Yeosu, South Korea.

The cracker will have an ethylene capacity of 700,000 t/y and will use naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and refinery off-gases as its main feedstocks.

GS Caltex is a joint venture between South Korea’s GS Energy and US energy giant Chevron.