DSM Melamine (Heerlen, Netherlands) will invest € 90 million in a new 30,000 mt/yr melamine plant and urea feedstock expansion at its Geleen, Netherlands, production complex.
Scheduled for completion at the end of 2002, the new melamine plant is the first to use DSM's high-pressure SLP (shortened liquid phase) process. According to DSM, the process will enable the 30,000 mt/yr Geleen plant to produce melamine at costs competitive with those achieved by much larger gas-phase facilities that enjoy economies of scale. eco friendly party ware
DSM says the SLP process produces melamine whose quality is the same as that obtained from DSM's gas-phase process.
Process simplification DSM currently produces melamine at three gas-phase plants around the world. The process converts urea into melamine in a single high-temperature, low-pressure catalytic reactor. The endothermic reaction yields a melamine slurry, which DSM purifies and dries into a free-flowing white crystalline powder. It also produces byproduct ammonia and carbon dioxide, which DSM upgrades into urea and other chemicals.
DSM acquired the shortened liquid phase (SLP) technology from MCI in 1997 and spent several years refining it. Like conventional gas phase melamine, SLP starts with urea and operates at high temperatures. Unlike DSM's conventional gas-phase route, it uses high pressures and eliminates the catalyst.
Both DSM's conventional gas-phase and SLP routes produce melamine from urea and yield ammonia and carbon dioxide as byproducts.
The overall reaction is the same as with gas phase technology. The byproducts, ammonia and carbon dioxide, are available for a urea plant at high pressure. SLP directly cools and crystallizes liquid melamine, ultimately yielding a free-flowing white crystalline powder.
Global strength DSM Melamine says its new Geleen plant will strengthen its position as a global market leader. The business operates large plants in Geleen (110,000 mt/yr); Fortier, LA, USA (72,000 mt/yr, output split 50-50 with joint venture partner Cytec); and Bontang, Indonesia (55,000 mt/yr). It claims a 30% share of the world melamine market and annual sales are € 250 million.
Melamine is widely used in adhesives, impregnation materials, coatings, and unbreakable crockery. The fastest-growing market is the use of melamine to produce high-quality softwood panels capable of replacing hardwoods. This application, in particular, is driving rapidly increasing global melamine demand.
Demand for melamine continues to rise substantially worldwide, says DSM Melamine director Hans Dijkman. "We are also investing substantial sums of money in debottlenecking our existing plants. This too will help us to increase our melamine output in line with the constantly growing demand," he says.
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