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BIA-Brukerstyrt innovasjonsarena

Innovative NitrophoSphate PRocEss

Alternative title: Innovativ Nitrofosfat Prosess

Awarded: NOK 11.7 mill.

To accommodate for an growing demand for food, the food production must increase by 50 % within 2050. Reaching this goal in a sustainable manner, mineral fertilizer is key. Mineral fertilizer contributes to efficient farming, using less water and land, achieving a higher yield. Yara?s plants in Norway, Porsgunn and Glomfjord, produces mineral fertilizer by the nitrophosphate process. The nitrophosphate process has several advantages compared to its mixed acid counterpart. This is due to calcium nitrate being extracted from the process and can be sold as its own product. The production of mineral fertilizer based on the nitrophosphate process have several requirements to the raw material. As of now, Yara uses a mix of low quality- and high quality raw material. There are limited resources of high quality raw material, whereas the low quality material is abundant. The low quality raw material contains a various degree of impurities that affect the nitrophosphate process and the quality of the product. The focus of the project is to improve the existing nitrophosphate process, making it more flexible to allow an increased use of low quality rocks. This means that heavy metals such as cadmium must be removed, which is one of the goals for the project. It has also been a great focus to understand the role of several elements such as iron, magnesium and aluminium in the process. Based on empirical data it is seen that these elements causes complications in the process. To contribute to a sustainable production of mineral fertilizer it is important to gain fundamental understanding of the process, a process that has been based upon empirical data. Then, we can use different raw materials and limit emission and energy consumption. Yara has collaborated with IFE in this project.

Prosjektet har bidratt til en økt forståelse av den komplekse kjemien som foregår i prosessen. Det gir oss en viktig bakgrunn for å kunne virkelig blir fleksible på råvarer i fremtiden. På sikt vil vi kunne styre prosessen ut ifra hva slags råvare som benyttes samt begrense utslipp, energibruk og gi økt produktkvalitet. Som er resultat av prosjektet har rheologimålings-prinsippene blitt utviklet, som er viktig for å få en økt forståelse av prossessen.

This project will contribute to develop the most ground-breaking innovation in the fertilizers production process by the nitrophosphate route since the late 1920´s. The main process steps in Yara´s nitrophosphate process for the production of NPK fertilizer have essentially been the same since the process was invented. Despite Yara´s robustness today, this project is addressing the upcoming challenges to secure the future of the company, and those are related to two major aspects: 1) the flexibility of the nitrophosphate process, to adapt to a phosphate rock market with a broader quality range and 2) the need to evolve towards modern technologies that respond to global sustainability principles and environmental concerns. This project will contribute to reach these overall goals by focusing on the research and technology development for: - Modifying today´s process to gain flexibility towards a broader range of phosphate rock quality - Finding technological solutions to reduce the environmental impact of our products with regards to cadmium - Developing cost-effective technology for the extraction of rare earths (REEs) present in phosphate rock - Ideating and validating innovative concepts to produce fully water-soluble NPK fertilizers, with higher market value and lower environmental impact upon their use Yara will partner up with IFE in this project. As a result, this project will provide both new knowledge and technological innovation of Yara´s nitrophosphate process, mainly impacting: 1) Yara´s economic robustness and environmental profile, 2) national economic and social areas, 3) the global markets of phosphate rock, fertilizers and REEs, and 4) the environment. The goals are ambitious, as they are proportional to the large potential value creation expected in the areas of Yara´s strategic positioning, business size and robustness, new business opportunities and improved environmental profile.

Funding scheme:

BIA-Brukerstyrt innovasjonsarena