MHI Signs 9th Technology License Agreement

The CO2 recovery facility, to be constructed at PVFCCo's existing plant near Ho Chi Minh City, aims at increasing on-site urea production utilizing 240 tons of 99% purity CO2 per day to be captured from the flue gas emitted from the plant’s primary reformer. The CO2 recovery facility, slated to go on-stream in early 2011, is expected to increase urea production at the Phu My Fertilizer Plant by 60,000 tons per year.

The technology to be licensed by MHI recovers CO2 from flue gas emitted during the urea fertilizer production process, which uses natural gas as fuel, and provides the captured CO2 as feedstock for urea synthesis. The CO2 contained in the flue gas emitted from the primary reformer during the ammonia production process will be absorbed into the KS-1 proprietary solvent, which MHI jointly developed with Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc (Kansai EP). The CO2 is then synthesized with ammonia for use as feedstock for urea production. The technology can recover approximately 90% of the CO2 in flue gas, and as such the process contributes significantly to environmental preservation and energy saving.

PVFCCo, which is a petrochemicals affiliate of PetroVietnam, the country's state-owned Oil and Gas Group, manufactures diverse petrochemical products including fertilizers, liquid ammonia and industrial-use gas, and also handles sales and services for these products. With construction of the CO2 recovery plant, PVFCCo which currently produces 1,350 tons/day of ammonia and 2,200 tons/day of urea targets further expansion of its production capacities.

MHI's "KM-CDR Process" requires considerably lower energy consumption than other technologies. Not only is it advantageous in terms of operating costs; it also makes for easy installation, maintenance and inspection. Outside Japan, MHI delivered its first CO2 recovery facility to a fertilizer production plant in Malaysia in 1999. To date the company has delivered the plant or licensed the technology to a total of eight fertilizer production plants around the world, including facilities in India, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Japan. MHI believes that the "KM-CDR Process" was selected for the CO2 recovery system in Vietnam due to the high reputation accorded to its track record and the process’s outstanding performance. This will be the first introduction of the "KM-CDR Process" in Vietnam.

In addition to urea production, CO2 recovery technology can be employed in chemical applications such as production of methanol and dimethyl ether (DME). Other important applications possible are carbon capture and storage (CCS) and. enhanced oil recovery (EOR). CCS is to capture CO2 from flue gas form plants, including thermal power generation plants, and sequester CO2 in deep subsurface, such as brine aquifers, to reduce greenhouse effect gas. EOR is to enable increased crude oil production; in this case, CO2 is injected into an oil reservoir suffering from low productivity.

Due to recent increased concern over global worming and instability in oil prices, demand for CCS and EOR has been rising especially sharply. Because CCS/EOR has the potential to contribute significantly to reducing greenhouse gases through sequestration of CO2 into deep subsurface or oil reservoirs, the technology is garnering intense attention globally. Going forward, MHI intends to promote its large-scale CO2 recovery facilities for both chemical plant and CCS/EOR applications.