(242b) Process Optimization to Reduce Urea Plant Startup Failure Rate and Ammonia Pollution

This document explicates the improvisations made to overcome the startup failures due to
hardware limitations of Urea Plant at Engro Fertilizers Limited, Pakistan. Since plant
commissioning, the success rate of the Urea plant startup has been low because of instability
of the high pressure scrubber U-seal which also results in ammonia pollution & excessive
venting. Startups experienced during the operating period of more than 20 years have been
listed. Each scenario was studied with thorough Root Cause Analysis, resulting in
identification and implementation of process variations. These changes resulted in improved
startup success rate and reduced startup time. This eventually helped in minimizing the
excessive ammonia venting and therefore eliminated environmental concerns which ultimately
facilitated Engro to keep their promise of Clean & Pollution Free Environment.