Acron Group has commissioned a new 135,000-tpa nitric acid unit at its production site in Veliky Novgorod, the second new unit in two years. The first unit, with the same design capacity, was launched at the Veliky Novgorod site in early 2019.
The construction of these two new units is a key part of Acron Group’s development strategy adopted in 2017, which is designed to make maximum use of existing production potential. Their launch increased the Group’s nitric acid output by 270,000 tonnes, to 1.8 million tonnes per year.
Novgorod GIAP (a member of Acron Group) was the general designer for both units.
“Following the commissioning of the first nitric acid unit, we reached record-high output of ammonium nitrate and UAN. The launch of the second unit will help us further boost the Group’s output of key products and considerably expand our product portfolio”, said Chairman of Acron’s Board of Directors Alexander Popov.
Acron Group will continue increasing its nitric acid output in Veliky Novgorod. A third 135,000-tpa unit is scheduled to launch in late 2019. The Group will raise an additional USD 11 million for the project, bringing total investments in the three nitric acid units to USD 50 million.
Nitric acid is a primary material for mineral fertilisers, and the Veliky Novgorod site first began producing it in the 1970s. The new units are high-tech and state-of-the-art production facilities. With the launch of its new nitric acid units, Acron will reduce its ammonia consumption to the lowest rate among similar facilities in the CIS. The highly efficient gas turbine unit GTU-8 will save over 4.3 million m3 of natural gas annually. As an added benefit, the expensive catalyst grids will need replacing only once a year, instead of the semi-annual replacements previously required.