The world demand for total fertilizer nutrients will reach 200 million metric tons in 2018. In the meantime, 6.3 trillion cubic feet per year natural gas are vented, flared and reinjected worldwide. Ammonia and urea production are promising routes to monetize these stranded gas resources. Greenhouse gas reduction through the incorporation of CO2 generated in the reforming section into urea production is a plus for this process. This study examines and optimizes the ammonia and urea processes by process analysis, economic analysis, and process intensification. A case study is carried out on deploying the technology in Corn-Belt (an area with a thriving agricultural sector and heavy demand for fertilizers). A medium gas reserve size of 10 MM SCFD is chosen to maintain the flexibility of the process. The process includes a reforming section, high-temperature shift, low-temperature shift, CO2 recovery, methanation, ammonia synthesis, refrigeration, ammonium carbamate condensation, urea generation and gas recycle. Kinetic models are used to set the rate while equilibrium criteria are chosen to build the boundary in this simulation. Two process intensifications - combined reformer and combined urea reactor - are proposed to increase the mobility of the system.
