Russia’s Togliatti says construction of third urea unit 40% complete

LONDON (ICIS)–Russian nitrogen fertilizer major Togliattiazot (TOAZ) on Monday revealed the centrepiece of its new urea plant – a 107 metre tall granulation tower – had been installed and the project is 38% complete.

Due for commissioning in 2021, the 2,200 tonne/day unit will reinforce the company’s presence as the largest supplier of urea to the domestic market.

Another construction milestone is planned for this month, involving the installation of a 45 metre tall and 300 tonne reactor for the new unit.

In a statement, the company said the granulation tower is the tallest structure at the production site and comprises 6,600 m3 of concrete, 465 tonnes of reinforcement and 2,900 embedded products.

It was installed in 50 days by 140 specialists working around-the-clock shifts, including in sub-zero temperatures.

“The granite tower is a key object of the urea production process – in that the finished product is finally formed: freely falling melt drops crystallise in the oncoming air flow to obtain granules of uniform size,” TOAZ said.

“This method of obtaining commercial urea provides high product quality and is the most widespread in the world.”

TOAZ’s existing urea capacity is around 1m tonnes/year, while its ammonia plants produce up to 3m tonnes/year for use in urea manufacturing, but also for domestic consumption and export to foreign markets.

In March 2020, TOAZ announced it plans to more than double its urea capacity to 2.53m tonnes/year by 2025 by constructing third and fourth lines at its site in the city from which it takes its name.

Russian ammonia and urea producer TOAZ is making good progress on the construction of its third urea unit. Photo courtesy of TOAZ.