EuroChem today announced that its Phosphorit subsidiary commissioned a heat recovery system at its sulphuric acid plant. The introduction of this system will provide 65 tonnes per hour of low pressure steam from the heat generated during sulphuric acid production. The increased steam generation will bring Phosphorit close to self-sufficient in power generation.

The system comprises proprietary equipment valued at RUB 360 million. EuroChem allocated a total of RUB 661 million to the implementation of the project.

The installation of the heat recovery system was carried throughout the first nine months of 2012. The new system’s installation and commissioning were supervised by technicians from SNC-Lavalin.

Canadian technicians conducted maintenance training for the sulphuric acid plant personnel prior to the launch of the system.

The heat recovery system was introduced under Phosphorit’s integrated energy efficiency program which runs through 2015. Other investments include the increase in annual sulphuric capacity to 1 million tonnes (currently 750 thousand tonnes), the upgrade of the wet-process phosphoric acid unit from dihydrate to hemihydrate, and the construction of a 32MW power generating unit.