The proposed project, Tianji Group Line 1 N2O Abatement Project (hereafter, the Project), is being developed by EcoSecurities Group Plc, Vitol S.A. and Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group Co. Ltd (hereafter referred to as the Project Developer). The purpose of the Project is to reduce the current levels of N2O emissions at the Project Developer’s fertilizer plant during the production of nitric acid (HNO3).

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is an undesired by-product emitted from the production of nitric acid (HNO3), which is formed during the catalytic oxidation of ammonia. N2O is directly released into the atmosphere from nitric acid production plants without any treatment, as it does not have any economic value or toxicity. N2O is however recognised as a potent greenhouse gas with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 310 compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), and currently is responsible for approximately 6% of the greenhouse effect1. The production process of nitric acid typically generates N2O quantities of 2-19 kg per tonne of pure anhydrous nitric acid (100%)2, thus not removing N2O from the production of nitric acid has a large potential for global warming.

The Project will use the secondary N2O abatement catalyst technology, which involves the installation of a secondary catalyst in the burner basket. The secondary catalyst will be located beneath the ammonia oxidation catalyst gauzes, and through this secondary catalyst N2O will be converted into Nitrogen (N2) and Oxygen (O2), which have no adverse environmental or human health impacts.

The Project will produce environmental and economic benefits, which will contribute to the sustainable development of the Host Country. The specific sustainable development benefits of the Project are as follows:

• A new technology will be transferred to the Host Country, reflected in the installation of an N2O abatement technology, which will include a novel N2O abatement catalyst and monitoring system/equipment. Furthermore, the local plant staff will be trained to operate this new • The awareness of local residents regarding environmental protection will be enhanced through a series of training sessions for plant staff whose family members are local residents;

• The applied monitoring system for N2O emissions will follow the European Standard EN14181, which is not only new for the Project Developer and for the Host Country, but also novel in Europe. By following the quality assurance of the automated measuring systems, the local employees will build capacity in these quality management techniques that are not yet widely spread in the Host Country;

• The commissioning and operation of monitoring equipments and catalyst will contribute to the creation of technical and organisational capacity of domestic contractors.

Plant information

The existing production unit at the Project Developer’s nitric acid plant was a brand new unit when it was first installed in this plant. The burner was manufactured by Toyo Engineering Corporation. It is a type of Medium, dual pressure unit, which began operation on 22nd August 1987. Some key information about this plant is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Key parameters of the production unit at the nitric acid plant

Design capacity                                    902 tHNO3/day (100%), 330 days per year Reactor pressure                                   Dual pressure, medium

Number of burners                                  2

Production in campaign 1(tHNO3 100%)               135,042 (01/06/2004-23/11/2004)

Production in campaign 2(tHNO3 100%)               (97,211)* (24/11/2004-06/04/2005)

Production in campaign 3(tHNO3 100%)               106,610 (04/07/2005-07/12/2005)

Production in campaign 4(tHNO3 100%)               114,329 (07/12/2005-10/05/2006)

Production in campaign 5(tHNO3 100%)               176,094 (04/06/2006-25/01/2007)

Average production in previous 4 campaigns         133,019 (tHNO3 100%) (* Data in campaign 2 is excluded due to its abnormality, data to be audited by verifying DOE, and subject to change accordingly)

Average production days in previous 4              168 campaigns (days)

(To be audited by verifying DOE, and subject to change accordingly.)

The training of the plant staff has been undertaken in order to ensure the proposed project is in compliance with the methodology AM0034 VER02. Details regarding the content and future plans of the training are described in the Monitoring Manual, which will be available for the verifying DOE during the verification. A summary of the training plan can be found in the monitoring plan in Annex 4.