Eurotecnica Melamine Technology
Year:2014 ISSUE:11
COLUMN:COMPANY FOCUS
Click:342    DateTime:Jun.20,2014
Eurotecnica Melamine Technology

By Stefano Sassi, Commercial Director, Eurotecnica

Melamine is a high value added chemical compound used in the manufacturing of laminates, particleboard and dinnerware. Flame-retardants foams are among the fast growing end-uses of melamine.
In a large variety of applications melamine has no substitutes, a fact that favors the investments in plants for its production.
Melamine is obtained by direct synthesis of a common fertilizer, urea.
Eurotecnica (also named ETCE) is an Italian company established in Milan since 1962, famous for being the leading melamine technology provider. ETCE is part of Proman Group, an international company with assets in Germany, Trinidad, Italy and USA.
ETCE technology is based on the High-Pressure Non-Catalytic Melamine Process, a unique process because of its superior performances in terms of product quality, safety, efficiency, reliability and zero pollution features.
Originally introduced in the 1960’ by a US company named Allied, this peculiar process was ahead of its times and very innovative.
Soon after the acquisition of the Allied process ETCE has injected financial and human resources across the years to propel a technology development with no equal in the melamine industry.
The first plant designed and implemented by ETCE was one built in Kuwait in the 1970’s. While this initial plant was quite different from how ETCE’s plants are designed nowadays, it became the state-of-the-art, like each and every new plant designed and implemented from then on.
To-date ETCE has licensed and implemented 20 Melamine units worldwide accounting for 610 000 t/ar, more than one third of the world’s consumption.

Eurotecnica technology advantages compared to competing technology

Main advantages of ETCE Melamine Process compared to competing technologies are:
- Zero pollution features. ETCE Melamine Process is the only pollution-free process in the world. No liquid, solid or gaseous pollutants are ever generated in the process, so there is no need to implement costly treatment systems.
- Top quality melamine. Off-spec melamine is never produced in the ETCE plants. Purity is always above what specified in the GB/T9567-1997 standard.
- Safety and reliability. Proven design, robust process and absence of sophisticated machinery working at very critical pressure/temperature are factors all contributing for the well-known reliability and safety of ETCE melamine plants around the world. Typical on-stream time between scheduled turnarounds is two years (record operating time is 810 days).
- Energy saving. Project after project ETCE has been improving the energy efficiency of its Melamine Process, thanks to the continuous feedback from ETCE’s customers around the world. Today ETCE offers the most efficient Melamine Process available in the market.

Licensed plants situation in China and the world

Eurotecnica began to commercialize the ETCE Melamine Process in China in the 90’. Henan Zhong Yuan Da Hua has been the first Chinese customer with whom ETCE signed a contract for the implementation of a melamine plant.
Since then, ETCE has signed 10 contracts in China, with 7 different clients and end-users, for the implementation of as many melamine plants, for a total licensed capacity of 320 kt/a.
Petrochina, HNCC Zhong Yuan Da Hua, Chongqing Jianfeng, Sichuan Chemical Holding, Sanming Chemical are proud owners of melamine plants based on ETCE technology.
Presently ETCE is building the biggest single-train melamine plants ever implemented in China, one 80 kt/a and the other 60 kt/a capacity.
The 60 kt/a one is also the biggest single-reactor melamine plant in the world.
In the rest of the world ETCE Melamine Process has been applied in Trinidad & Tobago MHTL, in Brasil PETROBRAS, in the Middle-East (Qatar QAFCO and Iran KHPC), in Europe GRUPA AZOTY, in Indonesia, in Korea and in Kuwait.
ETCE Melamine Process is the only technology applied in the Middle-East and in the Americas in the last 20 years. In the last 10 years only two technologies have been applied, ETCE and Chinese Low Pressure.

Strategy of expansion in the Chinese market

China is the world’s most important market for Eurotecnica.
20 years ago ETCE has started promoting its melamine technology in China quickly becoming the absolute market leader, a position retained for many years before facing the competition of a number of local technology providers offering different technologies, operating at different pressure conditions than ETCE.
ETCE has always seen the competition a powerful stimulus to self-improvement, so the Chinese market has given the opportunity to reshape a strategy to keep expanding in this important market.
Lower investment, reduction of energy consumption (nowadays a third than ten years ago), establishment of a representative office in Beijing for providing a better assistance to the many Chinese customers, are the main three elements around which ETCE has implemented its new strategy.
Notwithstanding the tough competition, ETCE’s market share in China in terms of melamine output is stably higher than 30%, a percentage that jumps to 100% when considering the production of melamine of the highest-quality.

Innovation solutions for the melamine technology in China nowadays

Eurotecnica is committed to always providing the best and most updated technical solutions to any customer in world without any difference.
From the very first generation to date, ETCE Melamine Process has been evolving to the present 4th generation, ETCE G4, which has set an unprecedented level of energy efficiency. ETCE G4 is being offered in a number of tailor-made solutions to each customer.
What follows hereinafter are just three basic arrangements that ETCE can propose nowadays:
- G4c Classic arrangement
Classic design where the melamine plant is efficiently integrated within a large urea unit, either be it by Chinese Urea, Stamicarbon, Snamprogetti and Toyo designs.
Whatever urea designs, the net urea specific consumption for one ton of melamine is barely 1428 kg.
The main advantage of ETCE G4c is that the melamine plant can be easily and economically integrated to any existing urea and fertilizer complex.
The only inputs are urea, ammonia (that is not consumed but fully returned to the urea plant) and demi-water.
The only outputs are top quality melamine, off-gas that can be recycled into the main urea plant for producing extra urea, clean air to atmosphere and clean water that can be used as cooling water make-up.
Solid, liquid, gaseous pollutants are never produced.
- G4s Stand-alone arrangement
Some ammonia producers wish to use part of their ammonia to produce just melamine, without being obliged to become large producers of urea.
ETCE offers a specific solution where a ETCE melamine unit is integrated with a small dedicated urea unit to produce melamine from NH3 and CO2 straight.
In this case the outstanding value of 0.81 ton of ammonia to produce one ton of melamine is achieved.
Only inputs are NH3 and CO2, while the only outputs are melamine, clean air to atmosphere and clean water that can be used as cooling water make-up.
Solid, liquid, gaseous pollutants are never produced.
Thanks to this arrangement the urea market is completely by-passed and so the chemical complex does not suffer the typical seasonality of the urea market.
- G4x Stand-alone arrangement by second-hand urea plant
Alternative option to the stand-alone arrangement is a ETCE melamine plant combined with a small second-hand urea plant procurable within the Chinese territory (there are many available in China and no prilling tower is needed). ETCE is able to reengineer, update and improve the second-hand Chinese urea plant to have it optimized for such specific purpose.
Also in this case the only inputs are NH3 and CO2 straight, while the only outputs are melamine, clean air to atmosphere and clean water that can be used as cooling water make-up.
Solid, liquid, gaseous pollutants are never produced.
As ETCE firmly believes in innovation and technology evolution, the 5th generation of melamine plants (ETCE G5) is already under development and is going to be available soon to all our customers in the world.

Conclusion

Across the years Eurotecnica has been building a solid reputation in the melamine industry in China and in the rest of the world.
The melamine produced by ETCE plants is a widespread and well-established brand name that identifies the highest quality melamine since more than 30 years and represents an industrial asset able to create immediate value and premium selling prices to any of ETCE customers.
The distributed network of ETCE’s customers across four continents gives both the existing and the new customers a unique extraordinary opportunity for sharing know-how, expertise and technology improvements.