Understanding CDM Methodologies - SuSanA

Debate on
required Level of
Detail of adipic
Acid Production
Calculation
Box 26: Request for review of CER issuance due to unclear amount of
adipic acid produced
The EB launched a request for review of issuance for one of the two registered
AM0021 projects as it felt that the calculation of the adipic acid production was
not transparent and should be reproducable for the reader of the monitoring
report. As a response the verifying DOE sent a 2 page-description of the method
for calculation with the remark that the process of calculation is very complex
and that the underlying data is stored and processed on SAP systems and other
databases of the adipic acid plant. The DOE continued saying that a secondary
check of the calculations by the RIT or EB would require sending a 10 MB file
of which checking would require a few man-days of someone who is familiar
with the subject. This argumentation was accepted and the CERs were issued
subsequently.
5.3.3 AM0034
Project description
Emission
Reduction Options
in Nitric Acid
Production
Applicability
limited to
secondary
catalytic
Reduction
Plants built from
1st January 2006
onwards not
eligible
N 2
O in nitric acid production is a by-product of the high temperature
catalytic oxidation of ammonia (NH 3
). The N 2
O is normally vented into the
atmosphere. The N 2
O concentration in the tail gas depends on the pressure
under which the nitric acid is produced. The emission factor can vary from 5
kg N 2
O/t nitric acid (+/- 10%) for atmospheric pressure plants to 9 kg N 2
O/t
nitric acid (+/- 40%) at high pressure plants (>8 bar). N 2
O emission reduction
in nitric acid plants happens through the installation of a dedicated N 2
O
abatement catalyst inside of the ammonia burner of the nitric acid plant.
Currently, two technically proven N 2
O abatement technologies exist. The first
one is know as secondary catalytic reduction where N 2
O is removed in the
burner after the ammonia oxidation gauzes. These are the abatement project
types AM0034 has been designed for. The second option is known as tertiary
abatement where N 2
O is removed from the tail gas. Tertiary abatement itself
can be classified in non-selective catalytic reduction (NSCR) and selective
catalytic reduction (SCR). The former option is used for reducing the local
pollutant NO x
from nitric acid manufacturing but also partly reduces N 2
O
emissions. Generally speaking secondary abatement achieves higher N 2
O
reduction at lower costs.
Secondary catalytic reduction requires the installation of a dedicated N 2
O
catalyst in the ammonia burner and a complete N 2
O monitoring system
including both a gas volume flow meter and an infrared analyzer.
Applicability conditions
The methodology is applicable to nitric acid plants that have been built
before 1 st January 2006 and where the host country does not mandate
any reduction in N 2
O emissions. For plants where any N 2
O abatement
technology (including a non-selective catalytic reduction unit) is operating the
methodology is not applicable.
Project boundary
The project boundary encompasses all units and facilities required for the
nitric acid production process from the inlet to the stack.
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