Zimbabwean chemicals company looks to coal gasification

Zimbabwe’s sole producer of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, Sable Chemicals, is looking into using coal gasification to help it produce ammonia.

Sable has taken coal samples from Senwa in Gokwe to China, to test the feasibility of processing coal for hydrogen. Gasified coal would be use to derive – among others – hydrogen, which is a key input in the production of ammonia.

The company has said it would like to change its production process from electrolysis to coal gasification.

The TA Holdings associate will require an estimated US$ 800 million to change to gasification, which would be either from coal or coalbed methane (CBM).

Zimbabwe has huge deposits of CBM gas in Matabeleland North, which, if fully utilised, could also help alleviate power shortages apart from its potential for hydrogen.

Deputy chairman of Sable, Misheck Kachere, has said that samples from Sengwa have been sent to the Beijing Institute of Technology. "We would want to use the coal from Sengwa or coal bed methane in Matabeleland," he said.

However, he pointed out that bringing the coal gasification project to fruition would require huge investment, meaning that the plant would have to be accorded national project status.

"That kind of money means the plant has to be a national project. We are talking to the relevant stakeholders to see how we would move with that project. We want to replace electrolysis with either coal gasification or coal bed methane technology," Kachere said.

Kachere added that Sable could replace the electrolysis plant by 2017 or 2018, subject to securing government and bank guarantees.

He said feasibility studies on the two technology options available had been undertaken while samples from Sengwa have been sent to China to test if they could be gasified for hydrogen.

The electrolysis plant has been the biggest constraint to Sable Chemicals' efforts to achieve sustainable viability, as the antiquated technology consumes huge amounts of power.

It is against this background that Sable Chemicals has engaged Zesa Holdings for another subsidised power tariff to enable the firm to cut its power bill and keep the electrolysis plant running.

At full capacity, the company requires 115 MW of power, but is currently using 40 MW/day, and hopes to be able to produce 100 000 tonnes of AN fertiliser by this year.

Chief executive of Sable, Jack Murehwa, recently said: "Because of the strategic placement of Sable in the nation's economy, the cost of power to produce AN fertiliser at the factory is always a subject for discussion amongst the three players – Government, Sable and the power utility.”

Sable Chemicals is operating at around 33% of capacity forcing the company to import ammonia for it to fulfil national demand.

Kachere, however, said that even if the company had enough funding and was running at full capacity, it would still need to import at least 33% of its ammonia requirement. He added that financial resource support to other major producers, such as Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company, Dorowa and Windmill would drastically cut the amount of imported fertiliser.

Zimbabwe's sole ammonium nitrate fertiliser manufacturer is presently saddled with a US$ 57 million electricity bill debt, which may weigh heavily on its capacity to produce fertiliser.

Sable Chemicals has potential to produce an estimated 240 000 tpa of fertiliser, but is currently producing around 70 000 tpa, as the company remains constrained by the increasingly obsolete electrolysis plant.

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/29072014/zimbabwe%E2%80%99s-sable-chemicals-looks-to-coal-gasification-1140/