Toyo to engineer new Petrobras ammonia plant

Toyo Engineering was awarded a contract from Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras to build a new 1,500 tpd ammonia plant at Uberaba in southeastern Brazil, officials said on Wednesday.

Toyo will work on the project in cooperation with Oleo e Gas, a leading engineering company in Brazil.

The project scope covers licensing, engineering, procurement of equipment and materials, installation, commissioning and operation assistance. The plant is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2017.

Although the production of natural gas as feedstock in Brazil is increasing recently, the country imports most of the fertilizer it consumes. Therefore, producing fertilizer domestically is regarded as an important task for the nation, according to Toyo officials.

Toyo noted that it has been awarded contracts for fertilizer plants since it first supplied urea technology to Petrobras in 1965, which led to a high evaluation of Toyo's project performance.

The demand for ammonia, which is used as feedstock for fertilizer and chemicals, is expected to increase worldwide. In collaboration with US-based KBR, Toyo says it has abundant experience on more than 80 ammonia projects worldwide. 

In Brazil alone, Toyo has carried out more than 30 projects including oil refinery plants, gas processing plants, gas pipelines and floating oil production units, in addition to fertilizer plants. Currently, Toyo says it is engaged in a large utility project for an oil refining and petrochemical complex, a gas processing plant, floating oil production units, and others.