OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2012. The new facility, a urea granulator, has been built at the Gas & Chemical Plant. The test batch of about 60 tons of urea was produced after the first three hours of the plant operation.

The plant for urea granulation by the process of Toyo Engineering Corporation (Japan) is unique for Russia. The selected licensor and the opportunity to purchase equipment from domestic suppliers enabled Gazprom neftekhim Salavat to reduce the project cost by 30%. The Company has invested RUB 1 200 MM into the plant in total.

The proactive construction, as part of the Company’s priority project, has been underway since April 2011. Up to 400 specialists and workers were present on site simultaneously during the day including the representatives from Japan and Germany. Work was performed on a round-the-clock basis.

The new plant is fully ecofriendly. It includes a scrubber separating the dust of ammonia and urea and returning it into process thus excluding its impact on the environment.

The characteristics of urea granules are superior to that of prills. Granules are several times stronger, less caking and convenient for long distance transportation. In perspective, the Company is planning to export granulated urea.

Background information: Today, Gazprom neftekhim Salavat produces prilled urea in workshops 50 and 24 of its Gas & Chemical Plant (total design capacity makes 2200 tons per day). After the introduction of the urea granulation plant into the processing chain, the Company, depending on market demands, will be able to produce up to 1200 tons of granulated urea daily and in case of urea capacity expansion - up to 1400 tons per day.