THE INDUSTRY – SOURCES & MARKETS
Background
Carbon Dioxide as applied in the merchant markets today, is a versatile and ever growing product, via new applications in industry. Today, this product is primarily a by-product from chemical processes; however, some is recovered from primarily CO2 rich natural underground sources, and from some flue gas sources. The industry as a merchant product is perhaps 20 million metric tons per year in capacity, growing at perhaps 3% per year. The tried and true forms of production, are the predominant forms of sources and will probably continue to be, unless new technologies to yield an affordable product from stack gas and all forms of flue gas are developed.
CARBON DIOXIDE SOURCES FOUND IN
TODAY’S WORLD MARKETS
Anhydrous ammonia
Recovery of CO2 from anhydrous ammonia has long been a world standard, for relatively clean and simple downstream purification and liquefaction, such that it can readily be used in all phases of the CO2 industry. In some developed world markets, including North America, anhydrous ammonia CO2 by-product has become less available for recovery due to closing of such ammonia plants, due to high prices of natural gas, sometimes exceeding $8-10 per million cubic feet; where affordability ends with a natural gas (methane) feedstock near $4-5 per ton. In the case of the US a few years ago, of the total percentage of merchant CO2 sold, about 40% or greater was borne from anhydrous ammonia sources. Today, this number is about 20%. Another factor driving this situation, are mega-sized anhydrous ammonia plants being built in third world countries, often in the Caribbean and Latin America, with low labour and natural gas prices; hence delivered to certain developed countries at prices well below the domestic product.
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