An Iranian company active in the production of chemical and petrochemical catalysts has been exporting its products to neighboring countries and seeks to expand its market as well by relying on the know-how and efforts of domestic researchers and engineers.
Smart Catalyst, the Iranian manufacturer of catalysts, recently exported 20 million tons of sulfuric acid catalysts to Iraq. It was the third time the company sent its catalysts to the western neighboring nation and plans to continue exporting in future too, the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana reported.
The company has already exported catalysts to Afghanistan and is in talks to sell its products to Pakistan, the UAE and Kenya.
Smart Catalyst has also produced two types of catalysts for the first time in the country for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation to styrene and ammonia synthesis.
The indigenization of the two main catalysts used in the petrochemical industry will help save $70 million for the country, as their domestic production is much cheaper than importing them.
The styrene catalyst has taken three years of research and the production of ammonia synthesis catalyst took 15 years of extensive research.
Domestically, ethylbenzene to styrene dehydrogenation catalyst is used in Pars and Tabriz petrochemical companies and ammonia synthesis catalyst is used by urea and ammonia producers, including Razi, Pardis, Khorasan, Hengam, Lordegan, Kermanshah and Masjed Soleyman petrochemical plants.
Raising Ammonia Output
Five ammonia production projects are currently under construction to increase the output from the current 4.5 million tons per year by almost 8.4 million tons by 2026.
Ammonia is one of the most important and widely used petrochemical products, which is formed in nature from the decomposition of nitrogenous organic matter. The highest amount of ammonia consumption is in the production of fertilizers (urea, ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphates).
The product is used in ice factories and in the production of nitrogenous compounds, synthetic fibers, nitro paraffin, plastic, fiber and paper. It is also used in pharmaceutical industry to make sulfonamides and B vitamins, and in mining and metallurgy to extract zinc and nickel.
In the ammonia production unit, eight catalysts are used to prepare gas for ammonia synthesis.
Of the eight catalysts, seven were already localized. And now with the efforts of specialists at the Smart Catalyst Company, the last catalyst for ammonia synthesis has been indigenized.
A catalyst speeds up chemical reaction but is not consumed by it. Most solid catalysts are metals or oxides, sulfides and halides of metallic elements and semi-metallic elements such as boron, aluminum and silicon.
Based in Garmsar County, Semnan Province, Smart Catalyst Company produces a variety of catalysts required in the petrochemical, steel, oil and gas industries, which are used domestically and also exported to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the total 85 catalysts used in Iran’s petrochemical industry, 24 have been indigenized and the localization of 15 more catalysts has been undertaken. Studies are also underway to produce the remaining catalysts.
Domestic petrochemical plants and oil refineries use $400 million worth of catalysts a year, a part of which is produced locally and the rest is imported. Iranian companies annually use at least 23,000 tons of catalysts.
Catalyst consumption is rising and local companies are improving their R&D in the race to not fall behind foreign competitors.
