ThyssenKrupp VDM GmbH, Werdohl, has supplied more than 700 tons of its nickel-base alloy Nicrofer 5923 hMo - alloy 59 for the construction of a flue gas desulfurization unit in Canada. The facility is being built for Fort Murray-based Syncrude Canada Ltd. Syncrude is the world`s largest producer of oil from oil sands. The new flue gas desulfurizer is part of an expansion program designed to raise the company`s annual production to 165-170 million barrels from 2008.

Nicrofer 5923 hMo was the clear winner of the tests to select the most suitable material, mainly because of the outstanding thermal stability of its microstructure. This means that Nicrofer 5923 hMo retains its high corrosion resistance to aggressive media such as hot sulfuric acid even in the welded condition. ThyssenKrupp VDM GmbH supplies the alloy in solid form, as roll-clad material and as welding wire. The flue gas desulfurizer is being built by Horton CBI, a subsidiary of Chicago Bridge and Iron Co.

The planned facility will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. The diameter of the absorber sump is approx. 15 meters, that of the absorber itself above it 21 meters and the stack measures roughly six meters in diameter. The facility will have a total height of 94.5 meters. It will operate on the Marsulex sulfate process, which uses ammonia to scrub the sulfur dioxide-containing flue gas and produces ammonium sulfate fertilizer as its end product.

As part of the Syncrude expansion program the new flue gas desulfurizer will have the job of preventing toxic sulfur dioxide emissions. The first step in the production of oil from oil sand is the recovery of bitumen, which is then upgraded into crude oil in several processing steps. One of these steps, the thermal cracking of the bitumen, releases toxic hydrogen sulfide, which has to be disposed of. For this the gas is burned and the arising sulfur dioxide-containing flue gas is subsequently cleaned in the flue gas desulfurizer.

Contact:
ThyssenKrupp Steel AG
Erwin Schneider
Tel.: +49 203 / 52 - 2 56 90
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
e-mail: erwin.schneider@tks.thyssenkrupp.com

Dietmar Stamm
Tel.: +49 203 / 52 - 2 62 67
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
e-mail: dietmar.stamm@tks.thyssenkrupp.com