India First Commercial Scale Coal to Ammonium Nitrate Project

India First Commercial Scale Coal to Ammonium Nitrate Project

#GS-3 #Economy #Infrastructure #Agriculture #Energy #Aatmanirbhar Bharat #Coal Sector

Why in News

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for India's first commercial-scale coal-to-ammonium nitrate project at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district, Odisha.

About the Project

  • This facility is India's first commercial-scale industrial plant built to convert raw domestic coal into ammonium nitrate.
  • The plant acts as a model facility for Surface Coal and Lignite Gasification by turning solid coal into valuable chemical feedstocks.
  • The project is located at Lakhanpur in the Jharsuguda district of Odisha.
  • The main aim is to use domestic coal reserves to produce ammonium nitrate locally and reduce import dependence under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

How It Works

  • High-ash domestic coal goes into an advanced gasifier developed in-house by BHEL, where it reacts with steam and oxygen.
  • The process breaks down the coal chemically into synthesis gas, known as syngas, which contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
  • Workers clean the raw syngas to remove impurities and run chemical shift reactions to set the right hydrogen-to-nitrogen ratios.
  • The generated ammonia is partially oxidized to form nitric acid, which then reacts with more ammonia to yield liquid or prilled ammonium nitrate.

Key Features of the Project

  • The project is executed by Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (BCGCL), a joint venture between BHEL and Coal India Limited (CIL).
  • The plant is designed to produce an estimated 2,000 tonnes per day of chemical-grade ammonium nitrate.
  • The facility uses specialized coal gasification technology developed completely by BHEL to handle India's high-ash coal.
  • The Union Ministry of Coal supports the project with ₹1,350 crore in financial backing under a broader ₹46,000 crore incentive scheme.
  • The layout uses revised land policies that allow active mining areas to be leased directly to downstream chemical projects.