Modeling and simulation of automotive urea production in Peru.

Abstract

In response to growing concerns about air quality and regulatory requirements in Peru, the need to effectively address nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel vehicles has emerged. With the implementation of EURO 4 regulations in 2018 and the EURO 6 requirement in 2024, in Peru, for all imported vehicles, it has become crucial to seek solutions that meet these requirements. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology efficiently reduces NOx emissions in diesel vehicles, at least by 90%. This technology uses automotive urea. Consequently, diesel vehicles with SCR technology critically depend on the availability of high-quality automotive urea. Although, market studies have been conducted to support the production of automotive urea in Peru. There is a lack of technical research on manufacturing. Therefore, this study focuses on modeling and simulating an automotive urea production plant in Peru using natural gas from Camisea as feedstock, employing the process simulation software ProMax 6.0. The model predicts that 10.01 MMSCFD of natural gas are required to produce 528,000 L/year of AdBlue® , with a composition of 32.66% urea by weight. The average percentage error in estimating the physical properties of this product, according to ISO 22241 technical specifications, is 3.14%. Regarding energy requirements, it is determined that 1.582 kWh/kg of AdBlue® is needed for heating, 2.397 kWh/kg for cooling, and 0.486 kWh/kg for electricity. Finally, the natural gas requirement and the CO2 intensity of the overall process are 0.137 kg of natural gas per kg of AdBlue and 0.336 kg of CO2 per kg of AdBlue, respectively. Finally, the profit analysis, through the net profit margin of 31.01%, showed that the simulated process has positive financial efficiency.