Stamicarbon is the licensing and IP center of Maire Tecnimont SpA which licenses technology for manufacturing urea [1] as well as provide follow-up services designed to ensure the best possible operation of the urea plant throughout its working life. [2] Stamicarbon is based in Sittard-Geleen.
From its inception in 1947 until 2009 Stamicarbon was a subsidiary of DSM (formerly Dutch State Mines). In 2009 it was sold to Maire Tecnimont. [1] [3] DSM created Stamicarbon for the purpose of managing its patent portfolio and licensing its technology. In 1947 DSM was primarily a coal mining company and initially Stamicarbon was responsible for selling coal preparation plant technology. The company's name reflects its origin: 'Stami' (from 'State Mines') and 'carbon'(coal). [1] [3] In the succeeding years, reflecting the progressive shift of DSM's activities from coal mining to chemicals derived from coal and, later, from natural gas, Stamicarbon's technology portfolio grew to include a number of other products, including urea and the urea derivative melamine, caprolactam, polyethylene, phenol, and EPDM rubber.
Following the takeover of DSM's petrochemical activities in 2002 by the Saudi Arabian company SABIC, licensing activities for all but urea and LLDPE technology were also transferred to SABIC's licensing subsidiary, SABTEC. The melamine license was taken over by OCI Nitrogen. [3]
Although urea has a number of industrial uses, these are dwarfed by the scale of its use as a nitrogen fertilizer. Urea has the highest nitrogen content (46 wt-%) of all the recognized solid nitrogen fertilizer materials and, from the early 1950s onwards, its use has continually increased, progressively displacing both ammonium sulphate, which was formerly the dominant product, and a later contender, ammonium nitrate. [4] Today the market stands at about 170 million metric tonnes per year and is still growing at an annual rate of about 3%. [5] By 2025 world food production will have to double to cater for the food demand of approximately 8 billion people. Since the area under cultivation is tending to decrease rather than increase, the extra food will have to be produced by further increasing the yield per hectare of existing agricultural land. The use of fertilizers, urea in particular, can assist with this problem. [6] In December 1953, when DSM was establishing its urea manufacturing activity, it made the decision not to seek a license for any existing urea technology but rather to develop its own technology in house. [5] In 1957, Stamicarbon sold its first urea license to Société Carbochimique in Tertre, Belgium, for a plant with a capacity of 70 metric tons per day (mtpd). [5] Due to the growth of the world urea market, urea occupied an important position in Stamicarbon's portfolio.
Once every four years Stamicarbon holds its Urea Symposium, at which new technical developments are introduced and social contacts are established or refreshed. First held in 1966, when it was attended by 31 participants, representing 16 licensees from 11 countries, the invited audience has been expanded to include contractors and equipment suppliers. Attendance at the most recent symposium in 2016 numbered 300.
Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula CO(NH2)2. This amide has two amino groups joined by a carbonyl functional group. It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid.
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock flour for micronutrients. Farmers apply these fertilizers in a variety of ways: through dry or pelletized or liquid application processes, using large agricultural equipment or hand-tool methods.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NH4NO3. It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is predominantly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Global production was estimated at 21.6 million tonnes in 2017.
Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 67% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives have fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred. Melamine can be combined with formaldehyde and other agents to produce melamine resins. Such resins are characteristically durable thermosetting plastic used in high pressure decorative laminates such as Formica, melamine dinnerware, laminate flooring, and dry erase boards. Melamine foam is used as insulation, soundproofing material and in polymeric cleaning products, such as Magic Eraser.
Koninklijke DSM N.V., is a Dutch multinational corporation active in the fields of health, nutrition and materials. Headquartered in Heerlen, at the end of 2017 DSM employed 21,054 people in approximately 50 countries and posted net sales of €8.632 billion in 2018 and €9.204 billion in 2021.
Sindri is a neighbourhood in Dhanbad in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in Jharkhand state, India.
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, known as SABIC, is a Saudi chemical manufacturing company. 70% of SABIC's shares are owned by Saudi Aramco. It is active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers, and metals. It is the second largest public company in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia as listed in Tadawul.
In China, the adulteration and contamination of several food and feed ingredients with inexpensive melamine and other compounds, such as cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide, are common practice. These adulterants can be used to inflate the apparent protein content of products, so that inexpensive ingredients can pass for more expensive, concentrated proteins. Melamine by itself has not been thought to be very toxic to animals or humans except possibly in very high concentrations, but the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid has been implicated in kidney failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both animal and human health.
Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited is the largest manufacturer of chemical fertilizers in the state of Karnataka, India. The company is part of the Adventz Group. The company's corporate and registered office is at UB City, Bangalore and its factory unit is in Panambur, north of Mangalore.
Coffeyville Resources, formerly known as the COOP Refinery, is a company which owns an oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas. The refinery is owned and operated by Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing. The refinery employs about 500 people and produces approximately 2,100,000 US gallons (7,900,000 L) of gasoline per day, and 1,700,000 US gallons (6,400,000 L) of middle distillates per day, predominantly diesel oil.
Borealis AG is an Austrian chemical company and is the world's eighth largest producer of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko is a Russian billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder and ex-beneficiary of fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal producer SUEK, and was a non-executive director in both companies until 9 March 2022.
A controlled-release fertiliser (CRF) is a granulated fertiliser that releases nutrients gradually into the soil. Controlled-release fertilizer is also known as controlled-availability fertilizer, delayed-release fertilizer, metered-release fertilizer, or slow-acting fertilizer. Usually CRF refers to nitrogen-based fertilizers. Slow- and controlled-release involve only 0.15% of the fertilizer market (1995).
Urea (46-0-0) accounts for more than fifty percent of the world's nitrogenous fertilizers. It is found in granular or prill form, which allows urea to be easily stored, transported and applied in agricultural settings. It is also the cheapest form of granular nitrogen fertilizer. Since urea is not an oxidizer at standard temperature and pressure, it is safer to handle and less of a security risk than other common nitrogen fertilizers, such as ammonium nitrate. However, if urea is applied to the soil surface, a meaningful fraction of applied fertilizer nitrogen may be lost to the atmosphere as ammonia gas; this only occurs under certain conditions.
Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC) is a Pakistani chemical company which produces chemical fertilizer. It was established by the Fauji Foundation which holds a controlling interest. FFC produces or markets various fertilizers which include urea, DAP, SOP, MOP, Boron and Zinc.
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. is an Italian group numbering 50 operating companies in the engineering, technology and energy sectors. It deals in plant engineering in oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, in green chemistry and in technology supporting energy transition.
Mekog was a chemical company founded 1928 that manufactured fertilizer using hydrogen from coke oven gas as a feedstock. The company's facilities were located on the site of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken steelworks near IJmuiden in the Netherlands.
EuroChem Group AG is a Swiss fertilizer producer. It is a fertilizer manufacturer with its own capacity in all three primary nutrients – nitrogen, phosphates and potash. It is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.
Grupa Azoty Zakłady Azotowe "Puławy" PLC is a Polish chemical company based in Puławy, Lublin Voivodeship, specializing in the production of mono-volumes of nitrogen fertilizer, one of the world's largest producers of melamine. It also produces caprolactam, hydrogen peroxide, AdBlue and technical gases.
The Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI) is a government owned company and producer of ammonia and urea granular fertilizer, located in Sungai Liang Industrial Park (SPARK), Belait District, Brunei. It is claimed to be one of the largest fertilizer facilities in Southeast Asia, and has a production capacity of 1,365,000 tonnes of urea annually. The facility for BFI started being built in May 2018 and 500 jobs was expected be created when the plant is fully operating.