US fertilizer firm CF Industries has shipped its first ‘certified low-carbon' ammonia cargo to Europe, the company said on 2 October.
Global trading firm Trafigura loaded the 23,500t cargo on vessel Oceanic Star on 25 September and will deliver to European chemical company Envalior at Antwerp, Belgium.
Trafigura lifts volumes from CF's Donaldsonville on a contract basis and similarly has a supply contract with ammonia buyer Envalior, although the volumes supplied under both contracts have until now been of ammonia with no carbon removal.
CF announced the commissioning of its carbon dehydration and sequestration unit at its Donaldsonville complex in July. The unit can capture up to 2mn t/yr of CO2, making around 1.9mn t of the ammonia produced at Donaldsonville ‘low-carbon'. CF has not disclosed carbon intensity of these tonnes but without flue gas capture, the firm cannot capture more than approximately two-thirds of the CO2 byproduct from ammonia production. The CO2 is currently used in enhanced oil recovery while CF's partner ExxonMobil awaits a class VI permit for underground storage.
The 23,500t shipment to Europe is certified under the Verified Ammonia Carbon Intensity (VACI) Program to have a "significantly lower well-to-gate carbon footprint than conventional natural gas-based ammonia production", according to CF.
Envalior will produce reduced carbon caprolactam and ammonium sulphate using the ammonia feedstock, as well as further processed downstream products.
The shipment is CF's second delivery of low-carbon ammonia volumes, with the first shipment delivering to Morocco's OCP.
