Collie urea

The Collie Urea Project, that is located in the Collie Region of Western Australia, 200 kilometres south east of Perth, is to use clean coal gasification technology to turn sub-bituminous coal into urea.

Collie Urea Plant Owned and Operated by Indian Company Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers

The Collie Urea plant is to be constructed and operated by Perth based and Indian owned, Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers, a company previously known as, North West Chemicals and Fertilisers. When completed the Collie Urea Plant will produce two million tonnes of urea a year from coal sourced from the nearby Collie Muja coal mine. The urea produced will be exported around the world.

Coal Gasification to be Used at the Collie Urea Plant is new to Australia

Although coal gasification technology is new to Australia, it has been successfully established in other countries around the world. The new Collie plant will be a world class facility using best in the world technology to obtain high operating efficiencies. The urea produced from Collie sourced coal will be an essential fertiliser used to assist in the expansion of global food production to facilitate feeding the ever growing world population. The demand for urea continues to grow as arable land around the world deminishes and the remaining land demanding enhanced soil enrichment. It has been estimated that the urea produced at the new Collie Urea Plant would be sufficient to feed up to 90 million people a year. The Collie Plant is expected to create around 200 permanent jobs. The workers and their families will be housed at Collie.

The coal gasification that is to take place at the Collie urea plant will involve converting coal into synthetic gas that is otherwise known as, syngas. Syngas comprises, in the main, carbon monoxide and hydrogen.This gas is then processed to remove impurities such as sulphur. It is then used as feedstock in the creation of various products such as ammonia, which is the basis of urea. Methanol is also produced.Gasification of coal allows it to be converted into a wide range of clean fuel and chemical products.

The coal gasification method used for producing urea at the Collie Urea Plant emits a lower CO2 emission than that of a coal fired power station of a similar size, and, when considering the whole cycle by including the increased crop sizes that result from the adding of urea to the soil, there ocurrs a total overall reduction in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

There is also a market for the ash that can be converted to vitreous slag which resists leaching. This ash can be sold as sandblasting grit, as a cement additive and for use on road surfaces.

Collie Urea Plant to be Built at Shotts Industrial Park at Collie

The Collie Urea Plant is to be built at Shotts Industrial Park, 10 kilometres from Collie, with easy road access to both Perth and Bunbury. The site is also near the Muja coal mine, as well as road and rail infrastructure. It is to have its own 180-200 MW power station. Urea from the plant will be railed to the Bunbury port from where it will be exported. The railway will also be used to transport construction material for use in the building of the project.