Rentech Fertilizer Plant
- Type
- N2O destruction
- Location
- East Dubuque, IL
- Project by
- Rentech Nitrogen
Rentech’s fertilizer plant in East Dubuque, Illinois produces nitric acid and ammonia to serve the needs of midwestern farmers. With this project the facility is reducing it’s N2O emissions using a tertiary abatement catalyst system, the first ever in the United States.
How are the carbon offsets generated?
N2O, a greenhouse gas about three hundred times as powerful as CO2, is created as a byproduct of producing nitric acid, one of the main ingredients in fertilizer. At Rentech’s plant the tail gas from nitric acid production is now piped through a chamber with a special catalyst that converts 95% to 99% of the N2O into nitrogen and oxygen. A continuous emissions monitoring system directly measures the amount of N2O in the tail gas exiting the chamber to ensure the catalyst is working effectively.
Non-carbon benefits
Fertilizer is an integral component of the agricultural system, and this project provides an example of how fertilizer plants and other industrial facilities can reduce the impact of their operations.
Project additionality
As certified under the CAR standard, selling offsets was the only economic incentive for implementing this project.
Read more about ‘additional’ carbon offsets
Photo credit: Rentech