Bromine – Uses, Prices, and Production

This blog is the second in a series of blogs I plan to write providing use, price, and production data on high-use inorganic and organic chemicals.  Click here to see the first blog in this series and a list of chemicals to be featured.  This blog provides data on bromine.

Uses.  The highest use of bromine is in compounds that have flame retarding capabilities.  These compounds are added to flammable products and should the products catch fire, liberated bromine acts to suppress/retard processes occurring in the fire (combustion).  About 50% of bromine use is in fire-retarding compounds.  Other bromine uses (as compounds containing bromine) include:

Ø  In fluids used in enhancing drilling-related activities, e.g., in oil and gas wells;

Ø  In water treatment;

Ø  In removing mercury from gas emissions;

Ø  In the dye industry;

Ø  In photographic processes;

Ø  As a catalyst;

Ø  In pharmaceutical products;

Ø  In flow batteries;

Ø  In the rubber/tire industry; and

Ø  In agriculture.

Elemental bromine, which is a liquid at room temperature, has no substantial uses, other than to react to form compounds used as given above.

Prices.  2018 metric ton (mt) prices appearing on the Internet and calculated from revenue and mt production data (e.g., estimated $3.0 to $3.4 billion bromine sales divided by estimated 600,000 to 700,000 mt bromine production amounts) is in the $4,200 to $5,700 per mt range.

Production.  2018 bromine production estimates are in the 600,000 to 700,000 mt range.  And revenues from bromine sales are in the $3.0 to $3.4 billion range.  Most bromine is produced in the United States, Israel, Jorden, and China.  Three companies (Israel Chemicals, Ltd.; Albemarle; and Lanxess) account for the majority of bromine production.  Bromine is found in seawater, underground brine deposits, and other water reservoirs such as the Dead Sea.  Global bromine demand roughly correlates with gross domestic product growth. 

Israel Chemicals, Ltd.’s (ICL) 2018 annual report indicates that the company accounts for its bromine sales in one of four segments – the Industrial Products segment.  Revenues for this segment (mostly bromine sales) was $1.3 billion.  Revenues are from elemental bromine sales and from bromine compounds produced internally.  Segment operating profit was 27% of revenues ($350 million divided by $1.3 billion).  Such a percentage seems quite good.

Ammonia - Uses, Prices, and Production

With this blog, I plan to begin a series of blogs providing use, price, and production data on high use basic inorganic and high use basic organic chemicals, including many of the following:

Basic inorganic chemicals	Basic organic chemicals
Ammonia	Benzene and methylbenzenes
Bromine	Buta-1,3-diene
Calcium carbonate	Epoxyethane (Ethylene oxide)
Chlorine	Ethane-1,2-diol (Ethylene glycol)
Fluorine	Ethanoic acid (Acetic acid)
Hydrogen	Ethanol
Hydrogen chloride	Ethene (Ethylene)
Hydrogen fluoride	Formaldehyde
Hydrogen peroxide	Methanol
Iodine	Methyl tertiary-butyl ether
Nitric acid	Phenol
Oxygen, nitrogen and the rare gases	Propanone (Acetone)
Phosphoric acid	Propene (Propylene)
Phosphorus	Urea
Sodium carbonate
Sodium hydroxide
Sulfur
Sulfuric acid
Titanium dioxide

I begin with ammonia.  Data has been found researching the Internet.

Uses.   Ammonia has been used for over a hundred years as a fertilizer.  Greater than 80% of ammonia use is as a fertilizer.  Other uses include:

Ø  As a refrigerant in large-scale industrial coolers;

Ø  As raw material combined with other materials in producing plastics, fibers, explosives, dyes, pharmaceuticals, nitric acid, formaldehyde, amines, and nitriles;

Ø  In metal extraction;

Ø  In pollution abatement;

Ø  In rubber and leather manufacturing;

Ø  In pulp and paper manufacturing;

Ø  As a disinfectant; and

Ø  As a fuel.

Largest ammonia users are China (~33%); Russia (~8%); India (~8%); and the United States

(~6%).

The use of “green” ammonia as a fuel (see below under production about green ammonia production) is gaining momentum.  For example, the ocean shipping industry has initiatives for developing engines using green ammonia.  Also, Japan and other Asian countries have programs for developing hydrogen use as a fuel with green ammonia being the source of the hydrogen.  The green ammonia would be produced in countries with high concentrations of wind and solar energies and then transported to countries without lots of wind and solar energy, such as Japan. 

Prices.   The average 2019 global ammonia price is estimated to in the $300 per metric ton (mt) range.  Prices could be substantially higher or lower depending on the region and month.

Production.   Most 2019 production estimates are in the 170 to 180 million mt range.  A $300 per mt price would give revenues of $51 billion to $54 billion from ammonia sales (170 or 180 million mt times $300 per mt).  Most ammonia is produced starting with natural gas, naphtha, or coal as a raw material, from which hydrogen is produced.  Then nitrogen, which is separated out from air, is reacted with the hydrogen using the Haber-Bosch Process to produce ammonia.  About 50% of the cost of producing ammonia comes from the price of natural gas, naphtha, or coal.   This production method unfortunately is responsible for about 1 to 1.5% of total global carbon dioxide emissions.  Another ammonia production method with emerging interest is producing hydrogen, not from natural gas, naphtha, or coal, but from water using electrolysis and renewable energy (e.g., wind or solar).  Ammonia produced by this method is referred to as green ammonia.  An important incentive for this ammonia production method is greatly reduced carbon dioxide emissions.  Several companies are major producers of ammonia.  These include: Yara; BASF; CF Industries; Koch Industries; and OCI NV.

Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert – January 2020

The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and metal shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is January 2020.

Section I below lists those chemicals and metals that were on the previous month’s Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply. Click here to read the December 2019 Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list.

Section II lists the new chemicals and metals (not on the December alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortage situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news releases.  Chemicals and metals identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in short supply status are not listed.

Section I.

Helium:  global; production not keeping up with demand

Palladium:  global; production not keeping up with demand

Section II.   Shortages Reported in January not found on the Previous Month’s List

None

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as: 

1.  Mining not keeping up with demand: none

2.  Production not keeping up with demand: none

3.  Government regulations: none

4.  Sources no longer available: none

5.  Insufficient imports:  none

6.  Supply not keeping up with demand: none

Australian Efforts to Develop an Industry Capable of Exporting Green Hydrogen

The Australian Government has, since at least 2018, been funding projects designed to develop a renewable hydrogen export industry.  Click here to read details on this funding.  The “Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy” report (click here; pdf file) provides details on Australia’s goals in this area.

What seems to be driving this program is Japan’s expectations to import annually 300,000 metric tons (mt) of green hydrogen (hydrogen produced by renewable energy) by the late 2020s.  This targeted hydrogen import is to replace dependence on fossil fuel imports. Japan’s basic hydrogen strategy can be read by clicking here and here (pdf file).  South Korea, China, Singapore, and perhaps other Asian countries are also expected to be large importers of green hydrogen.

Japan, South Korea, and Singapore do not have sufficient solar radiation and land characteristics for needed solar and wind farms.  Australia does.  Australia is one of the foremost, if not the foremost, global sites for solar and wind energy capture potential, and has extensively developed several solar and wind arms.  Estimates are that Australia produced about 48,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy in 2018.  This, along with Japan and other countries expectations of importing large amounts of green hydrogen, certainly is a strong motivation for the Australian Government pursuing a green hydrogen export industry.

Australia has built (are building) several green hydrogen-production plants.  Eventually, according to information on the Internet, Australia’s green hydrogen production needs to be at least 500 mt per day in order to offset capital and operating expenses in order for a green hydrogen export industry to be profitable.

The following identify many of the Australian green hydrogen-producing demonstration plants.  Because of the problems with transporting hydrogen, these plants also produce ammonia (green ammonia) from the green hydrogen produced at the plants.  The ammonia serves as a hydrogen carrier, and because ammonia has long been globally traded, has proven transportation success.

Crystal Brook, about 110 miles north of Adelaide in South Australia State.   A 50-megawatt (mw) electrolyser, using solar and wind energy, has a production capacity of 20 to 25 mt of hydrogen per day.  A 400-mw storage battery is present.  The plant is run by the French company Neoen.

Also in South Australia State at Port Lincoln on the Spencer Gulf is a green hydrogen plant with a 50 mt per day production capacity of ammonia.  The German company Thyssenkrupp and the Australian company H2U are associated with this plant.

A green hydrogen/ammonia plant owned by Incitev Pivot (Dyno Nobel) at Moranbah, Queensland State has a 160 mw electrolyser and a 210-mw solar farm.

In Moura, Queensland, about 450 kilometers southeast of Moranbah, is another green hydrogen/ammonia demonstration plant operated by the French company Neoen.  This demonstration plant is co-located with a fossil fuel ammonia-producing plant (for agriculture ammonia) owned by Incitec Pivot and Wesfarmers.  The plant is intended to produce annually 20,000 mt of green ammonia from 3,000 mt of hydrogen.

The planned Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia State, west of Pardoo, will use the bulk of the renewable energy generated to enable large-scale production of green hydrogen products for domestic and export markets.  (Click here for details on AREB).

The Norwegian company Yara and the French company Engie are collaborating on planning a pilot plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australian State using renewable energy to produce fertilizer ammonia.   Currently the world’s largest fossil fuel fertilizer ammonia production plant is at this site.   (Click here for more information.)

The Canadian company ATCO, collaborating with the Australian Government, is involved in a project at Jandakot, Perth, Western Australia, designed to use green hydrogen in Australia’s gas distribution network.  (Click here for more details.)

This Australian green hydrogen/ammonia program, should it be successful, will play an important role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and likely will greatly help Australia’s economy.  This blog provides another example, in addition to my previous blogs (click here and here) of demonstrating the high interest in using renewable energy in chemical production.

European Demonstration Plants for Chemical Production Using Renewable Energy

In my previous blog, I identified eight European-funded projects for producing chemicals using carbon dioxide as a raw material and renewable energy to drive the production.  (Click here to read the previous blog.)  Most of those projects seem to be ground-based, exploratory research and development focused on understanding and solving fundamental problems.

At another level of understanding, European-related demonstration plants are being used to evaluate chemical production using renewable energy without the need for fossil fuels.  This blog identifies six such demonstration plants.

Thyssenkrupp is collaborating on a demonstration plant in Australia that will produce ammonia from electrolysis-produced hydrogen using renewable energy.  Click here for details.

Siemens is collaborating on a demonstration plant in the United Kingdom that will produce ammonia from electrolysis-produced hydrogen using renewable energy.  Click here for details.

Haldor Topsoe is collaborating on a demonstration plant in Denmark that will produce ammonia from electrolysis-produced hydrogen using renewable energy.  Click here for details.

Yara and Engie are collaborating on a demonstration plant in Australia that will produce ammonia from electrolysis-produced hydrogen using renewable energy.  Click here for details.

The Austrian steel company voestalpine has a demonstration plant at its site in Linz, Austria producing electrolysis-produced hydrogen using renewable energy.  Hydrogen is required in steel making.  Several collaborators are involved in the project.  Click here for details.

Uniper and collaborators plan to build in Germany an electrolysis plant to explore efficient production, transportation, storage, and use of hydrogen.  Click here for details.

The demonstration plants identified above support the conclusion I made in my previous blog (click here) that the European Union greatly supports renewable energy and its use in producing chemicals rather than relying on fossil fuels for chemicals and the energy to produce them.

That major European companies are building demonstration plants indicate continued hopeful expectations for the potential payoffs of renewable energy.   Demonstration plants would be a logicalt step in evaluating chemical production using renewable energy.  Such plants provide better understanding of the need for scale and integration.

European Projects Developing Chemical Production from Carbon Dioxide Using Renewable Energy

The European Union is funding several projects on developing chemical products using carbon dioxide as a raw material and renewable energy to drive the production.  Many of the projects use electrolysis to produce hydrogen and then use the hydrogen to react, electronically, with carbon dioxide.

Here are brief synopses of eight such projects:

1.                  VoltaChem.   This project aims to better use renewable energy in the production of heat, hydrogen, and chemicals.  The project has short, medium, and long-term objectives reaching beyond 2030.  The project (program) focuses on both technology and system/business objectives.  Chick here for more details.

2.                  E-Refinery TU Delft.  The TU (Technical University) Delft project focuses on electrochemical conversions into fuels and chemical building blocks using sustainable electricity.  Research is supported at both the molecular and system integration levels. Several collaborators are involved.  Click here for more details.

3.                  Sunrise.  A Leiden University-lead project aims to replace fossil fuels use in industry by producing fuels and other chemicals from carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, and water using solar energy.  Several universities and companies participate.  Click here for more details.

4.                  CO2EXIDE.   A research effort is directed at producing ethylene oxide by electrochemical synthesis from water and carbon dioxide using renewable energies.  Several universities and companies have been involved.  Click here for more details.

5.                  Carbon2Chem.    Sixteen organizations have been involved in this project to convert steel production-emitted carbon dioxide (and other gases) into base chemicals.  Energy for the conversion comes from renewable sources.  Click here for more details.

6.                  H2Future.   This is another project for the conversion of carbon dioxide emissions from steel making into base chemicals.  A large-scale proton exchange membrane (PEM) system is being tested at an Austrian steel plant to archive the conversion.  Click here for more details.

7.                  Rheticus.   The German government is funding this project which is developing the use of microbes to produce alcohols from hydrogen and carbon monoxide from carbon dioxide and water.  Click here for more details.

8.                  DYNAKAT.   This project focuses on developing better catalysts for producing energy-carrying compounds such a methane, ammonia, and alcohols from hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and water.  Click here for more details.

Most, if not all, of the projects identified above are funded by the European Union (EU).  The EU greatly supports renewable energy and these projects support the EU hopes that a major payoff from its renewable energy developments will be the energy’s use in developing chemicals from carbon dioxide and water rather than relying on fossil fuels for energy and chemicals.   Such success would be a major accomplishment with great economic and environmental benefits, e.g., much less carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert – December 2019

The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and metal shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is December 2019.

Section I below lists those chemicals and metals that were on the previous month’s Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply. Click here to read the November 2019 Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list.

Section II lists the new chemicals and metals (not on the November alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortage situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news releases.  Chemicals and metals identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in short supply status are not listed.

Section I.

Helium:  global; production not keeping up with demand

Palladium:  global; production not keeping up with demand

Propane:  United States; supply not keeping up with demand

Section II.   Shortages Reported in December not found on the Previous Month’s List

None

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as: 

1.  Mining not keeping up with demand: none

2.  Production not keeping up with demand: none

3.  Government regulations: none

4.  Sources no longer available: none

5.  Insufficient imports:  none

6.  Supply not keeping up with demand: none