Proposed Ammonium Nitrate Facility Expansion ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT June 2009 Proposed Ammonium Nitrate Facility Expansion Greenleaf Road, Kooragang Island Volume 1 - Main Report Prepared for Orica Australia Pty Ltd 1 Nicholson Street | Melbourne | Victoria | 3000 www.orica.com.au Prepared by AECOM Level 5, 828 Pacific Highway | Gordon | New South Wales | 2073 | T +61 2 8484 8999 | F +61 2 8484 8989 www.aecom.com “This page has been left blank intentionally” Proposed Ammonium Nitrate Facility Expansion S6065303_FinalEA_1June09.doc Contents GLOSSARY OF TERMS...........................................................................................................................XI ACRONYMS........................................................................................................................................... XIV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................1 1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1-1 1.1 Background...............................................................................................................1-1 1.2 The Applicant............................................................................................................1-2 1.3 Project Location........................................................................................................1-2 1.4 Project Site History ...................................................................................................1-4 1.5 Current Operations ...................................................................................................1-4 1.6 Need for the Project..................................................................................................1-5 1.7 The Environmental Assessment Process.................................................................1-6 1.8 Major Projects...........................................................................................................1-6 1.9 Environmental Assessment Scoping Report ............................................................1-7 1.10 Environmental Assessment Requirements ..............................................................1-7 1.11 Preparation of this Environmental Assessment........................................................1-7 1.12 Stakeholder Consultation .........................................................................................1-8 1.13 EA Exhibition ............................................................................................................1-8 1.14 Purpose of this Report..............................................................................................1-8 1.15 Structure of this Environmental Assessment............................................................1-8 2.0 CURRENT OPERATIONS.......................................................................................................2-1 2.1 Overview...................................................................................................................2-1 2.2 Primary Operational Components ............................................................................2-2 2.2.1 Ammonia Plant..........................................................................................2-2 2.2.2 No. 1 Nitric Acid Plant (NAP1) ..................................................................2-2 2.2.3 No. 2 Nitric Acid Plant (NAP2) ..................................................................2-2 2.2.4 No. 3 Nitric Acid Plant (NAP3) ..................................................................2-2 2.2.5 No. 1 Ammonium Nitrate Plant (ANP1).....................................................2-2 2.2.6 No. 2 Ammonium Nitrate Plant (ANP2).....................................................2-2 2.3 Outline Process Description .....................................................................................2-2 2.4 Ammonia Production ................................................................................................2-3 2.4.1 Background ...............................................................................................2-3 2.4.2 Desulphuriser ............................................................................................2-3 2.4.3 Primary and Secondary Reformers...........................................................2-3 2.4.4 Shift Conversion........................................................................................2-3 2.4.5 Carbon Dioxide Removal ..........................................................................2-4 2.4.6 Final Purification........................................................................................2-4 2.4.7 Ammonia Synthesis Loop .........................................................................2-4 2.4.8 Heat Recovery...........................................................................................2-4 2.5 Nitric Acid Production ...............................................................................................2-4 2.5.1 Feed Preparation.......................................................................................2-5 2.5.2 Ammonia Converter ..................................................................................2-5 2.5.3 Absorption Column....................................................................................2-5 Proposed Ammonium Nitrate Facility Expansion i S6065303_FinalEA_1June09.doc 2.5.4 Tail Gas .....................................................................................................2-5 2.6 Ammonium Nitrate Production..................................................................................2-6 2.6.1 Neutralisation ............................................................................................2-6 2.6.2 Evaporation ...............................................................................................2-6 2.6.3 Prilling and Drying .....................................................................................2-6 2.6.4 Granulating................................................................................................2-6 2.6.5 Screening, Cooling and Recycle...............................................................2-7 2.7 Ammonium Nitrate Effluent Control..........................................................................2-7 2.8 Material Despatch.....................................................................................................2-7 2.9 Storage .....................................................................................................................2-8 2.10 Stormwater Management .........................................................................................2-8 2.11 Operating Hours .......................................................................................................2-8 3.0 THE PROJECT........................................................................................................................3-1 3.1 Project Objective.......................................................................................................3-1 3.2 Project Need.............................................................................................................3-1 3.3 Consideration of Alternatives....................................................................................3-2 3.3.1 Importing AN into Newcastle.....................................................................3-2 3.3.2 Expansion of Orica’s AN Plant in Gladstone, Queensland .......................3-2 3.3.3 Building a new Facility elsewhere in the Hunter Valley.............................3-2 3.3.4 Increasing AN capacity at Kooragang Island ............................................3-2 3.4 Preliminary Site Layout.............................................................................................3-3 3.5 Proposed Plant Expansion .......................................................................................3-3 3.5.1 Modification of Existing Ammonia Plant....................................................3-4 3.5.2 Additional Nitric Acid Plant (NAP4) ...........................................................3-4 3.5.3 Additional Ammonium Nitrate Plant (ANP3) .............................................3-4 3.6 Infrastructure.............................................................................................................3-5 3.6.1 Cooling Towers .........................................................................................3-5 3.6.2 Boiler for Steam Generation......................................................................3-5 3.6.3 Ammonium Nitrate Effluent Management .................................................3-5 3.6.4 Other Infrastructure Requirements............................................................3-5 3.7 Product Storage........................................................................................................3-6 3.7.1 Pressurised Ammonia Storage .................................................................3-6 3.7.2 Nitric Acid Storage.....................................................................................3-6 3.7.3 Solid Ammonium Nitrate Storage..............................................................3-6 3.7.4 Ammonium Nitrate Solution Storage.........................................................3-6 3.8 Product