Clariant, a sustainability-focused chemical company, has installed its EnviCat N2O-S catalyst at Hengli Petrochemical's nitric acid plant in Dalian, China.

With the catalyst installed in June 2024, the plant is projected to reduce its N2O emissions by 690,000 tons of CO2eq annually.

The installation was part of Clariant's global Climate Campaign, which offered a free load of the N2O removal catalyst to nitric acid producers without abatement technology.

Xaver Karsunke, Vice President of Specialty Catalysts at Clariant, commented, "We are honored to support Hengli Petrochemical in their drive toward cleaner chemical production. Our catalysts not only help industry leaders like Hengli to significantly reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, but also to do so in the most efficient and economical manner possible. Partnerships like this are crucial for accelerating China’s energy transition and meeting the country’s ambitious decarbonisation goals."

Aibo Zhu, Plant Manager at Hengli Petrochemical, stated, "As one of the world’s largest chemical companies, we are committed to sustainable and environmentally responsible operations across all our businesses. We are proud to partner with Clariant on this innovative N2O abatement solution to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions at our large-scale nitric acid facility in Dalian.

Hengli Petrochemical, a major integrated petrochemicals producer in China, is part of the Hengli Group, which operates the world's largest terephthalic acid plant.

Nitric acid, also known as laughing gas, is essential for fertiliser manufacturing but emits N2O, which is 300 times more harmful to the climate than CO2.

Over half of nitric acid producers do not remove N2O from their off gas, resulting in over 100 million tons of CO2eq yearly.

The EnviCat N2O catalyst series offers a solution to this problem by removing N2O and other nitrogen oxides almost completely, with up to 99 per cent for tertiary abatement and 95 per cent for secondary abatement.

The catalysts can be easily installed in any state-of-the-art nitric acid plant without disrupting the manufacturing process.

The EnviCat N2O has been well-established in the market for over 20 years and has over 50 successful installations globally.