Mekog

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Coordinates: 52°28′33″N 4°36′53″E / 52.475809°N 4.614658°E / 52.475809; 4.614658
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52°28′33″N 4°36′53″E / 52.475809°N 4.614658°E / 52.475809; 4.614658

Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Kooksovengas (Mekog)
IndustryChemical
Founded1928
Defunct2010
Fateclosed, part of plant shipped to Pernis
Headquarters
nr. IJmuiden
,
Netherlands
ProductsAmmonia, Nitrogen fertilizers

Mekog (Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Kooksovengas, English coke oven gas exploitation company) was a chemical company founded 1928, that manufactured fertilizer using hydrogen from coke oven gas as a feedstock. The company's facilities were located on the site of the

Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken steelworks near IJmuiden in the Netherlands
.

History

During the 1920s, the company

Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (Shell) to use the hydrogen content of the coke oven gas to manufacture ammonia to make nitrogen based fertilizers. Production began in September 1929.[1][2] The plant was located in the southeast corner of the IJmuiden site.[3]

As initially built the process involved firstly washing the coke oven gas (~50% hydrogen, 25%

Ammonium sulphate as the product; initially 200 ton per day was produced. At nitric acid plant opened in 1930, and a phosphoric acid plant briefly operated in the 1930s, but was uneconomic. In 1939, calcium ammonium nitrate production was started.[4]

In 1949/50, and in 1955, the plant's capacity was expanded resulting in a primary ammonia capacity of over 93000 tons by 1955; the 1955 development introduced the use of petroleum as a[clarification needed][1][5]

In 1961, the company merged with

KNHS, Koninklijke Nederlandse Zoutindustrie (KNZ), Shell and DSM, KHNS and KNZ left the venture in 1973 leaving the company three quarters owned by DSM. UKF became a full DSM subsidiary in 1979, including Mekog under the group 'DSM Agro BV'.[6]

By 1967, the plant was producing 564000 tonnes of fertilizer (ammonia content 145000 tonnes) and employed a peak of 1160 people; discovery of a large gas resources at Groningen, the Netherlands (Groningen gas field)) altered the 'energy balance' in the Netherlands – and production was done using natural gas instead of coke oven gas.[3]

In 2008, DSM Agro and the Dutch government reached an agreement to end potentially dangerous rail transportation of Ammonia between IJmuiden and Geleen; as a result the former 'Mekog' plant was no longer viable. DSM was to closed its IJmuiden plant on 1 January 2010, and would receive compensation (approximately €48 million) from the Dutch government; a nitric acid plant at IJmuiden was to be relocated to Geleen. Approximately 120 people were made redundant as a direct result of the closure.[7]

The nitric acid plant was moved to Geleen during the first half of 2010, to be operated by the agrochemicals division of

Orascom Construction Industries,[8] which had acquired DSM agro in June 2010.[9] The relocated plant is part of the OCI Agro unit of the Nitrogen division of OCI.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b L.A. Pennock (1948), "De Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken N.V.", in J.H.G. Schepers (ed.), Het Spiedend Oog Der Luchtcamera : 170 Luchtfoto's met toelochtende tekst (in Dutch), Koninkklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, p. 103
  2. ^ Sources:
  3. ^
    ISSN 0766-0448
  4. ^ R.J. Forbes; D.R. O'Beirne (1957), The technical development of the Royal Dutch/Shell: 1890-1940, pp. 506–511
  5. ^ R.J. Forbes; D.R. O'Beirne (1957), The technical development of the Royal Dutch/Shell: 1890-1940, p. 623
  6. ^ Sources:
  7. ^ Sources:
  8. ^ "Stork moves complete plant from IJmuiden to Geleen" (PDF), www.storktechnicalservices.de, 17 November 2010[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "OCI Finalizes the Acquisition of Royal DSM N.V's Agro and Melamine Businesses", www.nutrinorm.nl, OCI Fertilizer Group, 1 June 2010
  10. ^ Sources:

Sources

External links
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