Befesa Desulfuración

Acid Plant Database June 22, 2010

Owner	Befesa Desulfuración
Location	Buen Pastor S-N Bo Luchana, Barakaldo, Vizcaya
Background	1941 - La Sociedad Española de Fabricaciones Nitrogenadas – SEFANITRO founded 1950 - Production started 1997 - Fertiberia (FB) acquired the entire ordinary shares, of 52.65%-Spanish state-owned Sefanitro (SF) for a sweetened 630 Spanish pesetas ($4.98 US) per share, or a total of 1.095 bil pesetas ($8.66 mil). Earlier FB completed a tender offer to acquire SF, by acquiring 1.633 mil ordinary shares, or 93.94% of SF's entire share capital. Originally, Fertiberia offered 500 pesetas ($3.90) per share, or a total of 869 mil pesetas ($6.77 mil). 2006 – Majority of site shutdown but acid plant continues to operate Also formerly Rontealde 1996 - Befesa Desulfuración was formed when it acquired 90% ownership of Rontealde in April 1996 when it acquired 40% of the shares to the company Metall Capital SA.
Website	www.befesa.es
Plant	Old Plant	Barakaldo	Port of Bilbao
Coordinates*	43° 17' 20" N, 2° 58' 26" W	43° 17' 34" N, 2° 58' 40" W	-
Type of Plant	Sulphur Burning	Sulphur Burning	Sulphur Burning
Gas Source	Elemental Sulphur	Elemental Sulphur	Elemental Sulphur
Plant Capacity	-	250,000 MTPA	350,000 MTPA (sulphuric acid and oleum)
SA/DA	-	-	-
Emissions	-	-	-
Status	-	-	-
Year Built	-	-	-
Technology	-	-	-
Contractors	-	-	-
Remarks	-	-	-
	Befesa Desulfuración produces sulfuric acid and oleum using the residual sulfur recovered from petrochemical plants. It owns a plant that enables it to resolve the environmental problems associated with oil plants by applying the cleanest and safest processes. During 2009, 218,100 t of equivalent acid were produced, with an associated electricity generation of 49,900 MW, which, after deducting self-consumption, resulted in sales of 28,300 MWh of surplus electricity. It is worth noting that in May 2008 the land on which the desulfurization plant is located was sold pursuant to the town of Baracaldo’s (Vizcaya) Sefanitro Special Interior Reform Plan (Plan Especial de Reforma Interior Sefanitro). The plant is currently operating and the land will be handed over within a timeframe to guarantee that the business can be transferred to the new location.
Pictures			-
	-
General	The company Befesa Medio Ambiente was established in 1993 by several companies: Berzelius Umwelt Service (BUS), Duro Felguera, and Indumetal, which pooled their environmental assets in Spain into "Befesa". This resulted in the creation of the company Berzelius Felguera, Befesa, which then commenced its activities with the companies Aser (now Befesa Zinc Aser) and Rontealde (now Befesa Desulfuración) in Biscay, Prisma in Madrid, Cida Hidroquímica in Barcelona, and Felguera Fluidos in Gijon (Asturias). In addition, Prisma incorporated its subsidiaries Aurecan, in Huelva, and Alfagran (now Befesa Plásticos), in Murcia. Befesa has developed mainly through the acquisition of extremely interesting environmental companies and through the creation of other companies in order to undertake activities that were not being carried out in Spain at the time or, if they had been, it was not being done in an efficient manner.
Reference	-
News	June 21, 2010 - Befesa, through its subsidiary Befesa Valorización de Azufre, S.L.U. (formerly Acoleq Químicos S.L.U.), has completed the non-recourse financing to construct and operate a new plant producing sulphuric acid from waste sulphur in the Port of Bilbao. The project, which will require an investment of €70 million, will be partly financed by a syndicate of banks comprising Banco Pastor, Cajasol, Banesto, Caja Rural de Navarra, Ipar Kutxa and Bankoa. Befesa will also invest capital from the sale of the land where its existing desulphurisation plant is currently located, which was sold in 2008 as part of the Sefanitro Interior Reform Special Plan of the municipality of Baracaldo (Vizcaya). It is worth noting that the project also has a €2.0 million loan from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. The new plant, which will be located in the Autonomous Port of Bilbao in the municipality of Zierbena (Vizcaya), will focus on producing sulphuric acid and oleum from sulphur and desulphurisation waste, and will include electricity cogeneration. The plant, which will have the capacity to treat 120,000 tonnes of sulphur and produce 350,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid and oleum, will also generate approximately 90,000 megawatts of electricity per annum. The process of producing sulphuric acid and oleum from waste sulphur recovered from plants in the petrochemicals sector helps to manage the environmental impact from oil companies by using a cleaner and safer process. The new plant is expected to be operational in the last three months of 2011. Javier Molina, Chairman of Befesa, said “this operation demonstrates Befesa’s capacity and strength to finance and develop important infrastructures and projects focused on sustainable development using the best available technologies, which makes us a global leader in the recycling and management of industrial waste”.

MTPD - Metric Tonne per Day STPD - Short Ton per Day
MTPA - Metric Tonne per Annum STPA - Short Ton per Annum
SA - Single Absorption
DA - Double Absorption

* Coordinates can be used to locate plant on Google Earth


Sulphuric Acid on the Web^TM	Technical Manual	DKL Engineering, Inc.