489:
173:
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333:, an American engineering company who had been developing single-stream continuous ammonia processes with capacity up to 550 tonnes per day. ICI ordered 3 plants, each with capacity of 900 tonnes per day and hence the world's largest. The new Kellogg technology synthesised ammonia at only 150 bar, about half that used in other processes, resulting in greatly improved energy efficiency. The new plants took some time to overcome teething problems with the new technology but eventually became the key part of the factory, which for many years was the world's largest ammonia production site. The Kellogg Low Pressure ammonia plants were eventually retired in the 1990s.
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355:, intended to be used as animal feed. A commercial production unit was built on Belasis Avenue, a short distance to the main Billingham site. The start of the new plant coincided with increases in gas and methanol prices and a drop in the cost of competing animal feeds which made commercial success difficult for the new plant. Further development work enabled the artificial protein to be used for human consumption using the brand name
337:
hydrogen from the old steam reformer plants (which were no longer needed for ammonia production). A second and larger methanol plant was built in 1971. The methanol technology was licensed to more than 100 other companies (in conjunction with sales of ICI catalyst made at
Clitheroe) and for many years more than half of the world's methanol was made with ICI technology and catalysts.
54:
329:
furnace. Four large steam reformers were built and these significantly improved the ammonia production process. The technology was successfully licensed by ICI to many plants around the world and the associated catalyst sales became an important ICI business. In the early 1960s ICI licensed ammonia technology from
344:
In the 1970s, North Sea gas became available and the steam reformers at
Billingham were converted from naphtha to natural gas feed. As one of the first and largest gas customers, ICI was able to negotiate a very favourable gas price which meant that the 1970s was a period of high profitability for
396:
In the 1990s the 3 LP ammonia plants were retired, along with the first Nitram plant and associated acid plants. This was mostly due to pressure of low-price competition from regions of the world with much lower costs of natural gas feed. The methanol production also stopped a little later for
328:
The ammonia produced at
Billingham used coal as the feedstock for many years. The coal-based process was complex and inefficient with many safety and environmental issues. In the 1950s ICI developed technology to convert naphtha to hydrogen by reacting with steam over a catalyst in tubes in a
336:
In the 1960s ICI developed new catalysts that would allow the production of methanol at much lower pressures than previously used. This led to ICI building the world's first Low
Pressure methanol at Billingham in 1966, in a plant making 600 tonnes per day of methanol at only 50 bar and using
340:
In the late 1960s, a plant was built to convert ammonia and nitric acid (made at
Billingham from ammonia in separate plants) to ammonium nitrate, a popular fertiliser due to its high nitrogen content and sold using the Nitram brand name. A second Nitram plant was built in the 1970s.
362:
By the 1980s, the
Billingham site was divided into 4 production groups - Ammonia Works (ammonia and methanol), Products Works (nitric acid and Nitram as well as other acids used to make compound "NPK" fertiliser), Oil Works and Cassel Works (whose main product is
320:
in
Lancashire was built in 1941, where it was thought safer. The synthetic fuel processes at Billingham and Heysham both relied on catalysts for the conversion of the coal synthesis gas to fuel. These catalysts were made in
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A fourth large ammonia plant was built in the mid 1970s, with a capacity of 1500 tonnes per day. Ammonia 4 was designed with improved efficiency and reliability and is still operating in the 2020s.
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in a plant set up by the government as a shadow factory. Clitheroe was chosen for being in a part of the UK with the most cloud cover, which could help protect against German bombers.
488:
556:, also known as the Haber–Bosch process. From ammonia, the vast majority of fertilisers are made, leading to protein formation in plants and then animals. Naturally occurring
237:. The site was developed (copied) from knowledge of the ammonia plant at Oppau in Germany, and run as Synthetic Ammonia and Nitrates Limited. Other plants copied were at
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The last major investment at
Billingham was a large nitric acid plant with a capacity of 1000 tonnes per day that started operation in 1985.
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bought a 50% share of
Growhow and in 2015 bought the remaining 50% from Yara. GrowHow was rebranded to CF Fertilisers in November 2015.
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Billingham-on-Tees was a small village in 1917, when its Grange Farm was chosen to be the site of a large chemical works.
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In 1997 ICI sold the fertiliser production plants an
Billingham and those at a similar, but smaller, production site at
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was used by the Germans during the war to produce synthetic fuel from coal. The RAF's high-performance aircraft needed
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442:) all derive from ammonia, due to the immense energetic difficulty in splitting bonds in the nitrogen molecule.
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378:. The first thing Woolfson saw was a kind of street full of pipes where nobody worked, with a sign which said
312:, which was only obtainable from hydrogenated fuels, such as that made at Billingham. Another synthetic fuel (
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In the late 1970s, ICI developed a fermentation process that converted methanol to artificial protein called
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On 22 March 1918, the Minister of Munitions approved the site to be developed as a factory that would make
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was made. Plastics were also made on the site from 1934, which were used in the construction of aircraft
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In 2002 ICI sold the catalyst and technology licensing business that was headquartered at Billingham to
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667:"Pruteen, a new source of protein for growing pigs. I. Metabolic experiment: Utilization of nitrogen"
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Braude, R.; Hosking, Z. D.; Mitchell, K. G.; Plonka, S.; Sambrook, I. E. (1 March 1977).
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In the Second World War, atomic research also took place on the site, under the codename
188:, England. In agricultural terms, it is one of the most important factories in Britain.
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was developed from this operation, and ICI's Physics and Radioisotope Services.
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visited the works and this gave him the inspiration for his famous 1931 book
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paid a visit to the factory having been invited by the then ICI chairman
552:, a highly energy-thirsty process, by converting it to ammonia via the
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Beesley, E.; Wipp, B. (1953). "Butane dehydrogenation at Billingham".
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Ammonia had first been made in Germany in 1913 by BASF at Oppau, near
529:(which closed in 1983), but is now supplied from the National Grid.
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In December 1926, ICI was formed from the merger of Brunner Mond,
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took over the works on 22 April 1920, in an agreement with the
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The plant was sold by ICI to Terra Nitrogen (UK), part of the
382:. It would end up being photographed for the front cover for
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Buildings and structures in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
606:– named after the plant's product – synthetic ammonia (
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521:Natural gas is supplied at between 45 and 65
457:was developed on the site from 1971 to 1988.
16:Chemical factory in Stockton-on-Tees, England
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689:"Ammonia Avenue - The Alan Parsons Project"
359:. ICI sold its interest in Quorn in 1993.
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721:"CF Industries, Inc. - Corporate Profile"
404:near Bristol to Terra for $ 340 million.
809:Chemical companies of the United Kingdom
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205:(the plant was destroyed in 1921 by the
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834:Science and technology in County Durham
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536:Plant seen from Saltholme Marshes near
814:Chemical plants of the United Kingdom
370:In the early 1980s, British musician
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367:monomer, the precursor of Perspex).
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407:In 1999 ICI sold Cassel Works to
235:Andrew Weir, 1st Baron Inverforth
223:– it fixed atmospheric nitrogen.
275:Harry McGowan, 1st Baron McGowan
219:. It was initially known as the
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829:Manufacturing plants in England
271:Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett
618:Former ICI office building of
564:are also used in fertilisers.
182:Billingham Manufacturing Plant
24:Billingham Manufacturing Plant
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267:British Dyestuffs Corporation
61:Location within County Durham
824:Imperial Chemical Industries
671:Livestock Production Science
492:ICI plant seen from the town
573:CF Fertilisers UK plant at
221:Government Nitrogen Factory
100:Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
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839:Synthetic fuel facilities
604:Billingham Synthonia F.C.
513:runs nearby to the west.
501:It is sandwiched between
166:CF Fertilisers UK Limited
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819:Economy of County Durham
527:North Tees Power Station
384:The Alan Parsons Project
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750:www.CFFertilisers.co.uk
306:Fischer–Tropsch process
300:carbon (coal) and make
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471:Terra Nitrogen Company
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158:12 m (39 ft)
709:History of Billingham
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593:History of fertiliser
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263:United Alkali Company
231:Minister of Munitions
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585:), built in 1968 by
583:Stanlow Oil Refinery
432:uranium hexafluoride
388:seventh studio album
365:methyl methacrylate
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139:54.59107°N 1.2607°W
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84:General information
779:BBC Nation on Film
652:Chem. Ind.(London)
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418:for ÂŁ267 million.
243:La Grande-Paroisse
239:Sheffield, Alabama
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562:potassium nitrate
397:similar reasons.
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70:Former names
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725:www.snl.com
677:(1): 79–89.
589:(Shellstar)
428:Tube Alloys
316:) plant at
298:hydrogenate
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117:Coordinates
844:Billingham
793:Categories
626:References
507:River Tees
430:, whereby
402:Severnside
345:the site.
314:iso-octane
127:54°35′28″N
111:, TS23 1PY
109:Billingham
755:24 August
608:synthonia
497:Structure
323:Clitheroe
155:Elevation
130:1°15′39″W
568:See also
544:Function
459:Tracerco
436:cockpits
265:and the
163:Landlord
97:Location
597:ICI at
353:Pruteen
318:Heysham
192:History
105:Address
694:21 May
599:Wilton
517:Energy
509:. The
273:, and
261:, the
452:TRIGA
409:Ineos
357:Quorn
757:2017
732:2015
696:2019
479:Yara
180:The
89:Type
579:M56
560:or
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253:ICI
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