A nitrogen pioneer in Italy

Power station in Galleto supplied the plants in Terni with electricity.

 

Papigno was where nitrogen fertilizer - cyanamide based - was first produced in Italy. Hydro-electric power provided the energy needed for the production. Later water electrolysis provided hydrogen for ammonia at Nera Montoro in the same neighbourhood close to the town of Terni. This site nowadays focus on industrial and speciality products.

The history of the industrial activities at Terni in many ways resemble that of other old industrial sites like Rjukan in Norway and Soulom-Pierrefitte in the French Pyreénees. A local abundance of hydroelectricity supplied energy to industrial development based on the era’s state-of-the-art technology. In Terni, hydropower came from the river Nera and a large waterfall, named Marmore, located in the inland region of Umbria.

Hydroelectric power in the heart of Italy

Here a big hydroelectric power plant was constructed in 1884 to feed local steel production. The company owning these two activities was founded on March 10, 1884, and production started in 1887. By 1934 electricity production in the Terni area had reached a total of 260 MW installed capacity at altogether six power plants. These furnished electricity for production of steel (Terni), chemicals (Papigno and Nera Montoro) and cement (Spoleto).

This overview shows the factory buildings in Nera Montoro.

 

Papigno – from acetylene and cyanamide to the world of movies

The production of chemicals at the site is as old as the industrial activity itself since the Chlorate production started in 1894. In 1896, “La Societa Italiana per il Carburo di Calcio, Acetylene ed altri Gas” began production of calcium carbide and acetylene at the Papigno site next door to the power plant. Raw materials were local calcium carbonate rich mud, electricity and imported coal.

The production of calcium cyanamide at Papigno started in 1907, and this activity went on for 66 years until it was closed in 1973. The industrial buildings still stand but have been converted into cinematographic studios. The concentration camp scenes of the much-acclaimed movie “La vita è bella” were shot there in the nearly hundred year old chemical production plant.

The picture shows the compressor hall for ammonia synthesis.

 

Among pioneers in nitrogen fertilizers

In 1909, a new power plant was built at Nera Montoro and the work to develop ammonia synthesis technology started, headed by Dr Luigi Casale. Italian scientists and engineers were very much part of the fertilizer technology race of the early 20th century.

Ammonia production based on the Casale process started at Nera Montoro in 1922/23 with a capacity of 14 tonnes per day. Synthesis gas for the ammonia converter was based on hydrogen from water electrolysis and nitrogen from the air. However, this changed already in 1929 when coke oven gas replaced water as the hydrogen source. 

Ammonia was reacted with sulphuric acid from the steel production to make ammonium sulphate fertilizer, replacing calcium cyanamide in the market. In addition, chemicals based on coal and coke evolved during the period 1930-40, for instance methanol, benzene and asphalt. 

In 1931 Mussolini paid the company in Nera Montoro a visit.

 

More than an industry

Il Duce (Mussolini) visited Nera Montoro in the 1930s. The area was known for its company sports activities, and there were other significant leisure-time cultural activities. "Dopolavoro" is still the accepted expression used to convey the importance of company sports activities, especially within soccer. 

More about the sports activities
 

Wartime heat

The strategic nature of the Terni steel production made it the target of no less than 111 air raids during World War 2. However, due to the mountainous topography and narrow valleys of the area, the bomber pilots were in for a difficult time, running the risk of crashing into steep hills as they approached their target. As a result, most bombs missed the plants and hit the town of Terni instead, leading to near complete destruction and a lot of human suffering. The fact that the whole area is full of underground tunnels and refuge halls bears witness to these difficult times even today. Like the steel mill, the chemical and fertilizer plants at Nera Montoro were also protected by the site’s physical location and spared most of the hits.

The world of post war expansion

In the years following World War 2, the fertilizer production at Terni lost its competitive edge as new technology based on hydrocarbons was developed. The combination of cheap raw material and more efficient technology gave the many new entrants in the market an edge over older plants. Ammonia plants based on natural gas gradually became dominant, and Terni switched to this raw material when it became available at the site from 1965. In the same year, new plants for the production of ammonia, nitric acid and calcium nitrate were started.

The chemical production at Nera Montoro became part of ENIChem in 1970. A period of investment and expansion followed with the start up of a second ammonia plant and the first urea plant in Italy. But this could not resolve the basic weaknesses of the activity, enhanced by the general problems of an industry plagued by high-energy costs and overcapacity in the aftermath of the oil crisis in 1973/74.

The crisis paved the way for oil-rich Norsk Hydro’s expansion of its core fertilizer activity into Europe, launched in 1979 by the very successful acquisition of NSM, owned 70 percent by Italy’s Montedison, 25 percent Britain’s ICI and 5 percent French owners of a neighbouring cokes producer.

The privately owned Montedison group was plagued by serious difficulties in several of its business lines, and another part of the solution became the merger of its Italian fertilizer activities with those of state owned ENIChem to form ENIChem Agricoltura. The merged business was taken over by Norsk Hydro in1996.

New horizons

Today, Yara’s Terni site at Nera Montoro is the base of most products supplied to industrial customers in Italy, including products for environmental applications. Another interesting product group is a range of Calcium Nitrate grades, supplied to Speciality Fertilizer markets in southern Europe. The activities are a good illustration of Yara’s slogan 100 years young –meeting the needs of markets and customers based on a combination of experience and willingness to respond to new challenges.

 


Printer friendly version

 

Up one level

 

 

Stories  A nitrogen pioneer in Italy
Contacts | Sitemap
Search the website
Advanced search