Uralchem carries out upgrades at Kirov plant

Uralchem announced on Tuesday that its KCKK branch in Russia’s Kirov region has made technical improvements that enable it to add orthophosphoric acid to a nitrogen-phosphorus solution in the complex fertilizer production process.

The company said that the project, which cost 60 million rubles ($646,000), is designed to facilitate its entry into new sales markets by expanding its product range to include NPK fertilizers with a higher content of water-soluble phosphorus.

The Kirovo-Chepetsk plant extracts phosphates from apatite by decomposing the phosphate mineral with nitric acid, which leaves a certain amount of insoluble residue. The addition of orthophosphoric acid improves the efficiency of the process by increasing the content of water-soluble phosphorus in the final NPK product.

Uralchem said that the upgrade was carried out, and new equipment installed, without the firm’s having to halt production.