Agrium Inc.
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Company Profile : Our Operations : Manufacturing Process
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Agrium Inc.
13131 Lake Fraser Drive SE
Calgary, AB   T2J 7E8
Phone: (403) 225-7000
Toll-Free: 1-877-247-4861
Fax: (403) 225-7609
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Manufacturing Process

Ammonia
CH4 + 2H2O + 4/3N2 --> 8/3NH3 + CO2

Natural gas mixed with steam is reformed over a catalyst bed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen and nitrogen, from the air, is reacted in a final catalyst bed to produce ammonia gas. The ammonia gas is cooled to -33 °C at which point it becomes a liquid which is stored in tanks.

Urea
CO2 + 2NH3 --> NH2CONH2 + H2O

Carbon dioxide from the ammonia process is reacted with ammonia at high pressure and temperature to form a urea solution. Heat and pressure reduction are used to concentrate the urea solution and recover the unreacted raw materials. Drum granulators are used to form the concentrated urea solution into granular urea.

Nitric Acid
NH3 + 2O2 --> HNO3 + H2O

Ammonia in the presence of air is passed over a platinum catalyst at high temperature to produce nitrous oxide. The nitrous oxide is reacted with oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide, which is then cooled and absored in water to form nitric acid.

Ammonium Nitrate (AN)
HNO3 + NH3 --> NH4 NO3

Nitric acid is neutralized with ammonia to form ammonium nitrate solution. Heat is used to concentrate the ammonium nitrate solution by boiling off water. The concentrated solution is sprayed into the top of a rising column of air in the prill tower, where the droplets cool and freeze into solid spheres called prills as they fall through the air.

Urea-Ammonium Nitrate Solution (UAN)
Liquid ammonium nitrate and urea are blended together with water to produce liquid nitrogen fertilizer.

Sulphuric Acid
S + 3/2O2 + H2O --> H2SO4

Molten sulphur is burned to produce sulphur dioxide, which passes over vanadium oxide catalyst to oxidize into sulphur trioxide. The gas is absorbed in water to form 93% sulphuric acid.

Phosphoric Acid
3H2 SO4 + Ca3 (PO4)2 + 6H2O --> 2H3 PO4 + 3CaSO4 . 2H2O

Phosphate rock is reacted with sulphuric acid to produce a slurry of phosphoric acid and gypsum. The slurry is pumped over filters that separate the acid from the gypsum. The acid is concentrated and used to form phosphate fertilizers.

Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP)
H3 PO4 + NH3 --> NH4 H2 PO4

Phosphoric acid and ammonia enter a reactor to form a slurry. The slurry is pumped to a granulator and sprayed onto a seed bed of small granular particles to form larger granules which are then dried.

Ammonium Sulphate
H2 SO4 + 2NH4 --> (NH4)2 SO4

Sulphuric acid is reacted with ammonia in a pipe reactor located inside the granulator. The resulting slurry is sprayed onto a seed bed of small granular particles to form product size granules.