UPDATED: 11/25/2015 — see Change Log

OWNER: Sherritt International
PROJECT: Ammonia plant[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

COST (reported): None given
JOB CREATION (reported): None given — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE (reported): 1954

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		[None given]	[Membership required]	[Membership required]
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Sherritt does not publish ammonia capacity data. [3] [Membership required]. Sources: linked below. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology.

[/memberful]

[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

[/memberful]

[memberful has_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

SUMMARY STATUS:
In operation since 1954, Sherritt’s ammonia plant provides raw material for its Fort Saskatchewan metals refinery, as well as excess and byproducts for sale as fertilizer.

COST: None given
JOB CREATION: None given — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE: 1954

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia		[None given]		161,000 mtpy
Ammonium Sulfate		190,000 mtpy		190,000 mtpy
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Sherritt does not publish ammonia capacity data. [3] No capacity data given in Alberta air permit documents. Sources: linked below. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year assuming operations for 365 days per year; based on ammonia data from Agrium Fact Book 2015 and ammonium sulfate data from Sherritt’s 2015 Annual Report. See Methodology.

FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Ammonia, Ammonium Sulfate

RESEARCH NOTES:
Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd built its metal refinery in Fort Saskatchewan in 1954.

The original ammonia plant, which produced raw materials for the refining process, had a capacity of around 75 short tons per day (stpd). It was expanded to 150 stpd in 1955, and an extra 200 stpd was added in 1964.

In 1980, Sherritt began construction of a major new ammonia plant, a M. W. Kellogg unit with capacity 1,100 stpd, which began operations in 1983.

In 1995, Sherritt split into two new entities: an oil, gas, commodities and mining company, Sherritt International, and a fertilizer company, Sherritt Inc.

Sherritt Inc took ownership of the large, new ammonia plant, along with another ammonia-urea plant at Redwater, AB and, in 1996, renamed itself Viridian and was purchased by Agrium. Agrium’s Fort Saskatchewan plant still operates, adjacent to Sherritt’s much larger refinery.

The original ammonia plant, required for the metal refinery, remained an asset of Sherritt International.

Sherritt, under the leadership of Vladimir Mackiw, had pioneered the ammonia leach process in the 1950s. As Sherritt’s 2015 Annual Report explains:

In the refining process, which occurs in Fort Saskatchewan, nickel and cobalt present in … mixed sulphides and various other feeds are blended and leached in an ammonia and ammonium sulphate solution. Nickel, cobalt and other metals are dissolved and sulphide sulphur is oxidized and combined with ammonia to form ammonium sulphate …

Nickel is recovered in powder form. After washing and drying, powder can be packaged or compacted into briquettes, which can be sintered (passed through a furnace) or left unsintered … Cobalt is also recovered in powder form and is compacted and sintered into briquettes or packaged as powder for sale.

The remaining, essentially metal-free, solution is evaporated to crystalline ammonium sulphate, dried and sold as fertilizer. Ammonium sulphate, a fertilizer by-product of this refining process, is produced at an on-site ammonium sulphate plant.

[/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: 10101 114 Street, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, T8L 4J1, Canada

WEBSITE: http://www.sherritt.com/

REGULATORY SOURCES:

• USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]
• Alberta Environmental Authorization: permit document search [LINK / PDF]

NEWS SOURCES:

• 2015: Agrium Fact Book 2014-2015 [PDF]