California Plant to Make Honeywell's Less-Explosive Fertilizer
The company has signed an agreement to build it at J.R. Simplot Company's production plant in Lathrop, Calif. Sulf-N-26 is an ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer shown to have lower explosive potential than traditional nitrate-based fertilizers.
Honeywell announced Dec. 2 that it has signed an agreement with the J.R. Simplot Company and will build a facility to produce Honeywell's Sulf-N 26, a fertilizer with the agronomic benefits of traditional nitrate-based fertilizers but with significantly lower explosive potential.
Sulf-N 26 is a dry granular ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer made from a patented process that chemically fuses ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate. Honeywell's release said the product was independently tested with guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It "demonstrated significantly less or, in some cases, no explosive power, when compared to traditional nitrate-based fertilizers" and has been granted Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY Act) Designation from DHS.
The agreement calls for Honeywell to build and own a modular manufacturing facility at Simplot's Lathrop, Calif. production plant. Simplot will operate the facility and have exclusive rights to market and sell the fertilizer in the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico.
"This agreement is an important milestone, allowing us to produce Sulf-N 26 on a large scale and begin to bring this safe and effective fertilizer to the marketplace," said Qamar Bhatia, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Resins and Chemicals. "Our goal is to have the plant built and producing product by early 2013."
Garrett Lofto, president of Simplot's AgriBusiness Group, said the agreement "will provide our agricultural and professional products customers with a safe, efficient and agronomically viable alternative to traditional ammonium nitrate fertilizers. The new fertilizer fuses ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate into a dry, granular product that is easy to handle, safe to ship and store, and is compatible with other Nitrogen, Phosphorus or Potassium ingredients. It is a unique product that is very well suited to Western soils, crops, and turf grass."
For more information, go to http://www.sulfn26.com.