KCKK, a subsidiary of Uralchem JSC, Moscow, has completed commissioning of a project at its Kirovo-Chepetsk production site aimed at producing almost waste-free production of calcium nitrate, Uralchem said late last week.
“During the production of calcium nitrate, at the stage of purification of impurities, a sediment – typically known as ‘cake’ – is formed. This cake is removed from the technological cycle at the filtration unit and previously was partly used in the production of calcium ammonium nitrate as a filler, and partly sent for storage,” Uralchem explained in its statement.
For the implementation of this project, special filter presses were purchased (from Eppingen, Germany-based Dieffenbacher Group), and the reactor equipment was modified. Now, all the cake components will be first separated in a new technological process and then returned to the calcium nitrate and complex fertilizers production cycle, the Russian fertilizer group said.
According to Uralchem, the project technology has not yet been tested anywhere else. It put the project cost at RUB174 million (approximately $2.45 million at current exchange rates).