TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ESTABLISHING PRODUCTION OF CONCENTRATED PHOSPHATE FERTILIZERS IN WESTERN SIBERIA

V. B. BURAN

(Presented by the scientific-methodological seminar of the departments of political economy and the economics of industry and enterprise organization)

A promising direction in the development of the phosphate-fertilizer industry is the production of concentrated and complex fertilizers. From this standpoint, it appears possible to investigate the technical and economic indicators of the production of concentrated and complex fertilizers in Western Siberia on the basis of the local phosphate raw-material base.

Experiments carried out at NIUIF on obtaining double superphosphate from phosphorites of the Belkino deposit (Western Siberia), using electrothermal and extraction phosphoric acid, indicate the qualitative advantages of double superphosphate obtained with thermal acid. In particular, the production of double superphosphate using extraction phosphoric acid entails a considerable consumption of sulfuric acid (acid consumption is 25% higher than in processing Karatau flotation concentrate) and is associated with low decomposition of the phosphate concentrate in obtaining phosphoric acid (24–26% \(P_2O_5\)), and with low decomposition of the secondary raw material (77–80% after five days of storage). When thermal phosphoric acid is used, decomposition of the secondary raw material reaches 97%, the content of \(P_2O_5\) in an assimilable form reaches 50%; when extraction acid is used it is 47.0%, and the consumption of thermal phosphoric acid per 1 ton of assimilable \(P_2O_5\) is 45% lower than that of extraction acid.

The calculation performed of production cost and specific capital investments for producing double superphosphate from Belkino phosphate raw material by the acid method under the conditions of Western Siberia indicates the inexpediency of processing the phosphate raw material of Western Siberia by the acid method. The reduced national-economic costs per 1 ton of \(P_2O_5\) in the production of double superphosphate under the conditions of Western Siberia (Novokuznetsk) from Belkino phosphate concentrate are 101.1% higher than in the Urals (Krasnouralsk) from Kirov apatite concentrate.

The very favorable indicators—production cost and specific capital investments in organizing production of double superphosphate—do not permit orienting the satisfaction of agricultural needs in the East of the country solely toward phosphate raw material from the Kola Peninsula, owing to the relative limitedness of this phosphate base (1). Considering, however, the option of importing double superphosphate from Central Asia (Almalyk) into Western Siberia, we note that the cost—

the cost of Almalyk superphosphate, taking into account transportation costs for delivery to Western Siberia, is lower than that of West Siberian superphosphate by 30.2%, and specific capital costs are also lower by 31.4%.

The adoption of the electrothermal method has a favorable effect on the techno-economic indicators of double-superphosphate production, since it eliminates the negative effect of the shortage of sulfuric acid, improves the quality of double superphosphate, and improves the techno-economic indicators of double-superphosphate production owing to the possibility of using inexpensive karst phosphorites, as well as inexpensive energy resources of Western Siberia (Table 1).

On the basis of the data in Table 1, it may be concluded that the cost of double superphosphate decreases when the thermal method of phosphoric-acid production is used by 15.3–22.2%, while specific capital investments increase by only 1.5–3.1%. Accordingly, the reduced national-economic costs decrease by 7.2–12.9%.

A positive effect on the techno-economic indicators of double-superphosphate production using thermal phosphoric acid in Western Siberia (Novokuznetsk) is exerted by replacing, in the second phase, Tamalyk and Belkinsk phosphate concentrates imported with Karatau flotation concentrate or Beloziminsk apatite concentrate. In comparison with the most favorable variant of double-superphosphate production with the combined use of Belkinsk and Tamalyk phosphate raw materials (thermal acid from Belkinsk karst phosphorites; in the second phase, use of Tamalyk phosphate concentrate), replacement of the Tamalyk concentrate in the second phase by Karatau concentrate makes it possible to reduce cost by 4.45%, specific capital investments by 7.85%, and reduced national-economic costs by 6.21%. Replacing the Tamalyk concentrate with Beloziminsk apatite concentrate imported from Eastern Siberia helps reduce the reduced national-economic costs of producing double superphosphate by 13.3%. Despite the fact that the import of Beloziminsk apatite raw material from Eastern Siberia improves the techno-economic indicators of double-superphosphate production in Western Siberia, meeting the needs of the West Siberian economic region for phosphorus by means of Beloziminsk phosphate raw material does not appear possible. According to data from the Institute of Geography of Siberia and the Far East, the requirement for phosphate raw material in Eastern Siberia and the Far East is covered with a certain deficit when the Beloziminsk, Seibinsk, and Kruchinsk deposits are exploited (3).

Cooperation between Western Siberia and Kazakhstan in the use of phosphate raw material was considered in three variants: 1) import into Western Siberia of Karatau flotation concentrate and its use in the second phase of double-superphosphate production; 2) import into Western Siberia of Dzhambul phosphorus for the production of thermal phosphoric acid; 3) import into Western Siberia of Dzhambul double superphosphate. If the import into Western Siberia of Karatau flotation concentrate leads to a reduction in reduced national-economic costs, in comparison with the most favorable variant of double-superphosphate production in Western Siberia, by 6.21%, then with the import of Dzhambul phosphorus the reduced costs increase by 4.57%. Importing double superphosphate into Western Siberia from Dzhambul (Kazakhstan) makes it possible to reduce reduced national-economic costs, in comparison with the comparable variant, by 4.04%. Consequently, the optimal variant for developing double-superphosphate production in Western Siberia should be considered the variant of joint

Table 1

Technical and economic indicators for the production of double superphosphate
(100% \(P_2O_5\)) by various methods in Usloe, Western Siberia (Novokuznetsk)

using Belkino and Karatau phosphate raw materials: the production of thermal phosphoric acid from Belkino karst phosphorites and the use, in the second phase of production of double superphosphate, of Karatau flotation concentrate. The notional annual national-economic saving from implementing this variant in practice will amount to 958.9 thousand rubles, compared with the variant of importing double superphosphate into Western Siberia from Dzhambul.

The development of production of thermal phosphoric acid and double superphosphate in Western Siberia is favorably combined with the development of the nitrogen-fertilizer industry, since it creates the possibility of obtaining compound fertilizers: ammophos, diammonium phosphate, etc.

A calculation has been made of operating and one-time costs for the production of ammophos and diammonium phosphate on the basis of thermal phosphoric acid obtained from the processing of Belkino karst phosphorites and ammonia under the conditions of Western Siberia (Novokuznetsk), using data from NIITEKhIM, NIUIF, and GIAP. The calculations showed that, in terms of technical and economic indicators, production of diammonium phosphate is economically more expedient than that of ammophos (Table 2).

Table 2

Technical and economic indicators of the production of ammophos and diammonium phosphate
in Western Siberia (Novokuznetsk) at an annual capacity
of 100 thousand t in physical weight

(in rubles)

Thus, an effective direction for the development of the phosphate-fertilizer industry in Western Siberia is the establishment in the economic region of production of double superphosphate and diammonium phosphate.

REFERENCES

1. M. K. Mazurov. Economic prerequisites and prospects for the industrial development of substandard ores of the Khibiny massif. In: Proceedings of the conference devoted to the raw-material base of the apatite industry on the Kola Peninsula, March 12–13, 1964. Moscow, 1965.

2. A. N. Sukharina. Raw-material resources of Kemerovo Oblast and Altai Krai of Western Siberia for the chemicalization of agriculture. In: Prospecting for local fertilizers and industrial wastes for the chemicalization of agriculture in Siberia. Nauka Publishing House, Novosibirsk, 1965.

3. M. A. Talkanov. Technical and economic evaluation of phosphate raw materials of Eastern Siberia and their significance for the regions of Siberia and the Far East. In: Izvestiya SO AN SSSR, Economics, No. 5, issue 2, 1966.