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WSC manufactures fertilizer using two methods: A blending
method and an ammoniation method. In the blending method, the
separate ingredients of fertilizer are purchased from large
mining companies and nitrogen producers. The fertilizer
ingredients are poured in bulk form into a steel receptacle and
then blended through a circular mixing motion. The farmer's
specifications determine the concentration of each fertilizer
ingredient in a particular blend.
In the ammoniation method, the fertilizer ingredients are
mixed through a heat reaction involving ammonia, superphosphate,
and sulphuric and/or phosphoric acid. The solution is heated to
a semiliquid. As the solution is slowly cooled, the final
product forms as a pellet. The pellets are removed from the
solution, dried, and packaged.
A fertilizer is deficient when it contains less of a
particular ingredient than guaranteed by the manufacturer.
Fertilizer companies expect that some of their fertilizer will be
deficient in at least one category of the three primary
ingredients. Segregation, the most common source of
deficiencies, affects both types of fertilizer manufacture.
Segregation develops from particle-size differences among
the fertilizer ingredients. The particle-size differences cause
the particles not to mix properly, and segregation results. The
entire batch of fertilizer may have the proper percentages of the
three active ingredients, but a test sample taken from the batch
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Last modified: May 25, 2011