S. Clark Jenkins and Mary P. Jenkins - Page 4

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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