The PhosAgro chemical complex in Cherepovets produced 105 million tons of sulfuric acid. A new success was achieved in the year when the 50th anniversary of the production of sulfuric acid and the 55th anniversary of great chemistry in the Vologda region are celebrated.
Sulfuric acid is an indispensable product in the production of fertilizers containing phosphorus. With its help, phosphoric acid extraction is produced, one of the raw materials for obtaining “fertility vitamins.”
The beginning of sulfuric acid production in Cherepovets is considered to have been January 14, 1974; That day the first ton of this valuable product was produced in the plant under construction. The production capacity then, compared to the current one, was very modest: in the first year only 275 thousand tons. Today, the annual production of sulfuric acid at the PhosAgro enterprise in Cherepovets already reaches 4.5 million tons. Another interesting fact is that the plant took 32 years to produce the first 50 million tons of acid, but the next 55 million tons were produced in just 18 years.
Large-scale transformations, which made it possible to significantly increase productivity, began in 2001 with the entry of the Cherepovets company into the PhosAgro Group. The company’s management has developed a long-term program to modernize the four existing technological systems for the production of sulfuric acid. And already in 2003, the first of them began to operate using new and more advanced technology. Until 2009, the remaining technological systems were gradually rebuilt. And thanks to the transfer of sulfuric acid production to pure sulfur instead of sulfur pyrites, not only did energy efficiency and productivity increase, but the working conditions of the staff also improved.
In 2020, Cherepovets “chemists” put into operation Russia’s largest technological system for the production of SK-3300 sulfuric acid. It was designed by specialists from the oldest Scientific Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides in the world and the only one in Russia specific for the industry. teacher. YV Samoilova. The best Russian technologies used during its construction and subsequent improvements made it possible to increase the capacity of the facility to 1.3 million tons per year. This allowed the PhosAgro Cherepovets complex to retain its status as the largest producer of sulfuric acid in the country. And today, as Andrey Odintsov, head of sulfuric acid production, notes, the division is going through another historic stage in its development.
“This year the second sulfuric acid plant was modernized, the capacity of which increased from 2,000 to 2,200 tons per day. The next step is to increase the capacity of the first, up to 2200 tons. And then the fourth: up to 3,000 tons per day. Construction of the fifth lump sulfur smelting plant is also underway. This will allow the modernized systems to be completely supplied with raw materials. Thus, production is close to 5 million tons per year!” – said Andrei Odintsov.
JSC Apatit CEO Alexander Gilgenberg congratulated the company’s team on the record achievement. He stressed that the stable production of a strategically important product such as sulfuric acid is a necessary condition for increasing the volume of processing of apatite concentrate and the production of mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus.
“In 2023, 5.1 million tons of phosphorus-containing fertilizers were produced at the Cherepovets complex. This year we intend to increase this figure. The impressive production dynamics attest to the continuity of all generations of sulfuric acid producers, their responsibility and professionalism.” – he noted in his congratulations Alexander Gilgenberg.
The growth in production volumes and product quality is the result of the implementation of PhosAgro’s large-scale investment program. Over the past 10 years, the company has invested 440 billion rubles in the development of its production facilities. And over the next five years it intends to allocate more than 250 billion rubles to development, including a record 73 billion this year.
