Strong winds in Richards Bay have forced the immediate shut down of Foskor's sulphuric acid plant, over fears that one of its massive smoke stacks may collapse.
The company's Karen Smith says management was notified that a sulphuric stack was swaying more than usual at around 9am.
As a precautionary measure they evacuated employees at the plant off the John Ross Highway, leaving only emergency staff on duty.
Smith says the company also asked municipal emergency services to cordon off the road around Foskor and re-direct traffic going to neighbouring companies.
"The worst case scenario was that the people in Richards Bay and those surrounding the Foskor plant could probably see very low cloud cover, and they could possibly smell - there was an odour being emitted. But there's actually no real gases being emitted, the plant was completely shut down and there is no immediate danger of any environmental risk or health risk to the community or to Richards Bay at this point in time," she said.
She says the plant will remain closed until the wind subsides and when they're 100 percent certain there is no risk of harmful emissions.
According to the company's website, Foskor is one of the world's largest producers of phosphate and phosphoric acid.
- East Coast Radio
More info from Foskor's Web-Site:
The Richards Bay plant produces sulphuric acid (H2SO4), phosphoric acid (P2O5) and granular fertiliser (MAP/DAP). H2SO4 is primarily an input in the production of P2O5. The granular fertiliser plant operates independently from the acid plants and may be shut down at times when demand is low.
Foskor Richards Bay is 3 km from the deep-sea port which, by virtue of its sheer proximity, provides easy access to market. Raw material inputs such as sulphur and ammonia from Canada and the Middle East are imported and final products are exported via the port of Richards Bay.
At full capacity, Foskor Richards Bay can produce per annum 2.2 million tons of H2SO4, 720,000 tons of P2O5 and 300,000 tons of MAP/DAP. About 88% of granular fertiliser is sold locally.
Foskor’s fertiliser price is based on the global prices set in US Dollars and is published weekly in the Fertiliser Market Bulletin (FMB).
Production processes used to manufacture acid and fertiliser
Richard Bay’s production facilities comprise one granulation, two phosphoric acid and three sulphuric acid plants, supported by various storage amenities.
Sulphuric acid is a raw material for phosphoric acid (P2O5), although excess quantities are sometimes sold to the market. Initially granular sulphur is burnt to form sulphur dioxide. This gas is converted to sulphur trioxide in a steam boiler and is then mixed with water to form sulphuric acid.
Phosphoric acid is an end product in itself and is also an input in granular fertiliser. In order to produce phosphoric acid, phosphate rock concentrate from Phalaborwa is reacted with sulphuric acid and recycled phosphoric acid to form weak phosphoric acid in slurry form. This is then filtered to remove gypsum particles as a waste product. After filtration, concentrated, high grade phosphoric acid is produced by boiling off excess water.
Granular fertilisers, i.e. diammonium phosphate (DAP) and mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP), are sold as an input to NPK fertilisers. Ammonia and sulphuric acid are reacted with phosphoric acid under controlled conditions to produce either MAP or DAP slurry, which is then granulated and dried to deliver an on specification product. By adding zinc to the MAP reaction, MAP zinc is produced to service a specific niche market.
- http://www.foskor.co.za/ob_richards_bay.php
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