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Koch offering EEF technology to global urea producers

August 10, 2015

min read

Koch Agronomic Services LLC (KAS) is offering its N-Tegration Technology to the global urea industry. It consists of a process technology platform designed to enable production of enhanced eficiency fertilizers (EEF’s) in either prilled or granular form at urea production sites. “There is a need in the market for advantaged and innovative solutions that meet our customers’ evolving plant nutrient needs,” said Chase Koch, KAS president. “It is our goal to align with manufacturers that desire to differentiate themselves by producing high-quality, value-added nitrogen fertilizers.” KAS has been using speciic aspects of the technology at its Brandon, Manitoba, plant since 2013 (GM Sept. 9, 2013), when it began producing its SuperU™ fertilizer product. KAS touts the product as the only ready-to-use stabilized nitrogen fertilizer containing both urease and nitriication inhibitors, designed to protect against three forms of nitrogen loss: volatilization, denitriication, and leaching.

Industry sources indicate approximate urea capacity at Brandon as 280,000 mt/y. KAS also uses the technology at its specialty plant in St. Louis, Mo., and operates a one st/d pilot plant in Sylacauga, Ala., for research and development purposes. KAS stated that over the last three years it has produced hundreds of thousands of tons of SuperU fertilizer using the technology. KAS also plans to use the N-Tegration technology at its urea plant currently being expanded at Enid, Okla. 

KAS is in active technology licensing discussions with major urea producers around the globe, according to Mickey Blizzard, KAS vice president, global technology licensing. EEF products utilizing Koch’s Agrotain® nitrogen stabilizer are already available in some 55 countries.

The N-Tegration technology is expected to have an initial capital outlay of approximately $2-$5 million, depending on the coniguration of the nitrogen plant. To ensure quality and performance, KAS said it will be the exclusive supplier of
the additives used to produce the EEF products.

KAS said the scope of its technical services ranges from site assessment to process design to detail design support to facilitation of performance testing aimed to achieve product quality and capacity requirements. KAS said it is also available for the development and supply of marketing tools and related sales and agronomy support to create end-user demand for the EEF products. Certiied participants will gain the usage rights of the oficial N-Tegration package, brand logo, and style guide.

KAS said it is committed to developing additional EEF products that can use the N-Tegration platform. Blizzard told Green Markets these could include micronutrient products going forward. 

The N-Tegration technology can be turned on and off so that producers do not have to dedicate their plants just to the EEF product, but can produce to it demand. Unlike traditional applications of Agrotain and related products, which occur at the retailer or terminal level where a treatment is applied to the surface of the urea, the N-Tegration technology allows the additive to be incorporated throughout the urea.

KAS believes the technology allows urea producers to differentiate themselves in an ever increasing competitive landscape while also providing participation in the growing EEF market driven by industry macro trends towards increased crop yields and sustainability.