The Sunday News
Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
THE country’s sole Ammonium Nitrate (AN) producer, Sable Chemical Industries is targeting to produce more than 100 000 tonnes of the top dressing fertiliser by the end of the year, although the figure is still far below the company’s installed capacity of 240 000 tonnes. The country’s effective national demand for AN fertiliser per farming season is around 300 000 tonnes and shortages have been plugged through imports.
In an interview, Sable Chemicals chief executive officer Mr Jack Murehwa said the Kwekwe-based company has already produced 75 000 tonnes of AN fertiliser which is already on the market.
He said the company was looking forward to meeting its target before the end of the year.
“Our target production for this year is about 100 000 tonnes of AN that will be made available before the end of this year. We have so far produced 75 000 tonnes and we are hopeful that we will be able to meet the target before the end of this year,” he said.
Last year, according to figures availed by the Ministry of Finance, Sable Chemicals produced 75 000 tonnes of AN at a modest capacity utilisation average of 33 percent.
Meanwhile, the company has settled for Coalbed Methane extraction (CBM), a new technology of extracting hydrogen which will see the fertiliser producer abandoning its alternative power serving technology coal gasification.
CBM is a method for extracting methane from a coal deposit through a process called steam reforming.
Methane absorbed into a solid coal matrix will be released if the coal seam is depressurised and hydrogen will be extracted.
Mr Murehwa said the company has conducted feasibility studies to start the extraction of the mineral resource which is found in Lupane.
“We conducted feasibility studies with the hope of having the actual figure in terms of costs for the project as well as the operational costs,” he said.
Sable Chemicals has been struggling to raise $680 million which was required for coal gasification.
Coal Gasification is an incomplete combustion of coal that produces a synthesis gas composed primarily of carbon dioxide.
The process converts carbonaceous materials, such as fossil fuels and biomass, into a mixture of mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The new project is estimated to cost about $600 million.
Sable Chemicals once engaged Chinese firms to assist in the project but the efforts were in vain.
Said Mr Murehwa: “We will be extracting hydrogen from CBM through a process called steam reforming. With this new technology we are banking on CBM found in Lupane. We always had plans to use this new technology but our problem was that although we knew CBM existed in Lupane, we had no idea of how much of it was there and how we could possibly extract it.
We recently came across people working on CBM in Lupane who knew its quantity and convinced us that it could be extracted. It is very much possible to have CBM as our stock feed from the production of AN.”
Mr Murehwa said CBM required less capital compared to coal gasification and enables Sable to generate its own power.
“CBM is much better than coal gasification in that coal gasification requires a long process. With coal you have to carry it to the plant and the equipment requires special handling. And we also need to mill it. With CBM we just burn it and the gas goes into the plant. We will also be able to generate our own power,” he said.
Mr Murehwa said the company requires 115 Megawatts to produce 240 000 tonnes of AN per year.
“This year, Sable was geared towards producing 100 000 tonnes and the power requirement will be just below 70 Mw. As would be expected in any production model, the amount of power required to produce a tonne of AN is reduced as the production levels increase. The new plant will be self-sufficient on power and will require around 75 Mw so once commissioned, it will not use the power from the grid except in emergencies.”
