Projects under way at Dakota Gasification Co., near Beulah, will increase the synthetic natural gas plant's capacity for manufacture and storage of farm fertilizers.
The company is in the design and procurement stages of a new 30,000-ton ammonia storage facility to increase availability of anhydrous ammonia. The expanded storage should be complete by spring of 2013.
The company also is in a pre-engineering and design phase for the production of urea, a granular fertilizer.
DGC's marketing manager Steve Liebelt said urea production requires natural gas and carbon dioxide, both of which manufactured in the plant's process.
He said urea has high nitrogen content, but costs less to handle, store and transport than other nitrogen-based fertilizers.
Liebelt said if the pre-engineering study looks good, the project will move on to more detailed engineering and design, when costs will be determined. He said urea production facilities could be built either adjacent to the DGC plant, or at another location. It's not decided if the company will seek partners in the venture, he said.
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The plant produces 153 million cubic feet daily of synthetic natural gas from lignite coal in addition to eight byproducts. The byproducts are up to 1,100 tons daily of anhydrous ammonia, 150 million cubic feet daily of carbon dioxide, 33 million tons annually of cresylic acid, 3.5 million liters annually of krypton/xenon gases, 250 tons daily of Daksul 45 fertilizer, 33 million pounds annually of phenol, 23,000 gallons daily of naphtha and varying tonnages of liquid nitrogen.