Monthly sulfur output in Shahid Hasheminejad Gas Processing Company in Khorasan Razavi Province has exceeded 50,000 tons, the head of the firm said.
“To reduce raw sulfur sales and convert lump sulfur into more valuable forms, the private sector invested $20 million to build two more factories at Shahid Soleimani Sulfur Complex in the northeastern Sarakhs County, which became operational last month,” the Oil Ministry’s news agency also quoted Yahya Feyzi as saying.
“Four factories are now operating at the complex to help complete the sulfur value chain. The new facilities, financed by the private sector, include a plant to produce sulfur bentonite with a capacity of 10,000 tons a year and another plant to produce granular sulfur with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons,” he added.
Lump sulfur is the raw formation of recovered sulfur. The greatest commercial use of the element is the production of sulfuric acid, the world's most widely used chemical, sulfate and phosphate fertilizers, and other chemical processes. Sulfur is granulated for easy application through any type spreader.
Sulfur bentonite is a combination of pure sulfur and bentonite clay. It is used as a secondary nutrient and also to correct alkaline soil problems. Sulfur is one of the 17 essential plant nutrients that helps in the formation of essential enzymes and plant proteins.
The two plants have been constructed by Iranian engineers and knowledge-based companies that indigenized the sulfur production process.
“The refinery produces a maximum of 1,600 tons of sulfur per day. The company had previously faced the problem of storing 2.5 million tons of sulfur, which caused safety and environmental problems. So it had to transport raw sulfur to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran for exporting it to India and China,” Faizi added.
Now, using the expertise of knowledge-based companies and private sector investment, sulfur will be delivered to factories in molten form and converted to granular sulfur and bentonite fertilizer.
“The implementation of this project, in addition to using 100% domestic equipment, has created direct employment for 150 people in the deprived and border area of Sarakhs,” he said.
Faizi noted that Sarakhs is planned to become a sulfur hub in the Middle East.
The gas refinery receives gas from Khangiran Gas Field and supplies natural gas to the provinces of North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Golestan, Mazandaran and some parts of Semnan.
