Single Super Phosphate By Nitora Commodities

Our range of Single Super Phosphate (SSP) is the first commercial mineral fertilizer and it led to the development of the modern plant nutrient industry. This material was once the most commonly used fertilizer, but other phosphorus (P) fertilizers have largely replaced SSP because of its relatively low P content.

The modern fertilizer industry was launched in the 1840s with discovery that the addition of sulfuric acid to naturally occurring phosphate produced an excellent soluble fertilizer, given the name superphosphate. Making SSP is similar to what naturally occurs with bones or apatite in acid soils. The basic technique has changed very little in the past century. Ground phosphate rock is reacted with sulfuric acid to form a semi-solid which cools for several hours in a den. The plastic-like material is then conveyed to a storage pile for several weeks of additional curing. The hardened material is then milled and screened to the appropriate particle size or granulated. The general chemical reaction is: Ca3(PO4)2 [rock phosphate] + 2 H2SO4 [sulfuric acid] a Ca(H2PO4)2 [monocalcium phosphate] + 2 CaSO4 [gypsum]SSP can easily be produced on a small scale to meet regional needs. Since SSP contains both monocalcium phosphate (MCP, also called calcium dihydrogen phosphate).