Agricultural Fertilizers:

Sulphur

Sulphur

Sulphur (S) is a bright yellow to yellowish brown brittle, nonmetallic element that melts at 119°C. When converted to Sulfuric acid to become phosphate fertilizer, it is used as agricultural fertilizer. Non-acidic sulphur is used directly to enrich soil.

Sulphur production in Canada is mostly dictated by gas production and related market factors; as such, sulphur recovery in Canada is deemed involuntary or non discretionary. Most of Canada's sulphur activity occurs in the oil sands. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, gas production in Canada was buoyant due to strong demand in the domestic and export markets, generating important exploration, processing and pipeline investments in the gas sector in western Canada. During the same period, Canadian-recovered sulphur production rose by 40%. Since then, Canadian production and export has increased sharply. The principle use of sulphur is that of process agent in the manufacture of fertilizers such as super phosphates, ammonium phosphate, and ammonium sulphate. The fertilizer industry utilizes more than half of all sulphur production.