| Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd. |
| Saskatoon, SK Plantsite |
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Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd.
Saskatoon Site
Wanuskewin Rd.
P.O. Box 4090
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
S7K 4E3
Telephone: (306) 242-3855
FAX: (306) 931-4737
Contact: Mr. Michael Stein, Plant Manager
Contact Telephone: (306) 242-3855
Contact's Email Address: michael.stein@sc.akzonobel.com
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THE SITE:
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Akzo's Saskatoon Plant occupies 22 acres and is located just north of the City of Saskatoon on the north bank of the South Saskatchewan River. The Plant is shielded from the City by a buffer zone. This zone consists of an area approximately 1 km in radius of property zoned for future light industrial use. To the south of this zone is an 18 hole par 3 golf course, Silverwood Golf Club, which abuts the closest residential property.
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HISTORY:
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The Saskatoon Plant was established by Armour Industrial Chemicals Ltd. The first year of production was in 1964 and the first products manufactured were Tallow and Coconut Fatty Acids, Tallow and Coconut Amines and Tallow Amides.
The company was renamed Armak Chemicals Ltd. at the time of its sale to Akzona in 1970. It has operated under various names since that time with the current name, Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd., being adopted after the merger of Akzo with Nobel Industries of Sweden in 1994.
Today, the major product lines produced at Akzo Nobel's Saskatoon Plant are primary Amines (Armeen®), diamines (Duomeen ®), and amides (Armid®).
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BASIC PROCESS:
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Raw materials for production are tallow (beef fat), canola oil, hydrogen, acrylo-nitrile, lard, rapeseed oil, acetic acid, and ammonia.
Fats and oils are split using high pressure steam to fatty acids and glycerin.
The fatty acids are converted to fatty nitriles by reaction with ammonia. (This process was originally developed and patented by Armour in the USA).
The fatty nitriles are reduced to fatty amines by reaction with hydrogen gas in the presence of a nickel catalyst.
The Saskatoon Plant does not produce any consumer products. Typical end use products are for flotation and anti-caking of potash. Products are also produced for the recovery of uranium, the processing of sugar beets and for use in the oil field industry and road surfacing industry.
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SAFETY:
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The Saskatoon Plant achieved one year without lost time incident in December 2005. The site is currently implementing a Behaviour Based Safety program together with its hourly workforce.
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ENVIRONMENTAL:
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The site effluent system consists of a primary manually skimmed flotation unit and an automated air flotation skimming unit for the removal of fatty materials. The effluent is also pH adjusted before it is discharged into the Saskatoon city sewer for further treatment by the city. The effluent contains ammonia and traces of fatty materials including raw materials, intermediates and finished product.
The site was certified to the ISO 14001 Environmental Standard in December 1999 by the registering body Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI).
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QUALITY:
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The Plant Site's quality system was certified to the ISO 9002 Quality Standard in December 1994 by the registering body Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI).
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RESPONSIBLE® CARE:
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The Plant Site was verified to the Canadian Chemical Producers Association's Responsible Care® Code in 2000 and was subsequently re-verified in December 2003.
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EMPLOYMENT:
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The Plant employs 28 people all living relatively close to the Plant. Most of the employees live in the City of Saskatoon, while the remainders live in the surrounding communities.
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