Menlo to be site of corncob-to-ammonia plant

Des Moines Register
By DAN PILLER • dpiller@dmreg.com • March 30, 2009

SynGest of San Francisco said it will make anhydrous ammonia fuel and fertilizer from corncobs and other biomass from a plant to be located on 75 acres near Menlo, west of Des Moines.

The $80 million plant will sit adjacent to the Hawkeye Renewables ethanol plant east of Menlo. When in operation, the facility will employ about 40 workers.

The company said it has signed an agreement to buy the land. The plant will be the first of its kind in the United States to convert biomass into fertilizer. The so-called "auto thermal" process burns the cobs at temperatures up to 1,700 degrees to produce a vapor that is liquefied into ammonia.

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SynGest to Construct World’s First Biomass-to-Ammonia Plant in Menlo, Iowa

Business Wire
March 25, 2009 06:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Mini-Plant Strategy Offers Path to Renewable Fuel and Fertilizer Freedom

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SynGest, Inc. announced that its first plant to manufacture anhydrous ammonia fuel and fertilizer from corn biomass will be located 45 miles west of Des Moines, Iowa. The company confirmed that it has signed an agreement to purchase 75 acres of land in Menlo (population 375) in Guthrie County. The Menlo site offers easy access to road and rail transportation.

The SynGest Menlo plant will use 150,000 tons of locally supplied corn cobs per year to manufacture 50,000 tons of bio-ammonia annually, enough to fertilize 500,000 acres of nearby Iowa farmland under corn.

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