Wilbur-Ellis' New Sackett Blending Plant Delivers Speed, Versatility

Posted by Matt Hopkins|July 14, 2015

Wilbur-Ellis Co.’s Mott, ND, location needed a compact, efficient, high-quality blending plant. With help from Sackett, that’s exactly what they got.

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Wilbur-Ellis’ new fertilizer blending facility, located in Mott, ND, was designed and built by A.J. Sackett & Sons.
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The main aisleway inside the Mott, ND, plant.
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The elevated control room at Wilbur-Ellis' Mott, ND, facility.
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The Sackett Mixer at Wilbur-Ellis' Mott, ND, facility.
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For safety and efficiency, major ingredients and micronutrients are loaded from opposite sides.
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The three powder coat hoppers make it easy for Wilbur-Ellis to add trace mineral powder coats to any blend.
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A truck loading at Wilbur-Ellis' Mott, ND, facility.
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To run the system, Sackett teamed with Kahler Automation to provide Wilbur-Ellis with a full Allen Bradly PLC and MCC-based system with automatic controls and agronomy interface.

What They Needed

Wilbur-Ellis’ Mott, ND, location needed a plant to meet the demands of today’s growers, said plant manager Derek Mayer. “Growers seem to get more efficient all the time,” he said. “Our previous process just couldn’t meets these needs. The Sackett plant gave us the speed and versatility to keep up with their needs. We now have the capability of liquid impregnating on to a single product or multiple products. The three powder coat hoppers make it very easy for us to add trace mineral powder coats to any blend. Our growers are most impressed with the speed of the blend system, 25 ton blends take between eight and 12 minutes, which used to take us 40 to 50 minutes. One other difference we saw was our TerraGator wasn’t sitting waiting for fertilizer coming from the plant.”

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What We Designed

To meet Wilbur Ellis’ needs, A.J. Sackett & Sons Co. supplied a custom-arranged LIW system with key features to support the company’s main goals. For speed and flexibility, Sackett used its originated Mesh Chain Feeders with adjustable gates for each major hopper. Each hopper can dose at up to 140 TPH.

For accuracy, Sackett’s LIW utilizes hardy load cells and controllers for pharmaceutical level sampling rates and dosing calculations. To achieve liquid impregnation requirements, Sackett designed one hopper with a dedicated impregnation system as well as designed the Continuous Mixer (which blends all products) with an impregnation system. For adding powders (micro nutrients and nitrogen stabilizers), the company designed three powder LIW feeders which discharge directly into the Continuous Mixer. To run the system, Sackett teamed with Kahler Automation to provide Wilbur-Ellis with a full Allen Bradly PLC and MCC-based system with automatic controls and agronomy interface.