Urea Fertilizer
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Fertilizer
In the simplest terminology, a material, the main function of which is
to provide plant nutrients
A fertilizer is a material that furnishes one or more of the chemical
elements necessary for the proper development and growth of plants
Fertilizers are essential in today’s agricultural system to replace the
elements extracted from the soil in the form of food and other
agricultural products
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Urea Fertilizer
Urea is a type of nitrogenous fertilizer which is white crystalline
substance with the chemical formula NH2CONH2
It is highly water soluble
It contains 46% nitrogen
Urea Prills
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Properties
Molar Mass 60.06 g·mol−1
Appearance White solid
Density 1.32 g/cm3
Melting point 133 to 135 °C
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Physical forms of Urea
Two forms of urea are available.
Prilled Urea Specifications Granular Urea Specifications
Total nitrogen 46% min Total nitrogen 46% min
Biuret content 1% max Biuret content < 1%
Moisture 0.5% max Moisture < 0.5%
Particle size 1-2.8 mm Particle size 2-4 mm
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Prilled Form Granular Form
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Manufacturing of Urea
Raw Materials
Ammonia (NH3) (Liquid)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (Gas)
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Chemical Reactions
Urea is synthesized from NH3 and CO2 in two stage reaction.
1.Formation of ammonium carbamate
2NH3 + CO2 → NH2COONH4 (1)
Reaction Ratio
Ratio of NH3 and CO2 is 2:1
2.Dehydration of the carbamate to form a melt of urea
NH2COONH4 → NH2CONH2 + H2O (2)
The reaction takes place at 130-135°C and about 35 atm pressure
The conversion is about 40%
Reaction 1 is fast and exothermic and essentially goes to completion under
the reaction conditions used industrially. Reaction 2 is slower and
endothermic and does not go to completion
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Reactions Involved
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Urea Synthesis Process
Ammonia pumping
Carbon dioxide compression
Urea synthesis tower
Distillation tower and Flash drum
Vacuum Evaporator
Manufacturing of Prills
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Parameters Affecting Process
Temperature
Maximum equilibrium conversion around 190-200°C
Higher temperature leads to corrosion
Pressure
Equilibrium pressure becomes higher when temperature increases
Residence Time
Minimum residence time to attain equilibrium is 20 mins
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Process Description
Ammonia pumping
Liquid ammonia is pumped from the multistage pump which maintain
the reaction pressure in the vertical stainless steel vessel
Carbon dioxide compression
Ammonia plant directly boost the carbon dioxide from the
compression section as it readily form at the CO2 section of ammonia
production plant
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Urea Synthesis Tower
It is lined with film of oxides to protect from corrosion. Catalyst bed is
placed in the inner side of the autoclave structure and 180- 200 atm
pressure at temperature about 180-200°C is maintained. Reaction
take places and molten urea is removed
2NH3 + CO2 → NH2CO2NH4
The ammonium carbamate is then dehydrated to yield 70 to 80%
aqueous urea solution
NH2CO2NH4 → NH2CONH2 + H2O
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Distillation Tower And Flash Drum
This high pressure slurry is flashed to 1 atm pressure and distilled to
remove excess ammonia and decomposed ammonia carbamated salts
are removed and recycled
Vacuum Evaporator
The solution is fed to vacuum evaporator for concentrating the slurry
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Manufacture of Urea Prills
After the conversion of raw material to Urea the solution contains
carbamate too. This carbamate is first separated out and then
converted into Urea prills. It involves following steps:
1. Decomposition Section
2. Prilling Section
3. Bagging Section
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
1. Decomposition Section
The purpose of decomposition is to decompose un-converted
carbamate back to ammonia and carbon di-oxide and to separate these
from liquid phase so that urea solution is concentrated and un-
converted streams can be recycled back to urea reactor. The
decomposition is achieved by;
Reducing Pressure
Increasing Temperature
The separated gases ammonia and carbon di-oxide along with water
vapors are condensed and absorbed for recycle back to reactor.
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
2. Prilling Tower (Prilling Section)
It is dryer where the molten slurry is passed from top of the tower into
a bucket which rotates and sprinkles the slurry and air is passed from
the bottom. All the moisture is removed as the droplets fall through a
countercurrent air flow and the urea form into nearly spherical
granules. These granules are sent by conveyor to the bagging section.
Urea solids are produced from the urea melt by two basic methods:
– Prilling
– Granulation
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
There are windows at bottom of prill tower for the entry of air and
louvers are installed in the windows to control air flow and prevent
prills from falling out. Similarly there are windows at the top for
exiting hot air out
Granulation is used more frequently than prilling in producing solid
urea for fertilizer. Granular urea is generally stronger than prilled urea,
both in crushing strength and abrasion resistance
3. Bagging Section
After the formation of prills, urea prills of almost 2.2 mm size is
packed in the bags.
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Condition for a good yield
CO2 should be free from oxygen and hydrogen
The ratio of NH3 and CO2 should be maintained
Preheating of ammonia is essential for good yield
Average reaction temperature (380 °F) should be controlled
Average pressure (2700 psi) should be maintained for a good yield of
urea
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Biuret Formation
Biuret is formed at following conditions in Urea process.
1. High Temperature
Formation of biuret takes place when urea is heated to its melting point
it starts decomposition with evolution of ammonia.
2. High Concentrations
In the presence of excess ammonia biuret is formed.
3. High residence time
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Uses of Urea Fertilizer
Widely used in the agricultural sector both as a fertilizer and
animal feed additive
Provides the plants with nitrogen to promote green leafy growth
Makes the plants look fresh
Necessary for the photosynthesis of plants
Helps to develop stem and leaves at primary stage of plants
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Advantages of Urea Fertilizer
Highest nitrogen contents than other available nitrogenous fertilizers
in the market
The cost of production of urea is relatively low
Can be used for all types of crops and soils and has no harm to the
soil
Easy to store and does not pose as a fire risk for long-term storage
Urea manufacture releases few pollutants to the environment
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
Disadvantages of Urea Fertilizer
Highly soluble in water so requires better packaging quality
Not as stable as other solid nitrogenous fertilizers
Decomposes even at room temperatures that results in serious loss
If urea contains impurities more than 2 percent, it cannot be used as
a fertilizer, since the impurities are toxic
Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad
