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Urea Fertilizer: Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad

Urea is a nitrogen-rich fertilizer produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide. It contains 46% nitrogen. Urea is manufactured through two chemical reactions in a reactor under high pressure and temperature. The molten urea produced is then processed to form prilled or granular solid urea fertilizer through decomposition, prilling or granulation, and bagging. Urea fertilizer provides plants with nitrogen for growth but must be properly stored and applied to avoid losses from decomposition or leaching.

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191 views26 pages

Urea Fertilizer: Lecture By: Engr. Mina Arshad

Urea is a nitrogen-rich fertilizer produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide. It contains 46% nitrogen. Urea is manufactured through two chemical reactions in a reactor under high pressure and temperature. The molten urea produced is then processed to form prilled or granular solid urea fertilizer through decomposition, prilling or granulation, and bagging. Urea fertilizer provides plants with nitrogen for growth but must be properly stored and applied to avoid losses from decomposition or leaching.

Uploaded by

Danish Baig
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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

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