Experimental Study of Granulation Process Parameters Based on the Size and Strength Analysis of Urea Fertilizer Particles

Abstract

The effectiveness of granulated urea fertilizer is well known and several granulation methods have been proposed and implemented recently. The rotary drum type granulator is based on the principle of spraying and coating urea melt in seed kernel, drying and cooling it by using a fluidized layer, and producing granulated urea fertilizer of the desired size by repeating this process. Rotary drum type granulators are widely used due to their safety of manufacture and operation, and high productivity and many studies on rotary drum type granulators have been reported. However, when establishing a new granulation process, many process parameters must be determined by difference in productivity and realizing method. The aim of this paper is to identify process parameters for future industrial applications by investigating the size distribution and strength of fertilizer particles in a laboratory-scale granulation process. First, the accuracy of the working principle was examined by determining if the fertilizer particles produced by the experimental device reached the desired size. And the effect of the temperature inside the granulator on the strength of the fertilizer particles and urea consumption was analyzed to determine the optimum temperature. And the effect of seed uniformity on the uniformity of granule fertilizer was analyzed and the time to product granule fertilizer was measured after device operation. Keywords: Slow-release fertilizer; Granulator; Fluidized Layer; Rotary drum.