Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ThyssenKrupp
A company
of ThyssenKrupp
Technologies
Uhde
2 Table of contents
Page
1. Company profile 3
7. Calcium nitrate – CN 19
9. Main references 22
With its highly specialised workforce of more than 4,900 employees and its
international network of subsidiaries and branch offices, Uhde, a Dortmund-based
engineering contractor, has, to date, successfully completed over 2,000 projects
throughout the world.
Fig. 1:
Uhde fertiliser processes
Nitrogen fertiliser
5
H2SO4
Monsanto
NH3
H2SO4
H3PO4
Ca3(PO4)2
YFT
Nitro- KCl/K2SO4
phos.
BASF
CN
conv.
BASF
Lime AN sol.
H3PO4
H2SO4
Uhde BASF INCRO YFT, INCRO YFT, INCRO YFT, INCRO YFT, INCRO YFT, INCRO
Process condensate
Vapour Vapour
Orifice separator separator
AN melt
AN solution
NH3 gas
AN AN Steam
NH3 gas
neutraliser evaporator 10 bar
HNO3
Clean condensate
Circulation pump
Vapours to scrubber
AN melt
Final First
evaporator evaporator
AN
NH3 gas neutraliser
HNO3
Circulation pump
Vapours to scrubber
Vapour Vapour
separator separator
AN melt
AN
NH3 gas neutraliser
HNO3
Fig. 5:
Vapour scrubbing
Steam
Steam ejector
CW CW
Vapours
HNO3
General
Today modern fertiliser plants supply granulated
products. Prilling is becoming less common due to
environmental constraints and increased product
quality requirements.
In producing fertiliser from the various solid and
liquid feed materials, the granulation unit must
ensure that the resulting product meets market
requirements with regard to its chemical and
physical properties.
There are many different ways of producing
granules, such as flaking, drum, pan or pugmill
granulation and fluid-bed technology.
In the past, Uhde has built granulation plants for
all common fertiliser grades from straight N fertil-
iser to NP(K) and P(K) fertilisers. Uhde has a
wealth of experience in the design and operation
of granulation plants and is in a position to build
plants based on all modern granulation processes.
The most common granulation process used
in nitrate fertiliser plants built by Uhde is the
proprietary Uhde pugmill granulation process.
AN granules
13
AN/CAN pugmill granulation plant, Pugmill granulation unit for the Irish
Fertiberia S.A. (formerly Enfersa) in Sagunto/Spain Fertilizer Company (IFI) in Arklow, Ireland.
Capacity: 1,100/1,400 tpd (33.5 wt.%/26 wt.% N) Capacity: 1,400 t/day CAN granules (27.5 wt.% N)
CAN granules
14
The Uhde pugmill granulation process All solid feeds (e.g. filler or additives) and the
recycle material are added at the front of the
The core component of Uhde’s own granulation
pugmill to ensure sufficient mixing before the
process is a pugmill granulator. A pugmill or
liquids are added. The liquid feed (e.g. ammo-
blunger is a horizontal mixing and agglomeration
nium nitrate melt) is distributed over the fluidised
device. Its design is based on a horizontal U-type
material using a proprietary distributor.
trough with dual shafts and paddles extending
the length of the trough. The rotation of the
In the granulator the material is built up to size
pitched paddles moves the product from the
through agglomeration and layering. The hot,
bottom of the trough up through the centre. As
moist granules leaving the granulator drop through
a result of the speed at which the paddles rotate,
a chute into the rotary drying drum. In the drying
the granules are fluidised in the upper part of
drum the granules are dried by means of hot
the granulator.
air. The dried granules are then screened into
oversize, on-size and undersize fractions by
double-deck or single-deck screens. The undersize
fraction is returned to the granulator immediately;
the oversize fraction is crushed beforehand.
The waste air from the drying drum and the air
from the dedusting system are therefore passed
to a wet scrubber. Here, the dust is largely
3D model
of Uhde pugmill granulation
removed from the air by close contact with the
scrubbing solution while the ammonia reacts
with the nitric acid contained therein.
to atm.
Clean condensate
HNO3
Screens
Additive
Cyclones
Scrubber
Crushers Bleed
(to evaporation)
AN melt
AN/CAN
Coating drum
Filler
(limestone, dolomite) Coating agent
Cond. air
Steam
Steam
Drying drum
16 5. Prilling for low-density ammonium nitrate
Although prilling plants for Low-density ammonium nitrate (LDAN) is used The prills are then sequentially dried in two rotating
as an effective and cost-efficient mining explosive, drums, screened, cooled in a fluid-bed cooler and
fertiliser-grade ammonium mainly as a mixture with fuel oil (ANFO) or in coated with an anti-caking agent. Off-spec
emulsion-type explosives. The high porosity of material is redissolved and recycled to the process.
nitrate have decreased in the LDAN allows good oil absorption, which is All air used in the process is scrubbed to meet
necessary for an optimal blasting energy yield. BAT emission levels. By reusing the cooling air
importance compared to If no additives are used, chemically pure ammo- in the drying drums, energy consumption and
nium nitrate can be produced, e.g. as feedstock waste air flow are significantly reduced.
granulation processes, prilling for medical purposes (nitrous oxide).
Uhde has designed LDAN prilling plants with
Main characteristics of the final LDAN prills: single-line operating capacities of 1,250 mtpd
is still the state-of-the-art
• Uniform spherical shape and engineered licensed processes of up to
1,060 mtpd.
process for low-density • Nitrogen content > 34.7 wt.%
• Water content < 0.1 wt.% Uhde cooperates closely with INCRO in the field
ammonium nitrate. of LDAN prilling technology.
• Grain size 1 - 2 mm
Uhde offers a proprietary • Fuel absorption > 6 wt.% (adjustable)
• Free-flowing
technology as well as quali- • Good thermal resistance to hot climates
fied engineering services for For the production of low-density prills the Ammonium nitrate prilling unit for
ammonium nitrate melt is pumped to the prilling Queensland Nitrates Pty Ltd., Australia.
licensed processes. tower top and mixed with a prilling additive. Capacity: 400 t/day AN prills
(technical grade)
From here the melt is sprayed in droplets which
Fig. 8:
crystallise in a countercurrent stream of cool air.
Uhde LDAN prilling process
Prilling additive
Screens
Fluidised-bed cooler
Prilling air Drying air
scrubber scrubber Coating drum
AN prills
Anti-caking agent
Conditioned air
Scrubber bleed
AN melt to evaporation
Bucket
elevator
Steam Steam
17
18 6. Ammonium sulphate nitrate – ASN
The depletion of sulphur in soils is increasing An approx. 85% AN solution is fed to a saturator
and this has spurred demand for sulphur-con- together with sulphuric acid and gaseous NH3.
taining fertilisers, such as ammonium sulphate The ammonium sulphate nitrate melt is formed
nitrate. by the neutralisation of the sulphuric acid with
gaseous NH3 at approx. 160°C.
This is particularly attractive as it can be pro-
duced in a modified AN or CAN pugmill granula- The heat of reaction liberated through the
tion plant. formation of ammonium sulphate vaporises water
contained in the feedstock, thereby causing the
Ammonium sulphate nitrate is a double salt
ammonium sulphate nitrate solution to reach
which approximately corresponds to the following
the required final concentration.
formula:
The ammonia-bearing vapours from the saturator
2 NH4NO3 x (NH4)2SO4
are treated in a scrubber, where the ammonia is
removed by reaction with nitric acid. The scrubber
Commercial-grade ammonium sulphate nitrate
bleed is returned to the saturator.
contains 26% nitrogen and 14% sulphate.
ASN can be granulated in a pugmill granulation
In the Uhde process described below, the
unit as described on page 14.
ammonium nitrate combines with ammonium
sulphate to form ammonium sulphate nitrate.
The addition of additives results in a product
which is very hard and has excellent storage
properties.
Fig. 9:
Ammonium sulphate nitrate process
Vent to atm.
CW
Scrubber Scrubber
to process
HNO3 HNO3
Screen
FeSO4 to saturator
NH3 gas
Process condensate
CW
Granulator
Orifice
NH3 gas
Steam
ASN conversion
7. Calcium nitrate – CN 19
Ground limestone and nitric acid of 50 - 60% CN can be granulated in either a drum or pug-
concentration are mixed in agitated tanks. mill granulation unit to yield well-shaped round
The components react to form calcium nitrate granules, the appearance of which is similar to
solution according to the following equation: that of calcium ammonium nitrate granules.
(see page 14).
CaCO3 + 2 HNO3 Ca(NO3)2 + H2O + CO2
The calcium nitrate melt is fed to the granulator
The CO2 and water vapours liberated by the via a metering station along with the recycled
reaction are withdrawn, and any entrained material (the fines, the crushed oversize, and
droplets are removed by the scrubbing system. the dust from the dust-collecting facilities).
Commercial-grade calcium nitrate (CN) contains The granules are then air-cooled in a cooler.
approximately 5 - 7% ammonium nitrate to
The cooled product is screened, and the on-size
improve storage properties. The required AN
fraction is bagged or sent to the bulk storage area.
content can be obtained by neutralising the
remaining free acid with ammonia or by adding The waste air from the cooler is treated in a wet
fresh ammonium nitrate solution. scrubber before being discharged to atmosphere.
If CN is used to produce liquid fertiliser, an evap-
CN solution from nitrophosphate production
oration step is not needed. Any inerts or other
components of the limestone that do not react The nitrophosphate (ODDA) route for the
with nitric acid have to be removed by filtration. production of NP(K) fertiliser produces CN solution
The remaining sludge is disposed of. as a by-product. This solution, too, can be used
to produce CN granules or liquid CN fertiliser.
If granulated product is required, the calcium
nitrate solution is sent to an evaporator to obtain
the concentration required for granulation.
Fig. 10:
Calcium nitrate process
CW
Screen
Process condensate
Vapour separator
Crusher
Evaporator
Steam
CN granules
Additive to solution
Scrubber
NH3 gas
CaCO3
HNO3
Cooling/Drying Drum
Sludge
CN conversion unit
20 8. Liquid N fertiliser –
UAN and CN
UAN
The use of liquid fertilisers is a common practice,
especially in North America. A fertiliser with
excellent physical properties is UAN solution, which
is a mixture of ammonium nitrate, urea and water.
Fertiliser complex for CF Industries Inc. Standard solutions contain 28, 30 and 32%
in Louisiana, USA including nitrogen, respectively, but can also be enriched
a 2,000 t/day urea plant,
a 870 t/day nitric acid plant, with soluble plant nutrients, such as sulphur,
a 1,105 t/day AN plant and boron and calcium compounds. A typical com-
a 2,450 t/day UAN solutio plant. position of UAN solution with 32% N is
AN : Urea : H2O = 45 : 35 : 20%
Fig. 11:
CW
UAN solution process with ammonia gas
Condenser
Vapour
separator
Orifice
Process condensate
Ammonia AN
heater neutraliser
NH3 gas
HNO3
AN solution
Urea solution
CW
Corrosion
inhibitor
UAN cooler
CN
Calcium nitrate solutions are non-pressurised
liquids mainly used for drip or irrigation systems
in horticulture. A typical solution is CN-17 with
a composition AN : CN : H2O = 31 : 36 : 33%.
This solution is a fast-acting fertiliser containing
both nitrate (for quick response) and ammonium
nitrogen (for retarding nutrition) while the calcium
buffers the pH in the soil.
Fig. 12:
CW
UAN solution process with urea off-gas
Vapour Off-gas
separator scrubber
Clean condensate
AN solution
HNO3
Process
condensate tank
HNO3
UAN solution
AN prilling plants
Specialities