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    The urea manufacturing process involves reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide to form ammonium carbamate. This reaction occurs in multiple reactors under high pressure and heat. The liquid mixture is then purified to remove impurities like water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The purified urea solution is concentrated and crystallized into prills or granules, which are the final urea product. Maintaining proper temperatures, pressures, and reactant ratios is important for maximizing urea yield while inhibiting undesirable side reactions.

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    New Microsoft Word Document

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    The urea manufacturing process involves reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide to form ammonium carbamate. This reaction occurs in multiple reactors under high pressure and heat. The liquid mixture is then purified to remove impurities like water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The purified urea solution is concentrated and crystallized into prills or granules, which are the final urea product. Maintaining proper temperatures, pressures, and reactant ratios is important for maximizing urea yield while inhibiting undesirable side reactions.

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    The urea manufacturing process involves reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide to form ammonium carbamate. This reaction occurs in multiple reactors under high pressure and heat. The liquid mixture is then purified to remove impurities like water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The purified urea solution is concentrated and crystallized into prills or granules, which are the final urea product. Maintaining proper temperatures, pressures, and reactant ratios is important for maximizing urea yield while inhibiting undesirable side reactions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    50 views6 pages

    New Microsoft Word Document

    Uploaded by

    Pinak Chowdhury
    The urea manufacturing process involves reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide to form ammonium carbamate. This reaction occurs in multiple reactors under high pressure and heat. The liquid mixture is then purified to remove impurities like water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The purified urea solution is concentrated and crystallized into prills or granules, which are the final urea product. Maintaining proper temperatures, pressures, and reactant ratios is important for maximizing urea yield while inhibiting undesirable side reactions.

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    of 6

    The Urea Manufacturing Process:

    Properties of Urea:
     Chemical Formula: CO(NH2)2.
     Molar Mass: 60.06g/mol
     Appearance: White Solid
     N2 content:46%
     Melting Point:133 to 135°C
     Density:1.32 g/cm3
    Raw Materials:
     Urea is always made in an ammonia plant. Therefore both raw materials for urea
    manufacture – ammonia and carbon dioxide – are available on site.


     Urea is produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide in two equilibrium reactions:
     The first reaction is highly exothermic (ΔH =−28 kcal·mol−1) and the second reaction is
    slightly endothermic ΔH =6 kcal·mol−1). As a result, both reactions combined are
    exothermic.

     Since the rate determining step is endothermic, the overall reaction should be favored
    by a rise in temperature.
     But conversion of ammonium carbamate to urea records increasing yield upto about
    170°C, and above it, it fails.
     It is to note that temperatures above 200°C in a 180-200 atm unit is not conductive,
    because it promotes corrosion, and favors biuret formation (a side reaction) at the cost
    of urea.
     The operating pressure should be above the dissociation pressure of the carbamate at a
    given temperature.

     The urea manufacturing process is designed to maximize the urea formation reaction
    while inhibiting biuret formation.
     This reaction is undesirable, not only because it lowers the yield of urea, but because
    biuret burns the leaves of plants. This means that urea which contains high levels of
    biuret is unsuitable for use as a fertiliser.

     An excess of NH3 shifts the equilibrium towards the formation of urea. Thus using
    slightly higher ratio of NH3:CO2 is beneficial.
    Step 1: Synthesis:
     A mixture of compressed CO2 and ammonia at 240 barg is reacted to form ammonium
    carbamate. This is an exothermic reaction, and heat is recovered by a boiler which
    produces steam. The first reactor achieves 78% conversion of the carbon dioxide to urea
    and the liquid is then purified. The second reactor receives the gas from the first reactor
    and recycle solution.
    Step 2: Purification:
     The major impurities in the mixture at this stage are water from the urea production
    reaction and unconsumed reactants (ammonia, carbon dioxide and ammonium
    carbamate). The unconsumed reactants are removed in three stages. Firstly, the
    pressure is reduced from 240 to 17 barg and the solution is heated, which causes the
    ammonium carbamate to decompose to ammonia and carbon dioxide:


    At the same time, some of the ammonia and carbon dioxide flash off.
     The pressure is then reduced to 2.0 barg and finally to -0.35 barg, with more ammonia
    and carbon dioxide being lost at each stage. By the time the mixture is at -0.35 barg a
    solution of urea dissolved in water and free of other impurities remains.
     At each stage the unconsumed reactants are absorbed into a water solution which is
    recycled to the secondary reactor. The excess ammonia is purified and used as
    feedstock to the primary reactor.

    Step 3: Concentration:
     75% of the urea solution is heated under vacuum, which evaporates off some of the
    water, increasing the urea concentration from 68% w/w to 80% w/w. At this stage some
    urea crystals also form. The solution is then heated from 80 to 110°C to redissolve these
    crystals prior to evaporation. In the evaporation stage molten urea (99% w/w) is
    produced at 140°C. The remaining 25% of the 68% w/w urea solution is processed under
    vacuum at 135°C in a two series evaporator-separator arrangement.

    Step 4: Granulation (Finishing step):


     Urea is sold for fertiliser as 2 - 4 mm diameter granules. These granules are formed by
    spraying molten urea onto seed granules which are supported on a bed of air. This
    occurs in a granulator which receives the seed granules at one end and discharges
    enlarged granules at the other as molten urea is sprayed through nozzles. Dry, cool
    granules are classified using screens. Oversized granules are crushed and combined with
    undersized ones for use as seed. All dust and air from the granulator is removed by a fan
    into a dust scrubber, which removes the urea with a water solution then discharges the
    air to the atmosphere. The final product is cooled in air, weighed and conveyed to bulk
    storage ready for sale.

    Step 4: Prilling (Finishing step):


     The concentrated solution is crystallised into globules by spraying from the top of a
    prilling tower and heated by hot air. Drying of the prills is not required.

    Various methods used for recycling the unreacted ammonia:


     Carbon dioxide and ammonia are absorbed in water and then recycled as a solution of
    ammonium carbamate.
     Ammonia and carbon dioxide are separated by a selective absorbent and then recycled
    separately in the form of liquid NH3 and liquid CO2.
     Ammonia and carbon dioxide are absorbed in a light oil and then recycled as a slurry of
    ammonium carbamate.
    Conditions for a good yield:
     Carbon dioxide be free from oxygen and hydrogen to avoid hazard of corrosion or
    explosion.
     NH3-CO2 ratio varies widely, ranging from about 10% excess NH3 over the stoichiometric
    amount to 100% or more. The larger excess gives better results.
     Preheating of ammonia is essential for better results.
     Reaction temperature should be as high as possible, but must be limited because of
    corrosion. The maximum temperature that can be attained in stainless steel lined
    reactors (used in the majority of plants) is about 380°F.
     The average pressure is about 2700 psig, but pressure as low as 2400 and as high as
    6000 psig have been reported.
     In industry, urea synthesis is carried out without using a catalyst, at 180-200 atm and
    180-200°C temperatures.

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