Granulation of MAP

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Vol. 43, Nos.
56, 2007
GRANULATION OF DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE

IN A DRUM GRANULATOR-DRIER
I. G. Grishaev and V. A. Grinevich
The feasibility of using a drum granulator-drier (DGD) in the production of granular fertilizers is examined.
The performance of an essentially new tube reactor (TR)DGD unit is investigated. The optimum ratio of
parameters the temperature of the heat-transfer medium, the length of the flare, and the moisture content
and dispersivity of the slurry, which ensure equalization of the grain-size distribution of the product is
determined.
Nitrogen-phosphate fertilizer diammonium phosphate (DAP) is granulated in an ammoniator-granulator (AG)

[1], where the film of slurry on the surface of the granules is hardened during evaporation of a large portion of the moisture
due to the heat of reaction with a simultaneous reduction in the solubility of the product owing to its complete ammonation.
The remaining moisture is removed from the granules in a drying drum (DD). Due to the bulkiness and constant sticking of
the moist charge in the transporting pipe from the AG to the DD, it is precisely this subassembly that is a bottleneck of the
entire production circuit. Moreover, the appreciable extent to which the process is recycled complicates operation of intrashop
transport and crushing-grading equipment.
These drawbacks are eliminated in the production circuit for granulated fertilizers using a drum granulator-drier
(DGD), in which there are no transfers of moist granules from vessel to vessel, since drying to commercial conditions occurs
in one vessel, and external recycling of the process is reduced by a factor of 24 as compared with the AG.
The production circuit with the DGD has been used for some time in industry for the production of ammophos [2, 3].
Due to the comparatively high moisture content (more than 20%) of the slurry processed in the DGD, however, these vessels
had not previously been recommended for attainment of high productivities [1].
The development of an essentially new effective tubular reactor (TR)DGD has made it possible to ammonate concentrated phosphoric acid under pressure with the spraying of the slurry that is formed directly into the DGD, precluding an
intermediate container [4, 5]. The specific output of these vessels in the production of ammophos attains 34 tons/(m2h).
Conversion to DAP production in a DGD does not make it possible to retain this indicator, since ammonium phosphates have a specific solubility and moisture content, which vary nonmonotonically as a function of the molar ratio (MR)
NH3:H3PO4. This exerts a major influence on the process-accessible moisture content of the slurry, and granule formation.
As investigations on an industrial vessel 2.8 m in diameter and 14 m long have indicated [6], the dependence of the output of
the fine fraction on the acidity of the slurry is extremal in nature. The greatest amount of new particles is formed when
pH = 4.24.4, whereupon the lower the moisture content of the slurry, the greater the effect of this indicator.
Investigations of the performance of the TR-DGD unit for a slurry with a moisture content of 58%, which is formed
after its throttling, indicated that for the required grain-size distribution of ammonium phosphates, a balance between growing and newly forming particles is achieved when the NH3:H3PO4 MR in the slurry is 1.2 or 1.8. Operation beyond the limits of this interval results in an excess of fine fraction, including dust, while operation within this interval will result in growth
of granules along the surface and the formation of lumps, i.e., coarsening. In that case, it is possible to equalize grain-size
NIUIF OAO, Moscow. Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftegazovoe Mashinostroenie, No. 6, pp. 1112, June, 2007.
312
0009-2355/07/0506-0312 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
distribution by increasing the surface of recycled granules, not only by increasing its amount, but also primarily by reducing
the size of the granules.
The grain-size distribution of the ammonium phosphates can be varied by the effect of temperature, the moisture
content and MR of the slurry, the dispersivity of its spray, and the water concentration (by varying the relationship between
the mass of the slurry and the surface of the nuclei), rate of drying and free-flight time of drops of the slurry. The influence
exerted by the temperature of the product on the output from the DGD is also significant. In the production of DAP, however, the same factors will affect the overshoot of unbound ammonia through the DGD. The closer the grain-size distribution
of the fertilizers to the required distribution (granule size of 25 mm), the greater the ammonia effluent from the DGD.
In contrast to the DAP production circuit with an AG vessel in the circuit with an DGD, the specific flow rate of air
is appreciably higher due to provision for the required moisture content of the product. With other conditions equal, the equilibrium concentration of ammonia is the same in both vessels, while the absolute ammonia content in the spent drying agent
is considerably higher from the DGD. In this connection, additional difficulties arise in the operation of the absorption subassembly (overshooting of ammonia, thickening of the irrigating liquid, growths within the vessels). As investigations have
indicated, regime parameters corresponding to the production of a product of given quality must be ensured during production of DAP: the minimum possible temperature of the charge at the outlet from the DGD, and the maximum possible MR
and density of the slurry.
In addition to the chemical composition of the slurry, an increase in the length of free flight of drops will also affect
the rate of formation of fine fraction from the slurry; this is achieved by thinning the curtain in the head section of the DGD,
alternating zones with a different curtain density over the length of the drum, increasing the distance from the mouth of the
slurry injector to the curtain, which can be provided either by lowering the injector in the pipe supplying the heat-transfer
medium (this is not always feasible due to overgrowth of the pipe), or by placing the injectors in the vertical plane. The flare
of the upper injector shields the lower flare from falling particles of the curtain, and results in elongation of the unrestricted
flare of the lower injector, i.e., to the formation of independent particles. The same effect is provided by the operation of a
single injector with twice the output.
The optimal relationship between parameters the temperature of the heat-transfer medium, the length of the flare,
and the moisture content and dispersivity of the slurry (which depend on its composition, pressure, and nozzle design) makes
it possible to conduct the granulation with the formation of a sufficient amount of new granule nuclei directly from the slurry.
In connection with the need for effective removal of spent drying agent from the ammonia, and lock-in of the systems water
balance, however, the slurry composition normally employed is not always optimal for the granulation process; other sources
for the creation of granule nuclei are also therefore required. For example, simultaneous operation of the TR in different
modes is possible: with a slurry MR corresponding to the formation of the fine fraction, and with an MR which ensures
growth of granules along the surface.
Operation of the DGD renders sticking of the product onto the internal packing of the drum difficulty. In the manufacture of DAP, sticking of the product occurs in the receiving chamber of the drum when significant amounts of cold air
are sucked into the chamber from the shop room, as a result of which drops of slurry are cooled and crystallized, retaining
their initial moisture content; this prevents the development of new particles, and results in coarsening of the granules, and
outgrowth formation. This process can be leveled by heating the atomizing air.
When TR are used, however, this procedure is unsuitable, since the slurry in the reactor is dispersed by steam that
is cooled by the air that is drawn in, which results in additional wetting of the charge. For the TR-DGD unit, a uniform distribution of drying agent throughout the cross section of the drum is most effective, i.e., around the flare of slurry; this is
achieved by sealing the receiving chamber, and by the central introduction of heat-transfer medium to the chamber.
Implementation of these recommendations for a DGD 4 m in diameter and 22 m long made it possible to increase
the specific DAP output to 2.42.6 tons/(m2h). A DAP fertilizer corresponding to existing specifications with respect to composition is produced here: 17.7% N, 46.0% P2O5, and 1.1% H2O. Emission of unbound ammonia from the DGD amounted
to 35% of that introduced to the TR.
It is expedient to refine further the granulation process in the direction of a reduction in the specific emission of
ammonia and dust-like fractions of product into the absorption subassembly. This is possible, for example, by constricting
313
the dispersion of slurry drops due to a change in nozzle configuration; by creating a dense curtain of material in the tail section of the DGD; and by increasing the moisture content of the charge in the drum via an increase in specific output.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
314
Production of Phosphate and Combined Fertilizers [in Russian], S. D. venchik and A. A. Brodskii (eds.), Khimiya,
Moscow (1987).
Yu. I. Kipriyanov, A. D. Kartoshkin, V. A. Savarov, and S. S. Papazov, Granulation and drying of complex mineral
fertilizers in drum-type vessels, Theses of Papers Presented at the All-Union Scientific-Technical Conference
Equipment for Mineral-Fertilizer Production [in Russian], Tsentralnyi Institut Nauchno-Tekhnicheskoi Informatsii
Khimicheskogo i Neftegazovogo Mashinostroeniya, Moscow (1969), pp. 4650.
A. N. Dokholova, V. F. Karmyshov, and L. V. Sidorina, Production and Use of Ammophos [in Russian], Khimiya,
Moscow (1977).
I. G. Prishaev, A. V. Kononov, A. A. Brodskii, and G. A. Chelbi, Development of a jet ammoniator-granulator for
ammonium phosphate production, Materials Presented at the Second All-Union Scientific Conference Modern
Machinery and Vessels for Chemical Productions [in Russian], Vol. 1, KazKhTI, Chimkent (1980), pp. 7880.
I. G. Grishaev and A. A. Brodskii, Processing of ammonium-phosphate slurries of different moisture content in
industrial drum granulators-driers, Khim. Prom., No. 5, 3436 (2002).
I. G. Prishaev, P. V. Klassen, A. N. Tsetovich, et al., Granulation of ammophos in a DGD vessel, Collection of
Abstracts The Mineral Fertilizer and Sulfuric Acid Industry [in Russian], No. 2, Nauchno-Issledovatelskii Institut
Tekhniko-konomicheskikh Issledovanii po Khimii, Moscow (1976), pp. 14.

Granulation of MAP

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Granulation of MAP

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Granulation of MAP

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Vol. 43, Nos.

GRANULATION OF DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE

I. G. Grishaev and V. A. Grinevich

Nitrogen-phosphate fertilizer diammonium phosphate (DAP) is granulated in an ammoniator-granulator (AG)

0009-2355/07/0506-0312 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

You might also like