Ammonium nitrate granulation prilling

The urea produced is normally either prilled or granulated. In some countries there is a market for Hquid urea—ammonium nitrate solutions (32% N). In this case, a partial-recycle stripping process is the best and cheapest system. The unconverted NH coming from the stripped urea solution and the reactor off-gas is neutralized with nitric acid. The ammonium nitrate solution formed and the urea solution from the stripper bottom are mixed, resulting in a 32—35 wt % solution. This system drastically reduces investment costs as evaporation, finishing (priQ or granulation), and wastewater treatment are not required. 

Urea processes provide an aqueous solution containing 70—87% urea. This solution can be used directiy for nitrogen-fertilizer suspensions or solutions such as urea—ammonium nitrate solution, which has grown ia popularity recentiy (18). Urea solution can be concentrated by evaporation or crystallization for the preparation of granular compound fertilizers and other products. Concentrated urea is sohdified ia essentially pure form as prills, granules, flakes, or crystals. SoHd urea can be shipped, stored, distributed, and used mote economically than ia solution. Furthermore, ia the soHd form, urea is more stable and biuret formation less likely. 

Three steps are essential to ammonium nitrate manufacture neutralization of nitric acid with ammonia to produce a concentrated solution evaporation to give a melt and processing by prilling or granulation to give the commercial soHd product. 

Graining, flaking, and spraying have all been used to make soHd ammonium nitrate particles. Most plants have adopted various prilling or granulation processes. Crystallized ammonium nitrate has been produced occasionally in small quantities for use in specialty explosives. The Tennessee Valley Authority developed and operated a vacuum crystallization process (25), but the comparatively small crystals were not well received as a fertilizer. 

Ammonium Nitrate Plants - In ammonium nitrate plants, wet scrubbers can be considered for prill towers and the granulation plant. Particulate emissions of 0.5 kg/t of product for the prill tower and 0.25 kg/t of product for granulation should be the target. Similar loads for ammonia are appropriate. Other effluents that originate in a nitrogenous fertilizer complex include boiler blowdown, water treatment plant backwash, and cooling tower blowdown from the ammonia and nitric acid plants. 

Ammonium Nitrate Plant 7. Prill lower reduce microprill formation and reduce carryover of fines through entrainment. 8. Materials handling where feasible use covers and hoods on conveyors and transition points. Good cleanup practices must be in place to minimize contamination of stormwater mnoff from the plant property. 9. Granulators reduce dust emissions from the disintegration of granules. 

Frilling towers convert molten materials into droplets and allow them to solidify in contact with an air stream. Towers as high as 60 m are used. Economically the process becomes competitive with other granulation processes when a capacity of 200- 400 tons/day is reached. Ammonium nitrate prills, for example, are 1.6-3.5 mm dia in the 5-95% range. 

Usually prilled ammonium nitrate is used as it facilitates detonation of the explosive and the porosity of the granules help to retain the liquid ingredient. 

Adding inert coating and fuel oil to ammonium nitrate is more efficient when the latter is in granulated, prilled or flaked form. 

Dimensional and some operating data for prilling of urea and ammonium nitrate also are in Table 12.18. Towers as high as 60 m have been installed. Because of the expense of towers, prilling is not competitive with other granulation processes until capacities of 200-400 tons/day are reached. 

The density of the prills is reduced substantially when much evaporation occurs with 0.2-0.5% water in the feed, ammonium nitrate prills have a specific gravity of 0.95, but with 3-5% water it falls to 0.75. Prilled granules usually are less dense than those made by layering growth in drum or fluidized bed granulators. The latter processes also can make larger prills economically. To make large prills, a tall tower is needed to ensure solidification before the bottom is reached. The size distribution depends very much on the character of the atomization but can be made moderately uniform. Some commercial data of cumulative % less than size are ... 

The resulting AN solution may be handled in various ways103. It can be stored as a solution, used in down-stream plants or sold as a solution it can be formed into solid AN by prilling or granulation, or it can be mixed with a solid filler. The most common filler is calcium carbonate in the form of ground limestone, dolomite or by-product calcium carbonate. This product is known as Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) and can be prilled or granulated. Granular products that contain AN and either ammonium or calcium sulphate are also manufactured. 

FIGURE 11.9 Ammonium nitrate by the Stengel process. Intermediate evaporation before prilling or granulation would be employed for the production of a high-density product. 

---