Effect of Adding Surfactants to a Solution of Fertilizer on the Granulation Process

Bernard Michałek, Marek Ochowiak, Katarzyna Bizon, Sylwia Włodarczak, Andżelika Krupińska, Magdalena Matuszak, Dominika Boroń, Błażej Gierczyk and Radosław Olszewski
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Bernard Michałek: Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Uniwerystetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
Marek Ochowiak: Department of Chemical Engineering and Equipment, Poznan University of Technology, Plac Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Katarzyna Bizon: Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Krakow, Poland
Sylwia Włodarczak: Department of Chemical Engineering and Equipment, Poznan University of Technology, Plac Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Andżelika Krupińska: Department of Chemical Engineering and Equipment, Poznan University of Technology, Plac Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Magdalena Matuszak: Department of Chemical Engineering and Equipment, Poznan University of Technology, Plac Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
Dominika Boroń: Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Krakow, Poland
Błażej Gierczyk: Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Uniwerystetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
Radosław Olszewski: PPC ADOB, ul. Kołodzieja 11, 61-070 Poznan, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Granulated chelates are innovative fertilizers that are highly effective and versatile, and they ensure the best start-up effect for plants. The final properties of granules are influenced by the method of their preparation and the used substances. The diameters of the obtained granules, their size range, and the final costs of the produced fertilizer are of great importance. The paper describes granules that were produced using an agglomeration of ZnIDHA in a fluidized bed with the aid of an aqueous solution of this substance with a high dry matter content. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of surfactant addition to the solution on the evolution of granule size distribution during the process carried out in a batch mode and to access the possibility of describing the process dynamics using population balance approach. A sieve analysis was performed in order to determine the size of the granulate, and numerical calculations were performed to determine the value of the constant aggregation rate. Based on experimental studies, it can be seen that the increase in the diameters of granules is mainly caused by the agglomeration process, and to a lesser extent by the coating process. The addition of surfactant increased the median size of the granules in the initial granulation stage, and also lowered the surface tension. This in turn enables a lower spraying pressure to be used. A comparison of different aggregation kernels constituting an integral part of the population balance model proved that the physically motivated equipartition kinetic energy kernel performs best in this case. Moreover, the computational results show an increase in the aggregation rate when the surfactant additive is used and confirm that population balance allows the extraction of physical information about the granulation.

Keywords: granulation process; fertilizer; surfactants; agglomeration; granule properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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