UFT fluid bed granulationSuperior technology

Uhde Fertilizer Technology

2

Company profile ................................................ 3

UFT fluid bed granulation Plants throughout the world ................................ 4

Process description Features of the granulation process ...................... 6

EmissionAttractive options for emission reductions ............. 8

UFT activitiesStandard, Mega and Jumbo plants .................... 10

UFT activitiesTailored revamps and further UFT activities ......... 11

UFT activitiesGranulator design by UFT .................................. 12

Facts and figures ............................................. 13

Advantages of UFT´s Fluid Bed Granulation Process ........................... 14

Content

3

Uhde Fertilizer Technology (UFT) was established in 2005 as a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Nederland B.V. and is domiciled in Roermond in the Netherlands. UFT holds the exclusive license rights for the fluid bed urea granulation technology, acquired from Yara Fertilizer Tech-nology (YFT) in the Netherlands, and now exclusively licenses the renowned fluid bed urea granulation technology worldwide.

UFT delivers the license, the process design included in the Process Design Package, and the Granulator Lower Casing as proprietary equipment for new granulation plants and provides additional services, such as operator training. UFT also provides after-sales service, including operational support, troubleshooting, spare part deliveries and revamps for existing granulation plants built under license from YFT or UFT.

Uhde Fertilizer

Technology’s team

Company profi le

Uhde Fertilizer Technology’s

office building in Roermond

in the Netherlands

4

UFT fl uid bed granulation Plants throughout the world

Fluid bed granulation technology was de- veloped in the mid-1970s by NSM Sluiskil (then Hydro Agri, later Yara), a large nitrogen fertilizer company which had been producing urea in Sluiskil in the Netherlands since the 1950s.

At the time, there was a market demand for granulated urea to overcome the various short-comings of prilled urea (particle size limitations, poor hardness, product caking, environmental constraints). The process was developed with the follow-ing requirements in mind:

• the production of urea granules of the highest possible quality and sizes required by the market• environment-friendly operation at competitive costs• maximum straightforward operational flexibility• a single-train design to match ever-increasing urea synthesis capacities• competitive investment costs

After extensive laboratory research and pilot plant tests, the process was success-fully implemented on an industrial scale in Sluiskil in 1979. HFT/YFT, a dedicated licensing company registered in Sluiskil, then began licensing the technology to fertilizer producers worldwide in 1980. Fluid bed granulation became the leading technology, boasting more than 55 reference plants with single-stream capacities ranging from 500 mt/d to 3,600 mt/d.

In 2004, after the integration of Norsk Hydro’s fertilizers activities into Yara Inter-national, an independent company, Yara’s decision to focus strictly on its core busi-ness (production and marketing of fertil-izers) led to the divestment of its urea fluid bed granulation licensing business. In 2005 Uhde Fertilizer Technology acquired the ex-clusive worldwide rights to further license the technology without any restrictions.

There are now fluid bed granulation plants based on UFT’s technology on all five con-tinents, and new capacities are constantly being added.

UFT urea fl uid bed granulation capacity (1975 – 2010)

Contract year

mt/

d

1975

150,000

120,000

90,000

60,000

30,000

0150 3,500 6,000

15,00025,100

68,800

99,700

137,800

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

5

Others

>80%

UFT fl uid bed granulation plants operate under a

wide variety of diff erent climatic conditions all over

the world. UFT’s share of the market for fl uid bed

granulation technologies is more than 80% with

respect to overall production capacity in operation.

Customer Location Capacity Special Features

Qafco (5 & 6) Qatar 2 x 3,850 mt/d Qafco 3 & 4: UFT granulation plants as well

AOFP Algeria 2 x 3,850 mt/d Design capacity: 2 x 4,200 mt/d with acidic scrubbing

Petrobras Brazil 3,600 mt/d Ammonia Convert Technology

Safco 4 Saudi Arabia 3,600 mt/d Safco 1,2 & 3: UFT granulation plants as well

CNOOC P.R. China 2,700 mt/d Biggest plant in P.R. China

AFC, EFC & MOPCO Egypt 3 x 2,000 mt/d

Remarkable reference plants:

For more details see separate list of reference plants which can be downloaded from the UFT homepage under http://www.uhde-fertilizer-technology.com/publications.html

6

Process description Features of the granulation process

Feed solution, which is typically a 97% urea solution, is dispensed to the injection heads where it is finely atomized up into the bed of moving particles, assisted by air.

Fluidization air, delivered by a fan under the perforated plate, flows through the product layer to create a fluid bed and is discharged at the granulator top.

Granular urea flows at a controlled rate from the granulator to a fluid bed cooler. After cooling, the granules are lifted to the screening section using a bucket elevator.

The fines fraction is recycled directly to the granulator, while the coarse material is crushed before being sent to the granulator as seeding particles.

The on-size product is sent to the ware-house after final cooling. Cooling the urea to a constant and sufficiently low storage temperature is a key parameter in avoiding caking.

Features of the granulation processIn UFT’s process, the granulation mode is accretion. This means that particles grow through the solidification of tiny droplets on the seed material. The result is a very hard granule, far superior in quality than granules produced through layering or ag-glomeration-based processes.

This slow accretion process is unique in permitting the water present in the urea solution to be thoroughly stripped on a con-tinuous basis resulting in the end product having a remarkably low moisture content.

The solids recycle ratio, which at 0.5/1 is very low and stable, is another significant feature as it eliminates the need to over-design the solids recycle loop equipment. The low recycle ratio is acceptable as it only plays a minor role in the granulator heat balance.

The bulk of the crystallization heat released as the urea solidifies is removed by evapor-ating the water in the urea solution. This method of heat release limits the amount of fluidized air and the evaporation is highly efficient because it takes place directly on the granule surface.

Operation of the fluid bed granulation plant is simple and very reliable, guaranteeing a high on-stream factor. The granulator itself contains no moving parts, and its design is optimized to limit downtimes for cleaning to a strict minimum.

The use of solids handling equipment is minimized to increase the reliability and availability of the fluid bed granulation plant and to reduce maintenance costs.

7

1)

1) Depending on site condition, Bulk Flow Cooler can be applied as alternative.

7

8

EmissionsAttractive options for reducing emissions

Urea dustThe air from the granulator and the fluid bed coolers contains some urea dust which is easy to catch in stan-dard scrubbing equipment. Efficiencies of more than 99.5% are easily obtained using industrially proven scrubbers, with dust outlet concentrations of less than 0.1 kg per ton of urea produced being achieved.

The urea dust is recovered as a 45% solution and recy-cled to the evaporation unit in the urea synthesis plant.

Emission Achievable urea dust emission 20 mg/Nm³ air

AmmoniaThe majority of the ammonia is carried with the urea solution from the urea synthesis plant. As the amount is dictated by the equilibrium achieved during the eva-poration process in the urea synthesis plant, it cannot be influenced. A small part is generated by the biuret formation occurring in the transfer line between the urea synthesis plant and the granulator in the urea granu-lation plant.

The ammonia is released into the exhaust air leaving the granulator when the urea solution is sprayed into the fluidized bed. The standard wet scrubbing system is able to catch nearly all the urea dust. However, it is unable to catch the ammonia as the solubility of ammo-nia in an aqueous urea solution under the prevailing operating conditions is limited.

The following options are available for reducing ammonia emissions:

a) UFT’s proprietary Ammonia Abatement SystemThe ammonia abatement system is based on the revers- ible gas phase reaction between ammonia and formal-dehyde. The free ammonia is captured from the exhaust air leaving the granulator and is recovered in the urea synthesis. As a result, ammonia emissions are reduced by up to 40 %. No additional scrubbing agent is required and the additional investment and operating costs are negligible.

b) Acidic Scrubbing, e. g. with sulfuric acid as scrubbing agentDilute sulfuric acid is used as the scrubbing agent in an acid scrubbing stage installed downstream of the dust scrubbing section. The gaseous ammonia is absorbed in the diluted acid, and an ammonium sulfate (AS) solu-tion is obtained as an additional side stream. This side

9

stream has to be subjected to further treatment or dis-posed of – both options taking place outside the battery limits of the urea granulation plant. As a result, ammo-nia emissions are reduced by approx. 90 %.

c) UFT´s proprietary Ammonia Convert TechnologyThe Ammonia Convert Technology is based on an acid scrubbing stage and recycling of the ammonium salt obtained back into the final product.

A special arrangement in the scrubbing system allows the ammonium salt and the washed out dust to be re- cycled to a separate small recycle vacuum evaporation section within the urea granulation plant. In this evapor-ation section the urea solution containing the ammonium salt is evaporated to achieve the concentration required for granulation. This is subsequently mixed with the urea solution coming from the vacuum evaporation in the urea synthesis plant.

As no recycle flow to the urea synthesis plant is required, investment and operating costs within the urea synthesis plant are reduced. The process condensate from the re-cycle vacuum evaporation section is fed directly into the combined acidic and dust scrubbing system as make-up water.

The urea granules contain traces of ammonium sulfate, the presence of the micronutrient is resulting in an up-grading of the fertilizer. As a result, ammonia emissions are reduced by approx. 90 %.

The advantages of the Ammonia Convert Technology are:

• Drastically reduced ammonia emissions.• No side stream of acidic scrubbing solution to be disposed of.• Nitrogen content in the urea fertilizer above 46 %.• Upgraded product quality due to an additional nutrient in the product.• Significant savings in production costs per ton and per annum. • The most stringent environmental regulations can easily be met, production costs are reduced, add- itional production capacities are achieved, and the company’s image in the community is improved.

Emission Achievable ammonia emission 15 mg/Nm³ air

urea solution

urea solution

exhaust air with urea dust & ammonia

ammonia < 15 mg / Nm³ to atmosphere

urea granulesN > 46 %wt.S < 0.1 %wt.

recycleprocess

condensate

make up

acid

Battery Limits

Granulation

Combined Dust and

Acidic Scrubbing System

Recycle Evaporation

Urea Synthesis Plantincl. Evaporation

Process diagram of Ammonia Convert Technology (ACT)

10

UFT activitiesStandard, Mega and Jumbo plants

production achieved so far in a UFT fluid bed granu-lation plant is more than 4,200 mt/d.

UFT is the only licensor who can offer proven tech-nology for mega plants.

Market demands for further reductions in investment costs per ton of production have resulted in continuous increases to individual plant sizes.

Based on its experience in the design and commis-sioning of world-scale plants, with capacities of 3,500 to 4,000 mt/d, UFT has developed a process schematic for single-line urea granulation plants with capacities of 4,200 to 6,000 mt/d, the so-called jumbo plants.

As equipment sizes increase dramatically in such en-ormous plants, UFT has created tools used especially for designing the granulator. These tools allow the design to be optimized with regard to process and mechanical parameters (please refer to page 12). One of these tools, a model based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), is used to perform and optimize the mechanical design of the granulator lower and upper casing.

The layout is based on a product flow-oriented design in which the product only be moved by gravity flow once it has been lifted to the screening level. The advan-tages are short ways for the product and the air flow and therefore minimized investment cost. A typical layout for a 5,000 mt/d fluid bed urea granulation plant has been drawn up based on the equipment design and resulting equipment sizes (refer to the figure above).

Licensing and process designWith more than 55 plants in operation and a market share of more than 80% of the plant capacity in oper-ation, the fluid bed urea granulation technology licensed by Uhde Fertilizer Technology has been setting the world market standard for granular urea for nearly three de-cades.

UFT provides the license, the process design included in the Process Design Package, and the Granulator Lower Casing as proprietary equipment, and offers ad-ditional services, e.g. operator training and operational support.

As a general rule, urea granulation plants can be split into three classes based on annual production capacity:

• Standard plants• Mega plants• Jumbo plants

Plants producing less than 1 million metric tons per year are classed as standard plants. With more than 50 standard plants currently in operation, UFT is the most experienced urea granulation licensor.

Plants producing between 1 and 1.3 million metric tons per year (approx 3,000 to 3,800 mt/d) in a single line are classed as mega plants. In total, UFT has al-ready designed 13 plants with a capacity of more than 3,250 mt/d - four of them are in operation, eight are under construction, and one is in the engineering phase.

The biggest single line plant designed to date has a name plate capacity of 3,850 mt/d. The highest daily

3D plant model of a Jumbo plant

10

1111

UFT activitiesTailored revamps and further UFT activities

Small revamps (10 to 15%) in UFT’s fluid bed granu-lation plants are easy to implement if spare fluidization air is available. In this case the urea spray system can cope with the extra capacity without needing to be modified.

However, larger revamps are also easy to implement. The main item, the granulator, can be upgraded by increasing the number of urea sprayers installed in the granulator using part of the granulator’s existing cooling section. The residual cooling section in the granulator can be enlarged by adding an additional cooling section which must have additional fluidization air. All other equipment has to be adapted to the new capacity required on a case by case basis. This may involve increasing the cooling capacity of the fluid bed coolers, expanding the screening surface, or boosting the scrubber capacity. Several UFT granulation plants have been revamped in the past, ranging from revamps for minor capacity increases of 10% at PCS Trinidad, to major capacity increases of more than 40%, such as the one for Yara Belle Plaine, Canada, formerly Saskferco, or for ABF, Malaysia. The latter example has already undergone two revamps, increasing the capacity by more than 60%.

The daily capacity of the Yara Belle Plaine plant in Canada is now more than 3,000 mt/d and the total annual production capacity exceeds 1 million tons.

Further activitiesR&D is one of UFT’s major activities. Its main object-ives are to improve and optimize the renowned fluid bed granulation technology and to keep it in line with market requirements.

In this context UFT cooperates with universities and research institutes worldwide.

The ability to carry out tests in pilot plant scale facil-ities, coupled with the experience gained from oper-ating plants for selected customers, allows R&D results to be implemented in industrial scale plants.

UFT also provides after-sales service, including oper-ational support, troubleshooting and spare part delivery. UFT is at the customer’s disposal at all times to suit the customer’s requirements.

Remarkable reference plants:

Customer Location increase from

KAFCO Bangladesh 1,725 to 2,100 mt/d

EFC Egypt 2,000 to 2,250 mt/d

ABF Malaysia 1,500 to 2,450 mt/d

Yara Belle Plaine Canada 2,000 to 2,850 mt/d

PCS Nitrogen Trinidad 1,620 to 1,800 mt/d

12

The granulator is the key component in every granul- ation plant. The granulator comprises of the Granulator Upper Casing and the Granulator Lower Casing includ-ing the urea injection system.

UFT delivers the Granulator Lower Casing as a com-plete factory-pre-assembled package unit, and is con-sequently involved in every phase from engineering, to expediting and inspection, to delivery of the Granulator Lower Casing, as well as cooperating with selected manufacturers.

The delivery of the Granulator Lower Casing as pro-prietary equipment, UFT´s outstanding experience in granulator design spanning nearly thirty years, and the feedback from the 55+ granulators designed ensure the highest possible quality standards.

UFT has gone to enormous lengths to optimize the design of the granulator. For example, fluid dynamic calculations were performed to optimize the fluidization air flow supply to the granulator lower casing, and the exhaust air flow to the downstream scrubbing system. As a result, UFT offers a granulator design which pro- vides excellent product quality while boasting low in-vestment costs and low operating costs per ton of urea.

FEM (Finite Element Method) models have been de-veloped to optimize the mechanical design of the Gran-ulator Upper and Lower Casing under prevailing design conditions, such as design pressure and earthquake factors, and to minimize the weight of the granulator upper and lower casing while maintaining higher mechanical stability.

This means that UFT is able to make customized de-signs for all plant sizes, especially for mega and jumbo plant size granulators.

UFT activitiesGranulator design by UFT

CFD – Simulation of Air

Flows through Granulator FEM – lifting study of Granulator Lower Casing

FEM – Model of Granulator Upper Casing

12

13

ProductsThe UFT fluid bed granulation process can produce all required product sizes within an average diameter range of 2 to 8 mm, e.g. 2 to 4 mm (standard granule) or 4 to 8 mm (large granule), in the same plant with only minimum adjustments.

Product characteristics Urea granules produced in the fluid bed have a well rounded shape and are very hard. They are particularly resistant to crushing and abrasion, and are conse-quently dust-free, non-caking and completely free flowing, even after long storage times and frequent handling and shipping.

Specification (Typical)

Consumption figures The consumption figures largely depend on the climatic conditions on site, local environmental regulations, the end-product storage temperature, and the overall plant energy management system.

Application Granular urea can be substituted for prilled urea in all applications. Urea granules have a number of superior features as a result of their excellent physical character- istics: • Granules can be stored in bulk and transported in large volumes without loss or quality degradation • Granular urea is particularly suitable for bulk blending operations; segregation or mechanical damage during mixing and transport is virtually nil • The larger granules have improved agronomical efficiency, particularly when used in paddy rice fer- tilization, and are also suitable for aerial spreading

Standard size Large size

Total nitrogen 46.3 wt % 46.3 wt %

Biuret 0.7-0.8 wt % 0.7-0.8 wt %

Moisture 0.2 wt % 0.3 wt %

Crushing strength 4.1 kg (Ø:3 mm) 10.0 kg (Ø:7 mm)

Average diameter 3.2 mm 6.3 mm

Size distribution 95 wt % (2-4 mm) 95 wt % (4-8 mm)

Formaldehyde 0.4 wt % 0.4 wt %

Electric power 33 kWh/mt 1)

LP stream 35 kg/mt

Process water 0.2 m³/mt

Cooling water none1) depending on climatic conditions

Facts and figures

Left photo: Granulator Lower

Casing for Mega plant

Right photo: Mega plant

Typical Specific Consumption

14

Outstanding Experience

• Excellent product quality.

• Proven technology for nearly 30 years.

• With more than 55 UFT granulation plants worldwide operating under all climatic conditions, and a world- wide market share with respect to operating capacity of more than 80 %:

- urea granules produced in UFT fluid bed granul- ation plants are setting the world market standard.

• UFT is the only licensor of urea granulation technol- ogy to have licensed 13 urea granulation plants with equal or higher capacities than 3,250 mt/d, four of them are in operation, eight are under construction and one is in the engineering phase (first commis- sioning in 2004 / max. achieved capacity of 4,300 mt/d in a single line).

Excellent Design Features

• Single-stream capacities which are always large enough to handle the largest urea synthesis units developed to date.

• High operating flexibility.

• Customized design in terms of product quality, environmental requirements, minimum investment cost, low operating cost, local conditions and com- petent support during the life cycle of the plant.

• Use of a typical 97% urea solution, coupled with low recycle ratios to the urea synthesis plant, results in: The design of the upstream urea concentration unit, and of its related desorption/hydrolysis section in the urea synthesis plant, being simplified considerably:

- only single-stage evaporation downstream of the urea solution buffer tank,

- reduced steam and cooling water consumption,

- minimized electrical power consumption,

- reduced investment and operating costs for the urea synthesis plant.

• Compact layout for maximum operability with minimum investment costs.

• As the heart of the urea granulation plant, the gran- ulator, has no moving parts, the entire operation is highly reliable and simple.

• Maximum use of gravity flow as a means of transport inside the battery limit.

Advantages of UFT´s Fluid Bed Granulation Process

15

Excellent Operating Features

• Its outstanding flexibility permits virtually all requested product size within an average diameter range of 2 to 8 mm, to be produced in the same plant with only minimum adjustments.

Start ups and shut downs are fairly easy.

• Operating with a urea solution concentration as low as typically 97 % allows the biuret content of the granules to be maintained at a level significantly lower than that of other granulation processes, thereby improving the product quality.

• Easy operation, reduces manpower to a strict minimum.

• Operation and maintenance costs are low.

• Maximum on-stream factor.

Outstanding Environmental Features

• No liquid effluents are released into the sewers from the urea granulation plant.

• Efficient control of atmospheric emissions compatible with the most stringent environmental regulations.

• A dust removal efficiency of more than 99 % can be reached consistently with proven wet scrubbers.

• UFT offers highly efficient and industrially proven schemes for ammonia emission reduction such as:

a) UFT´s proprietary Ammonia Abatement System, ammonia emissions are reduced by up to 40 %,

b) Acidic Scrubbing with e. g. sulfuric acid, ammo- nia emissions are reduced by approx. 90 %,

c) UFT´s proprietary Ammonia Convert Technology, ammonia emissions are reduced by approx. 90 %, avoiding any side stream by recycling of the am- monium salt from the acidic scrubbing into the final product. This combines minimized emissions with remarkable economic benefits.

15

FL 2

40e/

2000

2/2

011

Uhd

e/TK

prin

tmed

ia/P

rinte

d in

Ger

man

y

Uhde Fertilizer Technology B.V.

Noordhoven 19 · 6042 NW Roermond · The Netherlands

Tel.: +31 475 399 770 · Fax: +31 475 399 777

www.uhde-fertilizer-technology.com