UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
Transcript of UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
This report submitted in accordance with requirement of the Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) for the Bachelor Degree of Manufacturing Engineering
(Manufacturing Process) (Hons.)
by
MUHAMMAD YAZUAN BIN YAAKUP
B050810104
89080105069
FACULTY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
2012
PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF UREA BINDER EXTRUDE AT VARIOUS WEIGHT CONCENTRATION
BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS LAPORAN PROJEK SARJANA MUDA
TAJUK: Physical Characterization of Urea Binder Extrude at Various Weight Concentrations
SESI PENGAJIAN: 2011/12 Semester 2 Saya MUHAMMAD YAZUAN BIN YAAKUP mengaku membenarkan Laporan PSM ini disimpan di Perpustakaan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut: 1. Laporan PSM adalah hak milik Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka dan penulis. 2. Perpustakaan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka dibenarkan membuat salinan
untuk tujuan pengajian sahaja dengan izin penulis. 3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan laporan PSM ini sebagai bahan
pertukaran antara institusi pengajian tinggi. 4. **Sila tandakan (√)
SULIT
TERHAD
TIDAK TERHAD
(Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia yang termaktub di dalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972)
(Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan)
Alamat Tetap:
BATU 3 ½, KG. KUALA PAH,
71600, KUALA KLAWANG,
JELEBU, N.SEMBILAN
Disahkan oleh:
PENYELIA PSM
Tarikh: ______________________
** Jika Laporan PSM ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak berkuasa/organisasi berkenaan dengan menyatakan sekali sebab dan tempoh laporan PSM ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai SULIT atau TERHAD.
UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
DECLARATION
I hereby, declared this report entitled “Physical Characterization of Urea Binder
Extrude at Various Weight Concentration” is the results of my own research except as
cited in references.
Signature : ………………………………………….
Author’s Name : Muhammad Yazuan Bin Yaakup
Date : 29 June 2012
APPROVAL
This report is submitted to the Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering of UTeM as
a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of
Manufacturing Engineering (Manufacturing Process) (Hons.). The member of the
supervisory committee is as follow:
………………………………...............
i
ABSTRAK
Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan peranan sifat-sifat fizikal Urea pengikat
meleler pada pelbagai nisbah kepekatan. Analisis akan dilakukan dengan menggunakan
mesin Pemampatan, Penganalisis Saiz Butir dan Densimeter Elektronik di pelbagai
nisbah kepekatan. Hasil dari ujian pemampatan, analisis saiz butir dan ujian ketumpatan
akan memberitahu kita sifat-sifat fizikal Urea Pengikat. Parameter yang digunakan
dalam kajian ini adalah kepelbagaian nisbah kepekatan Urea Pengikat. Ujian
Pemampatan ini digunakan untuk melihat kekuatan menghancur butir Urea Pengikat.
Analisis saiz butir Urea Pengikat digunakan untuk mencari sama ada terdapat sebarang
butir bahan-bahan mentah yang hilang atau tidak hilang selepas proses penyemperitan.
Daripada analisis saiz butir, ia juga boleh menunjukkan sama ada bahan mentah telah
digabungkan dengan baik atau tidak baik. Keputusan bagi ujian ketumpatan Urea Binder
adalah untuk mencari sama ada terdapat mana-mana yang ketumpatan berbeza yang
terhasil akibat pelbagai nisbah kepekatan Urea Pengikat. Akhirnya data yang diperolehi
akan memberitahu kita hubungkait antara kekuatan menghancur butir Urea Pengikat,
saiz butir Urea Pengikat dan ketumpatan Urea Pengikat untuk memahami lebih lanjut
mengenai proses Butiran baja.
ii
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to determine the role on the physical properties of Urea Binder
extrude at various weight concentrations. The analysis will be done using the Compress
machine, Particle Size Analyzer and Electronic Densimeter at various weight
concentrations. The result from compress test, particle size analysis and density test will
tell us the physical properties of Urea binder.The parameters that are used in this study
are concentration of Urea binder. The compress test is used to look the granule crushing
strength of Urea binder. The analysis of particle size is to find whether there is any
particle of raw materials lost or not after extrusion process. From particle size analysis it
also can show either the raw materials had combined and granule well or not. The results
for density test is to find whether there is any different of density occur because of the
various weight concentration of Urea binder. Finally the data obtained will tell us the
correlation between granule crushing strength, particle size and density in order to
understand more about the fertilizer granulation process.
iii
DEDICATION
I especially dedicate this report to my father and my mother.
Without their patience, understanding, support, and most of all love, the completion of
this study would not have been possible.
I also dedicate this report to my friends no matter where they are now.
We have built this tight relationship and being together for many years.
Without all of you, surely I could not all the challenges.
And most special thanks to my supervisor for his advices and guidance.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly I would like to take this chance to thank all lecturer and friend for giving an
advice and support since the beginning of Final Year Project1 until today Final Year
Project 2. A very thankful for my Supervisor, Mr. Mohd Fairuz Bin Dimin @ Mohd.
Amin for giving me much support and guidance in order to complete this project and
report within the given period. He gave me so many ideas and suggestions in order to
perform well along this period.
I also would like to thank all my friends for giving an opinion and helping me in
searching for information and guidelines for my study. I believed that all the knowledge
I got here might be useful later in my career. I would like to convey my appreciation to
all Manufacturing Engineering Faculty Lecturers and staff for being so kind and helpful
along this period of studies. Without all of them, I am nothing and my four years studies
may be useless.
v
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstrak i
Abstract ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of Content v
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
List of Abbreviations, Symbols and Nomenclature x
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 Objectives 2
1.4 Scopes 3
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1 Fertilizer 4
2.2 Urea Fertilizer 5
2.3 Urea Manufacturing Process 6
2.3.1 Synthesis 6
2.3.2 Purification 6
2.3.3 Concentration 7
2.3.4 Granulation Process 7
2.3.4.1 Wet Granulation 8
2.3.4.2 Dry Granulation 8
2.4 The Physical Characteristic of Urea 9
2.4.1 Particle Size 10
vi
2.4.1.1 Effects on Agronomic Response 10
2.4.1.2 Effects on Granulation and Process Performance 11
2.4.1.3 Effects on Storage, Handling, and Application Properties 11
2.4.1.4 Effects on Blending Properties 12
2.4.1.5 Particle Size Analysis 14
2.4.2 Density 14
2.4.2.1 Bulk Density 14
2.4.2.2 Apparent Density 15
2.4.2.3 True Density 15
2.4.3 Granule Hardness 16
2.4.3.1 Crushing Strength 16
2.4.3.2 Abrasion Resistance 17
2.4.3.3 Impact Resistance 18
2.5 The Parameters in Urea 18
2.5.1 Concentration of Urea 18
3.0 METHODOLOGY 20
3.1 Planning of the Study 20
3.2 Flow Chart of Methodology 21
3.3 Machines and Equipment 22
3.3.1 Extruder machine 22
3.3.2 Particle Size Analyzer 24
3.3.3 Electronic Densimeter MD-300S 26
3.3.4 Compression Tester 28
3.4 The Materials 30
3.4.1 Pure Urea (CH4N2O) 30
3.4.2 Soy Bagasse 31
3.4.3 Wheat Flour 32
4.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION 33
4.1 Results of Experiment 33
vii
4.1.1 Compression Test 35
4.1.2 Density Test 37
4.1.3 Particle Size Analysis 38
4.2 Discussion 41
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions 44
5.2 Recommendations 45
REFERENCES 46
APPENDICES
A Gantt chart for PSM 1
B Gantt chart for PSM 2
C Parts of Extruder machine
D Parts of Extruder machine
E Parts of Extruder machine
F Parts of Compression tester
viii
LIST OF TABLES
3.1 Sample Ratio by Gram 23
3.2 Sample Ratio by Percentage 23
4.1 Result of Compression test 35
4.2 Result of Density test 36
4.3 The Range size of Soy Bagasse for Particle Size analysis 38
4.4 The Range size of Wheat Flour for Particle Size analysis 39
4.5 The Range size of Urea for Particle Size analysis 40
4.6 The Range size of sample D for Particle Size analysis 41
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
2.1 Schematic representation of Urea synthesis 5
3.1 Flow Chart for Methodology 21
3.2 Extruder machine 22
3.3 Particle Size Analyzer 24
3.4 Flow Chart for Particle Size Analyzer 25
3.5 Electronic Densimeter 26
3.6 Flow Chart for Electronic Densimeter 28
3.7 Compression Tester 28
3.8 Flow Chart for Compression Tester 30
3.9 Pure Urea (CH4N2O) 30
3.10 Soy Bagasse 31
3.11 Wheat Flour 32
4.1 Sample A (Soy Bagasse 50%: Wheat Flour 25%: Urea 25%) 33
4.2 Sample B (Soy Bagasse 25%: Wheat Flour 50%: Urea 25%) 34
4.3 Sample C (Soy Bagasse 25%: Wheat Flour 25%: Urea 50%) 34
4.4 Sample D (Soy Bagasse 33.34%: Wheat Flour 33.34%: Urea 33.34%) 35
4.5 Graph of Compression test 36
4.6 Graph of Density test 37
4.7 Graph of Soy Bagasse for Particle Size analysis 38
4.8 Graph of Wheat Flour for Particle Size analysis 39
4.9 Graph of Urea for Particle Size analysis 40
4.10 Graph of sample D 41
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SYMBOLS AND
NOMENCLATURE
C - Carbon
H - Hydrogen
He - Helium
ISO - International Organization for Standardization
K Potassium
MTPD - Mertic Tonne per Day
N - Nitrogen
Ne - Neon
No.exp - Number of experiment
O - Oxygen
P - Phosphorus
QC - Quality control
R - Correlation coefficient
R2 -
The value of coefficient of determination
UPM - Universiti Putra Malaysia
USM - Universiti Sains Malaysia
UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
UTP - Universiti Teknologi Petronas
1
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Fertilizer is known as a catalyst or supply the plant nutrient essential to growth the plant.
Typically the term of fertilizer is used to refer to the industry of agriculture that
researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains the growth of the plant on the
earth. Fertilizer is very important in agriculture industry because it also contribute in the
economy of country. These specifications narrowed the manufacturing processes of
fertilizer of Urea.
1.0 Background
OneBaja group that contains four Universities that is UTP, UPM, USM, and UTeM had
been assigned a Project entitle “Next Generation Green and Economical Urea” under
Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia. UTeM will be doing research about
“Biodegradable Urea Granules”. Physical characterization of Urea binder extrude at
various weight concentration is one of minor scope that will be review. A single line
urea granulation plants nowadays have reached capacities of more than 3,500 MTPD.
With increasing environmental and health awareness, more and more attention is paid to
the insoluble binder being used in the urea granules and the ammonia emissions from
such plants. These nondegradable binders such as formaldehyde may well be absorbed
by the plant and get into the food cycle. If large amount is consumed and untreated in a
prolong period of time it may cause a detrimental effect to human. The challenge is to
come up with a new biodegradable binder for the urea granulation process with
2
comparable quality and cost against the current available technology. A compound
fertilizer is a complex homogenous product containing two or more of nutrients that has
undergone chemical interaction during the manufacturing process. The chemical
compounding is followed by the process of granulation with the addition of anti caking
agents to form free-flowing compound granules. One of the processes in fertilizer
manufacturing is blending process. In this process, Urea will be blended in various
weight concentrations. The types of the processing parameters are various weight
concentrations. This process is done to combine Urea and binder to produce fertilizer.
From this process, there are some physical properties that being used which are
hardness, particle size and density. This three characteristic are used to see whether there
is changes when Urea binder is blend in various weight concentrations. Besides, the
compress test, particle size analysis and densitometer are the tools that being used to test
the hardness, particle size and density of Urea binder.
1.2 Problem statement
(a) The physical properties of Urea binder extrude at various weight concentrations.
(b) Hence this study, will determine whether there is any changes when the granule
crushing strength, particle size and density against various weight concentrations.
1.3 Objectives
The objectives of this study are:
(a) To determine the physical characterization of Urea binder extrudes at various weight
concentrations.
(b) To deliver the granule crushing strength, particle size and density of Urea binder
using Compression machine, Particle Size Analyzer and Densimeter when extrude at
various weight concentrations.
3
(c) To analyze the correlation between the granule crushing strength, particle size and
density against various weight concentrations whether, if there is any changes in the
physical properties of Urea binder.
1.4 Scope
The aim of this project is to determine the physical characterization of Urea binder
extrudes at various weight concentrations. Parameter that will be used is various weight
concentrations of Urea binder will eventually influence the quality of the product
produced. The Urea binder characteristic which is physical properties will be analyzed
using Compression test, Particle size Analyzer and Densimeter.
4
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Fertilizer
Fertilizers are soil amendments applied to promote plant growth. The main nutrients
added in fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients are added in
smaller amounts. Collectively, the main nutrients vital to plants by weight are called
macronutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Ammonia is main
source of nitrogen. Urea is the main product for making nitrogen available to plant.
Phosphorous is made available in form of super phosphate, Ammonium phosphate.
Potassium Chloride is used for supply of potassium. Synthetic macronutrient fertilizer
can be referred to as artificial or straight, where the product predominantly contains the
three main nutrients. Compound fertilizers are N-P-K fertilizers with other elements
purposely intermixed. Fertilizers are classified according to the content of these three
elements. Labeling is according to relative amounts of each of the three elements by
weight Nitrogen percentage is reported directly, however phosphorus is reported as the
mass fraction of phosphorus pentoxide and potassium is reported as the mass fraction of
potassium oxide (Mayer, 1996).
5
2.2 Urea Fertilizer
Urea (NH2CONH2) is very importance to the agriculture industry as a nitrogen-rich
fertilizer. Ammonia and carbon dioxide are the two elements that are produced Urea in
two equilibrium reactions. The ammonia and carbon dioxide are fed into the reactor at
high pressure and temperature, and the urea is formed in two steps reaction:
2NH3 + CO2 NH2COONH4 (ammonium carbamate)
NH2COONH4 H2O + NH2CONH2 (urea)
Unreacted NH3 and CO2 and ammonium carbamate are the several elements that is
contains in urea. The ammonia and carbon dioxide are recycled as the pressure is
reduced and heat applied the NH2COONH4 decomposes to NH3 and CO2. The urea
solution is then concentrated to give 99.6% w/w molten urea, and granulated for use as
fertiliser and chemical feedstock (Copplestone and Kirk, 1991).
Figure 2.1: Schematic representation of Urea synthesis (Copplestone and Kirk, 1991).
6
2.3 Urea manufacturing process
2.3.1 Synthesis
Ammonium carbamate is form from the reaction of a mixture of compressed CO2 and
ammonia at 240 barg. 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 solution from the decomposition and
concentration sections are recycle after second reactor receives gas from the first reactor.
Conversion of carbon dioxide to urea is approximately 60% at a pressure of 50 barg. The
solution is then purified in the same process as was used for the liquid from the first
reactor (Copplestone and Kirk, 1991).
2.3.2 Purification
Water from the urea production reaction and unconsumed reactants (ammonia, carbon
dioxide and ammonium carbamate) are the major impurities in the mixture at this stage.
The unconsumed reactants are removed in three stages. Firstly, the solution is heated
after the pressure is reduced from 240 to 17 barg, which causes the ammonium
carbamate to decompose to ammonia and carbon dioxide:
NH2COONH4 2NH3 + CO2
At the same time, some of the ammonia and carbon dioxide will be flashed off. With
more ammonia and carbon dioxide being lost at each stage, the pressure is then reduced
to 2.0 barg and finally to -0.35 barg,. Then, after the mixture is at the level of -0.35 barg,
the solution of urea dissolved in water and free of other impurities remains. The
unconsumed reactants are absorbed into a water solution which is recycled to the
secondary reactor at each stage. The excess ammonia is purified and used as feedstock to
the primary reactor (Copplestone and Kirk, 1991).
7
2.3.3 Concentration
75% of the urea solution is heated under vacuum, which fade off some of the water and
increase 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 (Copplestone and
Kirk, 1991).
2.3.4 Granulation process
Granulation is the process of collecting particles together by creating bonds between
them. Bonds are formed by compression or by using a binding agent called as binder.
The granulation process combines one or more powders and forms a granule that will
allow the tablet process to be predictable and will produce quality tablets within the
required tablet-press speed range. A tablet formulation contains several ingredients, and
the active ingredient is the most important among them. The remaining ingredients are
necessary because a suitable tablet cannot be composed of active ingredients alone. The
tablet may require variations such as additional bulk, improved flow, better
compressibility, flavoring, improved disintegration characteristics, or enhanced
appearance. If the active ingredient in a formulation represents a very small portion of
the overall tablet, then the challenge is to ensure that each tablet has the same amount of
active ingredient. Sometimes, blending the ingredients is not enough. The active
ingredient may segregate from the other ingredients in the blending process. The
ingredients may be incompatible because of particle size, particle density, flow
characteristics, compressibility, and moisture content. These incompatibilities can cause
problems such as segregation during blending or during transfer of the product to the
press as well as separation of the active on the tablet press. Two basic techniques are
8
used to prepare powders for compression into a table that is wet granulation and dry
granulation (Tousey, 2002).
2.3.4.1 Wet Granulation
Wet granulation, the process of adding a liquid solution to powders, is one of the most
common ways to granulate. The process can be very simple or very complex depending
on the characteristics of the powders, the final objective of tablet making and the
equipment that is available. Some powders require the addition of only small amounts of
a liquid solution to form granules. The liquid solution can be either aqueous based or
solvent based. Aqueous solutions have the advantage of being safer to deal with than
solvents. Although some granulation processes require only water, many actives are not
compatible with water. Water mixed into the powders can form bonds between powder
particles that are strong enough to lock them together. However, once the water dries,
the powders may fall apart. Therefore, water may not be strong enough to create and
hold a bond. In such instances, a liquid solution that includes a binder (pharmaceutical
glue) is required. The existing binder that had been use in Urea NPK is Formaldehyde
(Tousey, 2002).
2.3.4.2 Dry Granulation
The dry granulation process is used to form granules without using a liquid solution
because the product to be granulated may be sensitive to moisture and heat. Forming
granules without moisture requires compacting and densification the powders. Dry
granulation equipment offers a wide range of pressures and roll types to attain proper
densification. This equipment is loud and dusty compared with other process machinery.
Material feed rates are critical for attaining the final objective. The process may require
repeated compaction steps to attain the proper granular end point. Typically, a
percentage of products does not get compacted and may require screening to remove
9
excessive fines. Again, successful compaction depends on the compatibility of the
products being compressed. If fines are not removed or reprocessed, then the batch may
contain too many of them, a situation that can contribute to capping, laminating, weight,
and hardness problems on the tablet press. The need for screening large amounts of fines
is common to roller compaction, and the degree to which it can be managed depends on
the nature of the ingredients. Any product that is removed from the rest of the batch
because of particle size must be analyzed to determine what is being removed (Tousey,
2002).
2.4 The Physical Characteristic Of Urea
Sastry and Fuerstenau (1973) detailed the mechanisms for granule growth (granulation)
which included: nucleation; growth; random coalescence; pseudo-layering, and crushing
and layering. Litster and Liu (1989) in their studies on the granulation of fertilizer have
found that coalescence is the most probable mechanism for low-temperature fertilizer
granulation using a feed with a broad particle size distribution. To establish an
understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of granule formation, the forces involved
in the collision of two spherical particles were investigated by a number of researchers.
The capillary and viscous contributions were both found to significantly affect the
bonding mechanism of colliding particles and were correlated using the viscous number.
The regime map theory of Iveson and Litster (1998) postulates that the type of granule
growth behavior is a function of the amount of granule deformation during collision and
the maximum pore saturation. The amount of granule deformation has been
characterized by Tardos et al. (1998) as a Stokes deformation number. The maximum
pore saturation and the Stokes deformation number characterize the growth regime in
which granulation takes place. The exact boundary between the regimes depends on the
type of granulation equipment and properties of the binder such as viscosity. Miyazaki et
al. (1998) had stated that in order to obtain solid granules, it is important to pay
sufficient attention to the viscosity of the solvent and surface tension.
10
2.4.1 Particle Size
Particle size distribution of Urea fertilizer products or Urea raw materials is defined as
the particle diameter range of the material. Particle size analysis is typically measured by
sieving, a process of separating a mixture of particles according to their size fraction.
Particle size affects agronomic response, granulation and process performance, and
blending, storage, handling, and application properties. Some of the reasons for size
control follow (Hoffmeister, 1979).
2.4.1.1 Effects on Agronomic Response
Hoffmeister (1979) had stated that fertilizer of very low water solubility generally must
be ground to small particle size to ensure sufficiently rapid dissolution in the soil and
utilization by plants. For example, the effectiveness of raw phosphate rock generally
increases with fine grinding down to a particle diameter of about 150 μm; below that,
little further benefit has been established. Other materials of low solubility that require
relatively fine grinding include basic slag, limestone, dolomite, dicalcium phosphate,
and fused phosphates. Micronutrient or secondary nutrient sources of low solubility,
such as sulfur, metallic oxides, and glasses, likewise require fine grinding. The fine
grinding required for these materials often results in undesirable dustiness and other
handling difficulties. Therefore, some research and development has been directed
toward retranslating the pulverized materials. For example, in the United States, there
are currently a few small commercial limestone granulation plants. Method of dust
control other than granulation includes spraying the pulverized materials lightly with oil,
water, or amine formulations. Others fertilizer that benefit agronomical from particle
size control is some of the sparsely soluble slow release nitrogen fertilizers such as urea
formaldehyde, isobutylidene diurea, and oxamide. The rate of dissolution and hence the
rate of nitrogen availability from these materials, has been shown to be dependent on
particle size; the larger the particles, the slower the release.