FERTILIZER INDUSTRY

Fertilizers are substances that supply one or more of the chemicals required for plant growth. Fertilizers can be both organic and inorganic. As per industry experts it is said that there are sixteen elements that are absolutely necessary for plant growth. Out of these sixteen 9 elements are required in large quantities while the other seven are needed in smaller amounts.

Since agriculture is a very important sector it goes without saying that the fertilizer industry is one which the Indian economy cannot do without. The fertilizer industry in India is extremely vital as it manufactures some of the most important raw materials required for crop production. The primary objective of this industry is to ensure the inflow of both primary and secondary elements required for crop production in the desirable quantities.

The success of the agricultural sector in India is largely dependent on the fertilizer industry. The benchmark that the food industry in India has set is mainly due to the many technically competent fertilizer producing companies in the country.

India is home to numerous top class private and government fertilizer companies. Ranging from fertilizers to seeds to fungicides the many fertilizer companies in India are the major reason behind the success story of the sector in India.

In the present scenario, there are more than 57 large and 64 medium and small fertilizer production units under the India fertilizer industry. The main products manufactured by the fertilizer industry in India are phosphate based fertilizers, nitrogenous fertilizers, and complex fertilizers. The fertilizer industry in India with its rapid growth is all set to make a long lasting global impression.

Let's take a look at most popular reactor in this industry.

Pipe Cross Reactor:

The pipe reactor, or cross pipe reactor, is an acid-base reaction vessel, initially developed decades ago to produce ammoniated phosphate fertilizer. The pipe reactor is again beginning to gain popularity for the energy saving potential it can offer to granulation operations producing products such as Ammonium Sulfate and more. For novel organic-based fertilizer production, pipe reactors offer additional benefits; in addition to removing odor, pipe reactors offer customizable nutrient fortification. Though not required in any system, in the right environment, the addition of a pipe reactor to a fertilizer granulation system can prove invaluable. 

The pipe reactor accepts phosphoric or sulfuric acid in one side of the pipe, and gaseous or liquid ammonia is sparged into the reaction chamber. The melt is sprayed onto the bed of recycle material within the rotary granulator, resulting in either ammoniated phosphate or sulfate. Precise fluid control is critical in metering the required reactants. In an organic-based fertilizer granulation setting, the pipe reactor can be integrated into either a granulation drum or pugmill mixer.

Plug Flow Reactor:

Plug flow reactors, also known as tubular reactors, consist of a cylindrical pipe with openings on each end for reactants and products to flow through. Plug flow reactors are usually operated at steady-state. Reactants are continually consumed as they flow down the length of the reactor.

Plugs of reactants are continuously fed into the reactor from the left. As the plug flows down the reactor the reaction takes place, resulting in an axial concentration gradient. Products and unreacted reactants flow out of the reactor continuously. Plug flow reactors may be configured as one long tube or a number of shorter tubes. They range in diameter from a few centimeters to several meters. The choice of diameter is based on construction cost, pumping cost, the desired residence time, and heat transfer needs. Typically, long small diameter tubes are used with high reaction rates and larger diameter tubes are used with slow reaction rates.

Plug flow reactors have a wide variety of applications in either gas or liquid phase systems. Common industrial uses of tubular reactors are in gasoline production, oil cracking, synthesis of ammonia from its elements, and the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide. Tubular reactors can also be used as bioreactors or for small scale production. It is also used to produce algae which is then compressed and dried and can be used as feed for a bio-diesel reactor.