Technology Profile Urea

Overview

With more than four decades of experience in the design and construction of urea plants,
Uhde is regarded as one of the top international contractors in this field. We have access to
the leading urea technologies, such as:

• CO2 stripping processes, Stamicarbon, licensing subsidiary of DSM, Netherlands

• Fluidised-bed granulation

The carbon dioxide stripping process first introduced by Stamicarbon in the 1960s has
undergone significant improvement in the last 10 years, resulting in the innovative Stami-
carbon Urea 2000plusTM technology.

The first step in this technology development was the pool condenser. This is basically a
horizontal high-pressure carbamate condenser with a submerged U-tube bundle. It com-
bines the function of the falling film-type carbamate condenser with part of the reactor
function of the conventional CO2 stripping process.

Following on from this, Stamicarbon then developed the horizontal pool reactor. This
reactor further simplified the urea synthesis section by reducing the number of high-
pressure components.

As Uhde is an approved engineering partner of Stamicarbon, our customers can now

seize the opportunity to take advantage of this latest technology:

• Urea 2000plusTM technology with pool condenser

• Urea 2000plusTM technology with pool reactor

Of course, we can also supply the conventional Stamicarbon CO2 stripping process with
standard falling film-type carbamate condenser if required.

In conjunction with our partners, we continually search for innovative technologies to

enhance our portfolio and to offer our customers state-of-the-art technology.

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 1 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002

Conventional CO2 stripping process

In all CO2 stripping processes, ammonia and carbon dioxide are fed directly to the
synthesis section. In a first fast exothermic reaction between ammonia and carbon dioxide
ammonium carbamate is formed. The second reaction is the endothermic dehydration of
carbamate to urea and water. Optimum process conditions of approx. 145 bar and 180 °C
and a nitrogen / carbon (N/C) ratio of 3 are maintained. The dehydration of ammonium
carbamate is an equilibrium reaction. For this reason, the reaction mixture from the reactor
is subjected to a high-pressure stripping, using carbon dioxide as stripping gas to remove
unreacted ammonia and carbon dioxide.

The stripper offgases are returned to the reactor after condensation in the high-pressure
carbamate condenser. The carbamate solution from the high-pressure scrubber and fresh
ammonia are added. Exhaust gases, which are separated from the liquid at the reactor top,
are scrubbed in a high-pressure and a low-pressure scrubber, thus minimising ammonia
emissions.

LP absorber

Reactor Atmospheric
absorber
Rectifying
column LP
& carb.
HP sep. con.
carb.
HP scrubber cond.

NH3

CO2 HP heat

Air Cond.
exchang.
(stripper)
Pre-/evaporator
Gases
Liquids Hydro-
Reflux Flash
Urea lyser Flash tank
cond.
Steam/Cond. tank cond.
Cool. Water 1st & 2nd
desorber Urea melt
Purif. Process water

In view of the low ammonia and carbon dioxide concentrations in the stripped urea
solution, a separate high-pressure ammonia recycling stage is not necessary. The ammonia
and carbon dioxide still contained in the urea solution discharged by the stripper are
recovered in the low-pressure recirculation stage. The urea solution leaving the recirculation
section is further concentrated in the evaporation section from approx. 74% to 96% by
weight, thus meeting the requirements of the downstream fluidised-bed granulation process.
Evaporation takes place in a vacuum section to minimise biuret formation.

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 2 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002

 The entire process condensate is treated in the desorption and hydrolysis section.
Ammonia and carbon dioxide are spelled off in a stacked two-desorber column whereas
small amounts of urea are dissociated in the hydrolysis column. The purity of the treated
condensate allows it to be used as make-up water for the cooling water cycle or it may also
be added to the boiler feedwater after polishing. Consequently, the Stamicarbon urea
process has no waste water effluent.

Urea synthesis with pool condenser (Stamicarbon Urea 2000plusTM

technology)

The pool condenser is basically a horizontal vessel with a submerged U-tube bundle. It
combines the function of the falling film-type carbamate condenser with part of the reactor
function of the conventional CO2 stripping process. A 30-40% reduction in the reactor
volume is achieved by shifting a part of the reaction volume to the pool condenser. This is of
particular advantage for high-capacity single-line plants since the reactor is one of the
heaviest items of equipment.

The stripper gases are condensed together with fresh ammonia and overhead vapours
from the HP scrubber in a pool of liquid, while low-pressure steam is generated within the
tubes of the bundle.

Carbamate to LP absorber
solutions

HP
scrubber

Pool condenser

Reactor

Gases
Liquids
Urea
NH3 HP heat Steam/Cond.
exchanger Cool. Water
(stripper)
CO2
to dissociation
Air

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 3 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002

Urea synthesis with pool reactor (Stamicarbon Urea 2000plusTM technology)

A further step towards the full integration of equipment within the urea synthesis section
is the horizontal pool reactor, first introduced by Stamicarbon in 1996. By combining the
functions of the urea reactor and the carbamate condenser in one vessel, the number of
high-pressure items in the synthesis unit has been reduced from 4 to 2 (stripper and pool
reactor) and a considerable amount of interconnecting high-pressure piping has been
dispensed with. The condensing section of the reactor contains the U-tube bundle, already
used in the pool condenser technology, while the rest of the pool reactor forms the reaction
zone for the dehydration of the carbamate.

Carbamate to LP absorber
solutions

HP
scrubber
Pool reactor sphere

Gases
Liquids
Urea
Steam/Cond.
Cool. Water

NH3
HP heat exchanger (stripper)

CO2
to rectifying column
Air

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 4 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002

Technology highlights
CO2 stripping process highlights
• low energy consumption
• high process efficiency / low
raw material consumption
figures
• high on-stream times
(reliability)
• low corrosion rates
• high safety standards
• low emissions
• simple operation
• easy maintenance
Uhde Technology Profile: Urea
Advantages of the Urea 2000plusTM technology
• Savings in investment costs
due to the reduction in size and the
number of high-pressure items
• Operational advantages:
- more stable level / pressure control
- less sensitivity to changes in the
load or the N/C ratio
- fast capacity change of the plant
due to self-regulating heat transfer
characteristics
• Reduced construction height, resulting in
reduced construction costs
• Improved heat transfer / reduced heat
exchanger area
Page 5 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002
Fluidised-bed granulation

The urea melt from the evaporation section is fed to the fluidised-bed granulation unit and
further processed to high-grade solid granules. Formaldehyde is injected into the urea melt
as a granulation agent before it is atomised in the granulator. The granulation mode permits
accretion, which means that the granules grow from seed material by solidification of
thousands of tiny urea droplets on their surface.

The granulated product extracted from the granulator is cooled down and lifted to the
screening section. The oversize material is crushed and returned as seeding particles to the
granulator together with the undersize grains. After final cooling, the specification-grade
product is sent to the storage facility.

The granules produced by this technology are round and very hard and therefore highly
resistant to crushing and abrasion. They can be produced in a wide range of defined sizes.

Urea dust, which is entrained in the air from the granulator, the fluidised-bed coolers and
various dedusting points, is recovered in a scrubbing system. Process condensate from the
desorption section is used as make-up water for the scrubbing liquid, which is recycled to
the evaporation section.

Because of its high efficiency and a granulator that ensures

excellent product quality with extremely low solid recycle rates,
the fluidised-bed granulation process is the leading granulation
technology. It permits the construction of single-train granula-
tion plants which are in line with the largest synthesis units so
far constructed. The process conforms to the most stringent
environmental laws as there is no waste water and only
minimum dust emission. Maximum operating flexibility and
reliability as well as minimum maintenance and operating staff
requirements are further features of this advanced process.

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 6 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002

Experience

Uhde's experience in the engineering and construction of urea plants spans several
decades. We are an approved engineering contractor of the world-renowened licensor
Stamicarbon. We engineered and constructed the first urea plant using Stamicarbon's
carbon dioxide stripping process and were also chosen as Stamicarbon’s engineering
partner for the first pool reactor unit in
DSM’s new urea plant at Geleen,
Netherlands.

In the last 10 years Uhde has com-

missioned or revamped nine urea plants.
These references include the world's
largest single-train plant with a capacity
of 2,850 mtpd of urea which we en-
gineered and constructed for Saskferco,
Canada.

Ammonia and urea fertiliser complex,

Saskferco, Canada

Uhde Technology Profile: Urea Page 7 of 7 Copyright © Uhde GmbH 2002