Additives
UFT® Add
. . . the green substitute for formaldehyde
Although urea formaldehyde is still the state-of-the-art urea granulation additive, it is categorized as a hazardous, carcinogenic substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and adds to the VOC emissions from an ammonia/urea complex. It is on the “substitute it now” list of the European Union as a “substance of very high concern”.
That is why we have developed together with specialized fertilizer additive suppliers and experts from fertilizer producers a new formaldehyde-free additive UFT®Add that significantly improves the working environment. It ensures compliance with health and safety regulations on formaldehyde, while guaranteeing the same or even better granulation performance and product quality.
. . . for highly profitable technical and DEF/Adblue® grade markets
Low raw material prices for urea require new considerations to compensate for the decline in sales and earnings. A profitable solution is the use of urea for DeNOX applications in power plants or the production of AUS 32* as a fuel additive but access to this interesting market segments is difficult with a urea product containing formaldehyde.
Using the new UFT®Add additive the formaldehyde-free urea product opens exactly these market opportunities and allows the urea produces to tap into a new booming market segment like cattle feed, technical and DEF/Adblue® grade markets.
* AUS 32 is a 32 per cent aqueous urea solution, standardized according to ISO 22241. The liquid is traded worldwide under different names, e.g. Adblue®, DEF in North America and ARLA32 in Brazil.
Mass Production of formaldehyde free urea granules and prills
Mass Production of formaldehyde free urea granules and prills
Together with urea producers, thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology (tkFT) has successfully executed / carried out first industrial applications of tkFT´s formaldehyde free additive UFT®Add. It has been used in both processes granulation and prilling for the production of Automotive and Technical Grade Urea (TGU).
In both applications, urea granules and prills were analysed by the customer. All basic required product specifications like crushing strength, moisture content and particle size distribution are met, satisfied and fulfilled. Further the urea-products comply with technical grade urea standards as well as with DEF standards ISO 22241/AUS32.
For prills in addition long term analysis were executed concerning anti-caking and impact resistance. After months of storage and shipment, the prills produced with UFT®Add showed comparable flowing and impact resistance properties as prills treated with conventional anti-caking agents.
UFT®Add has the potential to improve the process and product quality in granulation and prilling plants. In difference to UFC (urea formaldehyde condensate) UFT®Add consists of different components. This allows through tailor made mixtures for adjustment of product properties to the specific requirements of producers and receiving parties.
Additionally, the substitution of UFC by UFT®Add practically eliminates VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions and thus significantly reduces the environmental impact.
Concerning implementation and plant modification, the change to UFT®Add requires only a small dosing system. As the dosing rates are much lower than for UFC there are two options: 1) In case of complete substitution of the suspected to be carcinogenic urea formaldehyde UFC by UFT®Add, the existing dosing system and storage can be used. 2) In case of campaign wise production with UFT®Add, only a negligible investment for an additional small dosing system is required.
UFT®Add opens the way into new, highly profitable and growing market segments as it is suitable for the production of Technical- and/or DeNOx/ DEF/ Automotive grade urea granules and prills.
thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology provides life cycle support for UFT®Add to its customers from initial application to full scale production.