Fertilizer Caking

The problem of fertilizer caking is believed to be met by many people. In particular, fertilizer is most likely to be caked in the warehouse for some time, and the longer the caking is, the more serious it is. The caking fertilizer, in the view of the peasants, it is the fake fertilizer with bad appearance, so many dealers have to arrange the workers to beat, which is time-consuming and laborious.

The reason for the fertilizer caking

1.First of all, from the raw materials to analyze, the main reason is that the raw material is easy to dissolve.

Generally speaking, the main raw materials for compound fertilizer production are urea, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, and potassium sulfate and so on. Compound (mixed) fertilizers made from these readily soluble fertilizers are easy to caking during storage and transporation.

2.Other factors affecting the caking of fertilizer

1)High moisture content of fertilizer

The moisture content of fertilizer is the biggest factor in the storage process of fertilizer caking; the higher of the moisture content, the easier of the fertilizer particles of salt dissolution. It is more easy to produce physical and chemical reaction; after recrystallization, agglomerate is more easy to form, and repeated dissolution crystallization process will lead to serious caking.

2)The particle size of the product is uneven and the compressive strength of the particle is low

The particle size of the fertilizer is small or uneven, then the gap between the particles is small and is larger than the surface area, so that the contact area between particles is larger, which is easy to caking.

3) The pressure between fertilizers during stacking

When storing fertilizer, the particles are closely contacted with each other under the action of gravity, then it is easy to deform. The higher the stacking height, the more pressure the fertilizer will bear; the more contact points between particles, the easier it is to caking.

4) Long storage time

The longer the fertilizer products are stored, the more it will be recrystallized on the surface of fertilizer particles, and the caking tendency is obvious under the condition of long time under certain pressure.

5)High packing temperature

High packing temperature, finished product cooling is not sufficient, the internal moisture of products can not fully release, and at high temperature the corresponding salt solubility is higher, thus during storage, with the decrease of temperature, the solubility of salt will reduce; crystallization is precipitated when overasaturated, producing crystal bridge and leading to caking.

6)There is a large amount of fertilizer powder when packing

The process of particle fertilizer cooling and packaging of dust particles will produce a certain amount of friction, existing among the particles of dust, playing a role of “bridge”, then the contact area of the fertilizer particles is increased, finally the compaction appeared.

How to prevent the caking of fertilizer?

How does the manufacturer do it?

1.Reduce the moisture content and packing temperature of fertilizer by the dryer heating; by some measures, like heat in a dryer, dehumidify the cooler with a dehumidifier, installing air conditioner, to make the fertilizer moisture reach below 0.6%, prolong the cooling time of fertilizer and reduce packaging temperature.

2.Adding anti-caking agent in raw materials to reduce physical and chemical reactions between particles.

3.By improving the screening system, the uniformity of fertilizer granules can be further improved.

4.Reduce the storage height and pressure of fertilizers.

How dealers do it?

1.Reduce the temperature and humidity of the warehouse; keep the warehouse of the fertilizer in a cool and dry place; ensure that the roof does not leak; the ground is dry; warehouse sets up the fan, doing cooling and dehumidification when necessary.

2.After storing for a period, the fertilizer is often turned over, especially the fertilizer with high nutrient content, they are likely to be caked together, and more attention should be paid to the frequent turnover of the fertilizer.

3.Fertilizers which are easy to produce chemical reactions are stacked separately to prevent chemical reaction clumps.

4.Reduce the height of fertilizer stack, and reduce the pressure between particles.

5.Avoid blindly ordering, reduce inventory pressure, and prevent the fertilizer accumulation time too long to cake.

6.Select regular manufacture’s product, in order to prevent product granulation difference and the granule unevenly causes the lump.